URL: http://www.pbs.org/presidents/2008PBS’ American Experience has launched The Presidents Online at http://www.pbs.org/presidents/2008, as the online component of an unprecedented public television initiative that, for the first time, will make available more than 25 hours of presidential programming online, on TV, and on the go. The project comes at a critical moment in American politics: this year, American voters will take part in a landmark election, where for the first time in over a half-century, neither the sitting President nor vice president is a contender for the Oval Office. In the coming months, voters will wrestle with tough questions and campaign issues: Who should we trust? How do we end a war? Who is best suited to lead the nation in a volatile world? With The Presidents, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE provides an invaluable historical roadmap — helping viewers to understand where we have been, so that they may better decide where we are going. Visitors to the Campaign ’08 Web site will select provocative questions that connect today’s domestic and international issues and candidate platforms with yesterday’s leaders. For example, by selecting “How do you end a war?” users will be able to scan video segments about the resolutions of World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. The site currently features five such questions, which will be updated to reflect hot button election issues leading up to November 2008. Seven films – more than twenty-five hours in all- will be streamed for online viewing, and available for download, beginning with FDR, Truman, and Reagan in February. In the coming months, programs examining Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter will follow. Finally, after a premiere television broadcast on PBS, a new profile of the 41st President, George H.W. Bush, will launch on May 6...click to read more.
Tags: PBS, American Experience, History, Presidential Election, Video Biographies
