If there’s any president whose life begs for a television series, it is the 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt. Thankfully, someone at Showtime has also realized this and the network is developing a limited series based on his life.
The news was first reported by Variety. Deadline also confirmed that it is in the works.
The series is in the very early stages and will be written by David McKenna (American History X). Executive producers include McKenna; Electus’ Ben Silverman and Sean Canino; and Authentic’s Jon Rubinstein and Jason Egenberg.
Variety’s sources described the project as a “brilliant take” on Roosevelt and will stick to Roosevelt's “real-life heroic story.”
Roosevelt’s life is so incredible that Hollywood wouldn’t have to make up anything to make his life exciting. He became president at 42 following President William McKinley’s assassination in 1901 and is still the youngest man ever to hold the office. He was elected to the White House in 1905, then decided not to run for a second full term in 1909.
Before he was president, Roosevelt lead the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War in 1898, even though he was already Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In 1906, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to negotiate peace between Japan and Russia. He also pushed for the construction of the Panama Canal.
Roosevelt did all this and much more in his life before the age of 60. He died at 60 in 1919. His life was recently the subject of the Ken Burns series The Roosevelts, which also covered his cousins President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt.