Franklin Roosevelt governed through the Great Depression and World War II from a wheelchair most Americans never saw. Behind the famous confidence lay a calculated performance — a man who could not stand unaided projecting an illusion of physical vigor that shaped an entire era.

This episode traces Roosevelt from privileged aristocrat to polio survivor, from New Deal architect to wartime commander-in-chief — examining the political genius and contradictions of the only president elected four times.

• How polio transformed Roosevelt from charming socialite into a hardened leader
• The elaborate measures taken to hide his disability from the public
• Key New Deal programs that reshaped American government and social policy
• Roosevelt's controversial wartime decisions and their lasting consequences