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DVD : The American President (PBS Box Set)In association with Amazon.comstarring: Hugh Sidey, Mario Cuomo, Benjamin Harrison, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter directed by: James A. Edgar, Philip Kunhardt III, Peter W. Kunhardt  List Price: $79.98 Price: $47.99 You Save: $31.99 (40%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD EAN: 9780780632288 Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC ISBN: 0780632281 Label: Pbs Home Video Manufacturer: Pbs Home Video Number Of Items: 5 Publisher: Pbs Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: November 14, 2000 Running Time: 600 minutes Studio: Pbs Home Video Theatrical Release Date: April 09, 2000 Sales Rank: 93332 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Description: THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT is the first documentary series ever to profile all 41 of America's chief executives. The 10-hour series tells the nation's story from the perspective of the highest office in the land and features exclusive interviews with Presiden Amazon.com: Who were the U.S. presidents? What did they accomplish? What qualities defined them, both as public figures and private men? In this made-for-PBS documentary series, brilliantly adapted from the acclaimed book The American President, these questions and others related to the presidents are answered with rare insight and intimacy. As in the book, the 41 lives of the 42 presidencies (Grover Cleveland served on separate occasions as the 22nd and 24th president) are not presented chronologically but are, rather, episodically linked by common personal traits and circumstances of their terms in office. For example, an episode called "The Heroic Posture" explores the careers of four presidents--Washington, Harrison, Grant, and Eisenhower--who came to their positions as a result of heroism in the service of their country. "Happenstance" looks at five presidents who moved from the vice-presidency to the White House upon the death of the president, and how these ascensions tested their worthiness as politicians. "An Independent Cast of Mind" weighs the pros and cons of presidencies marked by a lack of the messy political maneuvering that is apparently necessary for presidential success (none of the four portrayed--including John Adams and Jimmy Carter--achieved a second term). This focus on the prominent aspects of these exceptional personalities brings an understanding of them that transcends their historical legacies. Broad portraits are painted here, the brushstrokes of which range from public policies and convictions to romantic indulgences (it's true--this kind of scandal is nothing new to the presidency) and even to certain presidents' smoking and drinking habits. Further bringing these stories to life is a seemingly exhaustive album of presidential photographs, voice characterizations by celebrated figures such as Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and Walter Cronkite, and revealing interviews with living former presidents (and one sitting president). Thorough, balanced, and fair, this series is destined to become a historical documentary classic and is a must-see for anyone interested in American history and the story of the most powerful office in the modern world. --Ed Noble Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Another Great GiftThis was a gift for one individual, but everyone has learned and enjoyed its content. Very enriching! Rating:  - My Handicapped son's DVDsI have a 33 year old autistic son who loves politics.But he really loves presidential history so these DVDs seemed just perfect for him.He really likes the DVDs and watches them almost every day.Thanks Rating:  - An Ambitious Effort Suffers from an Awkward Format(original version posted May 11, 2000) Based on the book by Peter and Philip Kunhardt, The American President is an ambitious five-part series of mini-documentaries about the first 41 men who served as president. What distinguishes this documentary from others is its grouping of presidents into broad themes based on shared administrative styles, family backgrounds, and other features. For example, FDR and Kennedy are grouped according to the influence and power of their families in shaping ... Read More Rating: - A good survey of the presidentsI thoroughly enjoyed this series on the American presidents. I am a fan of historical programming on television, both on cable channels and on the PBS network, from which this collection comes. Perhaps the most unique feature of this series is that instead of going through the list of presidents in chronological order, it groups them into broad categories. These categories include: * Family Ties * Happenstance * Independent Cast of Mind * Professional Politicians ... Read More Rating: - Fun but necessarily superficial given lengthI tremendously enjoyed this PBS series on the first forty-one men to serve as president from Washington to Clinton (although Clinton was the forty-second president Cleveland was both the twenty-second and twenty-fourth president, throwing the total off by one). Far and away the most enjoyable aspect was pulling from a host of visual imagery of the presidents. There are a host of photos of the White House and the Capitol from sources contemporaneous with the particular president under discussion ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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