Teddy becomes the 26th US president on Sept. 14, 1901, six months into his term of vice president, when President McKinley is assassinated. Over the next seven years, he fights corporate greed; builds the Panama Canal; and preserves wilderness areas. Franklin, meanwhile, courts and weds Eleanor Roosevelt, the shy daughter of Theodore's brother. He also joins a law firm, but decides to enter politics when an opportunity to run for the New York state senate presents itself.