Truman, on the surface, seemed ill-prepared to become president. But he stepped up to lead this nation through the end of war and its emergence as a world superpower.
"He had a certain spunk and bluntness to him that I enjoyed."
Small doesn't whitewash the past.
He discusses Roosevelt's affair with Lucy Mercer and the effect it had on his marriage to Eleanor.
Moses, he notes, had a bad temper – hence those tablets never made it home.
"These were great people, but they had human faults like anyone."
Audience members in retirement homes can remember FDR and Truman from their lifetimes. They have questions. Why, for example, didn't Roosevelt respond directly to the Holocaust?
"I'm ready to answer those questions in character. ... At the end, I sometimes step out of character to explain the context: what was happening historically and why he responded the way he did."
On this day in Fullerton, Washington teases women in the audience for baring their ankles and wearing pantaloons.
Small brings him to life.
"You're part of the story. It becomes reality," explains resident Shirley Haake. "It was as if he could transport himself."
Adds Gloria Rice: "I really got the feeling how disheartening it was at Valley Forge."
A fitting reminder for Presidents Day and why it matters.
Today, Presidents Day, Peter Small will portray Theodore Roosevelt at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda. Admission today is free. For information on Small, visit history-alive.com or call 949-631-2703.
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