The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History is a standalone Miniseries designed as a completed, finite historical narrative. This massive documentary undertaking by Ken Burns chronicles the lives of Theodore, Eleanor, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt over the course of more than a century of American history. The production was structured as a comprehensive seven-part event to provide a definitive look at how these three individuals influenced the development of the modern United States through their personal struggles and political triumphs.

Because the series serves as a biographical retrospective of historical figures, it was designed with a specific endpoint coinciding with the conclusion of their lives and political legacies. The narrative scope is exhaustive, covering the family from the mid-nineteenth century through the death of Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962. As a result, the project was always intended to be a singular, closed-ended television event rather than an ongoing program with future seasons.