Franklin Roosevelt

Franklin Roosevelt commands the Mural Room's spotlight through Alan Tatum's resurrected childhood letter, dashed off at age nine when FDR helmed New York as governor and barreled toward the presidency. Bartlet cracks the identical code—his deliberate echo of Roosevelt's constituent pipeline—unleashing Oval Office photos, banter over railroad days, and shared meals that pierce White House armor. This historical force models intimate leadership, his shadow igniting Bartlet's raw delight and forging tender bonds amid relentless crises, where ordinary voices pierce executive fortresses.