FDR-A PRESIDENCY REVEALED
It was the longest presidency in US history. It was the most significant presidency of the 20th century. Our special explores the character of the man who stood at the epicenter of American politics for 12 of the nation's most turbulent years. Using rare home movies, secret White House recordings, oral histories, and a cousin's secret diary, we show how the 32nd president overcame disability to carry the nation out of the Depression, rallied a divided country to common purpose, and charted the course towards victory in WWII. We also reveal FDR's private side that he tried so hard to conceal, including intimate stories of a 24-year struggle with paralysis and an affair that destroyed his marriage. Part 1 covers significant events of his presidency from his first inauguration, historic first 100 days in office, the New Deal, Fireside Chats, the NRA, CCC, and WPA, his controversial Court-packing plan, isolationist platform for reelection in 1940, and relationship with Winston Churchill.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's contribution still resonates--the programs he introduced still affect our lives; the issues he fought for still define the national debate, including the role of government and the place America should assume in the world. On his journey, FDR never lost faith in the great American experiment. He laid out an optimistic vision of a compassionate society committed to prosperity and genuine equality, and some 60 years later, it remains a tantalizingly illusive dream, but Franklin Roosevelt carried us miles down that road.

PART ONE AIRS:
Sun, April 17 9-11pm
Mon, April 18 1-3am
Mon, April 18 12-2pm
Mon, April 18 6-8pm

PART TWO AIRS:
Mon, April 18 9-11pm
Tue, April 19 1-3am

WARM SPRINGS
As the only U.S. president re-elected three times, he brought America out of the Great Depression, and led us though World War II. But the most formidable challenge Franklin Delano Roosevelt ever faced was one the country never saw. Kenneth Branagh and Cynthia Nixon star in the stirring true story of one man's search for public redemption from the depths of personal adversity.

The film follows Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Branagh), left a paraplegic from polio in 1921 at age 39, as he seeks out a "miracle" cure in the backwoods of rural Georgia. As his wife Eleanor (Nixon) takes up the mantle of the public Roosevelt, Franklin battles the stigma of polio and encounters those affected not just by disability, but by poverty, illiteracy and racism. In time he comes to learn that though he may never walk again, he can still lead.

In Warm Springs, with help from a devoted therapist (Kathy Bates) and, eventually, his chief aide (David Paymer) and wife, a future four-term president finds his personal and political soul.

AIRS:
Sat, April 30 8-10pm
Sun, May 1 5-7am
Mon, May 2 2-4pm
Mon, May 2 10-12pm

Other than Lincoln, my favorite president. I *almost* wish I had real cable just to see these. Maybe I'll look for the DVDs down the road.

I'm recording the History Channel 2-part program. Watching everything from the start of his presidency until WWII will no doubt aggravate me.

Yeah, ending the great depression was bothersome...no doubt.

It wasn't since the war effort ended it, not the unconstitutional New Deal.

Since I know your motivations aren't "partisan" per se, I'll just assume that we have a fundamental disagreement about FDR's contributions to american society pre-WWII. It would appear, though, that they were appreciated at the time and are appreciated now by many of the very people who disapprove of them.

My fiance's mom is a disabled (honestly disabled) former schoolteacher who hates "big govt" but survives on the "unconstitutional" New Deal. I'm not a rocket scientist, but I think I detect an irony. Of course, she's one of those folks who honestly believes that Jesus is a Republican, so there's no accounting for internal consistancy.

I just wish I could record this...sigh. I might even drop my DVD recorder at a friend's for a few days.

I have passes to an advance screening of Warm Springs this Thursday which I'll try to go to. Looking forward to both of these either way.

As an aside, did you happen to see the "Constitution in Exile" article in yesterday's NY Times magazine?

Scary stuff, from my point of view.

No. Got a link?

FDR pre-WWII: The Dow Jones index from DJindexes.com.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/ma...TITUTION.html?

Excellent article. I had never heard of the 'Constitution in Exile' movement, although this is simply a term for a libertarian jurisprudential line of thought. Needless to say, I am quite familiar with the work of Richard Epstein.

Yeah, I don't think my blood pressure can take their shoveling that shit at us. Maybe Penn & Teller can do a Bullshit! episode debunking that myth.

Epstein .

Edit: I see it's on the History Channel, the same channel that airs every moronic show on the JFK "conspiracy."

Watched it all last night. It was quite good. Liked the even-handedness of it - it wasn't just a tale of his accomplishments; it also included his failures (particularly in the area of race (blacks and the Japanese internment)) and shortcomings.

I fount it particularly candid that his grandson admitted to FDR's flaws with women. Usually for that touchy stuff you usually hear a historian speak of this, not the family.