Anyone else been watching THE ROOSEVELTS on PBS this week?

[LincolnToddFan]

I've studied Franklin and Eleanor, but knew virtually nothing about Teddy Roosevelt other than that he was a bit of a wild man and a Lincoln admirer....wow...there is SO much more!

TR's mother Martha Stewart Bulloch was a quintessential Southern belle. During the Civil War, she successfully prevailed upon her Yankee husband Theodore Sr. not to take up arms and fight for the Union, as he'd wanted to. Margaret Mitchell reportedly based Scarlett O'Hara on her.

TR was an intellectual, an imperialist, a romantic and a bully with a hair trigger temper. (He apparently once shot a dog for barking at him!) During his presidency he staged boxing and jujitsu matches in the East Room. He also forced members of the Diplomatic Corps down to Rock Creek Park where he put them through a series of harrowing obstacle courses designed to test their "fitness". Anyone who failed was considered a wimp, and TR would write to their home Embassies suggesting that they be recalled. The antics of his children in the WH make those of Tad and Willie Lincoln look sissified.

There was/is a serious strain of mental illness and alcoholism running through both branches of the patrician Rooselvelt family..the Oyster Bay side(TR's branch) and the FDR/Hyde Park side.

Nowadays a guy like Teddy Roosevelt would have no chance of being elected to the presidency...he would be put on Ritalin and treated for ADHD.

This miniseries by Ken Burns is every bit the equal of his monumental Civil War epic...it's GREAT!!

[Gene C]

I enjoyed it too. TR was certainly a person of high energy, didn't seem to want to try to understand anyone who thought differently from himself. Never knew FDR had such a good sense of humor. Also surprised at the relationship of FDR & Eleanor, seemed more like a business arrangement than a marriage.

[LincolnToddFan]

Gene, that's what I always thought about the Franklin/Eleanor marriage too. But it began as a love match, very much so. Unfortunately, they had needs that they expected the other to meet. He wanted an adoring audience like the one his mother gave him. Eleanor was too intelligent and discriminating to be anybody's groupie. She wanted a confidant and soul mate to make up for the loneliness and emotional abandonment that had been her childhood lot.

Franklin could not be that for her. He fell for her secretary who DID worship him and the "marriage-proper" with Eleanor ended forever, but the great political partnership began.

As for Theodore, I was always under the impression that he'd only ever loved his first wife, the lovely Alice Lee, who died giving birth to their first child. I'd always assumed that his second marriage was basically for convenience, much the way some folks say the Abe-Mary relationship happened after the death of Ann Rutledge.

Wrong! TR had a very passionate, very happy second marriage after becoming engaged barely a year after Alice Lee died. Some of his love letters to Edith have me blushing, ol' Teddy was quite the eloquent lover-boy!

[Hess1865]

This an excellent series, just what we expect from Ken Burns.
Teddy was quite a guy-and FDR was even more complex.
And I can see why Hillary sez she 'channeled' the ghost of Eleanor!!

[L Verge]

I have often thought about comparing Hillary to Eleanor, but haven't gotten too far. My instinct is that Eleanor, like Hillary, was a shrewd politician, but a better humanitarian than Mrs. Clinton.

[LincolnMan]

I saw enough to know that it was outstanding. I was particularly struck with FDR's courage as he dealt with his physical challenges. He was truly amazing.

[PaigeBooth]

I watched it from start to finish every night it was on! FDR's strength to overcome polio was a true success story; I had read about FDR's experience with polio before, but the way they portrayed it during the program was touching--very heroic.

Yes, TR was quite the character. (didn't know they called him a "steam engine in trousers!") A hunter, a writer, a historian-- TR was a new president for a new century. He brought political excitement to the public eye. He was also the first president to be known by his initials, the 1st president to leave the country, the 1st president to dine with an African-American, the 1st to own an automobile, and the 1st president born in a city. He apparently loved coffee and drank it all day long to keep him buzzing through the day.

l was also very interested to learn more about the CCC's....since my great grandfather was a CCC boy during the Great Depression.

[LincolnToddFan]

(09-22-2014 10:02 AM)L Verge Wrote:  I have often thought about comparing Hillary to Eleanor, but haven't gotten too far. My instinct is that Eleanor, like Hillary, was a shrewd politician, but a better humanitarian than Mrs. Clinton.

Never thought of it that way, but I'm afraid I must agree with you!

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(09-22-2014 06:46 PM)PaigeBooth Wrote:  I watched it from start to finish every night it was on! FDR's strength to overcome polio was a true success story; I had read about FDR's experience with polio before, but the way they portrayed it during the program was touching--very heroic.

Yes, TR was quite the character. (didn't know they called him a "steam engine in trousers!") A hunter, a writer, a historian-- TR was a new president for a new century. He brought political excitement to the public eye. He was also the first president to be known by his initials, the 1st president to leave the country, the 1st president to dine with an African-American, the 1st to own an automobile, and the 1st president born in a city. He apparently loved coffee and drank it all day long to keep him buzzing through the day.

l was also very interested to learn more about the CCC's....since my great grandfather was a CCC boy during the Great Depression.

Hi Paige,

May I ask what a "CCC" is? Thanks!

[Gene C]

See below. My father who grew up during the depression in Oklahoma worked for the CCC in Oregon on some kind of forestry program for a while before he was able to get into the Army Air Corp. It was rough work with rough people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Co...tion_Corps

[LincolnToddFan]

Ahhh...there you go..BIG thanks Gene!

I should have connected that it was a New Deal program.

[PaigeBooth]

(09-22-2014 09:05 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  Ahhh...there you go..BIG thanks Gene!

I should have connected that it was a New Deal program.

Hi, Toia,

Yes, my great grandfather was part of the Civilian Conservation Corps. He found work with FDR's program and, therefore, the $25 a month he sent home provided food for his mother and younger siblings. While many families probably would have starved, thanks to FDR's New Deal program, my great grandfather, his family, and many others like them were able to survive the Great Depression.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(09-21-2014 05:30 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  I've studied Franklin and Eleanor, but knew virtually nothing about Teddy Roosevelt other than that he was a bit of a wild man and a Lincoln admirer....

...and (not to forget) he watched and witnessed the funeral procession in NY - the two kids in the window: Teddy Roosevelt and his brother Elliott.
   

[LincolnToddFan]

(09-22-2014 11:12 PM)PaigeBooth Wrote:  

(09-22-2014 09:05 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  Ahhh...there you go..BIG thanks Gene!

I should have connected that it was a New Deal program.

Hi, Toia,

Yes, my great grandfather was part of the Civilian Conservation Corps. He found work with FDR's program and, therefore, the $25 a month he sent home provided food for his mother and younger siblings. While many families probably would have starved, thanks to FDR's New Deal program, my great grandfather, his family, and many others like them were able to survive the Great Depression.

Paige,

Thanks, that is so great that your grandfather and his family were saved from annihilation by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It's really terrifying to think of the dire situation America found itself in in 1931 when FDR was elected. I read a lot of criticism of some New Deal programs as being socialist and un-American...but FDR had to do something. He demonstrated true leadership, imo.

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(09-23-2014 07:15 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  

(09-21-2014 05:30 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  I've studied Franklin and Eleanor, but knew virtually nothing about Teddy Roosevelt other than that he was a bit of a wild man and a Lincoln admirer....

...and (not to forget) he watched and witnessed the funeral procession in NY - the two kids in the window: Teddy Roosevelt and his brother Elliott.

Hi Eva!

Exactly! I love that photo. The Roosevelts were/are a fascinating dynasty. I simply had no idea!

[LincolnMan]

Did the series mention TR's ring that contained some of Lincoln's hair?

[LincolnToddFan]

Yes Bill...I think there was a very quick glimpse of the ring itself in the first or second episode.