Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years

I am a fan of this period of US history, so I should state that at the outset. This was, for me, a very touching and intimate view of the closest thing the US ever had to a royal family. The period elements were wonderful and I even enjoyed the faux Andrews Sisters at one of the White House parties.

Perhaps the reason why this elegant work got to me is that this was a portrait of a time when this country lost its youth -- literally and figuratively. I remember my father, who was in the Army Signal Corps during WWII, telling me that the only thing he wanted back from "those days" was his youth. We who view it as history tend to romanticize the times and events. It must have been hell for those who lived it, though.

The treatment of the funeral train and procession was particularly poignant for me. I heard from my parents how sad that time was.