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The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
Chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, fourteen hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962.
- Created by:
- Ken Burns
- Cast:
- Peter Coyote, David McCullough, Meryl Streep, Edward Herrmann
- Language:
- English
- Country:
- United States of America
- Network:
- PBS
Episode guide
Seasons
Miniseries
Episodes
E01
Episode 1
★ 8.0Get Action (1858-1901)
2014-09-14 · 115mA frail, asthmatic young Theodore Roosevelt transforms himself into a champion of the strenuous life, loses one great love and finds another, leads men into battle and then rises like a rocket to become the youngest president in American history at 42. Meanwhile, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, brought up as the pampered only child of adoring parents, follows his older cousin’s career with fascination.
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E02
Episode 2
★ 10.0In the Arena (1901-1910)
2014-09-15 · 117mMurder brings Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency, but in the seven years that follow, he transforms the office and makes himself perhaps the best-loved of all presidents, battling corporate greed, preserving American wilderness, carrying the message of American might around the world. FDR weds Eleanor Roosevelt, and jumps at the chance to run for the New York state senate.
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E03
Episode 3
★ 9.0The Fire of Life (1910-1919)
2014-09-16 · 117mTheodore Roosevelt leads a Progressive crusade that splits his own party, campaigns for American entry into World War I — and pays a terrible personal price. Franklin masters wartime Washington as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, while Eleanor finds personal salvation in war work. Her discovery of Franklin’s romance with another woman transforms their marriage into a largely political partnership.
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E04
Episode 4
★ 10.0The Storm (1920-1933)
2014-09-17 · 117mFranklin Roosevelt runs for vice president in 1920 and seems assured of a still brighter future until polio devastates him. He spends seven years struggling without success to walk again, while Eleanor builds her own personal and political life of. FDR returns to politics in 1928 and acts with such vigor during the first years of the Great Depression that the Democrats nominate him for president.
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E05
Episode 5
★ 10.0The Rising Road (1933-1939)
2014-09-18 · 117mFDR brings the same optimism and energy to the White House that his cousin Theodore displayed. Aimed at ending the Depression, his sweeping New Deal restores the people’s self-confidence and transforms the relationship between them and their government. Eleanor rejects the traditional role of first lady, becomes her husband’s liberal conscience and a sometimes controversial political force.
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E06
Episode 6
★ 10.0The Common Cause (1939-1944)
2014-09-19 · 116mFDR shatters the third-term tradition, struggles to prepare a reluctant country to enter World War II and, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, helps set the course toward Allied victory. Meanwhile, Eleanor struggles to keep New Deal reforms alive in wartime and travels the Pacific to comfort wounded servicemen.
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E07
Episode 7
★ 10.0A Strong and Active Faith (1944-1962)
2014-09-20 · 112mFrail and failing but determined to see the war through to victory, FDR wins re-election and begins planning for a peaceful postwar world, but a cerebral hemorrhage kills him at 63. After her husband’s death, Eleanor Roosevelt proves herself a shrewd politician and a skilled negotiator in her own right, as well as a champion of civil rights, civil liberties and the United Nations.
Watch progress · Not trackedCast
Peter Coyote
Narrator (voice)
David McCullough
Self - Historian
Meryl Streep
Eleanor Roosevelt (voice)
Edward Herrmann
Franklin Roosevelt (voice)
Paul Giamatti
Theodore Roosevelt (voice)
Theodore Roosevelt
Self (archive footage)
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Self - Historian
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Self (archive footage)
John Lithgow
James Roosevelt (voice)
Eleanor Roosevelt
Self (archive footage)