31: 3. The Rise of FDR and Calvin Coolidge's Contrasting Personas David Pietrusza 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, the ambitious Assistant Secretary of the Navy, was considered only for the vice presidency in 1920, often making mist
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John Batchelor
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🗓️ 27 October 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
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Summary
David Pietrusza
1920: The Year of the Six Presidents
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the ambitious Assistant Secretary of the Navy, was considered only for the vice presidency in 1920, often making mistakes on the campaign trail. His marriage to Eleanor had become strained by his long-term affair with Lucy Mercer, transforming into more of a political partnership. This contrasts sharply with Calvin Coolidge, whose marriage was marked by fidelity. Coolidge, Governor of Massachusetts, was admired for his trustworthiness and decisiveness, traits rooted in his remote Vermont upbringing. The segment also introduces Herbert Hoover, the "great engineer" and humanitarian, who served under Wilson and was so popular that both parties considered him for the 1920 nomination; FDR even proposed a Hoover-Roosevelt ticket.
1929 MARCH 4, DEPARTING FOR THE INAUGURATION.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchel with the author and historian David, Patricia. The book is 1920, the year of the six presidents. |
| 0:07.0 | We've seen three of them so far. Teddy Roosevelt, who's gone in January of 1919. |
| 0:12.0 | Woodrow Wilson, who's frail and will be for the rest of his life. He dies in 1924. |
| 0:18.0 | And Warren G. Harding, who will not live out his first term, we turned now to the |
| 0:25.6 | vice presidents of the moment, and one who is either a president or a vice president for both parties. |
| 0:32.4 | We begin with FDR, a much different personality than we know him from his time in the White House. |
| 0:40.5 | He was a Harvard graduate after three years. His family was, well, as David presents them, |
| 0:46.5 | snootier than the rich families of New York State, very snooty, very well connected. |
| 0:54.0 | FDR was lucky enough to have a dominating mother who took care of him and his reputation the rest of his life. |
| 1:01.6 | He met Eleanor Roosevelt in 1905, 1902, early in his life, and proposed to her and they married. |
| 1:11.7 | And so he is, and they have five children who survive. |
| 1:15.4 | But when the period of time we're looking at, FDR is ambitious for more than he's won so far, |
| 1:23.3 | which is a state senate seat from Duchess County. |
| 1:27.2 | And then as his older uncle cousin, Teddy Roosevelt, he asks for the Wilson administration to make him assistant secretary of Navy. |
| 1:36.9 | And because Josephus Daniels, the secretary of the Navy from North Carolina, who likes white suits, is much away. |
| 1:44.8 | Franklin Roosevelt, called Frank. |
| 1:46.9 | He's not called FDR this time, although we're going to refer to him as FDR to make a distinction with TR. |
| 1:52.9 | Frank takes the reins and is a very active assistant secretary of Navy because he's ambitious for higher office. |
| 2:01.9 | He imagines himself a president early on. |
| 2:05.2 | Now we're in 1920, and Roosevelt's name is often mentioned as a possible outsider. |
| 2:12.6 | But at this point, David, is this an outsider as vice president, |
| 2:16.7 | or were they thinking a man at 38 could be the |
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