A biography of the life and times of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Part 1
Times Square at night, a scrolling ticker reading that Franklin D Roosevelt has been elected to his second term. Crowds celebrate.
January 20, 1937. Franklin D Roosevelt Inauguration. Panning shot of crowds huddled at the steps of the Capitol Building on a rainy day. Franklin D Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevlet riding in convertible en route to Inauguration.
The Supreme Court Building, cars passing in foreground.
March 4, 1937. Address at the Democratic Victory Dinner. Washington DC. Franklin D Roosevelt speaking The Democratic Administration and the Congress made a gallant, sincere effort to raise wages, to reduce hours, to abolish child labor, to eliminate unfair trade practices. And what happened? And what happened? if we would make democracy succeed, I say we must act NOW!
Franklin D Roosevelt working at desk, perusing papers.
The Capitol Building.
Senators openly contesting Franklin D Roosevelt attempt at packing the Supreme Court. Unidentified Sentaor, I shall not be a party to breaking down the checks and balances of the Constitution in the absence of a mandate from the People to that effect. Unidentified Sentaor, I do not think that any person who has confidence in the President of the United States will believe for one moment that he was urged by a desire to pack the Supreme Court of the United States in his personal interest. Unidentified Sentaor, I am opposed to packing the Court for the purpose of controlling its Constitutional decisions, whether by the President or by anybody else..
March 9, 1937. Fireside Chat. Franklin D Roosevelt What do they mean by the words "packing the Court"? Let me answer this question with a bluntness that will end all honest misunderstanding of my purposes. If by that phrase "packing the Court" it is charged that I wish to place on the bench spineless puppets who would disregard the law and would decide specific cases as I wished them to be decided, I make this answer: that no President fit for his office would appoint, and no Senate of honorable men fit for their office would confirm, that kind of appointees to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Sailing montage, New England. Sailboat on water. President Franklin D Roosevelt and his sons on boat. FDR wearing floppy hat.
January 7, 1939. Address at the Jackson Day Dinner. Franklin D Roosevelt affecting an Irish accent If we Democrats lay for each other now, we can be sure that 1940 will be the corner where the American people will be laying for all of us.