Becoming Madam Secretary

Content Warning: This section discusses mental illness, suicidal ideation, and death of a loved one.

Frances leaves Franklin’s home around nine o’clock, wondering whether she should accept his offer. Disturbed by all the newly unemployed people she sees on her walk, Frances stops by a church. She asks the bishop for advice, and the bishop tells her that her duty is to serve if she is able.

Later, Mary meets with Frances to reassure her about her decision. Paul supports her choice, but Frances is still anxious about leaving him behind in the sanitarium and taking Susanna away from her school friends. She also has deeper worries about her capacity to help, rather than making a mess, and the way in which she’ll be treated by the men in Washington.

Frances receives a gift from Franklin: the roll call from 1912, proving that he did vote in favor of her 54-hour bill after all. Delighted at the gift, Frances decides to accept the position.

Susanna and Frances arrive in Washington, DC, in March 1933. The Great Depression is in full swing, and people are going hungry on the streets of the city. The two dress up in their fanciest outfits for Franklin’s inauguration.