American Experience | PBS

Ever since a record number of Americans cast votes in the 1960 election, voter turnout has diminished. Harvard historian Thomas Patterson looks at political participation and America's two-party system in presidential elections. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents Voices: Thomas Patterson, historian Franklin D. Roosevelt (archival), president Dorothy Height, National Council of Negro Women William Leuchtenburg, historian Richard M. Nixon (archival), Republican presidential candidate Walter Cronkite, CBS News journalist Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

Televised debates have resulted in defining moments for presidential candidates. George Mason University professor Rick Shenkman looks at presidential debates and their impact upon elections. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents Voices: Rick Shenkman, historian Ted Rogers, Nixon television advisor John F. Kennedy (archival), senator, Democratic presidential candidate Richard Nixon (archival), vice-president, Republican presidential candidate Gerald Ford (archival), president Walter Mondale, vice-president Herbert Parmet, biographer John Robert Greene, presidential historian Jimmy Carter (archival), president Ronald Reagan (archival), Republican presidential candidate Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

Major party political conventions have been the sites of memorable moments during presidential campaigns. NPR news analyst Daniel Schorr and American University historian Allan Lichtman discuss the role of the party conventions in 2008. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents Voices: Daniel Schorr, journalist Allan Lichtman, historian Eliot Janeway, economist John Connally, LBJ campaign aide John F. Kennedy (archival), Democratic presidential candidate George H.W. Bush (archival), Republican presidential candidate Nicholas Brady, George H.W. Bush campaign aide Richard Darman, George H.W. Bush campaign aide John Robert Greene, presidential historian Franklin D. Roosevelt (archival), candidate for governor of New York Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

In the 1960s, African Americans switched their allegiances to the Democratic Party when it led the way in addressing racial inequality and poverty and expanding opportunity in America. Sociologist Orlando Patterson places Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign in the context of Democratic Party history. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents Voices: Orlando Patterson, sociologist Lyndon Johnson (archival), president Gerald Ford (archival), president Bert Lance, former budget director Jimmy Carter (archival), Democratic presidential candidate Betty Glad, political scientist Herb Kaplow, NBC News Herb Klein, Nixon press secretary Richard Nixon (archival), Republican presidential candidate John F. Kennedy (archival), Democratic presidential candidate Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

At the height of the Great Depression, more than 250,000 teenagers were living on the road in America. Several Depression-era teenage hobos provide a glimpse of their transient lives, interspersed with excerpts from songs that chronicle hobo life. http://www.pbs.org/amex/rails Voices: James San Jule Jim Mitchell Rene Champion Clarence Lee John Fawcett Peggy De Hart Miles Neff, narrator Music: "I Rode Southern" sung by Merle Lovell "The Highway Hobo" sung by Noel Westbrook "Stevensville Blues" performed by Lum Wilson "Bill" Jackson and A. W. Mullins "Loveless CCC" sung by Tommy Rhoades Songs courtesy of "Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941," American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

With the presidential candidacy of Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964, the conservative movement achieved national prominence. Historian Dan Carter places John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign in the context of the American conservative movement. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents Voices: Dan T. Carter, historian Ronald Reagan (archival), Republican Party spokesman Edmund Morris, Ronald Reagan biographer Richard Norton Smith, former director, Reagan Library George F. Will, columnnist Pat Buchanan (archival), Republican presidential candidate John Robert Greene, presidential historian Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

In dire economic times, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan won the White House by painting their incumbent opponents as being out of touch. MIT historian Meg Jacobs examines the impact of economic issues during election years by looking at both the 1992 and 1980 contests. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents Voices: Meg Jacobs, historian Bill Clinton (archival), presidential candidate Richard Norton Smith, historian Ronald Reagan (archival), presidential candidate Edwin Meese, chief of staff to Governor Reagan, 1969-74 Jimmy Carter (archival), president Walter Mondale, vice-president Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

After eighty-two days as Vice-President Harry Truman became the thirty-third President of the United States. Americans everywhere warmed to this seemingly simple, straightforward man from Missouri. With the nation at war, Truman would soon face one of the most momentous decisions of the 20th century. http://www.pbs.org/presidents Voices: David McCullough, biographer Alonzo Hamby, biographer Patricia Hannegan, daughter of Democratic Party chairman Harry Byrd, senator Sam Rayburn (archival), Speaker of the House Harry Truman (archival), President Robert Jay Lifton, biographer Marshall D. Shulman, assistant to the Secretary of State Robert Donovan, journalist Rex Scouten, Secret Service Walter LaFeber, historian George Elsey, administrative assistant to the President Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

In March 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office and gave hope to a nation in crisis. The Great Depression had battered the nation for more than three long and painful years. Roosevelt did something that had never been done before -- intervene on a massive scale with the power of the federal government. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents Voices: Chalmers Roberts, journalist Eli Ginzberg, FDR administrator William Leuchtenburg, historian Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president David Ginsburg, FDR administration Alistair Cooke, journalist Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

John Jay College historian Blanche Wiesen Cook looks back at Eleanor Roosevelt and discusses the role of the First Lady in the context of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents Voices: Blanche Wiesen Cook, historian Curtis Roosevelt, grandson of Eleanor Roosevelt Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian Chalmers Roberts, journalist Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

Filmmakers Austin Hoyt and Callie Taintor Wiser discuss the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. In August 1990, although Saddam Hussein had precipitated a world crisis by invading Kuwait, Bush took a working vacation in Maine. He had vacationed there every summer of his life except once during World War II. http://www.pbs.org/amex/bush41 Voices: Austin Hoyt, writer/director/producer Callie Taintor Wiser, producer George H. W. Bush (archival), President Jeb Bush, son Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

Roberto Clemente was more than an exceptional baseball player. He was also a committed humanitarian who challenged racial discrimination and worked for social justice. Filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz discusses his biography of baseball's first Latino superstar. http://www.pbs.org/amex/clemente Voices: Samuel O. Regalado, historian Bernardo Ruiz, writer/director/producer, ROBERTO CLEMENTE David Maraniss, biographer Juan Gonzalez, writer George Will, writer Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

Roberto Clemente was more than an exceptional baseball player. He was also a committed humanitarian who challenged racial discrimination and worked for social justice. New York Yankees pitcher LaTroy Hawkins discusses the legacy of baseball's first Latino superstar. http://www.pbs.org/amex/clemente Voices: Robert Ruck, historian LaTroy Hawkins, baseball player David Maraniss, biographer Juan Gonzalez, writer Al Oliver, teammate of Roberto Clemente Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

Walt Whitman was America's first great poet. Novelist Allan Gurganus and poets Martin Espada and Billy Collins read excerpts from his signature work, Leaves of Grass. http://www.pbs.org/amex/whitman Voices: Allan Gurganus, novelist Martin Espada, poet Billy Collins, poet Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

Foreign policy, past experience, and war are perennial Presidential campaign issues. International relations professor Ernest May from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and history professor Kristen Hoganson from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign describe historical and contemporary foreign policy, presidential leadership, and elections. http://www.pbs.org/presidents/2008 Voices: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president Kristin Hoganson, historian Ernest May, historian Robert Dallek, historian Walter Mondale, vice president Richard Wirthlin, pollster Robert Donovan, journalist Vernon Walters, U.S. Army general Miles Neff, podcast narration Produced by: Ravi Jain Director of New Media: Maria Daniels American Experience is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.