The Presidents' Gatekeepers

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• 2013
• 2 hr 50 mins
• Documentary

• Watchlist

• Watchlist

He is the president's most powerful advisor and closest confidant. The White House chief of staff shapes the president's agenda, and turns his policies into reality--or disaster. He passes judgment on the president's noblest ideas and his riskiest schemes. "He is the one person besides the president's wife," says Donald Rumsfeld, Gerald Ford's ex-chief, "who can look him right in the eye and say, 'no, you cannot go down that road, trust me, it's a mistake.'" And because he rarely talks about his role--what happens in the Oval stays in the Oval--the chief of staff is the keeper of the president's secrets. Until now. Featuring exclusive interviews with all 20 living White House chiefs of staff and two presidents, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, The Presidents' Gatekeepers explores the fascinating and untold story of this unique fraternity and the presidents they serve. Epic in scope, spanning 50 years and nine administrations, it is an unprecedented series that pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of the Oval Office. From the acclaimed filmmaking team of brothers Gedeon and Jules Naudet (9/11, In God's Name), Peabody Award-winning news producer Chris Whipple (60 Minutes, ABC News) and Peacock Productions comes an unprecedented series looking at the key moments, the quiet conversations, backroom bargains and heated debates that made history and have never been heard before. In addition, Pulitzer Prize-winning White House photographer David Hume Kennerly serves as producer of The Presidents' Gatekeepers, lending his extraordinary body of work to tell this rich, untold history.