The American Presidency with Bill Clinton
2022 · History · 60 min · 1 season
S01E06 · Becoming a Superpower
Tue, 21 June, 1:05 pm
This hour traces the rise of America's place on the world stage. Becoming a superpower has altered not just our own fate, but that of the world as well. But with great power comes great responsibility. How well have we exercised our own power?
About
The HISTORY Channel's new series The American Presidency with Bill Clinton, is hosted and executive produced by President Bill Clinton and explores the history of the American presidency and the struggle for a more perfect union across six themed episodes: race, extremism, the struggle for rights, presidential vision, global power. This premium series features expert commentary from renowned authors, historians and witnesses to history including Pulitzer Prize-winners Jon Meacham and Annette Gordon Reed, as well as Dr. Douglas Brinkley, Dr. Edna Medford Green, Dr. H.W. Brands and George Takei. Across each one-hour episode, it takes a comprehensive look at a wide variety of presidential action that moved our country forward, like President Eisenhower ordering the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock, AR to ensure the safety of the "Little Rock Nine," President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Emancipation Proclamation, and Lyndon B. Johnson signing into law what has been called the most important piece of Civil Rights legislation to date: the Voting Rights Act of 1965. "The American Presidency" also tackles presidential decisions that further divided our country, like Herbert Hoover's "repatriation drives" that led to the mass expulsions of Mexican-American citizens during the Great Depression and FDR's Executive Order 9066 leading to nearly 120,000 Japanese-Americans being systematically rounded up and forced into prison camps.
Episodes
- E01
Separate But Unequal
Tue, 31 May· 63 minRacism has been a persistent issue in America since its founding. When racial tensions erupt, some presidents have advanced the nation toward a more perfect union, while others have thwarted its progress. This episode asks: How can Presidential action help us achieve a more perfect union?
- E02
Presidential Vision
Tue, 7 June· 63 minThe presidents who have made the most impact have imagined what we could be, not just what we are. Through their rhetoric, their leadership, or their sheer force of personality, these presidents have issued a call to action, daring us to join them in their vision for a better future. How have their visionary goals shaped our country, and the world?
- E03
Building the Economy
Tue, 7 June· 62 minThis hour will explore how some U.S. Presidents have exerted power over the economy through various measures - taxation, imports and exports, law making -- and the effects those actions had on the lives of American citizens. How can Presidential action create greater opportunity for the people?
- E04
Extremism
Tue, 21 June· 63 minThe United States was born in the flames of violence and rebellion. Extremism has always been a part of who we are as a nation. In this hour, we focus on multiple flashpoints in our nation's history, and the ways in which our Presidents have reacted to extinguish - and sometimes, to fan - the flames of extremism. What can we learn about extremism from our past - and how to avoid it in the future?
- E05
We the People
Tue, 21 June· 62 minOur Constitution starts with the words "We The People." Every U.S. President has faced the question of who, exactly, is included in this soaring phrase. This hour examines Presidential decision-making in the face of the turning points for many citizens who have been left out of our story - the enslaved, Indigenous Americans, women, immigrants.
- E06
Becoming a Superpower
Tue, 21 June· 58 minThis hour traces the rise of America's place on the world stage. Becoming a superpower has altered not just our own fate, but that of the world as well. But with great power comes great responsibility. How well have we exercised our own power?
Cast
Bill Clinton
Host