The American President: The Heroic Posture

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  • Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
  • From the beginning, the presidential office has beckoned to national heroes renowned for their selfless service to their country (George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight Eisenhower). This affinity is especially strong for men of military fame, for the president is formally commander-in-chief as well as symbolically the steward to the national interest.
    “The American President” is a series that aired on PBS in 2000 profiling 41 U.S. chief executives, using exclusive interviews with Presidents Clinton, Bush, Ford, and Carter. Well known figures lend their voice to presidents of the past who lived before sound recordings, including: Colin Powell, Bob Dole, Walter Cronkite, Ben Bradlee, John Glenn, James Carville, Andrew Young, and the Rev. Billy Graham. Narrated by Hugh Sidey.
    Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: www.lifestorie.... For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: / @lifestoriesinterviewa...
    Follow us on Instagram: / lifestoriesinterviews
    Chapter Markers:
    George Washington - America's First Hero 1789-1797 (0:55)
    William Henry Harrison - A Manufactured Hero 1841 (13:01)
    Ulysses S. Grant - In Over His Head 1869-1877 (21:42)
    Dwight D. Eisenhower - The Heroic Image 1953-1961 (35:24)
    © Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
    #TheHeroicPosture #kunhardtfilmfoundation
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 75

  • @skip031890
    @skip031890 9 місяців тому +9

    This series is really great. The way these historic figures are brought back to life is amazing.

  • @charlespeters3069
    @charlespeters3069 10 місяців тому +9

    A perfect choice of Walter Cronkite as George Washington! Two of the most respected and trusted Americans.

  • @jilltagmorris
    @jilltagmorris 11 місяців тому +9

    I've really enjoyed these! Thrilled I found them! ❤

  • @carlcleary548
    @carlcleary548 5 місяців тому +2

    I was born in 1942 and I remember these days this is a great Documentary thanks for sharing this story 😊

  • @kidmohair8151
    @kidmohair8151 11 місяців тому +11

    I'm glad that the reputation of Grant as both a general and president has,
    in the intervening 23 years since this was released,
    seen a marked improvement.

    • @familykaplan1341
      @familykaplan1341 7 місяців тому +2

      One of most underrated presidents along with John Adams and TRUMAN.

    • @kidmohair8151
      @kidmohair8151 7 місяців тому

      @@familykaplan1341 I agree.

  • @cwilh6044
    @cwilh6044 5 місяців тому +2

    Ouch. That grant hit piece sounds right out of the lost cause playbook. Grant was the first modern General and, along with Sherman, changed the shape of the way wars were waged from then on. And as far as his presidency goes, he defended reconstruction in a way no other president had, plus he crushed the klan. That along is enough for a great presidency. The whole "corruption" hit job, while having some truth to it, was no different than most other administrations during the back half of the 19th century, including Lincoln's. He was the only consecutive two term president between Lincoln and McKinley. The people loved him and considered he and Lincoln to be THE two heroes of the 19th century. Plus his memoir, written while dying, was THE template for all memoirs to come.
    I consider Grant to be in my top presidents, along with FDR, LBJ, Teddy, and Lincoln. Anyone who fights for the working class, the oppressed, and the downtrodden deserves a place atop the pantheon of presidents and these men certainly qualify.

  • @tomjones5650
    @tomjones5650 10 місяців тому +3

    Tippecanoe & Coatless Too!- Wm.Henry Harrison...😢

  • @deang7097
    @deang7097 11 місяців тому +14

    At 29:35, the video makes reference to Grant's visits to the Williard Hotel where he would enjoy a cigar in the hotel lobby. Many people would visit the President asking for favors. The video does not reveal that this is where the term "lobbying" came from.

    • @johnnotrealname8168
      @johnnotrealname8168 5 місяців тому

      He was notoriously corrupt or at least was surrounded by it.

  • @billrobershaw9165
    @billrobershaw9165 Місяць тому +1

    U.S. Grant was quite remarkable!

  • @platinumuschannel
    @platinumuschannel 7 місяців тому +1

    I swear when WHH was first mentioned and the title of his part showed, I had expected Hugh Sidey to simply comment: "He died", and then move on to the next President.

    • @mikehoffman3131
      @mikehoffman3131 6 місяців тому

      ua-cam.com/video/r8N7BSsU5oo/v-deo.html

  • @johnnotrealname8168
    @johnnotrealname8168 5 місяців тому

    I liked this episode a lot. It boggles my mind that America still has not had a military junta.

  • @thattimestampguy
    @thattimestampguy 4 місяці тому

    0:01 Episode 7: The Heroic Posture
    0:23 The Presidency Has Beckoned to Heroes.
    0:39 12 Generals Have Been President.
    *George Washington*
    _Citizen_
    0:54 America's First Hero
    1:00 The American Revolution
    1:23 His Character, His Vision.
    1:33 Plain and Simple Politics.
    1:48 A Farmer's Son from Tidewater Virginia.
    2:05 Mount Vernon. One of America's Wealthiest Citizens in the late 1700s.
    _War Hero_ The Hero of The American Revolutionary War
    2:58 Destiny called.
    3:06 General of The American Continental Army.
    3:17 Remarkable Generalship.
    3:34 He attended to his men. He stuck by his men. He cared for them. He shared their hardships.
    3:53 Inspiration of Trust.
    *Washington refuses to be a King*
    4:07 Rejecting the title of King.
    *"Gentlemen, if you'll permit me to put on my spectacles."*
    4:33 Meeting at Newburgh, New York.
    5:10 A Letter Addressing The Soldier's Grievances.
    5:27 "Gentlemen, if you'll permit me to put on my spectacles."
    5:52 The Essential Quality: Self-Motivation and Self-Restraint.
    *Washington retires from his role as General*
    6:06 Washington gave up his commission as Commander-in-Chief.
    6:23 Washington's Precedent.
    6:47 "but I have no lust for power."
    _America's First President_
    7:02 Reluctant agreement to come out of retirement.
    7:49 April 30th, 1789. 47-Year Old War Hero. Reciting The Oath. "So Help Me God."
    9:07
    9:19 The Presidential Cabinet was invented.
    9:32 He chose Washington D.C.
    9:47 The President was NOT A King.
    10:06 Neutrality.
    10:43 March 3rd, 1797, Washington's final day as President.
    11:02 "I shall resign the chair of government without a single regret."
    11:08 Enormous Self-Discipline, relinquishing power.
    11:51 The Country had formed it's own American National Character.
    *Washington's final days*
    12:00
    12:10 "First In War, First In Peace, First In The Heart's Of His Countrymen."
    12:17 The Hope that The Constitution be Faithfully Maintained.
    *William Henry Harrison*
    _Virginian_
    12:39
    13:31 Humble, Backwoods, Hero.
    13:43 Classically Educated Virginian.
    _Western Frontier Governor_
    13:52 Patroller of The Western Frontier.
    14:10 Governor of Indiana for 14 years. Overseeing Native American Relations.
    15:00 August 12th, 1810, Tecumseh.
    15:28 500 Warriors on The Tippecanoe River. 279 Indians wounded. "Butchery!"
    16:18 An Episode of Great American Heroism.
    _President_
    16:39 Tippercanoe!
    17:57 Keep The Ball Rolling.
    18:38 Victory. Exhausted and Frail.
    19:18 "This may be the last time I speaking to you on Earth. I bid you farewell. If forever, farewell."
    19:59 A Healing Figure.
    20:16 A Good Senior Civil Servant. Died 1 month in office. The 1st to die in office.
    20:47 Harrison's Final Words to John Tyler.
    1824-1856, Every Presidential Election except for 1 Included a Major Military Hero, appealing to a public more distrusting of career politicians.
    *Ulysses S. Grant* The Hero of The American Civil War
    21:13
    22:32 Everything he attempted ended in failure as a young boy.
    23:00 Grant fought in The Mexican-American War.
    _Major Union General of The Civil War_
    23:34 The Civil War, The Love of The Union, Drinking Alcohol.
    24:09 Health, Youth, Energy. Sleeping anywhere.
    24:31 Drunk, but The Union needed him, so no persecution.
    25:01 Full Responsibility. He had a stomach for violence.
    25:44 Big Army, Destroy The Enemies Resources. Dogged Determination.
    26:18 Use and Lose. Fight! Man of Action, not pretty, not high fancy, but it worked.
    _President_
    27:04 Returning to a Hero's Welcome.
    27:49 Concern for The Plight of Black Americans.
    28:40 Republican Party President.
    29:29 Willard's Hotel. Naively allowed himself to be used. Slandered by The Press with Corruption charges.
    30:23 He was honest, his administration was scandal ridden.
    31:13 "I never wanted to get out of a place as much as I wanted to get out of The Presidency."
    31:27 Financially Bankrupt! Wrote Memoirs.
    32:04 Cigar Throat Cancer. The End Was Near.
    32:36 "It is nearly impossible for me to swallow."
    32:55 The Tragedy. Extreme Pain.
    33:31 He was a Loyal, Family Man, forcing himself to live for his family.
    34:01 He wrote about his successes in War.
    34:32 The Condition of The Colored Man, on The Eve of a New Era.
    *Dwight David Eisenhower* The American Hero of World War II
    35:05
    35:24 Major General
    36:10 D-Day, June 6th, 1944. Toppling The German War Machine.
    36:39 D-Day
    37:37 Humble, Honest, Clean-Cut Man. Popular with The People.
    37:57 Popular Ike
    38:13 Exuded Friendliness.
    38:37 A Very Complex Personality under that Very Attractive Exterior.
    + Learn to suppress your temper.
    39:04 Little Ike, West Point Military Man,
    39:27 1948 he refused to run, 1952 He approved to run.
    40:36 The Country was in an unhappy state. I tried to bring Mutual Serenity.
    41:16 Ike gave The Country as sense of Trust. Truthfulness. Honest Ike.
    41:52 He listened at Cabinet Meetings. Executive Bureaucracy.
    42:36 He stayed involved in important decisions. His "Hidden Hand" Presidency.
    43:04 "You're always on the alert."
    43:25 Personal Diplomacy. Waging Peace. Keeping Wars from Breaking Out.
    44:15 Defusing Nuclear Tensions.
    45:20 Disarmament. Peace Through Strength. U2 Spy Missions.
    46:06 "We should not pay 1 cent more for defense than we have to."
    47:07 U2 Reconnaissance Flight. Valuable information, shot down by The Soviets.
    47:55 Devastated, Legacy tarnished.
    48:46 An Extraordinaire Presidency, but Nuclear Arms grew.
    49:18 A Lasting Peace, returning to being a private citizen.
    49:57 Dwight Eisenhower embodied The American Dream. Unwilling to put his reputation on the line for disarmament. Immensely Popular.
    50:10 Unwilling to put his reputation on the line.
    *The Heroic Posture - Conclusion*
    50:46 The Concept of The Hero, The General, who steps off his pedestal, and becomes President.
    51:14
    51:25 America Has turned to War Heroes for several of it's Presidents.
    + Military Men acting with Military Restraint.
    51:52 "But America herself was born in War."
    52:00 Raising To High Leadership The American Hero.
    52:16 Credits.

  • @can72287
    @can72287 10 місяців тому +2

    It seems our nation rewards Generals with the presidency. It happened in our most consequential wars; Revolutionary,Civi and WW2. Inevitably, non could live up to their war Greatness; it’s not even possible. Though Washington you could say came the closest; though he was essentially writing the book.

    • @toastedsandwichman5111
      @toastedsandwichman5111 9 місяців тому

      As well as 1812 (Jackson), Indian wars (WHH) and Mexican-American (Taylor).

  • @DMA111
    @DMA111 11 місяців тому +5

    I figured they would use Cronkite to voice Washington

  • @donovanmcvick
    @donovanmcvick Місяць тому

    Eisenhowers voice sounds just like casey kassem

  • @billrobershaw9165
    @billrobershaw9165 Місяць тому +1

    I like Ike!

  • @markstevens1729
    @markstevens1729 7 місяців тому

    Hello 2000. This is 2024. As you might have guessed, some trends have begun over the years, and some have ended. Oh, how they’ve ended.

  • @tomjones5650
    @tomjones5650 10 місяців тому

    U.S. Grant. "My friends call me Yulie."😊

  • @christopherthorkon3997
    @christopherthorkon3997 3 місяці тому

    Great documentary. But I am not sure why Andrew Jackson was just quickly mentioned and then skipped over.

    • @RockyRepublican
      @RockyRepublican 3 місяці тому

      He was in the Expansion of Power video, that’s why.

  • @InvestingForTomorrow24
    @InvestingForTomorrow24 5 місяців тому

    If only our wanna-be dictator had any measure of the Washington's character and integrity.

  • @williambabbitt7602
    @williambabbitt7602 11 місяців тому

    Are military heroes are usually the ones that will be the most careful to ensure the peace. Many of our politicians today. Think that a war is winnable whether it’s a small war or a large war war war maintaining issues between two countries they figure the war is winnable And they fight it and sell it as such. However, no war is truly winnable. If a war is ever won in that sense of the word, no one will ever be convinced of the correctness of the victory. No one will be pleased to put down their arms for the sake of peace. When West fight, they fight to the death if we fight again, we will indeed surely die. I’ll rebuild these and our technology, and I thought processes will ensure that outcome.

  • @justinhernandez9847
    @justinhernandez9847 9 місяців тому +1

    So we are just going to disregard General Andrew Jackson. I understand he is in another video but he was a heroic military man

    • @colemellinger9225
      @colemellinger9225 9 місяців тому +1

      Each episode has a different themes or categories. This episode is more about stabilization and acting as a general in politics and crises. His main contribution, according to many historians, was the expansion of American democracy and Indian Removal, and not just keeping the tide and acting as a general in politics. There is also the factor of including top three that best represents this category. I know he was responsible for keeping the peace during the Nullification Crisis in South Carolina, but his main legacy was to expand political participation by making the idea of universal manhood suffrage popular amongst the people and eventually all of the states in the Union.

    • @kevinwatkins6615
      @kevinwatkins6615 8 місяців тому

      GEN Jackson was a disgrace to humanity

    • @mynamedoesntmatter8652
      @mynamedoesntmatter8652 7 місяців тому

      There’s an in-depth video on Andrew Jackson. This documentary is about Washington.

    • @robertpolityka8464
      @robertpolityka8464 2 місяці тому

      The General is the subject of another episode of this documentary.

  • @PJ2437
    @PJ2437 11 місяців тому +1

    Washington or Eisenhower as a President?

    • @scottsirk9364
      @scottsirk9364 10 місяців тому

      A great choice Washington is my choice but Eisenhower one of the best

  • @kevinwatkins6615
    @kevinwatkins6615 8 місяців тому

    Right.

  • @msbhat463
    @msbhat463 11 місяців тому

    The story starts with the words
    He began with war with French and indian.
    I am an Indian which is an South Asian country.
    I am at a loss to know which india you are talking about.
    This I know I have been hearing for the last so many times.
    As a person who really is Bafelled and wants to correct myself I am asking anyone who knows the answer to reply me.
    For which I am really indebted to.

    • @optimisticneighsayer5823
      @optimisticneighsayer5823 11 місяців тому +3

      “French and Indian War” is the most accepted English-language term for the conflict between the British and the French from 1754-1763, supported by various Native American tribes (hence “Indian”). Many people outside the United States consider it just another theater of the Seven Year’s War.

    • @msbhat463
      @msbhat463 11 місяців тому

      @@optimisticneighsayer5823
      Mr.neighsayer
      I am indeed thankful to you for shedding some light on the Indian war.
      But my basic question remains not fully replied.
      So please tell me whenever they say Indian war which India they are talking about.
      Or in those days anything other than European and American is considered as India .
      As many in our country namely this part of South Asian country will always be carried away by the word "India".
      Pl. Clear this.

    • @kidmohair8151
      @kidmohair8151 11 місяців тому

      @@optimisticneighsayer5823 allow me to point out that most of the rest of english speaking world knows this conflict as the Seven Years war.

    • @kidmohair8151
      @kidmohair8151 11 місяців тому +3

      @@msbhat463 in this case, the Indians referred to in this context, are native Americans.
      when Columbus first arrived in the Caribbean he wrongly surmised he had reached the
      eastern edge of Asia and since europeans at that time, referred to anything east of Africa as the "Indies", he called the people he encountered Indians.
      the name stuck for close to 500 years.

    • @msbhat463
      @msbhat463 11 місяців тому

      @@kidmohair8151
      Many thanks indeed.
      Ur reply has cleared the doubts which I had for the last so many years.
      May I know Mohair where are you from
      Namely the country and the place.

  • @cruelty6368
    @cruelty6368 9 місяців тому +9

    "He turned himself into one of the country's wealthiest citizens." So, the slaves Washington owned had nothing to do with this wealth?

    • @skip031890
      @skip031890 9 місяців тому +3

      What would the slaves have to do with it? He had to have wealth in order to have the slaves in the first place. They were not free. He purchased them. Not sure what you're trying to imply.

    • @cruelty6368
      @cruelty6368 9 місяців тому +1

      @@skip031890 Washington was a complex character, full of contradictions. He was deeply disliked by many of his contemporaries, who described him as stiff, pompous, vain and self-important; Washington, like many of the founders, grew to detest the injustice, brutality and immorality of slavery, but maintained the institution because it was so profitable for them and their families. This is part of our history, and this presentation is a disservice to the truth.

    • @skip031890
      @skip031890 9 місяців тому +8

      @@cruelty6368 There is nothing wrong with the presentation. Sounds like you just want to focus on something that was commonplace at the time and centralize everything around it. This was not a presentation about slavery. I'm sure you'll have no problem learning all you can about it on many other videos.

    • @A_reasonable_individual42
      @A_reasonable_individual42 9 місяців тому +1

      @@cruelty6368 his friend Lafayette also criticized Washington on his use of slavery, which somewhat changed his views on slavery.

    • @familykaplan1341
      @familykaplan1341 7 місяців тому

      @@cruelty6368but it WRONG

  • @apope06
    @apope06 10 місяців тому

    Washington didng meet with them. He squashed a rebellion 😂

  • @FLYEAL
    @FLYEAL 11 місяців тому +1

    L

  • @ricardocantoral7672
    @ricardocantoral7672 7 місяців тому

    I am sorry but Grant was basically a fraud. He was just an alcoholic that stumbled around his entire life. To his credit, he was a talented painter.

  • @ttacking_you
    @ttacking_you 11 місяців тому +1

    "My sword is almost my only patrimony"?... that's a little too much mustard isnt it😕

    • @WeAreNotAmused
      @WeAreNotAmused 11 місяців тому

      For real ,
      It's ridiculous hubris

    • @ttacking_you
      @ttacking_you 11 місяців тому

      @@WeAreNotAmused Was he also depicted in the movie Braveheart?🙄