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The Untold History of the United States Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 2012 - 2013
Episode 1
Chapter 1: World War Two
Mon, Nov 12, 201258 mins
The Untold History of the United States examines World War II. It offers special attention to the Spanish Civil War, Roosevelt's desire to enter the war on the side of the allies, the strategic Japanese decisions that led up to Pearl Harbor Attack, and the often overlooked role that the Soviet Union had in winning the war.
Episode 2
Chapter 2: Roosevelt, Truman and Wallace
Mon, Nov 19, 201258 mins
The Untold History of the United States examines the end of and the period immediately after World War II. It looks at Stalin's efforts to seize control of Poland and Eastern Europe, Democratic party bosses efforts to drop Henry Wallace from the 1944 presidential ticket, and British efforts to maintain their colonial holdings after the war.
Episode 3
Chapter 3: The Bomb
Mon, Nov 26, 201258 mins
This chapter examines the end of World War II, mainly the events leading to the dropping of the atomic bombs and the surrender of Japan. Focuses on the Truman period of American history and the frequently forgotten Henry A. Wallace.
Episode 4
Chapter 4: The Cold War 1945-1950
Mon, Dec 3, 201258 mins
Who started the Cold War? In a month-by-month analysis, the initial aggressors are less apparent. Yet, the relationship between the Soviets and the West are none-the-less solidified with Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech. The US enters the "Red Scare" and creates The House Un-American Activities Committee in an attempt to place the "right" ideology as a bedrock for US culture. The rise of Joseph McCarthy , with the aid of the FBI, turns into a near witch hunt for Communists in America.
Episode 5
Chapter 5: The 50s - Eisenhower, the Bomb & the Third World
Mon, Dec 10, 201257 mins
Documentary by Oliver Stone . E.5: Eisenhower and the CIA played a great part in the shaping of the world in the 1950's;the development of the Cold war and the nerve-wrecking battle against communism, driven on by the U.S.
Episode 6
Chapter 6: JFK - To the Brink
Mon, Dec 17, 201258 mins
JFK and the Bay of Pigs; on the brink of total war during Cuban Missile Crisis; early Vietnam; JFK's attempts at peace with Khrushchev; JFK assassinated. Directed and narrated by Oliver Stone .
Episode 7
Chapter 7: Johnson, Nixon & Vietnam: Reversal of Fortune
Mon, Dec 24, 201257 mins
The hellish nature of the Vietnam War causes the American public to see the limits of modern military power, when faced with thick jungles and guerrilla style warfare. Richard Nixon 's administration shows it's true methods and causes deep introspection in the American political atmosphere.
Episode 8
Chapter 8: Reagan, Gorbachev & Third World - Rise of the Right
Mon, Dec 31, 201257 mins
With the replacement of Ronald Reagan after Carter, the relationship between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan offers new attempts at peace as the Berlin wall crashes down. Fears surface as Iranian students occupy the US embassy in Tehran and the event turns into The Iran hostage crisis.
Episode 9
Chapter 9: Bush & Clinton - Squandered Peace and New World Order
Mon, Jan 7, 201358 mins
The US invasion of Panama canal brings about a failed chance at peace after the end of the Cold War. How far is the George W. Bush administration willing to go to establish security? A new prospect of "endless war" in Iraq and Afghanistan causes a shift in America's status with the world.
Episode 10
Chapter 10: Bush & Obama - Age of Terror
Mon, Jan 14, 201358 mins
Oliver Stone focuses on the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush administration. The film presents how many American lives were lost as well as the torture incidents that American soldiers were involved in. As for the conspiracies involved, it also presents the personal motive of Bush was more of a personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein rather than catching the terrorists who were guilty of the September 11 attacks in New York. Added to that, it also tries to portray how the Bush administration attempted to manipulate the terror warnings to the Americans to fulfill their political motives.
Episode 11
Prologue: Chapter A - World War I, the Russian Revolution & Woodrow Wilson
Tue, Oct 15, 201350 mins
The world political and colonial empires at the beginning of the 20th century. The USA resuming control of most of the former Spanish empire around the globe plus Great Britain and Germany's ideology at that time. It continues on into the Russian revolution when Lenin became leader. This is a bonus episode that precedes the other 8 episodes of the series.
Episode 12
Prologue: Chapter B - 1920-1940, Franklin D.Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin
Tue, Oct 15, 201350 mins
Many events from the 1920s that led up to the establishment of the leaders prior to and during world war II. Most everyone knows about prohibition but few know about the US bankers profiteering extensively by loaning money to post world war I Germany who then paid its war reparation to Britain and France who in turn paid their war debts to the US. USMC general Smedley Butler speaks out against these acts of profiteering. He is suspiciously left out of modern US history.
Episode 13
On History: Tariq Ali and Oliver Stone in Conversation
Mon, Mar 9, 2026
Oliver Stone engaged with author and filmmaker Tariq Ali in a probing, hard-hitting conversation on the politics of history.