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I have just done something that Franklin
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Delano Roosevelt could never do on any
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day of his 12-year presidency
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19:45
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as the global war reached its
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devastating bankers Franklin Roosevelt
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was the supreme figure of the wartime
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alliance but also a man living on
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borrowed time Roosevelt's health was
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collapsing sacked by chronic heart
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disease and by two decades as a secret
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paraplegic one wartime American general
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nicknamed him rubber legs but few
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Americans were aware that their
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president could not walk unaided or that
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he'd been diagnosed as being on the
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brink of cardiac vein
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despite these secrets however the public
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Rosevelt stands as one of America's most
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remarkable presidents he crafted a new
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deal to drag America out at the
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Depression of the 1930s
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and amid the catastrophe of world war ii
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he envisioned a new deal to redeem the
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whole world and we are going to win the
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peace that follows Roosevelt would not
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survive the war yet his desperate bid to
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create a lasting peace and his tangled
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legacy in the post-war world is one of
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the great stories of the 20th century by
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1945 Franklin Roosevelt was a man
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inspired by visions of a better world
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yet also gripped by deep personal
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anxieties America's wheel chair
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president racing to shape the future
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before his past caught up with him
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[Music]
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at the beginning of November 1944
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American forces were delivering killer
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blows to the enemy the American army
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dominated the war in Western Europe in
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the Pacific the American Navy been
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penetrated deep into Japanese coastal
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waters to hunt down enemy shipping
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at home the arsenal of democracy was
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producing more combat aircraft than
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Britain and Russia combined pundits were
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already talking of the superpowers with
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America in a league of its own
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Franklin Roosevelt had been elected
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president for an unprecedented fourth
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term he was the most powerful man in the
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world yet ironically one powerless over
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much of his own body on election night
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7th of November 1944 Roosevelt sat here
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on the front porch of Springwood the
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family mansion in Hyde Park some 75
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miles north of New York savoring the
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taste of victory from the porch
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FDR could look along the Avenue to the
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Albany Post Road it was a view he knew
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so well in the early 1920s he'd stared
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at it day by day
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in a mixture of hope and despair a mere
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quarter mile this was a journey he
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longed to make but for years his legs
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couldn't manage it and now his heart was
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too weak as well
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[Music]
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt's character
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was forged in a unique crucible of
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privilege and then adversity he was the
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only son of wealthy New York gentry one
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of the river families whose grand
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estates spread out expensively along the
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banks of the US after a pampered child
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dominated by his widowed mother Sara
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Delano Roosevelt he went to gromp
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modeled on the English Victorian public
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schools on to Harvard and then into a
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Manhattan law firm a good springboard
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for politics Roosevelt also married with
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Eleanor was his fifth cousin
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once-removed
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and a niece of President Theodore
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Roosevelt she brought a wealth of useful
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connections for a young man with
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political ambitions
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over the next 11 years she gave birth to
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a girl Anna and five boys one of whom
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died before his first birthday eleanor
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was an intelligent intense but shy young
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woman marriage gave her new confidence
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and poise but she was still prone to
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crippling nerves and to what she called
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Grizelda moments when she went into a
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deep salt the young FDR by contrast
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modeled himself on uncle Ted with his
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brash will Winston even though his own
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branch of the family were Democrats not
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Republicans
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his early political career was dazzling
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FDR rose through New York state politics
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to become assistant secretary of the
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Navy during World War one while still in
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his 30s
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the Navy became a lifelong passion but
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even more enduring was the influence of
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his wartime boss President Woodrow
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Wilson Wilson tried to sell Americans on
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his vision for a lasting peace built
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around the League of Nations but the
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Senate rejected his plans America
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slipped back into isolationism and
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Wilson himself was laid low by a massive
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stroke which paralyzed him and the
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remainder of his presidency for the rest
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of his life FDR would be inspired by
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Wilson's political ideals and also
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haunted by Wilson's personal tragedy in
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1928 38 FDR ran as the Democratic
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Party's vice presidential candidate
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although the Democrats lost he was
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clearly a rising star yet one already
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with secrets this was a man who flew
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high but lived dangerously FDR reveled
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in the attention that came
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in 1918 one journalist penned this
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almost sensuous portrait his face is
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long firmly shaped and set with marks of
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confidence intensely blue eyes rest in
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light shadow a firm thin mouth breaks
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quickly to laugh openly and freely
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Roosevelt knew he was attractive to
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women and he enjoyed it although married
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with a family he was an incorrigible
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flirt but his affection for Lucy Mercer
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Ellen a secretary was no mere flirtation
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[Music]
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Lucy was tall and elegant with a rich
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voice deep eyes and a dazzling smile
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just how far things went between them
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during World War one is not clear but
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FDR seems to have talked for time about
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marriage the letters were certainly
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passionate as Eleanor discovered when
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she found them by chance in 1918
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[Music]
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shot in panic for a while
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she felt utterly betrayed there was talk
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of divorce
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the Franklin's mother Sarah weighed in
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hard warning her son that if he
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renounced his wife shaming the family
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name she would disinherit him and he
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would not get another cent FDR had to
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listen but the prize extracted by Elinor
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for staying together was Franklin's
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promise that he would never see Lucy
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again the affair would have ended many
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marriages but Franklin still admired and
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respected Elinor her fierce intelligence
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her passionate sense of right and wrong
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for her part
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Elinor still believed in Franklin maybe
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even loved him though theirs was almost
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certainly no longer a sexual
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relationship and the tension eased in
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1920 when she learned that Lucy had
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married a wealthy New York businessman
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[Music]
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but then in August 1921 came a different
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and even more devastating setback for
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the Roosevelts
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FDR was struck down by polio myelitis
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the disease was generally known as
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infantile paralysis because it
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particularly afflicted children causing
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them to scream in agony and lose control
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of their bodily functions
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[Music]
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gradually painfully Roosevelt began to
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recover
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but his thighs and legs remained
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unusable and he was confined to a
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wheelchair hating the hospital variety
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FDR had wheels put on ordinary wooden
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chairs which were less obtrusive he had
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a special car made which he could drive
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without using any foot pedals at
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Springwood ramps were installed and he
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was moved from floor to floor via a
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pulley lift in the servants quarters
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originally used for cases and trucks
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let me be blunt about what polio had
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done to this handsome ambitious virile
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politician he was now a man who could
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not dress or undress himself who had to
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be heaved into bed or placed on a toilet
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in the language of the time he was now a
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cripple at the age of 39
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how would he face such a life Franklin's
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mother was once again quite sure what
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the future must be her beloved son
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should retreat to the Hudson and retire
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from public view
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[Music]
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but FDR refused to heed his mother's
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wishes intent on making a political
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comeback
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he called it polio a childish disease
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something that a strong adult should
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simply outgrow against all the odds this
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mama's boy whom she dressed for much of
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his childhood in girls clothes and
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little lord fauntleroy prophets dug deep
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finding an iron determination and
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radiating her
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FDR had a simple straightforward faith
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in God
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[Music]
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like his father he was a vestra man at
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the local Episcopal Church and was
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sustained by an underlying belief that
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Providence was watching over him in the
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worst sleepless nights of his illness he
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would tell himself that this was trial
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by fire testing his moral fiber for
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challenges to come that faith and
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resilience would become an essential
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part of his charisma as a political
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leader as he would say in later life
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once you have spent two years trying to
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wiggle one toe everything is in
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proportion
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[Music]
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Roosevelt's battle with himself
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accentuated the secretiveness ingrained
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in him as an only child being mysterious
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holding his cards close to his chest
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would become central to FDR's political
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identity allowing him to be all things
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to all men in 1939 the washington press
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corps caricatured him as the sinks even
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those closest to roosevelt only
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understood a fraction of his mind and
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very little of his heart he often said
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that he never let his left hand know
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what his right was doing
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[Music]
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which hand am i mr. president whilst
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Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau
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anxiously from one occasion Morgenthau
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was an old friend and Hudson Valley
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neighbor Roosevelt smiled sweetly you
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are my right hand then he added but I
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keep my left under the table divide and
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rule that would be Roosevelt's motto in
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politics as in private life
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[Music]
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no one's stereotyped as a man in a
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wheelchair could hope to succeed
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politically in that day and age somehow
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Roosevelt had to walk again or at least
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appear to
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he was fitted with a heavy steel corset
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and braces running from hips to heel the
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weight was exhausting and the metal cut
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into his body that the braces when
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locked enabled him to stand
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he then worked to build up his torso so
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he could maneuver his locked pelvis and
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legs forward
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finally he tried to walk
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every morning imprisoned in what looked
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like something out of a medieval torture
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chamber Roosevelt would stand near the
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house and vow
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I must get down the driveway today then
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he would set out towards the gates using
281
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crutches to heave each side of his body
282
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forward after a few steps he paused to
283
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rest covered in sweat sometimes he
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crashed to the ground and have to be put
285
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back fuming into his wheelchair
286
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FDR never abandoned hope that he'd make
287
00:16:27,919 --> 00:16:33,860
it right down to the Albany Post Road
288
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but after a couple of years of lumbering
289
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failure it became clear that he could
290
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not walk freely he would have to calm
291
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the public that he could
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[Music]
293
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his chance came in the election campaign
294
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of 1924 Roosevelt was booked to give the
295
00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:58,950
nominating address of the Democratic
296
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Party convention in New York on behalf
297
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of the candidate Al Smith this would be
298
00:17:03,509 --> 00:17:09,299
his first appearance in public since
299
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polio struck in 1921 he practiced for
300
00:17:09,299 --> 00:17:14,879
hours with his teenage son James so as
301
00:17:12,150 --> 00:17:21,240
to be ready to take those few mindful
302
00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:23,340
steps behind the scenes Roosevelt was
303
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helped to his feet and his leg braces
304
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locked in place
305
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then James gave him his crutches
306
00:17:31,069 --> 00:17:42,659
FDR slowly heaved himself across the
307
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stage eyes down face fix in
308
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concentration
309
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the audience wash in riveted silence in
310
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the gallery
311
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Eleanor knitted like a mania when he
312
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reached the rostrum Roosevelt handed
313
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back his crutches he held onto the
314
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podium for dear life grinning broadly as
315
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the crowd cheered Roosevelt spoke for a
316
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full half-hour with energy and animation
317
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seeming almost to glow in the spotlights
318
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at the end he praised Al Smith as the
319
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happy warrior of the political
320
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battlefield a reference to Wordsworth
321
00:18:32,819 --> 00:18:39,628
poem honoring Admiral Lord Nelson but it
322
00:18:36,749 --> 00:18:43,169
was clear from press reaction that the
323
00:18:39,628 --> 00:18:48,439
happy warrior who stood out on that hot
324
00:18:43,169 --> 00:18:48,440
June day in New York it was not else
325
00:18:48,558 --> 00:18:51,009
to us
326
00:18:53,490 --> 00:18:59,920
Smith failed to win the presidency in
327
00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:02,140
1924 but tried again in 1928 with
328
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:07,900
Roosevelt once more making the speech of
329
00:19:02,140 --> 00:19:10,150
nomination this time in Houston Texas by
330
00:19:07,900 --> 00:19:13,509
now FDR was an accomplished public
331
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speaker more important still he had
332
00:19:13,509 --> 00:19:19,960
become a public worker fitted with steel
333
00:19:17,230 --> 00:19:21,610
braces and gripping the arm of his son
334
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:24,670
Elliott this time
335
00:19:21,609 --> 00:19:30,689
FDR walked to the podium using only a
336
00:19:24,670 --> 00:19:33,220
cane the speech was a complete success
337
00:19:30,690 --> 00:19:35,590
Americans concluded that Roosevelt had
338
00:19:33,220 --> 00:19:40,420
clearly recovered he was no longer
339
00:19:35,589 --> 00:19:46,689
crippled merely a bit lame in a way his
340
00:19:40,420 --> 00:19:50,019
ordeal now seemed a positive present one
341
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New York paper lauded him as a figure
342
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tall and proud even in suffering a man
343
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softened and cleansed and illumined with
344
00:19:55,750 --> 00:19:58,200
pain
345
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thousand Americans are here to clear the
346
00:20:05,079 --> 00:20:09,519
birth of a new era in natural affairs a
347
00:20:07,089 --> 00:20:12,939
New Deal era which is supposed to pull
348
00:20:09,519 --> 00:20:15,880
the country out of a chaos four years
349
00:20:12,940 --> 00:20:17,528
later in 1932 with America hit by the
350
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:21,210
worst depression of its history
351
00:20:17,528 --> 00:20:24,669
Roosevelt himself ran for the presidency
352
00:20:21,210 --> 00:20:26,740
gaining a landslide victory and becoming
353
00:20:24,669 --> 00:20:29,830
the first Democrat to occupy the White
354
00:20:26,740 --> 00:20:30,109
House since his political mentor woodrow
355
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us
356
00:20:30,109 --> 00:20:33,000
[Music]
357
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never when there's such a joyful
358
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:40,460
jubilant yelling applauding inauguration
359
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chop Rosa is a nation idle here today
360
00:20:41,269 --> 00:20:57,808
let me assert my firm belief that the
361
00:20:45,690 --> 00:20:59,070
only thing we have amazingly even after
362
00:20:57,808 --> 00:21:01,440
he took office
363
00:20:59,069 --> 00:21:04,470
most Americans never discovered
364
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:06,929
Roosevelt's secret press and
365
00:21:04,470 --> 00:21:11,519
photographers maintained a discreet
366
00:21:06,929 --> 00:21:13,860
silence about his disability the only
367
00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:19,038
surviving shots of FDR in a wheelchair
368
00:21:13,859 --> 00:21:22,849
come from family photos or home movies
369
00:21:19,038 --> 00:21:26,308
but appearance didn't alter reality
370
00:21:22,849 --> 00:21:28,439
Roosevelt was the wheelchair President
371
00:21:26,308 --> 00:21:31,740
and he was trying to lead his country
372
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:36,590
through one of the most testing decades
373
00:21:31,740 --> 00:21:40,230
in its history yet ironically I think
374
00:21:36,589 --> 00:21:44,480
Roosevelt's infirmity was his greatest
375
00:21:40,230 --> 00:21:47,579
source of power when he told Americans
376
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:51,288
traumatized by the depression the only
377
00:21:47,579 --> 00:21:54,689
thing we have to fear is fear itself
378
00:21:51,288 --> 00:21:56,669
Roosevelt more than almost all his
379
00:21:54,690 --> 00:21:59,298
countrymen knew what he was talking
380
00:21:56,669 --> 00:21:59,299
about
381
00:21:59,329 --> 00:22:08,720
[Music]
382
00:22:05,319 --> 00:22:11,089
in his first two terms Rosa was
383
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,460
preoccupied with his new deal for
384
00:22:11,089 --> 00:22:15,500
America to pull the country out of the
385
00:22:13,460 --> 00:22:18,160
depression through massive spending on
386
00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:22,589
infrastructure and social programs
387
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:25,240
[Music]
388
00:22:22,589 --> 00:22:28,929
but Roosevelt became more and more
389
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:32,039
engaged in foreign policy as Nazism took
390
00:22:28,930 --> 00:22:32,039
hold in Europe
391
00:22:34,460 --> 00:22:39,289
having spent several summers in the
392
00:22:36,619 --> 00:22:41,089
Rhineland during his youth he had long
393
00:22:39,289 --> 00:22:44,509
been convinced that the German elite
394
00:22:41,089 --> 00:22:47,559
were militaristic expansionists and he
395
00:22:44,509 --> 00:22:54,289
saw through Hitler describing him as a
396
00:22:47,559 --> 00:22:57,049
wildly under nut when he read the
397
00:22:54,289 --> 00:22:58,059
abridged English edition of mine camp in
398
00:22:57,049 --> 00:23:00,940
1933
399
00:22:58,059 --> 00:23:04,490
FDR wrote caustically in the Flyleaf
400
00:23:00,940 --> 00:23:07,070
this translation is so expurgated as to
401
00:23:04,490 --> 00:23:10,579
give a wholly false view of what Hitler
402
00:23:07,069 --> 00:23:14,139
really is or says the German original
403
00:23:10,579 --> 00:23:14,139
would make a different story
404
00:23:14,829 --> 00:23:20,449
during the 1930s Roosevelt could do
405
00:23:18,049 --> 00:23:23,230
little to shift isolationist attitudes
406
00:23:20,450 --> 00:23:23,230
in America
407
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:30,960
but then came the amazing German
408
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:35,220
conquest of Western Europe in 1940
409
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:38,690
creating a global crisis Roosevelt drew
410
00:23:35,220 --> 00:23:41,429
America closer to embattled Britain
411
00:23:38,690 --> 00:23:43,889
America was then pitchforked into the
412
00:23:41,429 --> 00:23:48,080
global war by the Japanese assault on
413
00:23:43,888 --> 00:23:48,079
Pearl Harbor in December 1941
414
00:23:52,700 --> 00:23:58,700
powerful and resourceful gangsters have
415
00:23:55,519 --> 00:24:02,179
banded together to make war upon the
416
00:23:58,700 --> 00:24:04,819
whole human race their challenge has now
417
00:24:02,179 --> 00:24:11,840
been flung at the United States of
418
00:24:04,819 --> 00:24:17,089
America we are now in this war we're all
419
00:24:11,839 --> 00:24:20,839
in it all the way every single man woman
420
00:24:17,089 --> 00:24:23,538
and child is a partner in the most
421
00:24:20,839 --> 00:24:33,949
tremendous undertaking of our American
422
00:24:23,538 --> 00:24:36,440
history 1942 and 1943 America allied
423
00:24:33,950 --> 00:24:41,048
with Britain engaged in a brutal
424
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:41,048
struggle against Japan in the Pacific
425
00:24:41,259 --> 00:24:48,278
and also through its troops against the
426
00:24:45,108 --> 00:24:48,278
Germans in North Africa
427
00:24:48,750 --> 00:24:54,980
and then Italy probing what Churchill
428
00:24:52,140 --> 00:24:58,140
called the soft underbelly of the axis
429
00:24:54,980 --> 00:25:01,549
before trying to attack hitlist hard
430
00:24:58,140 --> 00:25:01,550
snout in France
431
00:25:01,750 --> 00:25:07,390
the sources of international brutality
432
00:25:04,269 --> 00:25:12,549
wherever they exist must be absolutely
433
00:25:07,390 --> 00:25:14,950
and finally living we must begin the
434
00:25:12,549 --> 00:25:18,009
great task that is before us by
435
00:25:14,950 --> 00:25:20,319
abandoning once and for all the illusion
436
00:25:18,009 --> 00:25:30,849
that we can ever again isolate ourselves
437
00:25:20,319 --> 00:25:33,579
from the rest of humanity but the war
438
00:25:30,849 --> 00:25:39,639
posed new challenges for an already
439
00:25:33,579 --> 00:25:42,009
weary President Roosevelt didn't simply
440
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:45,100
want victory he wanted to shape an
441
00:25:42,009 --> 00:25:49,769
enduring worldwide peace and avoid a
442
00:25:45,099 --> 00:25:49,769
repeat of the tragedy of Woodrow Wilson
443
00:25:50,339 --> 00:25:55,189
for him I think that meant drawing
444
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:59,789
communist Russia into peacetime
445
00:25:55,190 --> 00:26:03,110
cooperation moving beyond the era of
446
00:25:59,789 --> 00:26:05,700
European imperialism and above all
447
00:26:03,109 --> 00:26:08,279
persuading Americans to take up the
448
00:26:05,700 --> 00:26:11,640
burdens of international leadership in
449
00:26:08,279 --> 00:26:18,569
an improved version of Wilson's League
450
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:20,580
of Nations it was in search of those
451
00:26:18,569 --> 00:26:24,269
girls that Roosevelt traveled halfway
452
00:26:20,579 --> 00:26:28,399
around the world in November 1943 for
453
00:26:24,269 --> 00:26:31,379
summit meetings in Tehran to Cairo
454
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:33,090
here the man they nicknamed the Sphinx
455
00:26:31,380 --> 00:26:37,910
could take the measure of foreign
456
00:26:33,089 --> 00:26:37,909
leaders and test his political skills
457
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:44,190
would his secretive enigmatic nature
458
00:26:41,250 --> 00:26:53,460
seeming to be all things to all men work
459
00:26:44,190 --> 00:26:55,590
on the world stage for Roselle the
460
00:26:53,460 --> 00:26:58,529
highlight of the trip was his first
461
00:26:55,589 --> 00:27:02,490
meeting with America's other ally Joseph
462
00:26:58,529 --> 00:27:05,460
Stalin Russia's revolutionaries are had
463
00:27:02,490 --> 00:27:08,450
now gained the upper hand in his titanic
464
00:27:05,460 --> 00:27:08,450
struggle Hitler
465
00:27:08,619 --> 00:27:13,219
the Red Army was driving the Germans out
466
00:27:11,930 --> 00:27:17,318
of the Ukraine
467
00:27:13,220 --> 00:27:17,318
[Music]
468
00:27:17,990 --> 00:27:23,120
Roosevelt hoped to establish a close
469
00:27:20,798 --> 00:27:26,960
personal relationship with the Soviet
470
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:27,709
LinkedIn terse soft-spoken with a dry
471
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,528
humor
472
00:27:27,710 --> 00:27:33,069
Stalin seemed like a man with whom he
473
00:27:30,528 --> 00:27:35,970
could do business
474
00:27:33,069 --> 00:27:38,339
[Music]
475
00:27:35,970 --> 00:27:41,390
but Roosevelt had to persuade Winston
476
00:27:38,339 --> 00:27:44,220
Churchill the British Prime Minister
477
00:27:41,390 --> 00:27:47,420
Churchill also felt he could work with
478
00:27:44,220 --> 00:27:50,309
Stalin personally but as an inveterate
479
00:27:47,420 --> 00:27:52,769
anti-communist he harbored dark fears
480
00:27:50,309 --> 00:27:57,079
about what might happen its Soviet
481
00:27:52,769 --> 00:27:59,940
ideology caught fire across Europe
482
00:27:57,079 --> 00:28:03,809
Roosevelt's mind by contrast was more
483
00:27:59,940 --> 00:28:07,110
open to him Stalinism seemed very
484
00:28:03,809 --> 00:28:09,329
different from Leninist the Soviets had
485
00:28:07,109 --> 00:28:13,759
dropped the official ideology of world
486
00:28:09,329 --> 00:28:16,829
revolution and had allied with the West
487
00:28:13,759 --> 00:28:19,079
Roosevelt genuinely believed I think
488
00:28:16,829 --> 00:28:22,649
that it was possible to bring the Reds
489
00:28:19,079 --> 00:28:27,919
in from the cold into the family of
490
00:28:22,650 --> 00:28:27,920
Nations and that he was the man to do it
491
00:28:29,150 --> 00:28:35,370
at Tehran Roosevelt was willing to
492
00:28:32,460 --> 00:28:39,809
manipulate his old ally Winston to
493
00:28:35,369 --> 00:28:41,789
achieve his goal keen to show the
494
00:28:39,809 --> 00:28:44,579
Soviets that America and Britain weren't
495
00:28:41,789 --> 00:28:47,399
operating in as a bloc Roosevelt went
496
00:28:44,579 --> 00:28:51,809
out of his way to side with Stalin
497
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:53,340
against Church together they baited the
498
00:28:51,809 --> 00:28:55,829
British leader about the number of
499
00:28:53,339 --> 00:28:57,349
Germans that should be shocked after the
500
00:28:55,829 --> 00:29:01,289
war
501
00:28:57,349 --> 00:29:05,039
Roosevelt envisaged Russia with Britain
502
00:29:01,289 --> 00:29:08,509
as one of the policemen who would ensure
503
00:29:05,039 --> 00:29:11,579
peace and order in the post-war world as
504
00:29:08,509 --> 00:29:17,849
bulwarks of the new United Nations
505
00:29:11,579 --> 00:29:20,579
organisation Roosevelt's other pitch for
506
00:29:17,849 --> 00:29:22,919
Stalin's goodwill at Tehran was tied up
507
00:29:20,579 --> 00:29:29,279
with his great aim for the post-war
508
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:32,550
world the end of empire imperialism was
509
00:29:29,279 --> 00:29:34,529
one of Roosevelt's obsessions but he
510
00:29:32,549 --> 00:29:37,440
viewed it as essentially advice of the
511
00:29:34,529 --> 00:29:41,220
Europeans with their far-flung colonial
512
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:43,470
empires he didn't seem to recognize the
513
00:29:41,220 --> 00:29:45,870
expansion of Russia across Asia as
514
00:29:43,470 --> 00:29:47,640
imperialist and certainly not the
515
00:29:45,869 --> 00:29:50,879
expansion of the United States from the
516
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:53,009
Atlantic to the Pacific when meeting on
517
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:55,470
their own at Tehran Roosevelt treated
518
00:29:53,009 --> 00:29:57,690
Stalin almost as a fellow anti
519
00:29:55,470 --> 00:30:00,809
imperialist when discussing how to
520
00:29:57,690 --> 00:30:08,400
handle this issue with the reactionary
521
00:30:00,809 --> 00:30:10,289
Europeans he told Stalin that after a
522
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:13,019
hundred years of French rule in
523
00:30:10,289 --> 00:30:15,680
Indochina the inhabitants were worse off
524
00:30:13,019 --> 00:30:18,629
than they'd been before
525
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:21,320
as for the British Raj in India
526
00:30:18,630 --> 00:30:24,210
Roosevelt advocated what he called
527
00:30:21,319 --> 00:30:28,139
reform from the bottom somewhat on the
528
00:30:24,210 --> 00:30:31,410
Soviet line to which Stalin responded
529
00:30:28,140 --> 00:30:33,290
dryly reformed from the bottom would
530
00:30:31,410 --> 00:30:37,470
mean or evel's
531
00:30:33,289 --> 00:30:40,359
[Music]
532
00:30:37,470 --> 00:30:43,779
Roosevelt was delighted by the results
533
00:30:40,359 --> 00:30:46,839
of his journey for him the meeting with
534
00:30:43,779 --> 00:30:49,480
Stalin had been a huge step towards
535
00:30:46,839 --> 00:30:52,089
achieving his goal of a new world order
536
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:56,170
no longer centered on the historic grape
537
00:30:52,089 --> 00:30:59,470
flowers of Europe but the 12,000 mile
538
00:30:56,170 --> 00:31:03,460
round trip had taken a massive toll of
539
00:30:59,470 --> 00:31:16,089
the president's health massive and in
540
00:31:03,460 --> 00:31:19,240
fact fateful back in Washington in
541
00:31:16,089 --> 00:31:22,119
December 1943 Roosevelt was struck down
542
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:26,079
with flu and seemed unable to regain the
543
00:31:22,119 --> 00:31:30,099
strength the Christmas he said he felt
544
00:31:26,079 --> 00:31:32,500
like a boiled owl he would nod off in
545
00:31:30,099 --> 00:31:34,889
meetings and complained of persistent
546
00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:34,890
headaches
547
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:40,450
several long breaks in the new year at
548
00:31:37,808 --> 00:31:42,928
his beloved Hyde Park did not make a
549
00:31:40,450 --> 00:31:46,058
real difference
550
00:31:42,929 --> 00:31:49,330
what's amazing today I think it's the
551
00:31:46,058 --> 00:31:51,609
almost casual amateurish ness of the
552
00:31:49,329 --> 00:31:54,399
medical care given to the most powerful
553
00:31:51,609 --> 00:31:56,918
man in the world for months the
554
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:59,380
president's personal physician Admiral
555
00:31:56,919 --> 00:32:02,049
Ross McIntyre insisted that FDR's
556
00:31:59,380 --> 00:32:06,220
problem was simply persistent bronchitis
557
00:32:02,048 --> 00:32:08,950
and the after-effects of flu but then
558
00:32:06,220 --> 00:32:14,230
McIntyre was a rather strange sort of
559
00:32:08,950 --> 00:32:16,840
presidential doctor McIntyre's day job
560
00:32:14,230 --> 00:32:20,048
with Surgeon General of the u.s. Navy
561
00:32:16,839 --> 00:32:22,538
the Navy's top medical post responsible
562
00:32:20,048 --> 00:32:25,408
for 52 hospitals and a hundred and
563
00:32:22,538 --> 00:32:27,970
seventy-five thousand doctors and nurses
564
00:32:25,409 --> 00:32:31,990
looking after the president was done on
565
00:32:27,970 --> 00:32:34,450
the side he got that job through
566
00:32:31,990 --> 00:32:36,519
contacts in the right places and because
567
00:32:34,450 --> 00:32:39,580
Roosevelt had a chronic sinus condition
568
00:32:36,519 --> 00:32:42,450
and he was an ear nose and throat
569
00:32:39,579 --> 00:32:42,449
specialist
570
00:32:43,079 --> 00:32:46,299
[Music]
571
00:32:49,309 --> 00:32:54,219
[Music]
572
00:32:51,179 --> 00:32:57,699
McIntire did his presidential duties on
573
00:32:54,219 --> 00:33:00,578
the run he callin at the White House
574
00:32:57,699 --> 00:33:02,798
about 8:30 in the morning and go
575
00:33:00,578 --> 00:33:06,088
upstairs to the president's bedroom for
576
00:33:02,798 --> 00:33:09,729
what he called a look-see
577
00:33:06,088 --> 00:33:13,448
this consisted of sitting around while
578
00:33:09,729 --> 00:33:15,159
Roosevelt still in bed ate breakfast and
579
00:33:13,449 --> 00:33:18,609
chatted about what was in the morning
580
00:33:15,159 --> 00:33:21,449
newspapers that said MacIntyre told me
581
00:33:18,608 --> 00:33:26,228
all I wanted to know
582
00:33:21,449 --> 00:33:29,859
no thermometer no stethoscope no taking
583
00:33:26,229 --> 00:33:33,808
the pulse just listening to his master's
584
00:33:29,858 --> 00:33:37,948
voice this was hardly a model of
585
00:33:33,808 --> 00:33:37,949
advanced medical science
586
00:33:43,599 --> 00:33:48,909
it was not until March 1944 when the
587
00:33:47,019 --> 00:33:51,548
president was running a temperature of a
588
00:33:48,910 --> 00:33:53,470
hundred and four degrees that MacIntyre
589
00:33:51,548 --> 00:33:56,139
grudgingly arranged for him to have a
590
00:33:53,470 --> 00:34:01,808
check-up at Bethesda Naval Hospital on
591
00:33:56,140 --> 00:34:03,640
the outskirts of Washington in secret he
592
00:34:01,808 --> 00:34:05,769
was put onto the presidential train at
593
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:08,289
Hyde Park and taken for what was
594
00:34:05,769 --> 00:34:12,030
probably the first serious medical
595
00:34:08,289 --> 00:34:14,949
examination of his whole presidency
596
00:34:12,030 --> 00:34:17,230
Bethesda was the Navy's premier hospital
597
00:34:14,949 --> 00:34:19,719
and the president was being seen by one
598
00:34:17,230 --> 00:34:23,250
of its young up-and-coming cardiologists
599
00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,250
dr. Howard Bruin
600
00:34:23,358 --> 00:34:29,578
FDR was wielding jocular and chatty he
601
00:34:27,179 --> 00:34:34,798
kept that up the whole time a cover
602
00:34:29,579 --> 00:34:39,709
brewing guests for dinner anxiety the
603
00:34:34,798 --> 00:34:39,708
checkup itself with deeply alarming
604
00:34:40,398 --> 00:34:46,038
these are dr. Bruins original
605
00:34:43,909 --> 00:34:50,669
examinations
606
00:34:46,039 --> 00:34:54,149
the president's lungs were congested his
607
00:34:50,668 --> 00:34:58,259
heart enormous and blood pressure
608
00:34:54,148 --> 00:35:01,278
readings dangerously high 170 over a
609
00:34:58,259 --> 00:35:04,588
hundred and ten way above the normal
610
00:35:01,278 --> 00:35:08,489
brewing rate that he was appalled at
611
00:35:04,588 --> 00:35:13,679
what he'd found the diagnosis here is
612
00:35:08,489 --> 00:35:18,240
stark hypertension hypertensive heart
613
00:35:13,679 --> 00:35:24,799
disease cardiac failure
614
00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:28,049
[Music]
615
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:31,289
FDR's visit to Bethesda could not be
616
00:35:28,050 --> 00:35:34,289
kept a secret but at a press conference
617
00:35:31,289 --> 00:35:36,389
Admiral McIntire insisted brazenly that
618
00:35:34,289 --> 00:35:39,088
the president's health was satisfactory
619
00:35:36,389 --> 00:35:43,828
apart from the lingering effects of flu
620
00:35:39,088 --> 00:35:46,739
and bronchitis what FDR needed claimed
621
00:35:43,829 --> 00:35:52,460
his doctor was just a bit more exercise
622
00:35:46,739 --> 00:35:54,899
and sunshine behind the scenes however
623
00:35:52,460 --> 00:35:58,050
McIntyre ought to be desperate rearguard
624
00:35:54,900 --> 00:36:02,130
action against Bruins devastating
625
00:35:58,050 --> 00:36:04,740
diagnosis the young cardiologist was
626
00:36:02,130 --> 00:36:07,170
insisting that Rose felt needed
627
00:36:04,739 --> 00:36:10,799
injections of the drug digitalis to
628
00:36:07,170 --> 00:36:14,760
strengthen his heart a regular daily
629
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:18,420
pattern of rests in bed and a strict
630
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:21,930
diet to wean him off rich food his
631
00:36:18,420 --> 00:36:27,389
infamous evening cocktails and 20 or 30
632
00:36:21,929 --> 00:36:31,318
cigarettes a day McIntyre was absolutely
633
00:36:27,389 --> 00:36:34,529
furious you can't do that he shouted
634
00:36:31,318 --> 00:36:39,960
this is the President of the United
635
00:36:34,530 --> 00:36:42,410
States but Bruin was sure that is would
636
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:45,900
become was if they didn't act quickly
637
00:36:42,409 --> 00:36:50,809
and he calmly stuck to his guns before
638
00:36:45,900 --> 00:36:50,809
three boards of senior Washington medics
639
00:36:54,309 --> 00:37:01,690
eventually given leave to go ahead ruin
640
00:36:58,039 --> 00:37:01,690
achieved significant results
641
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:08,900
after a week of digitate the president's
642
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:11,790
lungs were clear and his heart smaller
643
00:37:08,900 --> 00:37:13,829
he was sleeping much better and had cut
644
00:37:11,789 --> 00:37:17,250
down his cigarettes to half a dozen a
645
00:37:13,829 --> 00:37:18,779
day but his blood pressure remained very
646
00:37:17,250 --> 00:37:22,889
hard and with it
647
00:37:18,780 --> 00:37:25,140
the risk of a stroke yet in those days
648
00:37:22,889 --> 00:37:27,269
there were no medications available for
649
00:37:25,139 --> 00:37:30,449
high blood pressure and the standard
650
00:37:27,269 --> 00:37:32,519
remedies rest and no stress were hard to
651
00:37:30,449 --> 00:37:38,909
arrange for the most powerful man in the
652
00:37:32,519 --> 00:37:41,280
world but Bruin did what he could he
653
00:37:38,909 --> 00:37:42,690
persuaded FDR to take a break on the
654
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:46,970
estate of an old friend
655
00:37:42,690 --> 00:37:46,970
Bernard Baruch in South Carolina
656
00:37:48,179 --> 00:37:53,669
early nights and a lot of fishing were
657
00:37:50,579 --> 00:38:01,200
real tonics Roosevelt liked it so much
658
00:37:53,670 --> 00:38:04,260
that he stayed for weeks but none of
659
00:38:01,199 --> 00:38:06,899
this dealt with the basic problem how
660
00:38:04,260 --> 00:38:12,510
could the ailing president survive all
661
00:38:06,900 --> 00:38:14,760
the pressures he had been out of the
662
00:38:12,510 --> 00:38:18,180
White House for nine of the first 20
663
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:21,109
weeks of 1944 he was now back but was
664
00:38:18,179 --> 00:38:24,539
trying to operate on a four hour day
665
00:38:21,108 --> 00:38:27,348
this was hardly satisfactory for the
666
00:38:24,539 --> 00:38:30,150
President of the United States
667
00:38:27,349 --> 00:38:32,640
especially a president who was planning
668
00:38:30,150 --> 00:38:35,820
to run for a fourth term
669
00:38:32,639 --> 00:38:35,819
[Music]
670
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:43,389
the Washington rumor mills speculated
671
00:38:40,780 --> 00:38:45,309
feverishly about how FDR's health would
672
00:38:43,389 --> 00:38:47,679
cope with another four years as
673
00:38:45,309 --> 00:38:50,290
president
674
00:38:47,679 --> 00:38:53,699
the choice of his new vice-presidential
675
00:38:50,289 --> 00:38:55,869
running mate would be critical
676
00:38:53,699 --> 00:38:58,269
Roosevelt differed about the
677
00:38:55,869 --> 00:39:00,389
alternatives only late in the day
678
00:38:58,269 --> 00:39:03,280
pumping for the obscure and
679
00:39:00,389 --> 00:39:05,769
inexperienced Senator Harry Truman of
680
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:06,940
Missouri and getting very stressed about
681
00:39:05,769 --> 00:39:10,530
the whole business
682
00:39:06,940 --> 00:39:16,000
it was another alarming sign of FDR's
683
00:39:10,530 --> 00:39:19,060
infirmity dr. Howard brewing was never
684
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:22,389
consulted but looking back he had no
685
00:39:19,059 --> 00:39:27,190
doubt that a fourth term was a medical
686
00:39:22,389 --> 00:39:30,429
impossibility and deep down FDR surely
687
00:39:27,190 --> 00:39:33,039
knew this too I think it's telling that
688
00:39:30,429 --> 00:39:36,339
at the end of his check up at Bethesda
689
00:39:33,039 --> 00:39:39,369
the President thanked dr. Bruin and the
690
00:39:36,340 --> 00:39:43,870
staff but then left without asking a
691
00:39:39,369 --> 00:39:46,239
single question he carried on avoiding
692
00:39:43,869 --> 00:39:51,539
any discussion of his real condition
693
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:51,539
with Bruin or any other qualified doctor
694
00:39:51,659 --> 00:39:58,349
I think Roosevelt didn't want to know
695
00:39:55,130 --> 00:40:02,160
perhaps he couldn't afford to know for
696
00:39:58,349 --> 00:40:05,809
this was a man with a vision who like
697
00:40:02,159 --> 00:40:10,259
most states had come to see himself as
698
00:40:05,809 --> 00:40:13,230
irreplaceable with vision comes hubris
699
00:40:10,260 --> 00:40:19,560
the cardinal sin of all political
700
00:40:13,230 --> 00:40:22,920
veterans in the summer of 1944 as the
701
00:40:19,559 --> 00:40:25,829
war boiled up to its climax the
702
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:28,650
wheelchair President was sure that he
703
00:40:25,829 --> 00:40:32,369
had to stay around to shape the
704
00:40:28,650 --> 00:40:36,360
political future forgiving the desperate
705
00:40:32,369 --> 00:40:38,900
state of his health this was a reckless
706
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:38,900
gamble
707
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:47,650
the 6th of June 1944
708
00:40:48,929 --> 00:40:55,230
Dida the long-awaited anglo-american
709
00:40:52,199 --> 00:40:58,239
landings in France
710
00:40:55,230 --> 00:41:02,940
news of Operation Overlord was greeted
711
00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:02,939
with relief and elation awesome area
712
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:08,529
that evening the president spoke by
713
00:41:05,829 --> 00:41:11,500
radio to the American people not in
714
00:41:08,530 --> 00:41:33,550
tones of exultation but in the form of a
715
00:41:11,500 --> 00:41:38,650
simple prayer and to set free a
716
00:41:33,550 --> 00:41:43,440
suffering humanity help us Almighty God
717
00:41:38,650 --> 00:41:49,280
to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith
718
00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:53,898
in thee in this hour of great sacrifice
719
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:53,899
[Music]
720
00:41:56,489 --> 00:42:00,939
but for the moment the gi's didn't get
721
00:41:59,409 --> 00:42:03,909
much farther than the hedgerows of
722
00:42:00,940 --> 00:42:11,679
Normandy pinned down by fierce German
723
00:42:03,909 --> 00:42:14,949
resistance meanwhile another d-day
724
00:42:11,679 --> 00:42:17,649
dawned on the Eastern Front little-known
725
00:42:14,949 --> 00:42:22,649
even today in the West this shaped the
726
00:42:17,650 --> 00:42:22,650
fate of Europe as much as operation oval
727
00:42:24,579 --> 00:42:29,528
on the 21st of June the Red Army
728
00:42:27,130 --> 00:42:31,858
unleashed its summer offensive into PLO
729
00:42:29,528 --> 00:42:31,858
Russia
730
00:42:33,809 --> 00:42:37,650
the impact was devastating
731
00:42:45,429 --> 00:42:50,079
in five weeks while Eisenhower and
732
00:42:47,980 --> 00:42:53,380
Montgomery were bogged down in Normandy
733
00:42:50,079 --> 00:43:00,309
the Red Army destroyed 20 German
734
00:42:53,380 --> 00:43:03,660
divisions and drove forward 450 miles to
735
00:43:00,309 --> 00:43:03,659
the gates of Warsaw
736
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:10,019
[Music]
737
00:43:06,739 --> 00:43:11,219
but when the Polish Home Army rose up
738
00:43:10,019 --> 00:43:15,588
against the Nazis
739
00:43:11,219 --> 00:43:15,588
the Soviets provided little help
740
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:21,940
admittedly the Red Army was now
741
00:43:19,300 --> 00:43:28,300
exhausted and in no condition to assault
742
00:43:21,940 --> 00:43:30,909
a well-defended City but Stalin with
743
00:43:28,300 --> 00:43:33,010
reason viewed the Warsaw rising as a
744
00:43:30,909 --> 00:43:35,739
deliberate attempt by the poles to
745
00:43:33,010 --> 00:43:43,690
liberate their country before it fell
746
00:43:35,739 --> 00:43:46,479
under Soviet control Churchill angered
747
00:43:43,690 --> 00:43:55,059
by the Soviet attitude pres Stalin to
748
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:58,389
offer aid Machiavellian as ever in his
749
00:43:55,059 --> 00:44:01,840
approach to ends and means Roosevelt
750
00:43:58,389 --> 00:44:04,420
kept out of this argument for him the
751
00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:07,180
real goal continued to be forging a
752
00:44:04,420 --> 00:44:11,559
long-term partnership with the Soviet
753
00:44:07,179 --> 00:44:15,250
leader at Tehran he'd even pretended to
754
00:44:11,559 --> 00:44:17,170
snooze when Stalin and Churchill haggled
755
00:44:15,250 --> 00:44:18,190
over the details of Eastern Europe
756
00:44:17,170 --> 00:44:23,829
joking
757
00:44:18,190 --> 00:44:27,990
I don't care two hoots about Poland wake
758
00:44:23,829 --> 00:44:27,989
me up when we talk about Germany
759
00:44:30,250 --> 00:44:35,449
but the Walsall rising did have a
760
00:44:33,108 --> 00:44:36,858
significant effect on Roosevelt's
761
00:44:35,449 --> 00:44:42,169
ambassador to Russia
762
00:44:36,858 --> 00:44:44,809
Averell Harriman the Soviet response to
763
00:44:42,170 --> 00:44:47,720
the Walsall rising left Harriman feeling
764
00:44:44,809 --> 00:44:50,328
FDR was too confident about the Soviet
765
00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:57,379
regime gradually adopting Western
766
00:44:50,329 --> 00:45:00,769
democratic ways the question became even
767
00:44:57,380 --> 00:45:03,170
more pressing when in September 1944 the
768
00:45:00,769 --> 00:45:07,880
Red Army broke through into Romania and
769
00:45:03,170 --> 00:45:10,159
Bulgaria the Soviets were clearly going
770
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:13,789
to be a presence in Eastern Europe after
771
00:45:10,159 --> 00:45:16,598
the war was over how should the West
772
00:45:13,789 --> 00:45:16,599
deal with
773
00:45:28,550 --> 00:45:35,519
[Music]
774
00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:39,500
you
775
00:45:40,719 --> 00:45:45,029
[Music]
81328
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