Season 3
As the international situation deteriorates, FDR faces multiple challenges: readying the country for war across two oceans, facing down the threats from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, and attempting to rally political support at home. Americans are not convinced of the foreign threat. Many are still isolationists, seeking to let the world solve its own problems while America stands aloof. Public opinion seems to be changing, but it's a gradual process.
Will FDR be able to master these multiple crises? Will the American people rally behind him? Will the nation prepare in time to face one of the gravest threats in its history—or will all of FDR's efforts be too late? Join The National WWII Museum for Season 3 of this limited series podcast as we explore America's road to Pearl Harbor as seen through the eyes of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Season 2 Archive
While the threat of global fascism was dead, the world in 1945 stood at a crossroads. For some, a freedom that they had never before experienced brought new opportunities, economic security, and stability. For others, the struggle was anything but over. Across eastern Europe, Stalin’s regime brought oppression, violence, and the ever-present eye of the secret police. Across Asia, the threat of Communism was real and growing. On the US Home Front, the stark reality of racial inequality was brought to the forefront as Black, Jewish, Asian, Latino, and other American minorities returned home after the war to find that they were being denied their basic rights when it came to buying homes, finding jobs, and getting a decent education.
Season 1 Archive
In the midst of history’s greatest war, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and died just 11 weeks into his fourth term. Season 1 of "To the Best of My Ability" is a nine-part podcast series that examines what happens in the wake of his death, pulling directly from the newly sworn-in President Harry S. Truman’s diaries, oral histories from the men and women who lived through it, and more. Join The National WWII Museum as we explore the tragedies, triumphs, and difficult choices made by one of history’s most unexpected leaders.
