Watch Full Films | American Experience | Official Site

FDR

Aired May 12, 2008 | 4 hrs

Engendering both admiration and scorn, FDR exerted unflinching leadership during the most tumultuous period in U.S. history since the Civil War and was the most vital figure in the nation during his 13 years in the White House.

Part One

Part Two More

D-Day

Aired May 25, 1994

Not since 1688 had an invading army crossed the English Channel, but now it was happening — Operation Overlord, D-Day, the all-out attack on Hitler's fortress Europe. D-Day was the turning point. It was day one of the final drive to complete Allied victory.

More

American Experience | America and the Holocaust

Aired April 6, 1994

Complex social and political factors shaped America's response to the Holocaust, from "Kristallnacht" in 1938 through the liberation of the death camps in 1945. For a short time, the US had an opportunity to open its doors, but instead erected a "paper wall," a bureaucratic maze that prevented all but a few Jewish refugees from entering the country. It was not until 1944, that a small band of Treasury Department employees forced the government to respond.

More

Malcolm X: Make it Plain

Aired January 26, 1994

If any man expressed the anger, struggle and insistence of black people for freedom in the sixties, it was Malcolm X. In Omaha, he was Malcolm Little; later he became "Detroit Red," a small time street hustler. From prison emerged another Malcolm, the fiery, eloquent spokesman for the Nation of Islam. After a trip to Mecca, there was a last transformation — a new willingness to accept white allies. Who killed him and why has never been fully explained.

More

LBJ

Aired October 7, 1991 | 3 hrs 42 min

LBJ exploited his mastery of the legislative process to shepherd a collection of progressive programs through Congress with astounding success, but his visions of a Great Society were swallowed up in the quagmire of Vietnam.

Part One

Part Two More

Nixon

Aired October 15, 1990 | 2 hrs 49 min

The enigmatic nature of the Nixon presidency combined comparatively progressive legislative initiatives with a flagrant abuse of presidential power and the public trust.

Full Film More