I fell asleep watching this last night. I came in right about the time that her father died so I appreciate your recap of what happened before that, especially with her mother since I was wondering about her.

I fell asleep about the time she realized her marriage was a sham but she wasn't allowed a divorce.

I didn't realize that they had so many children.

I'm going to look if this is being rerun. I'd like to see it in it's entirety. Maybe I'll just pick up a good biography.

I listened mainly. Now SHE would have been a good woman president! She sure did have an unhappy childhood. Just can't imagine a mother treating her child so poorly. Maybe that's what made her so strong, though.

Saw parts of it.

I thought the whole thing about friendship with the woman newspaper reporter was very interesting. I'd never heard that before.

I've read about that, and speculation that they were lovers. I have no idea whether or not they had a sexual relationship, but I think it's worth noting that affection between women was expressed a lot more freely and extravagantly in earlier times.

Witness the letter Eleanor wrote to her mother-in-law while she was on her honeymoon. She said something to the effect that she looked forward to spending a long evening together, during which she will want to be kissed many times.

That sounds odd to us now (at least it does to me), but at the time I'm sure there was nothing unusual in her statement.

I read a couple of books on her, and I always had
my suspicions of her too. I felt terribly sorry for
her, though. She tried to be a "dutiful" wife to
FD, and he had affairs and never treated her well. I
think she was much more intelligent than the world
wanted her to be. Being "just" a woman. Sure glad
times have changed somewhat.

I watched all of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Eleanor and Franklin story fascinates me, so I've read a fair amount about them and watch any movie or documentary available. There's an outstanding mini-series, Eleanor and Franklin, starring Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann, winner of many Emmys, made in the 80s, now available from Amazon and Netflix. It is so worthwhile. It portrays everything shown in last night's program. Alexander and Herrmann are at the peak of their acting power.

Eleanor's personal life was heartbreaking beyond belief. She lived in the shadow of her controlling and criticial mother-in-law for almost the entirety of her marriage to Franklin, and she bore all the slights and insults without complaint. She didn't ask for a divorce when his affair with Lucy Mercer was discovered. She simply said that she would do whatever he wanted. So the decision to stay married was made by Franklin and his mother, for political reasons.

It was his cousin Laura Delano who revealed to Eleanor that Franklin was with Lucy when he died. Most of the women who were close to Franklin hated and were jealous of Eleanor and IMO Laura couldn't wait to permanently and cruelly hurt her in the worst way, which she did. My contempt for Laura Delano knows no bounds.

OTOH, Eleanor ignored Franklin's failing health in his final years. Payback, perhaps. His private doctors were incompetents; his primary doc was an ENT specialist, even though he suffered from heart disease and high blood pressure. After one attack, a cardiac specialist was brought in. He was alarmed at what he found and begged for changes in FDR's treatment and lifestyle, and was largely ignored by everyone. The details of FDR's final years in terms of his health are horrifying. This would not happen today with any president. In fact, anyone walking into a "doc in the box" clinic today would receive better treatment than FDR did.

I am not a history buff but this thread has me fascinated. I looked on my local PBS station and this show about Eleanor Roosevelt comes on Saturday morning at 8. I plan on watching it!

Sable - have you read the book "Franklin and Lucy"? If so, would you recommend it?

Jamie - I went over to Amazon and read up on this book, of which I'd never heard, and ordered it! So yes, guess I'd recommend it, lol. I think that it would be especially good if someone is not too familiar with the story of FDR and all his ladies. But - I might take some of the stories about Eleanor and her so-called lovers with a grain of salt. Over the last 25 years or so she's been accused of sleeping with a lot of people. I don't believe that. She was an extremely uptight Victorian woman, given to over-the-top expressions of love and kisses even to people she disliked, like her MIL. She may have had a couple of intimate relationships, but there's no real proof. We do know a lot more about Franklin and his ladies.

I have book entitled Lucy: A Novel, by Ellen Feldman, which I liked. It's written as a first person narration by Lucy Mercer, a sort of fantasy but with many facts as well. It gave me insights into FDR's side of that story.

I knew the history of Franklin and Eleanor and was aware of her tragic childhood. She was a cool lady. I can still remember her as an old woman before she died and the way she talked. I'd like to see the PBS story if it is rerun.