S01.E07: Nadir

[CheshireCat]

Quote

Eleanor doubles down on her efforts to confront racism; Betty helps Jerry secure the Republican nomination for re-election while her problems with addiction worsen; Michelle grieves after gun violence tragedies and advocates for legislative action.

Air date: May 29, 2022

[4Sibes Redux]

The timing of this episode really brought home how although some things have changed, we still have a long way to go. 

[Spartan Girl]

The timing of this episode was brutal, but absolutely necessary.

[TakomaSnark]

Welp, I burst out in tears pretty quickly.

[MsMalin]

Unbelievable timing with the school shootings.  Very sad to realize it hasn't gotten any better.

I know its been said a thousand times but Viola Davis is just unwatchable for me and ruins the Michelle Obama story.

I am all in on the Betty Ford story. I never would have thought I would be so invested in her story. Michelle P is phenomenal.

I am assuming there will be more seasons. I recently listened to a podcast about Lady Bird Johnson which was amazing. I hope to see her profiled.

[marinw]

Gillian Anderson as Eleanor is satrting to grow on me, even if she is doing weird face things-a theme for this show. 

Sandy Hook. No words.

Edited May 31, 2022 by marinw

[marinw]

Weird how this show skipped over the raid on Osama Bin Laden. That was a BFD.

[Marley]

Once again the Obama’s parts are unwatchable because of Viola Davis. Her performance couldn’t be more distracting. She is butchering it I’m sorry. I have to FF. Of course the timing of the story is so sad.

I didn’t know a lot about Betty Ford but I kind of like her. I dont think there even is any pro choice republicans anymore. She was getting pretty litty tho. Was it really obvious to everyone?

Eleanor another gal ahead of her time. Seemed like she wanted to do more about segregation then FDR did.

[txhorns79]

2 hours ago, marinw said:

Weird how this show skipped over the raid on Osama Bin Laden. That was a BFD.

It was, but I don't think Michelle Obama had much role in it.  I think they are trying to focus on things the First Ladies did, as opposed to events where they just happened to be present. 

[emmawoodhouse]

1 hour ago, Marley said:

Eleanor another gal ahead of her time. Seemed like she wanted to do more about segregation then FDR did.

Franklin told her that he would lose the Southern Democrats. She cared about people. He just cared about votes. 

[One Imaginary Girl]

The captions strike again: it said 1939 shortly before Mrs. Roosevelt took that flight with a Tuskegee Airman, but that was in 1941.  I don't know if the Airmen had been founded by 1939, but it might be time to revisit the HBO movie about them.  That was a wonderful scene in it.

[Dejana]

On 5/30/2022 at 9:34 AM, MsMalin said:

Unbelievable timing with the school shootings.  Very sad to realize it hasn't gotten any better.

I know its been said a thousand times but Viola Davis is just unwatchable for me and ruins the Michelle Obama story.

I am all in on the Betty Ford story. I never would have thought I would be so invested in her story. Michelle P is phenomenal.

I am assuming there will be more seasons. I recently listened to a podcast about Lady Bird Johnson which was amazing. I hope to see her profiled.

Lady Bird published a diary of her time as First Lady, after LBJ's presidency. It's long but offers a unique perspective on life in the White House. She'd make a great subject for a future season (if there is one).

It was so upsetting to relive Sandy Hook this week. With the Hadiya Pendleton story, the show highlights that "smaller" incidents of gun violence are also senseless and terrible. Seeing Rahm Emanuel and Michelle make peace at the funeral was an interesting contrast to Betty and her nemeses, Rumsfeld and Cheney. I would say they were unrealistically, cartoonishly evil, but... I have to look up why Ford couldn't just shuffle them off somewhere, but they were probably too powerful, even then.

I've looked up Eleanor Roosevelt speeches and I don't think Gillian is that far off from reality. Like Jackie Kennedy, Eleanor's way of speaking has fallen out of favor over time, to the point where it seems like a parody.

Viola, though...*sigh*

Edited May 31, 2022 by Dejana

[MMEButterfly]

3 hours ago, Dejana said:

Lady Bird published a diary of her time as First Lady, after LBJ's presidency. It's long but offers a unique perspective on life in the White House. She'd make a great subject for a future season (if there is one).

It was so upsetting to relive Sandy Hook this week. With the Hadiya Pendleton story, the show highlights that "smaller" incidents of gun violence are also senseless and terrible. Seeing Rahm Emanuel and Michelle make peace at the funeral was an interesting contrast to Betty and her nemeses, Rumsfeld and Cheney. I would say they were unrealistically, cartoonishly evil, but... I have to look up why Ford couldn't just shuffle them off somewhere, but they were probably too powerful, even then.

I've looked up Eleanor Roosevelt speeches and I don't think Gillian is that far off from reality. Like Jackie Kennedy, Eleanor's way of speaking has fallen out of favor over time, to the point where it seems like a parody.

Viola, though...*sigh*

Yes, transatlantic accent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

On 5/30/2022 at 6:34 AM, MsMalin said:

Unbelievable timing with the school shootings.  Very sad to realize it hasn't gotten any better.

In 2007, The Sopranos aired an episode where an elderly character is severely beaten by a mentally-unbalanced Asian twentysomething: it aired less than a week after the Virginia Tech shooting which was was perpetrated by a mentally-unbalanced Asian twentysomething. I thought that would stand forever as the most unfortunate timing of a TV episode. Sadly, this past week proved me wrong.

16 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Franklin told her that he would lose the Southern Democrats. She cared about people. He just cared about votes. 

The flipside of the coin: If FDR had lost the Southern Democrats, he might well have lost the 1940 election to GOP nominee Wendell Willkie, which means Franklin and Eleanor would have lost the platform to make the changes they wanted. Politics is about the art of compromise and deal-making, even if those compromises and deals are sometimes morally repugnant.

3 hours ago, Dejana said:

...an interesting contrast to Betty and her nemeses, Rumsfeld and Cheney. I would say they were unrealistically, cartoonishly evil, but... I have to look up why Ford couldn't just shuffle them off somewhere, but they were probably too powerful, even then.

The dodgy historical accuracy of this show strikes again: By Christmas 1975, Rumsfeld had become Secretary of Defense (his first of two tenures), and therefore would not have been involved in anything Betty Ford was doing. Rumsfeld's replacement as White House Chief of Staff was Cheney himself, but maybe the showrunners wanted to keep Betty's nemeses consistent. As always, the actor playing Cheney has the man's smug smirk down pat.

[Linda956]

Wow, there's just no way to NOT have Cheney and Rumsfeld come off us complete assholes!  If this was even remotely accurate, I'm glad Betty Ford was a thorn in their side.

[auntjess]

22 hours ago, Dejana said:

Like Jackie Kennedy, Eleanor's way of speaking has fallen out of favor over time, to the point where it seems like a parody.

Jackie's was much more affected, put on. 
I liked seeing all of them, though hated seeing Betty portrayed as a drunk.
From what I've read, Eleanor really did her own things most of the time.
I'd like to see Florence Harding, though they say the rumors that she killed him weren't true.
I missed the first episode, so hoping it airs again.
 

[TV Diva Queen]

3 hours ago, auntjess said:

Jackie's was much more affected, put on. 
I liked seeing all of them, though hated seeing Betty portrayed as a drunk.
From what I've read, Eleanor really did her own things most of the time.
I'd like to see Florence Harding, though they say the rumors that she killed him weren't true.
I missed the first episode, so hoping it airs again.
 

She was though (not being confrontational), she had a problem with booze and pills.  

[auntjess]

On 5/31/2022 at 12:37 PM, Dejana said:

but... I have to look up why Ford couldn't just shuffle them off somewhere, but they were probably too powerful, even then.

I guess it could be Ford being an accidental president, appointed veep when Agnew resigned, and became president when Nixon resigned.
He never ran for either office, so probably didn't have a lot of his backers, as someone who'd run for president of veep, would have.

[emmawoodhouse]

So, did Ford inherit them from Nixon, or did he get the chance to appoint his own cabinet? Obviously Betty didn't have a say, or those guys would be long gone. 

[auntjess]

50 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

So, did Ford inherit them from Nixon, or did he get the chance to appoint his own cabinet? Obviously Betty didn't have a say, or those guys would be long gone. 

I found this list of Ford cabinet.  
 

Cabinet Members Under Ford

Secretary of StateHenry A. Kissinger (Cont.)

Secretary of the TreasuryWilliam E. Simon (Cont.)

Secretary of DefenseJames R. Schlesinger (Cont.)
Donald H. Rumsfeld, 1975

Attorney GeneralWilliam B. Saxbe (Cont.)
Edward H. Levi, 1975

Secretary of the InteriorRogers C. B. Morton (Cont.)
Stanley K. Hathaway, 1975
Thomas S. Kleppe, 1975

Secretary of AgricultureEarl L. Butz (Cont.)
John Knebel, 1976

Secretary of CommerceFrederick B. Dent (Cont.)
Rogers C. B. Morton, 1975
Elliot L. Richardson, 1976

Secretary of LaborPeter J. Brennan (Cont.)
John T. Dunlop, 1975
William J. Usery, Jr., 1976

Secretary of Health, Education, and WelfareCaspar W. Weinberger (Cont.)
F. David Mathews, 1975

Secretary of Housing and Urban DevelopmentJames T. Lynn (Cont.)
Carla A. Hills, 1975

Secretary of TransportationClaude S. Brinegar (Cont.)
William T. Coleman, Jr., 1975

[emmawoodhouse]

I don't see Cheney. But the show portrays him as Rumsfeld's sidekick. What position did he hold?

[txhorns79]

29 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

But the show portrays him as Rumsfeld's sidekick. What position did he hold?

He was Deputy Chief of Staff, then Chief of Staff when Rumsfeld took over at Defense. 

[emmawoodhouse]

5 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

He was Deputy Chief of Staff, then Chief of Staff when Rumsfeld took over at Defense. 

Gotcha! So it sounds like he survived the Nixon era. 

[cameron]

On 6/1/2022 at 3:00 PM, TV Diva Queen said:

She was though (not being confrontational), she had a problem with booze and pills.  

Think that Betty comes across as being arrogant in this series.