Think we know the presidential candidates? Dream on. Yes, thousands of words and some books as well have been written and more will come — but all fall short of a distanced documentary that cuts to cogent facts to reveal rather than sell. I’m talking about Ken Burns and his staff and perhaps the most personal presidential documentary ever: “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.”
This seven-part visual record and commentary is what we could use on both 2024 candidates but we aren’t likely to get it for years, if ever. We are given both Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a treasure because these men and their families remain the most dominant political influences in the 20th century as much as the reach of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln did in the 18th and 19th centuries.
But the reach of the Roosevelts has never ended.
What Burns does, via an amalgam of historians, writers, superb photos and narrative excerpts is profile the essence of both these men — egregious faults included. We get the explosive energy, both physical and intellectual, of Teddy Roosevelt but also his blatant hypocrisy and borderline pathology. Much of this was from a crushing childhood of illness and loss of those he loved he held internally but refused to acknowledge. The inventor of the bully pulpit was often a bully off-stage to anyone who disagreed. Teddy we find usually set up his lusty man adventures with owned land, a clearly noted fortune to intimidate and often phony dramas that continued into his ersatz heroism in the Spanish-American war.
Along with his bold conflicts with the monopolist barons, he showed a frightening blood lust that bordered on madness. He didn’t need to speak softly most of the time, the big stick he held was always known. Yet he was undeniably brilliant, a serious author and student of history like Churchill and his understanding of the American mind and political style uncanny. Until it wasn’t.
The other great Roosevelt, Franklin, was a distant cousin, his family also of great wealth known as the Hyde Park Roosevelt clan, while Theodore was of the Oyster Bay family. Another cousin was also part of the mix, Teddy’s niece Eleanor, who would marry her distant cousin Franklin, making an American dynasty. Teddy’s relationship to the FDR branch ranged from cordial to resentment —beyond the fact that Teddy was a Republican and Franklin a Democrat.
But Franklin was a different sort entirely. Cautious and almost too pragmatic, he took his time and planned his moves — and got into the political arena slowly and not until he had a good hand. This was all thrown into an emotional river when he was stricken with polio as his fame rose. The FDR resurrection revealed a courage Teddy never had and without it Franklin’s still-incredible comeback and profile might not have happened. His persona still stands as the greatest presidential speaker in modern times.
Still FDR does reveal what some historians defined as the indifferent spoiled aristocrat playing nasty games with his supporters and deciding meanly for political gain. This led to his endless conflicts with his wife Eleanor in their strange and divisive marriage they both had to bear. Burns pulls no punches about that.
Complex? Endlessly. And Burns conveys how personal histories are in play more than we can ever know. We’re lucky if we even get the half of it.
It would be good to keep in mind now and in any presidential election.