The Post family travels to Battle Creek, Michigan, seeking treatment for Charles William's serious illness from Dr. John Kellogg.

Charles William begins eating widow Mrs. Gregory's meals, adopts Christian Science, and recovers from his prolonged illness.

Charles William Post founds a cereal company and creates Grape-Nuts and Postum, quickly building a substantial fortune.

Marjorie discovers divorce papers on her father's desk and overhears him with his secretary Leila, revealing his affair.

Marjorie and Edward Close marry in an ornate ceremony after she finishes her studies at Mount Vernon Seminary.

Charles William Post dies by suicide, and Marjorie must fight his widow Leila to inherit the full company.

Unable to sit on her own company's board, Marjorie is forced to let Ed formally represent her during World War I.

After Ed returns from the war scornful of her public activism, Marjorie proposes divorce and they separate.

Marjorie reconnects with widower Ned Hutton in Palm Beach, falls quickly in love, and they marry in a small ceremony.

Marjorie secretly arranges the purchase of Birdseye Frozen Foods over Ned's objections, and the company is renamed General Foods.

Marjorie discovers her housekeeper is having an affair with Ned and secures the evidence she needs to divorce him.

Marjorie meets diplomat Joe Davies at a dinner party and marries him after he finalizes his divorce.

Marjorie and Joe settle into Moscow's Spaso House, where she transforms the drab residence into a diplomatic hosting space.

Joe publicly calls Marjorie a phony at one of their parties, and she immediately resolves to end their marriage.

Marjorie offers Mar-a-Lago to President Lyndon Johnson and arranges for her estates, including Hillwood, to become public institutions.

This pool traces the defining milestones of Marjorie Merriweather Post's life, from her father's illness and recovery in Battle Creek to the founding of his cereal empire. Marjorie navigates four marriages, each marked by tension between her business ambitions and the era's strict gender expectations. Her father's death forces her to battle for her inheritance, setting her on the path to becoming one of America's most powerful women. Her secret acquisition of Birdseye Frozen Foods and the renaming of General Foods cement her business legacy, even as her personal life repeatedly fractures. A posting to Moscow as a diplomat's wife places her at the center of pre-WWII international politics before a final, painful betrayal ends her longest marriage. The story closes with Marjorie gifting her beloved estates and securing her enduring place in American history.

The landmark events of Marjorie Post's extraordinary life.

Young Marjorie contracts scarlet fever and mumps, and her family credits their Christian Science faith for her recovery.

Charles William and Marjorie salvage a discarded corn toaster, kindling his vision of creating wholesome, easy-to-prepare packaged food.

Marjorie and her father attend a White House New Year's party, where Alice Roosevelt introduces herself and befriends Marjorie.

On her honeymoon, Marjorie receives newspaper clippings identifying her as probably the wealthiest young woman in the United States.

Charles William brings Ed and Marjorie to Texas to see his frontier land; Ed refuses to consider moving there.

Marjorie receives word that her mother Ella has died and travels alone to Washington to arrange her affairs.

Marjorie funds a hospital ship bound for France; the vessel sinks in an accident, though all personnel survive.

Marjorie builds backyard bleachers for the WWI victory parade and notices the charming Ned Hutton among her guests.

Ned's son Harcourt dies in a tragic accident shortly after the wedding, prompting Marjorie to decide to have Ned's child.

Nedenia Hutton is born, and Post Cereal Company celebrates its thirtieth anniversary with booming business success.

During the Great Depression, Marjorie opens a free public canteen in New York City and works there herself.

Marjorie visits a run-down Soviet commission shop with Polina Molotova and discovers a trove of priceless Fabergé treasures for sale.

Premier Molotov presents Marjorie and Joe with two warm coats intended as symbolic gifts for President and Mrs. Roosevelt.

Marjorie hosts an Independence Day party at her newly reopened Hillwood estate, celebrating both her country and her own freedom.

Marjorie Merriweather Post passes away peacefully at Hillwood at the age of eighty-six.

This pool covers significant secondary events that illuminate the texture and full detail of Marjorie's remarkable story. From her childhood illness and first encounter with Alice Roosevelt to the sinking of her funded hospital ship and the discovery of Soviet treasures, these moments fill in the portrait of an extraordinary woman. Key family milestones — a tragic accidental death that reshapes her second marriage, and the birth of her youngest daughter — reveal the personal costs and joys woven through her public life. Her philanthropic efforts during the Great Depression demonstrate a consistent drive to use her wealth in service of others. The pool also traces her diplomatic triumphs in Moscow and closes with her peaceful death at Hillwood, completing the full arc of her life.

The supporting moments and milestones that shaped Marjorie's world.

Dr. Kellogg tells the Posts that Charles William's treatment is hopeless, and Ella weeps openly for the first time.

After a whirlwind summer romance in Greenwich, Edward Close confesses his love to Marjorie and asks her to marry him.

Ed arrives home from his club still drunk on the night their infant daughter Eleanor nearly dies of a dangerous fever.

With Ed away at war, Post Cereal's leaders quietly rely on Marjorie's advice to keep the struggling company afloat.

Ed is drafted, and Marjorie independently funds and organizes a medical expedition to support wounded soldiers in France.

Marjorie embraces the women's suffrage movement over Ed's fierce objections and decides to ask him for a divorce.

Marjorie suffers a miscarriage and she and Ned retreat to the Adirondacks, where she becomes pregnant again by summer's end.

Ned loses fifty-five thousand dollars gambling in Cuba, and their argument reveals his deep resentment of Marjorie's inherited fortune.

Marjorie proposes building a grand Palm Beach estate called Mar-a-Lago as a last effort to save her marriage to Ned.

The stock market crashes and Marjorie chooses to redirect her wealth toward feeding and supporting those devastated by the Depression.

Joe Davies finalizes his divorce and appears at Marjorie's door professing his love; she agrees to marry him.

Marjorie and Joe attend a tense Kremlin gathering where she spots Stalin for the first time and feels a chill.

The Soviet Union signs a non-aggression pact with Germany, shocking Marjorie and Joe, who feel their diplomatic work has been undone.

Marjorie's friends secretly raise funds and surprise her with a dedicated Friendship Walk at Hillwood in tribute to her legacy.

A package arrives containing photographs of Herb with young men, forcing Marjorie to confront the secret life her husband has hidden.

This pool focuses on the turning points and shocking revelations that fundamentally redirected the course of Marjorie's life. Beginning with the devastating moment Dr. Kellogg abandons hope for Charles William and ending with the discovery of Herb's secret life, these events mark the scenes where Marjorie's path was permanently altered. Her romantic choices — from accepting Edward Close's summer proposal to divorcing each of her four husbands — reflect her evolving understanding of her own worth and limits. Business decisions made under constraint, such as secretly steering company strategy during wartime, show her entrepreneurial instincts straining against society's rules. Experiences in Soviet Russia test her diplomatic resolve, while personal betrayals ultimately forge the fiercely independent woman she becomes. Together, these moments chart the inner life of a woman who repeatedly chose herself when the world told her not to.