The American President

I chose “The American President” for my PBS documentary. In this episode the topic was “Expanding Power”. The presidents they chose to highlight were Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. Although I felt that several other presidents had also greatly expanded executive power, such as Abraham Lincoln.
Jackson was the 7th president of the U.S. and was elected as the president for the common man. He was known to welcome all Americans to the White House, portraying himself as an average citizen. In his time he has used the veto more than any other president before him, combined. Here I wonder what other bills he had vetoed. His most famous veto was the bill concerning the Bank of the United States, which was becoming increasingly corrupt, although they failed to explain how.
Cleveland was also a president who won his presidential bid by appealing to the working class. Like Jackson he had also used the veto exceedingly, about 600 times. In the beginning he focused his time on rebuilding a bureaucracy. At first several of his appointments were not approved by the Senate but with the help of the public Cleveland eventually got them confirmed. Naming some of his appointments would have been helpful. Also, why did the Senate originally deny them? In 1889 Cleveland lost is re-election bid due to vetoing legislation that the people favored. A reason like that brings back confidence that the American people do care about who is running the country. He won again four years later but unfortunately inherited an economy in depression.
Roosevelt was another war hero elected president. His background is among the more interesting especially knowing that he was a small kid with asthma and who later became an orphan. In Cuba he was the leader of a special force known as the Rough Riders. What type of work did Roosevelt do in Cuba? He was known for his expansion of the U.S. Navy and the Panama Canal.
Nixon was more famously known for the Watergate Scandal in which he pushed executive powers to the limit. After the Watergate crooks had been caught the line of who was in charge led back to him. Eventually his recordings which proved involvement in the scandal were demanded and when he refused the Supreme Court forced him to turn them over. He resigned from office. However beyond the scandal Nixon also made the first presidential visit to China and officially ended military involvement in the Vietnam War.
When compared to the History Channel, I felt PBS was aired more for education. The History Channel has several shows which are clearly for entertainment purposes rather than education.