The Roosevelts: Best Documentary From TR To FDR

Franklin Roosevelt admired his cousin Teddy's political career. Though Roosevelt was over 20 years younger, he wanted to follow Teddy's path. The two led opposing parties, but this did not split the family until Teddy died in 1919.

In 1910, the Democratic Party approached Franklin to run him for New York State Legislature. FDR first got Teddy's approval, a near-lifelong Republican. Teddy also approved when Franklin got the Assistant Secretary of the Navy job in 1912, a post Teddy held.

During the 1912 presidential election, Franklin struggled between the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, whom he admired, and his cousin. Eleanor wanted her husband to back Teddy. As WWI continued with no American involvement, FDR opposed Wilson's isolationist policies. He met secretly with his cousin to plan how to challenge the president.

In 1920, when FDR ran for Vice President as a Democrat, Teddy's sister Corinne and daughter Alice campaigned for the Republican ticket. Theodore Jr. did not.Theodore Roosevelt battled his fifth cousin politically and personally.Theodore Roosevelt battled Franklin politically and personally.

Eleanor remembered this public blow. In 1924, when Theodore Jr. sought the New York governorship, she followed her cousin. She drove with a paper mache teapot on the roof. Theodore Jr. and his brother faced charges for the Teapot Dome bribery scandal but were cleared. She called him a nice man whose service record showed he took friends' orders. She never forgave her for the stunt.

When FDR ran for president in 1932, Teddy's sister Corinne voted for him, crossing party lines. His widow Edith and daughter Alice did not.Theodore Jr. and Alice campaigned hard against him.When FDR sought reelection in 1936, Theodore Jr. and Alice attacked his political record again.

Teddy's son Kermit, serving in the British military, backed FDR's push to aid American allies against Germany. Theodore Jr. did not. Alice stated she preferred voting for Hitler over supporting her cousin's third presidential term bid. FDR told Eleanor he did not want anything to do with Alice—or as he called her, "that damned woman"—again.

After WWII began, the family branches temporarily set aside their political disagreements.

When Theodore Roosevelt took the presidency in 1901, Congress and the Democratic and Republican political machines held more power than the president himself.

Teddy sought to change things, using public backing to achieve it. The young president knew public relations. As a police commissioner in New York City, he invited reporters to find officers neglecting their duties. As governor of New York, he heldtwo press briefings dailyHe built support for his platform.

As president, Teddy pushed Congress for progressive laws so all Americans, rich or poor, could succeed. He traveled to push this legislation, and his energetic personality drew huge crowds. He wrote great material for reporters.

In 1906, he won the Hepburn Act despite railroad opposition. This act gave the interstate commerce commission power to limit railroad rates. This made federal agency rulings the first time in U.S. history with the force of law.

Teddy kept using media and public appeal to alter the federal government's role. He campaigned for the Pure Food and Drug Act. When the meatpacking trust blocked an inspection bill meant to fix awful slaughterhouse conditions, he released parts of a federal investigation. He then threatened to release the rest if they did not back down.

Eight days after his 1933 inauguration, Franklin Roosevelt started his first radio "fireside chats"

He explained the banking system's failure and the bank holiday's meaning in under fifteen minutes. He stated all politicians lacked power without American public support. He spoke to listeners as an equal, saying, "Together we cannot fail."

In this first chat, held Sunday night, he said hoarding money was "unfashionable." The next day, thousands queued to redeposit money into banks.

FDR kept these fireside chats during his presidency, showing confidence in a time of doubt. These broadcasts reached about 18% of the potential radio audience during peacetime and58% during WWII."

These broadcasts helped FDR keep his popularity. In the 1930s, a New York radio poll asked who the greatest man was. Franklin Roosevelt won the poll; God came in a distant second.

When Theodore Roosevelt became president, US industrial production and profits were higher than ever before. Only the men running the huge corporate trusts gained these profits.

These trusts controlled everything: how much farmers paid to ship goods, workers' hours, and product costs. J. Pierpont Morgan, a big businessman, claimed, "I owe the public nothing."

Teddy believed economic concentration was not bad, but the federal government had the power and duty to stop its worst excesses. As president, he used the Sherman Antitrust Act against 41 trusts, more than his three predecessors combined.

In February 1902, Teddy ordered the Justice Department to sue the Northern Securities Company, which Morgan heavily owned. This company sought a monopoly on all railroads from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean. Teddy refused Morgan's idea of sending someone to meet and 'fix things up.'

The Supreme Court supported the president's action. The court ruled the Northern Securities Company acted illegally to restrain trade.

Eleanor wanted a life apart from being a wife and mother from the start of her marriage. Her husband encouraged this dream.

During WWI, Eleanor worked with the Red Cross. In 1922, she spoke at a fundraiser for the New York Democratic Party's women's division. This led her to organize Democratic women in New York to back causes. In 1924, she fought Tammany Hall boss Charles Murphy and secured the right for Democratic women to choose their own delegates for the national convention.

After her husband became president, Eleanor found her voice. She started holding weekly press conferences herself, letting only female reporters attend (male reporters stayed out, only at FDR's events). She wrote a newspaper column called “My Day” and ran her own radio program.

When a reporter told Eleanor to be careful about what she said so she wouldn't embarrass the president, she explained that she often commented to arouse controversy.Eleanor aimed to arouse controversy.She sought to get people to start thinking about issues.

George Washington refused a third term as president. No one in U.S. history has attempted this. The Constitution contains no language on presidential term limits, though.

Teddy Roosevelt became president in 1901 after William McKinley was killed. In 1904, Teddy won a landslide re-election by campaigning on a "square deal," promising equal treatment for rich and poor.

Teddy inherited the presidency from McKinley. He could have argued his 1904 win was his first term. Instead, he told the press he would never accept a third term nomination. He later regretted that statement.

In 1908, Teddy ran William Howard Taft's successful campaign for president. When reminded his political career did not have to end, Teddy said, "My future is in the past."

In 1912, Teddy changed his mind and ran for president. He won nine of the 12 direct state primaries. The GOP gave all but 19 of the 254 national delegates to Taft. Teddy broke with the GOP, forming The Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party). This party supported women's right to vote and laborers' right to organize.

Teddy and Taft were close, but the 1912 presidential campaign ended their friendship. Teddy and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson campaigned across the country. Teddy gained more votes than Taft in the election, but Wilson won, taking the presidency with 42% of the popular vote.

In late 1945, after WWII ended, President Truman asked Eleanor Roosevelt to join the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. Some American delegates felt she lacked the qualifications. They thought she was only asked because of her late husband.

Before leaving, Eleanor held a press conference. She told reporters, "For the first time in my life, I can say just what I want. For your information, it's wonderful to feel free." She then asked reporters to keep her comment private.

After WWII, over a million displaced persons refused to return to homes under Russian control. Eleanor joined a committee that granted them asylum rights. Russian delegates demanded immediate forced return for the refugees. Eleanor answered, "The UN protects individual human rights, not government power. Refugees should live where they choose." The Russians lost the vote.

The General Assembly adopted a universal declaration of human rights without a single dissenting vote. Eleanor Roosevelt was then unanimously elected chairman of the committee that drafted this declaration. Other delegates gave Eleanor a standing ovation.

Her work as a UN delegate earned Eleanor the respect of colleagues who first protested her appointment.

Teddy became governor of New York in 1898. He often clashed with Thomas Platt, the state's GOP 'political boss.' Teddy used two press briefings daily to build support for his platform. During his first six months as governor, he passed reform bills that improved worker conditions.

When Vice President Garret Hobart died in 1899, Teddy campaigned to be William McKinley's running mate in the 1900 presidential election. Teddy won the nomination easily (only his own vote opposed him) and became VP when McKinley secured a second term.

"This means my political [end]," Teddy told a reporter privately. He knew no vice president had become president since Martin Van Buren in 1836.

McKinley died of gangrene on September 14, 1901, eight days after being shot by an anarchist. Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest president in US history at age 42. This remains a milestone today.Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest president in US history.This achievement remains a milestone today.

In September 1918, Eleanor Roosevelt found love letters to FDR in her husband's luggage. These letters came from her former social secretary, Lucy Mercer.

Eleanor offered a divorce. Franklin's mother threatened to cut him off if he left his wife and children. His top adviser warned that his political career would end by a divorce.A divorce would destroy Franklin's political career.A divorce would end the marriage.

FDR promised Eleanor he would never see Mercer again. He failed to keep this promise.FDR failed to keep his promise to Eleanor.FDR secretly saw Mercer on and off for the rest of his life. She was even with him when he died. FDR later developed close relationships and possible affairs with his secretary Marguerite "Missy" LeHand and his cousin Margaret "Daisy" Suckley.FDR developed close relationships and possible affairs.FDR had close relationships with his secretary Marguerite "Missy" LeHand and his cousin Margaret "Daisy" Suckley.

Eleanor stayed with FDR after learning about his affair with Mercer. She never forgot the betrayal. Their son James later said the marriage became an armed truce that lasted until he died.The marriage became an armed truce that endured until he died.The marriage became an armed truce that endured until he died.

The Roosevelts' marriage stayed politically strong even after the emotional split. Though they lived separate lives, they still admired each other and sought approval.

Eleanor helped her husband during his presidency. She told him which New Deal programs worked and which did not. She read the reports sent to the federal relief administrator and put them on his bedside table nightly so he would read them.Eleanor put the reports on her husband's bedside table each night so he would read them.He would read the reports Eleanor placed on his bedside table each night.

While campaigning for reelection in 1936, Eleanor wrote to her friend Lorena Hickok. She realized FDR was a great man and nice to her. Personally, the two remained strangers, and she wanted no more.

During FDR's term, he and Eleanor got about 5,000 letters weekly. The public admired and reviled them; opponents called FDR a dictator, socialist, and traitor. They called Eleanor naive, meddling, and dangerously radical.

Teddy Roosevelt moved constantly, charging through life. He adopted this attitude after years as a sickly child with severe asthma. His parents did not expect him to live. He ignored advice for a sedentary life to survive and pushed himself through exercise to get stronger.

Teddy suffered several tragedies as a young man besides his health issues. His father died in 1878 while Teddy was at Harvard, and Teddy did not get home for a goodbye. This hit Teddy hard; he called his father "the only human being to whom I told everything."

Six years after, Teddy's mother and his wife, Alice (who had given birth two days prior), died within hours of each other. Teddy never spoke about his wife after she died, not even to the daughter who shared her name.

Teddy showed signs of natural leadership by this stage. In 1882, at age 23, he became theTheodore Roosevelt proved himself a natural leader despite tragedy and illness early in his life; he became the youngest person ever elected.Teddy entered the New York Assembly. He pushed for city reform bills even when his party opposed them. This made him popular with Republican newspapers and voters, who reelected him twice.

Teddy decided to retire after the 1884 presidential election. At age 26, his political career seemed over.

After falling ill in September 1921, Franklin Roosevelt became paralyzed from the chest down within days. Doctors were confused. Four doctors examined him before diagnosing infantile paralysis at age 39. Some modern historians and physicians suggest his symptoms matched Guillain–Barré Syndrome.Franklin Roosevelt refused to give up on regaining the use of his legs because of Guillain–Barré Syndrome.FDR regained feeling and movement in his upper body. He remained permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

His adviser, Louis Howe, and doctors tried to hide FDR's condition from the public, hoping he would resume politics. FDR rejected his doctors' belief that he would never walk again.

The treatments FDR faced hurt badly. He wore braces, each weighing 14 pounds. These let him stand, not walk, but they hurt after a while. He also used crutches, learning to handle them to move around a bit. His daughter once heard him say, “I must get down the driveway today. All the way down the driveway.”

Tests in May 1923 showed no real improvement in Franklin's condition. He visited Warm Springs, GA, for the first time in 1924, hoping the town's mineral waters would help his legs. Around other polio sufferers, he felt free. He did not hide his pain or depression about his condition. Against Eleanor's wishes, he bought the property in 1926.

FDR's planned resort hotel failed because guests avoided polio patients. However, it became a top rehab center. For the rest of his life, FDR returned to Warm Springs as often as his schedule permitted.

From 1925 to 1928, he spent 116 of 208 weeks away from home trying to regain his health. Eleanor was with him for only four of those weeks.

Teddy was set on serving in the Spanish-American war despite his age. The 39-year-old felt influenced by his inability to grasp his father's stance during the Civil War. The elder Roosevelt accepted his Southern-born wife's plea not to join the Union Army.

Teddy joined the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry, the "Rough Riders," as a lieutenant colonel in 1898. Training was rough. Malaria and yellow fever killed many men. Delayed for Cuba, Teddy disobeyed orders, commandeering a ship for his unit. Because of storage limits, many men, horses, and mules had to stay behind.

Lacking most horses, the Rough Riders fought like infantry, a role many did not train for. On the trip to Santiago de Cuba, Spanish troops ambushed the unit near Las Guasimas. They fought alongside other volunteers and regular troops and defeated the Spanish.

The Rough Riders stormed Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill. During the first battle, Teddy, now leading the Rough Riders, ignored orders to hold ground. He gave his own order toThe Rough Riders charged the hill.Teddy led his men into battle, waving his hat and cheering. Three Gatling guns gave them cover fire. They took the hill in twenty minutes. The Rough Riders took San Juan Hill right after.

The Spanish surrendered to the United States on August 12, 1898. The Rough Riders sustained heavy casualties; eighty-nine men died or were wounded. Teddy felt proud because his unit had the most casualties among all cavalry units. Later, he regretted not getting a disfiguring wound himself.

African Americans faced the worst suffering during the Great Depression among millions of Americans. Three out of four lived in the Jim Crow South, and half that population was jobless. Over 400,000 African Americans moved north but could not find jobs in big cities. Federal relief funds went first to white people.

His wife encouraged FDR to appoint second-level officials, forming his “Black Cabinet.” His aides made sure New Deal relief programs did not discriminate. By 1935, one-third of Black Americans got some federal aid. African Americans also started shifting support from the Republican to the Democratic Party.

Eleanor pushed for her husband to publicly back a bill making lynching a crime. FDR called lynching a vile slaying and statedhe would sign the bill if it passed.However, when she arranged for FDR to meet Walter White of the NAACP, FDR claimed the Speaker of the House thought the bill was unconstitutional and would block it if it reached the floor.

Many Southern politicians who opposed the bill held chairmanships on various Congressional committees. FDR told White that backing the anti-lynching bill publicly would stop him from getting needed legislation passed for the whole country, including African Americans.

Many African Americans felt disappointed after voting heavily for him in 1940 because the president did not desegregate the Armed Forces. They also resented facing discrimination for defense jobs. The head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters threatened 100,000 Black protesters to Washington, DC, in July 1941 if action was not taken.

Eleanor convinced her husband to meet the union head and White. Together, they created a new executive order establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission to fight discrimination in defense plants. The FEPC lacked enforcement power, but it was the first federal civil rights action since reconstruction.

The threatened protest stopped. Hearing the news, Eleanor wired her husband, "I hope from this first step, we may go on to others."