Season 7

Polio at 39, president at 50, this portrait follows the public arc and private resolve of a determined leader who guided the United States through two defining crises: the Depression and World War II. Franklin D. Roosevelt served as president longer than any other, and his legacy continues to shape our understanding of the role of government and the presidency. A film by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin. This first episode examines FDR's early life. Born into a wealthy family, there was little about his youth that suggested the giant of history he would become. His entry into state politics and a pivotal meeting with a woman named Eleanor would change his life and the course of a nation.