Nostalgia & History > PBS "The Roosevelts" Program

On Sunday, PBS began airing its 7-part series "The Roosevelts: An Intimate History." Teddy, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt are covered and detail and other Roosevelt family members are also discussed. I am learning a great deal watching this program. For example, I learned that one of Teddy Roosevelt's sons was killed in action during World War I while flying a fighter plane. I also learned that there were assassination attempts against both Teddy & Franklin and Teddy continued speaking for an hour to a group after being hit by a bullet!

OK, now getting to railroad content.

The second installment begins with Teddy Roosevelt breaking up the Northern Securities which was formed to create a monopoly of railroads linking the Great Lakes with the Pacific Northwest. There is a brief scene of a large Northern Pacific steam locomotive. The show includes many other still photos and brief video clips of railroad scenes. For more information go to:

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-roosevelts/

Those who are ardent fans of Herbert Hoover and Alfred E. Smith may want to pass on this program.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/14 20:34 by RuleG.

Well done.

A superb program that shall last through until Saturday night, and also available from PBS.Com in DVD or Blu-Ray. "Bully," as TR would say, or a pure "Dee-light" as FDR would say!!! (And I'm a Republican, though some might call me a "RINO" now). Lots of good history in here including about the RRs. And I'm sure that when the FDR Years kick off full blast tomorrow night, the RR action might well pick up to a more intense pace. And perhaps--hopefully--some good shots of the last car built specifically for Presidential use, the Ferdinand Magellan. (What a heavy, bullet-proof, armor-plated car THAT was!!!). And used as recently as the 1984 reelection campaign of President Reagan. But built specifically for FDR including for his handicap access, etc. Also used by Truman and Ike extensively. What a CAR and with the Presidential Seal in bronze permanently affixed to the rear platform!!!

This old Republican way out of step with his current party would LOVE to see somebody like TR shouting from the bully pulpit again and "calling a spade a spade." And not afraid to use the full force of the Office to "bust the trusts" and to work for the PEOPLE, not just for the 1 percent, or to get on stage and say: "Screw the 47% that will never vote for me--they are lost to us and we shall not even try to bother with those votes." So on and so forth. TR did what he thought was RIGHT, and he generally WAS right. As was FDR. And we musn't forget that FDR was Ronald Reagan's "political hero." For those of you that really want to understand HISTORY, and not just "gut feelings," or your particular "party line." (Last sentence being what is WRONG with this Nation today). I urge all to catch up on this via DVR, TEVO, Video-on-Demand, to view the remaining episodes, or just to order it from PBS.Com (and no, I do not work for nor have any affiliation with PBS). Lots of good RR History in the Episodes 1-4, and I'm sure that there'll be more covered in 5-7 beginning Thursday night through Saturday night.

Some Tea Party types or Ayn Randian Objectivist "Laissez-Faire Capitalist" types (some of whom may feel that TR for example "trod upon the Constition" for calling for the 40-hour work week and an end to Child Labor...whew?!?). Yes, some of these will undoubtedly disagree with both TR & FDR, while some from the Left may find TR a perplexing figure that they admire for some of the above but also disdain due to his very real "Imperialism." And two quite different men, but who had more in common than not, even though from two different political parties. But, it's our HISTORY, and it is not to be DENIED. And personally, I think that it's a glorious history.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/14 13:17 by Red.

Not only watching it every nite but recording it as well. Have learned some most interesting things. Never knew that FDR bought Warm Springs in GA------I still recall the day he died and my Republican mother crying bitter tears--------
an exceptionally well done documentary series.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

Yes, Ken Burns has done it again. GREAT reason to watch TV...Arlen

CarolVoss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not only watching it every nite but recording it
> as well. Have learned some most interesting
> things. Never knew that FDR bought Warm Springs in
> GA------I still recall the day he died and my
> Republican mother crying bitter tears--------
> an exceptionally well done documentary series.
> C.

I'm doing the same. And I've already re-watched several segments. It's been first rate, quite possibly Ken Burns' finest work. His style is familiar and I have watched every one of his series in the past, and I enjoy them greatly. I hear some criticism on occasion that his work is too formulaic, and the style is too much the same from one series to another. But in my book it works well, and is an excellent way to bring very good historical content to a large audience.

As for Carol, there were some very interesting surprises. I also had not known of his purchase of the Warm Springs resort. The motion picture footage in last night's episode of FDR at Warm Springs, swimming and standing rather freely in the pool with just the help of a rope, and doing exercises in the pool was just stunning. I had never seen, or imagined, such footage before. And much about the family relationships, particularly between the Oyster Bay side and the Hyde Park side, was new to me. I had always paid much attention to and read much about both TR and FDR, but almost entirely from a political and governmental perspective. The content about FDR's relationship with Lucy Mercer and his secretary during the years between being stricken with polio and his election as governor of New York was handled tastefully and not sensationalized.

But, some quibbles, too. Having seen much of Ken Burns' work, I know his political perspective, and it is unabashedly liberal. It subtly oozes out of various pores in his work, and does so in this series too. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool independent, and no ideologue, but he can sometimes be uncritical of liberal / progressive political actions, and can give other views short shrift.

I am still unconvinced of what seems to be Burns' major thesis about the Roosevelts' progressivism: that it had its roots in patrician family values, a high sense of social altruism, a desire for public service, and the development of social conscience through the trials of their lives. All true, I think, and well delineated. But I think there was more, and it's more subtle in Burns' view. To see it you have to kind of read between the lines: they were political animals of the highest order, who saw political opportunity in progressivism, and seized it no holds barred. And never let go.

Of TR's progressivism, I heard only a flat, quick, de facto acceptance of its necessity, and restatement of the long-standing historical judgment that taking on the bosses and breaking up the trusts was necessary. Not to defend the bosses or the abuses of the trusts, but there was no discussion of any other view. The Hepburn Act, which enabled the regulation of railroads that would ultimately almost strangle the industry through the agency of the ICC, was spoken of again as a flat necessity, with no other view acknowledged. But there were other views, and the public discussion was a major topic of the day. Read Albro Martin's outstanding book, "Enterprise Denied", and that becomes very clear. I will give Burns credit for including a few but very well stated segments that acknowledged a different viewpoint: George Will in the first episode stating that for TR and FDR the Constitution was basically an inconvenience; a statement by Clay Jenkinson, also in the first episode, comparing Jefferson's view of the Constitution with that of the Roosevelts; and a very telling quote from TR about his view of an expansive Constitution.

And on railroad content, a few nits to pick. TR was stated as coming out of the "caboose" (not observation car) gesturing and punching the air to start a whistle-stop speech. I'd be surprised if TR ever rode in a caboose (but with him, never say never). The landmark Northern Securities case was stated too facilely as being about all railroads in the West; it was more complex than that.

The next episode will be the most interesting to me, covering as it will FDR's New Deal years. There are plenty of countervailing views about all of that, as we all know. It will be very interesting to see how it is described.

In PBS style, the series will probably be re-run late nights and weekends after it concludes its first run next week. If you haven't watched it thus far, do not miss it. And if you can't watch this week and next, set the DVR including for the likely re-runs. It is truly worth every single minute you give to it.

MC
Columbia, Missouri



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/14 06:54 by ironmtn.

While I think Ken Burns has done another superb job on this series, it is not the first. There have been several other first rate documentaries on TR and FDR as well.

Ray

Lots of great railroad clips. For someone raised in the State of New York Regents education system, and was taught a great deal of State and National history, this program is just chock full of surprises which were left out of the history books back then. Burns has done, as everyone has stated, another excellent job. Both of these gentlemen, and Eleanor, were people who cared about the country and its people. Interesting the change in philosophy in party platforms over the years, almost a 180 degree swap. We could use some Roosevelts today.

The four greatest American presidents are indeed on Mt Rushmore. There is enough stone for a fifth, but that won't be necessary.

Bob

It was briefly shown but if you are interested in TR read
"River of Doubt" which almost killed him and "Bully Pulpit" about TR and Taft.

MC, yes, I was a bit embarrassed by the part wherein the narrator referred to TR "working out in his CABOOSE"...LOL!!! When it could just have easily said: "TR worked out between stops in his private car." Or whatever.

And darn it...I can't recall the name of the late, and famous Civil War Historian from the ground-breaking Ken Burns series "The Civil War," (I should know this having seen it in the day and having watched the DVDs TWICE), but while Burns is left-of-center, Burns gave the right-of-center (and then some) historian center stage in "The Civil War" series. Shelby Foote, I think it was...

Oh well...two more nights of this. Going to have to order the boxed set of this on DVD for certain!!! (Already having the PBS "American Experience" Presidential series on TR, FDR, IKE, LBJ, JFK, Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and all the others done to date)...

Ken Burns is in a class by himself, and started out with my native governors Huey Long and Earl Long in the 1980s... And yes, he really has broken new ground with this new 14-hour series for true historians and those who appreciate history.

Note: During the original Gulf War, the original "Civil War" series was given as gifts all throughout the Pentagon as gifts in VHS format just as that conflict was coming to a head--so well was it done!!! Still available from PBS.Com. And still a definitive classic, as this one is sure to become.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/14 15:14 by Red.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your comments. It's great to know that so many are interested in this program and the subject it covers.

ironmtn Wrote:
The landmark Northern Securities case was
> stated too facilely as being about all railroads
> in the West; it was more complex than that.
>

>
> MC
> Columbia, Missouri

The reference I heard was specific to railroads linking the Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest.

Regarding the Northern Securities case, I suspect they could have included more details, but in any production of this sort, some things will wind up on the "cutting room floor" (nowadays, the "bit bucket" or "pixel pile"). Even with 14 hours of air time, covering the better part of a century is a challenge. One piece of 1930s legislation that received only a fleeting mention, if that, was the Public Utilities Holding Company Act, or PUHCA, which was a sad day for electric railway enthusiasts. Many streetcar and interurban lines which belonged to electric utilities had to be divested under terms of this act. These railways often received favorable electric rates and "back office" support from the electric companies, and when they had to "stand on their own feet", they were unable to survive as rail operations, either buying their own buses, selling out to companies like National City Lines, or just abandoning service. (this is a gross simplification, but it's been talked about in trolley fan circles for decades.) A fascinating topic for some of us, but not something the average PBS viewer is likely to care about.

While TR was fine in his progressive stance toward white American citizens, it is shameful how he treated non-white Americans and foreign countries, especially Japan and the Philippines.

chakk Wrote:
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> While TR was fine in his progressive stance toward
> white American citizens, it is shameful how he
> treated non-white Americans and foreign countries,
> especially Japan and the Philippines.

TR greatly ADMIRED the Japanese--where do you get the idea that he felt them in any way inferior? He even favored them to an extent in the Russo-Japanese War which he then mediated for which he won his Hobel Peace Prize! Yes, he wanted the Phillipines as a U.S. territorial possession, true. (TR was an unabashed "imperialist"). And far from being "derisive" of the Japanese, he predicted the force that they would become for cousin FDR to face later on!!!

Meanwhile, later, yes--it was one of FDR's great mistakes to inter Japanese-American citizens after Pearl Harbor.

One point that is brought forward in this excellent series--and something that I've always said--is that nobody worth a damn as a great leader is "perfect" and without having made their mistakes. Secondly, that it is a Fool's Errand to judge men & women from 100, 60, 40, even 20 years ago according to what is considered "Politically Correct" RIGHT NOW in history. History evolves and the men and women, the great leaders and educators and intellectuals with it. How many of you out there might not recall some feelings or statements made by--say--your grandparents' generation that if said today would make one's toenails cringe? I think that all of the Roosevelts, both the Republicans of Oyster Bay and the Democrats of Hyde Park were far ahead of their time and far more enlightened than their contemporaries. And for one example: TR was the first President in U.S. History to have an African-American to dinner at the White House, Booker T. Washington. (While TR's Democratic successor, Woodrow WIlson, was a very devout segregationist and had the infamous "Birth of a Nation" movie screened at the White House).

At any rate, I thought that the series ended on a very high note tonight with the work Eleanor Roosevelt carried on after FDR's death right up until 1962. And far ahead of her time, she held no views that while considered by some to be "way out there" in her time, hardly anybody in either party, or Right or Left, would hardly take any issue with TODAY.