Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in April of 1945. Elected to four terms in office, FDR presided over some of the most impactful moments in 20th century American history. From his battle with polio, to the depression and World War II, this is a very personal assessment that reveals many previously unknown aspects about one of our most beloved and private presidents. His grandson provides a family perspective; a secret diary written by his cousin and confidant Daisy Suckley takes us inside his cloistered world. We meet Churchill’s advisor who saw FDR at the Yalta Conference, and the Secret Service agent who knew the man the country re-elected in 1944 was about to die.
“FDR does what a political documentary should. It takes a strong, recognizable point of view, pursues it aggressively and does not backtrack, temporize or rely on ambience or inflection to create ideological innuendos.” – New York Times
Behind The Scenes
The History Channel originally commissioned a one-hour special but eventually expanded the project to a 4 part series to properly reveal the man and the unique times through which he passed. Filmed at Warm Springs, Campobello Island, Georgetown, South Carolina, and Hyde Park, the film enters into the world where Roosevelt tried so hard to find solace. Included as part of the reference material were tapes of Eleanor from FDR’s Presidential Library that had never been heard, the Vanderbilt estate housed color home movies the had never been transferred, and Daisy Suckley’s home at Wilderstein held pictures and recordings that allowed the filmmakers to illustrate FDR’s desperate efforts to recover from polio.
