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10 Episodes 2000 - 2000
Episode 1
Sun, Feb 8, 2026
Profiling four men whose family ties helped landed them in the Oval Office: John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Harrison, John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt, who "saw the Presidency as almost family property," says historian Richard Neustadt. Time magazine White House correspondent Hugh Sidey hosts. Voice of Adams: George Will. Voice of Harrison: former Secretary of State Alexander Haig.
Episode 2
Sun, Feb 8, 202653 mins
Nearly one in six American presidents has died in office. The vice presidents who succeeded them were often chosen because they provided some electoral advantage (John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Harry Truman). What happens when such a man takes office - frequently facing widespread conviction that he is unworthy of the powers he inherits?
Episode 3
Sun, Feb 8, 202653 mins
Is an independent cast of mind the best approach to the presidency? The four men profiled in this hour (John Adams, Zachary Taylor, Rutherford B. Hayes and Jimmy Carter) pursued a course that took little account of political affiliation, becoming presidents, in essence, without being politicians. Taken together, they present a cautionary tale: all had difficult presidencies, and neither of the two who sought a second term was granted one.
Episode 4
Sun, Feb 8, 2026
Martin Van Buren, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson, four "Professional Politicians," are profiled in Part 4 (of 10). Van Buren "helped invent party politics," says narrator Hugh Sidey. Lincoln, perhaps the best President, was also a statesman. But, says historian Richard E. Neustadt, "there's no statesmanship without politics." As for Buchanan (perhaps the worst), he "mistook politics for statesmanship." And LBJ? "He tried to do too much." Voices: Mario Cuomo (Van Buren); David Gergen (Buchanan); Sen. Paul Simon (Lincoln).
Episode 5
Sun, Feb 8, 2026
Part 5 profiles Thomas Jefferson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Ronald Reagan, four Presidents whose idea of "the American way" was a "smaller, simpler government," says narrator Hugh Sidey. Voices: former UN ambassador Andrew Young (Jefferson); former Massachusetts governor William Weld (Coolidge); former senator Robert Dole (Hoover).
Episode 6
Sun, Feb 8, 2026
Woodrow Wilson, George Bush, "visionary diplomat" James Monroe and reluctant Spanish-American warrior William McKinley are profiled in "World Stage." McKinley, who presided over the beginning of America's imperial expansion, was "America's first modern President," says narrator Hugh Sidey, while Wilson was "the recognized moral leader of the free world" at the end of World War I. Sidey interviews President Bush. Voices: Robert MacNeil (Monroe); former Secretary of State George Shultz (McKinley); former Senate majority leader George Mitchell (Wilson).
Episode 7
Sun, Feb 8, 2026
Part 7 profiles four military leaders: George Washington, William Henry Harrison, U.S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower. "I walk on untrodden ground," Washington (voice of Walter Cronkite) said on his inauguration. "I tried to create an atmosphere of greater serenity," said Eisenhower, whose Administration was considered successful. And political failure Grant (voice of H. Norman Schwarzkopf)? "War and politics are so different." Voice of Harrison: former senator Lloyd Bentsen.
Episode 8
Sun, Feb 8, 2026
Franklin Pierce, James A. Garfield, Warren G. Harding and Gerald Ford---four "compromise choices"---are profiled in Part 8 (of 10). Of them, Ford was the most successful; Garfield was off to a promising start, but he died after just six months in office (1881). As for Pierce, a pro-Southern Northerner (1853-57), "he just wasn't up to the job," says narrator Hugh Sidey. And Harding (1921-23)? "God help me," he said, "for I need it." Sidey interviews Ford. Voice of Harding: Benjamin Bradlee. Voice of Pierce: Sargent Shriver. Voice of Garfield: Rev. Billy Graham.
Episode 9
Sun, Feb 8, 2026
Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon are profiled in Part 9. Jackson wielded the veto "like a weapon," says narrator Hugh Sidey. Said Cleveland (voice of former Connecticut governor Lowell Weicker): "The Presidency is the repository of the people's powers." Added the exuberant TR (voice of William F. Buckley Jr.): "I have used every ounce of power there was in the office." But Nixon, during his "Imperial Presidency," tried to use more than that. Voice of Jackson: James Carville.
Episode 10
Sun, Feb 8, 2026
Conclusion. James Madison, James Knox Polk, William Howard Taft and Bill Clinton are profiled in "The Balance of Power," "a balance," says narrator Hugh Sidey, "that has been able to shift with the course of history." Madison, Sidey adds, was "chiefly responsible" for it. And Clinton, who's interviewed by Sidey, says, "the framers were smart. They designed the Constitution to prevent partisan passions from overriding common sense." Voice of Madison: former senator Dale Bumpers.