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World War II: 1945 and the Wheelchair President

David Reynolds re-examines the war leadership of American president Franklin Roosevelt, who inspired millions with stirring visions of a new and better postwar world.

David Reynolds re-examines the war leadership of American president Franklin Roosevelt.

At the height of war, Roosevelt inspired millions with stirring visions of a new and better postwar world, but it was a world he probably knew he would never see. He was commander-in-chief of the greatest military power the world had known, and yet his paralysis from polio made him powerless to accomplish even the most minor physical tasks. Few Americans knew the extent of his disability.

In this intimate biography set against the epic of World War II, Reynolds reveals how Roosevelt was burdened by secrets about his failing health and strained marriage that, if exposed, could have destroyed his presidency. Enigmatic, secretive and with a complicated love life, America's wheelchair president was racing to shape the future before the past caught up with him.

Weaving together the conduct of the war in Europe and the Pacific, the high politics of Roosevelt's diplomacy with Stalin and Churchill, and the entangled stories of the women who sustained the president in his last year, Reynolds explores the impact of Roosevelt's growing frailty on the war's endgame and the tainted peace that followed.

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Thu 10 Oct 2019 22:00
主播大秀 Four

Clip

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:20

    Alexandre Desplat

    The Campaign

  • 00:21

    Peter Gabriel

    Digging In The Dirt

  • 00:24

    Peter Gabriel

    Downside Up (feat. Melanie Gabriel)

  • 00:33

    Alexandre Desplat

    Doubt

  • 00:46

    Alexandre Desplat

    The Ides of March

  • 00:47

    Alexandre Desplat

    Lobbying

  • 00:50

    Alexandre Desplat

    Molly

  • 00:55

    Clint Mansell

    The Spirit of The Creator Moved Upon The Face of The Waters

  • 01:13

    Alex Heffes

    Political Campaigning

  • 01:15

    Hans Zimmer

    Interstellar

Credits

Presenter David Reynolds
Writer David Reynolds
Producer Russell Barnes
Director Russell Barnes
Production Company ClearStory Ltd
Editor Julian Hart

Broadcasts

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