Introduction

Few families have influenced America like the Roosevelts--two presidents from different parties, including our longest-serving chief executive, and the "First Lady of the World." Born into aristocratic society, Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor (nee) Roosevelt shared a commitment to progress and the common good over class. Their lives have been the focus of numerous books but their legacy and the extended family they left behind warrant a closer look. This book chronicles "the Roosevelts" and "those other Roosevelts"--a family of individuals always striving to measure up but united by an illustrious past.