The past really would be just a bucket of ashes except for what it can teach about the present. The new PBS series “The Roosevelts” has at least one good lesson: In America, strong presidents are better than weak ones — unless you are a member of the foreign-tyrant or corrupt fat-cat community.
We viewed all seven episodes over the past week. It’s compelling stuff. But you can’t watch Theodore and Franklin and Eleanor fight the good fight without occasionally wishing there were modern leaders big enough to try it themselves.
By comparison, our recent presidents and the current one all seem smaller men, not leading so much as being led by election calculus or careerist advisers. Maybe that’s not completely fair; maybe the times make the leader, rather than the other way around. Maybe our times aren’t yet dramatic enough to require greatness. But after each episode the credits start to roll and you think: We won’t need another Mount Rushmore anytime soon. In today’s Washington, the greatness bullpen is pretty much empty.
The series isn’t just about the greatness, though. That would be boring. By giving equal time to their flaws and frailties, Ken Burns and crew make the Roosevelts real, not quite so legendary and inevitable. Yeah, they did a lot for this country, but none of it came easy. There’s no drama without adversity, and the Roosevelts had plenty of that. They also had pretty good senses of humor, to leaven the pathos. So the series is not just good history; it’s good TV.
Also, it’s free. Dave Bob says check it out.
There will be blood
A few rules for 2015
Somethin’ from the oven
Killing time with “The Killing”
Coulda been worse
I’m up to episode 3 and ‘compelling’ is right….two thumbs up!
I finally got a chance to listen to the reading of “The Least Best Place”. I remember it as “Dead Black Cadillac” in EQMM. It is interesting hearing somebody read it. It makes me notice different things about the story construction and the language.
And you’re right about the readers. The guy who did the intro is great, but the guy reading the story could have done better. Strangely, he pronounced “Ennis” correctly the first time, then got it wrong after that. He also had trouble with “superfluous” and “incongruous” – I guess those “-uous” words can be tricky.