The Butler
Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.
Ike: Countdown to D-Day
The story of the senior-level preparations for the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 from the time of Dwight D. Eisenhower's appointment as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, to the establishment of the beachhead in Normandy.
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War.
Ike
A graduate student interviews the retired General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower at his Gettysburg farm, sometimes confronting him about his inaction on Civil Rights and McCarthyism.
The 11th Green
A respected journalist uncovers the truth behind the mythology of President Eisenhower's long-alleged involvement in extraterrestrial events.
Nixon
The enigmatic nature of the Nixon presidency combined comparatively progressive legislative initiatives with a flagrant abuse of presidential power and the public trust. His achievements in expanding peaceful relations with China and the Soviet Union stand in stark contrast with his continuation of the war in Vietnam. Finally brought down by scandal and duplicity, his administration did much to erode the citizenry's faith in government.
Unwarranted Influence
An intense examination of the military industrial complex, from President Eisenhower to the modern day.
Ike
He went off to war an unknown soldier and returned a beloved national hero. Often dismissed as a "do-nothing" president and a good-natured bumbler, Dwight D. Eisenhower -- the last American president to be born in the 19th century -- was actually a skillful politician, a tough Cold War warrior, and one of America's most misunderstood and unappreciated presidents. Two-part documentary from American Experience.