WellBullyForYou This is indeed my favorite documentary. It's an intimate look at the life of the best president ever Teddy Roosevelt, his niece Eleanor Roosevelt, and her husband Franklin Roosevelt. I am biased, you see, so I will admit that my favorite bits are about teddy, and his war hero sons. Although Eleanor's accomplishments are incredible and I'm more impressed with her than I am with her husband Frank.If you only see one documentary this year, make it this one. For I can only describe it with one word: BULLY!And remember, speak softly and carry a big stick!

jljacobi I was slightly startled to find that while there were seven episodes, only two covered TR--a man that accomplished more in his lifetime than any other three humans I can think of, including FDR and Eleanor.There are numerous assumptions of espoused political and social attitudes being in fact correct, with lip service given to opposing views. The sections on domestic and social agendas drag on and on, especially in the FDR/Eleanor episodes. To the point where I started losing interest. I saw strong hints of political bias in many sections.All that said, though I've read several biographies of TR and FDR, I learned a great deal new about all three of the major players and the restored photography and video is great. But by devoting only two sections to TR, they glossed over some amazing parts of his story.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. Ken Burns is renowned for his documentaries - two of my favorites are Baseball (1994) and Jazz (2001). The power he wields is measured by his ability to get 14 hours of documentary not just researched and filmed, but also broadcast via PBS. Think how many Hollywood producers can't get the green light for a 90 minute pet project. Mr. Burns is a national treasure who creates national treasures, and his latest is some of his finest work yet.Focusing on an incredibly prominent American family - one that dominated politics and history for years - the stories are presented in chronological order, interconnecting the biographies of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor with the key events in history that they helped shape. But it's not all politics, as we also learn about the families and the individual make-up (flaws and all) of the 3 principals. We learn of the Republican Roosevelts of Oyster Bay and the Democrats of Hyde Park.Mr. Burns has set the bar very high for his productions, yet somehow we still managed to be struck by the photographs, archival footage and insights of these people and the times. The sheer number of previously unseen photographs and footage is staggering. Add to that the commentary from writers and historians, and it's easy to imagine this being the foundation for a high school or college history course ... one that students would actually enjoy.There are seven parts to the whole, each presented in chronological order: Pt 1 Get Action 1858-1901, Pt 2 In The Arena 1901-1910, Pt 3 The Fire of Life 1910-1919, Pt 4 The Storm 1920-1933, Pt 5 The Rising road 1933-39, Pt 6 The Common Cause 1939-44, Pt 7 A Strong and Active Faith 1944-62. We witness the rise to power and fame for TR, FDR and Eleanor. The deaths of each is also highlighted, as well as their respective impact on politics and history. It's not surprising that some of the character flaws and even questionable political decisions are glossed over, but this is not without it's acknowledgment of such. The insight into the obstacles all 3 Roosevelts overcame is fascinating. We hear recordings of each, and the voice acting fills the gaps - Meryl Streep as Eleanor, Edward Herrmann as FDR, and Paul Giamatti as TR. Peter Coyote does a nice job throughout as the narrator, and numerous other actors are utilized through the production, including the final screen appearance of Eli Wallach. This is an incredible documentary covering some giants of US politics and some of the most historical events ... each with visual and audio depth that makes this an extraordinary viewing opportunity.

DKosty123 The master of this type of documentary, Ken Burns has picked a very good subject again for this history series. There can be no doubt the Roosevelts are as close to Lincoln as there was for leadership in the 20th century. Sad how modern Democrats like Clinton and the current administration have not taken leadership lessons from FDR or even LBJ. They have turned away from this type of Leadership at this countries peril. While that is still playing out- I am hearing things about all the 2000 communications between FDR and Churchill yet not hearing many quotes from those communications. Maybe they are still classified? Comparing this with the epic The Civil War, this one does not seem to go quite as deep as the prior one did. It does still follow the same format, though the picture of FDR's real private life are hard to come by due to hiding of his illness and frail condition because of the war.It is interesting that FDR despite his health was keeping company with someone other than Eleanor. This does seem to fit the playboy reputation of Democrat leaders. What comes over for me though is because of FDR's health, I doubt if these private affairs were much more than keeping company. As is told, a lot of people around FDR took a lot of very special care of him, and I think any mistresses were a part of that care.I am glad to see some of the photos that were gotten out for this documentary. While a lot of the themes have been covered before, this fresh series does point out things I did not realize. I never knew Churchill spent a whole 3 weeks with FDR. The series is not over as I write this but I am hoping for more focus on the letters and communications between FDR, Stalin, Japan, and any world leaders at the time. Teddy Roosevelt was in many ways larger than life itself and some of that definitely shows in the series.Glad to see some of the focus on the race issues including the correct points about Conservative Southern Democrats problems with race and how they conflicted with FDR Roosevelt. Modern Democrats are trying to paint themselves as a party which is not racist and have been since the Kennedy/LBJ era. That is historic revisionism and from the latest installment Ken Burns is getting this right.Just because a party has the first Black President, does not mean they do not have a race problem. It shows up constantly with Democrats in the main stream media who are keeping it alive and well to divide people.The section on policy of FDR bringing the country out of depression is very well done. It correctly points out what FDR did to save the banking system. Unfortunately for the country, the wall (glass-Spiegel) that FDR built to protect our financial system was torn down by Clinton era progressives and this directly led to the big melt downs 1998-2010 era. Losing this wall, the financial system is still at risk now.Great leaders lead, as the Roosevelts did. They were not perfect leaders as that is impossible, but they do not blame others for their problems. Just imagine if at the beginning of World War 2, if FDR had made a speech blaming Henry Ford and Thomas Watson Sr. for providing financial aid and arms to Adolf Hitler (which they did) for all the worlds troubles. At that critical junction of History, that would not have united people when they needed to stand tall.I was a bit surprised that when covering discrimination against Blacks in war related hiring, that the issue of hiring women for war related industries was not mentioned. Women being hired was historic at the time and FDR's progressive policies were in part responsible for that. The series might make up for this later.Industries after the war went back to this discrimination against women until the late 1970's when the women's movement at last started to take hold on corporate management. The country went from rosie the riveter to rosie the housewife, and then moved to where we are today where 2 parties are both busy trying to keep any woman out of the White House except for the First Ladies.