Congressman John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan first entered the House of Representatives in 1965 and is now considered the dean of the Congressional Black Caucus – which marks its 40th anniversary in 2011. In this oral history from the collection of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Conyers discusses his long political career, including the story behind the creation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

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American History TV joined historian Carol Reardon and Col. Tom Vossler to learn the story of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg through a selection of their favorite monuments.

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The Siege of Vicksburg took place from May 18th to July 4th, 1863. After failing to take the city by force, Union General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee laid siege to the city, held by Confederate General John C. Pemberton and his forces. On July 4th, after 47 days, General Pemberton surrendered; and Vicksburg—the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River—was turned over to General Grant and the Union. In this program, we tour Vicksburg National Military Park with Tim Kavanaugh, the park's supervisory ranger for interpretation.

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This May marked 40 years since the Senate Watergate hearings began. We are airing oral history interviews from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library that provide a new look into the Nixon impeachment inquiry. After a silence of four decades, key staff charged with investigating whether there were grounds to impeach the president have recorded their part in history. These interviews were conducted by the former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Timothy Naftali.

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This May marked 40 years since the Senate Watergate hearings began. This is an oral history interview from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library that provides a new look into the Nixon impeachment inquiry. After a silence of four decades, key staff charged with investigating whether there were grounds to impeach the president have recorded their part in history. These interviews were conducted by the former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Timothy Naftali.

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This May marked 40 years since the Senate Watergate hearings began and we're airing oral history interviews from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library that provide a new look into the Nixon impeachment inquiry. After a silence of four decades, key staff charged with investigating whether there were grounds to impeach the president have recorded their part in history. These interviews were conducted by the former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Timothy Naftali.

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Last June, as the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in approached, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library released interviews with key staff charged with investigating whether there were grounds to impeach President Nixon. These interviews were conducted by the former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Timothy Naftali. We hear from Jeffrey Banchero, who was a research assistant for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during their impeachment inquiry. Mr. Banchero talks about transcribing tapes of the president’s private conversations, working with special counsel John Doar, and the reactions of congressmen as they listened to the secret tapes. Mr. Doar admonished his staff not to talk about the proceedings – a warning they heeded for four decades.

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At the direction of Congress, the voices and experiences from the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century are being documented in an oral history project. This effort is a collaboration of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, the Library of Congress and the Southern Oral History Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

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These are unedited excerpts from a 1995 conversation with President Eisenhower’s son, John. A retired U.S. Army Brigadier General, he talks about his father’s role as Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He also discusses Ike’s relationships with American and British generals and how he compromised with Allied nations to bring World War II in Europe to an end. Independent producer George Colburn conducted this interview as part of a documentary series on Dwight D. Eisenhower’s military and political career – a period covering from 1941 to 1961.  His latest project –  “Eisenhower’s Secret War” – debuts on public television stations nation-wide in May. Hosted by Evan Thomas, author of “Ike’s Bluff," Mr. Colburn’s two-part program focuses on Ike’s campaign to wage peace in the aftermath of World War II.

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These are unedited excerpts from a 1992 conversation with former President Gerald Ford. He remembers Dwight D. Eisenhower from the perspective of the Michigan congressman that he was in the 1950s. Topics include the 1952 election and the GOP’s domestic agenda, McCarthyism, civil rights, and Ike’s legacy for the Republican party. He also discusses the day he took his young sons to visit Eisenhower at his Gettysburg farm, and the impromptu lesson the former World War II general gave the Ford boys on one of this nation’s most storied battles.   

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