American Experience: The Presidents

Amazon.com It's hard to imagine a more exhaustive study of the American presidency, or at least a portion of it, than American Experience: The Presidents. This boxed set (the titles have also been released separately) includes 17 discs and a nearly 39-hour running time, combining voice-over narration, photos, film, a few reenactments, music, and interviews with historians, family members, and others to create very detailed and edifying portraits of just 11 chief executives (a mere 25 percent of the total). Most buyers will likely already have at least a working knowledge of those elected in the past 50 years or so: John F. Kennedy, his one term cut tragically short, leaving more questions about his legacy asked than answered; Lyndon Johnson, whose good works were obscured by the blame he took for escalating and prolonging the Vietnam War; Richard Nixon, forever remembered as the only president forced to resign while in office; Jimmy Carter, who at best can be seen as somewhat out of his depth in the job; the immensely popular Ronald Reagan, still used as a touchstone by Republican candidates of every stripe; George H.W. Bush, who oversaw the Gulf War but failed to win a second term after backtracking on his pledge not to raise taxes; and Bill Clinton, a brilliant mind and naturally gifted, inspiring politician who seemed bent on self-destruction. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, too, will be familiar to most; the only president to be elected four times, the charming, patrician FDR became one of American history's greatest leaders, shepherding the country out of the Depression and through most of World War II despite having been crippled by polio at age 39. That leaves three presidents about whom viewers, especially younger ones, might know considerably less, if only because they were in office well before television became the dominant medium. Theodore Roosevelt (FDR's distant cousin), a vice president who took over when President William McKinley was shot in 1901, was confident, exuberant, and aggressive, overcoming severe childhood asthma to become a wildlife expert and devoted conservationist, a prolific author, a war hero, and president in his early 40s; a genuine reformer, he stood up to America's über-rich, championed the building of the Panama Canal, and coined phrases like "the bully pulpit" and "speak softly and carry a big stick." Woodrow Wilson, elected in 1912, was a Southerner whose dyslexia, a century before it was diagnosed as such, meant that at age 10 he still couldn't read; as president, his agenda ranged from establishing an eight-hour work day and a ban on child labor to an obsession with establishing a "new world order" that would spread democracy and put an end to war after the horrors of World War I. Finally, there's Harry Truman, a haberdasher from Missouri with a high school education who was almost completely unknown when FDR died less than three months into his fourth term (Truman's first as VP); although he didn't particularly want the job, Truman's eventful presidency included the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan, the founding of the United Nations, the Korean War, and the start of the Cold War. --Sam Graham Product Description This collection of 20th century presidential biographies offer an intimate and compelling look at the men who have defined and re-defined the modern presidency; and who led the country through some of the most turbulent and consequential moments in our history. This collection includes Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909); Wilson (1913-1921); FDR (1933-1945); Truman (1945-1953); Kennedys (1961-1963); LBJ (1963-1969); Nixon (1969-1974); Carter (1977-1981); Reagan (1981-1989); George H.W. Bush (1989-1993) and Clinton (1993-2001).
ASIN: B0081NAUOO
VSKU: DBV.B0081NAUOO.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Artist Not Provided
Binding: Dvd
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!