The series covers the Roosevelts from the birth of Theodore's in 1858 to Eleanor's death in 1962." The website notes:
Over the course of those years, Theodore would become the 26th President of the United States and his beloved niece, Eleanor, would marry his fifth cousin, Franklin, who became the 32nd President of the United States. Together, these three individuals not only redefined the relationship Americans had with their government and with each other, but also redefined the role of the United States within the wider world.
The series encompasses the history the Roosevelts helped to shape: the creation of National Parks, the digging of the Panama Canal, the passage of innovative New Deal programs, the defeat of Hitler, and the postwar struggles for civil rights at home and human rights abroad. It is also an intimate human story about love, betrayal, family loyalty, personal courage and the conquest of fear.
You cannot go wrong with a Ken Burns series. Mr. Burns is a modern day national treasure helping all of us to understand our nation's past. And his perspective helps us to understand what we have gained and lost. In responding a question from the Wall Street Journal, after the paper asked if the Roosevelts would make it in politics today, he said:
I don't think they could get elected today. Eleanor is not attractive enough. Franklin Roosevelt is, of course, confined to a wheelchair, enough said. And Theodore Roosevelt is too hot for the cool medium of television. He would have had his Howard Dean moment very early on and [been] dismissed before he got out of the Iowa caucuses.
Someone says that as a young boy, T.R. would have been given Ritalin and become an accountant. And that's sad.
Sad indeed.
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