In this program from our 1999 "American Presidents: Life Portraits" series we focused on James Buchanan's life and career. History teacher Karl Reisner and professor Richard Keller talked about Buchanan’s presidency and the history of the era. Steve Trapnell gave us a tour of Wheatland, President Buchanan's home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with the executive director of the property, Kathy Bratton.

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Author Joel Dobson talks about his book “The Goldsboro Broken Arrow,” on the 1961 crash of a B-52 bomber in rural North Carolina. The plane carried two nuclear bombs, each 250 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. One bomb was later recovered; the other is still partly in the ground. Mr. Dobson explains the Cold War political environment of the time, the events of that day, and how we barely avoided nuclear disaster. The Wayne County Museum in Goldsboro, North Carolina, hosted this event.

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From Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to Ronald Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo, author Hugh Howard explores the homes of the nation’s chief executives. Mr. Howard’s book, “Houses of the Presidents: Childhood Homes, Family Dwellings, Private Escapes and Grand Estates” offers images, personal stories and an alternative history of the American presidency. This event took place on President’s Day at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Our guest is twelve-time Emmy Award winning CBS News and “60 Minutes” reporter Morley Safer. He shares stories about his early years at the network, reveals that he never finished college, and expresses his opinion against the trend of citizen journalism on the internet. In addition, Safer discusses his impressions of the Douglas Brinkley biography titled, “Cronkite.” He remarks about the designation of Mr. Cronkite as being “the most trusted man in America,” and tells stories of working with the anchorman in London and other locales. Mr. Safer also discusses some of the most controversial episodes of the weekly newsmagazine “60 Minutes.”

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America's third president and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence - Thomas Jefferson - was born 270 years ago on April 13th, 1743.  In this program recorded in 2005, author and journalist Christopher Hitchens discusses the public and private life of Jefferson detailed in his book, “Thomas Jefferson: Author of America.”  Christopher Hitchens died in 2011.

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The Organization of American Historians hosted its annual meeting in San Francisco April 11 to 14. American History TV covered two  discussions, one on African American history from the Emancipation Proclamation through the Civil Rights movement, and another on the history of corporations in America. On Saturday April 13th, historians joined us LIVE from San Francisco to take viewer calls on these subjects.

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Each week, American Artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums and historic sites around the country. We visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum facility near Washington’s Dulles Airport where curator Tom Crouch showed us the airplanes that have carried Americans aloft from the earliest days of the 20th century – planes that have earned a place not only in our history but in our collective imagination.

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From the Eisenhower Legacy Collection, unedited excerpts from a 1992 conversation with former staff secretary and defense liaison officer to President Eisenhower, Gen. Andrew Goodpaster. After World War II, Goodpaster served with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in the late 1950s. In this interview, Goodpaster explains Ike’s views of the military industrial complex, his ideas on military spending, and working with Congress. Independent producer George Colburn conducted this interview for a series of documentaries on Dwight D. Eisenhower’s military and political career – a period covering from 1941 to 1961. C-SPAN 3’s American History TV is airing a selection of interviews that Mr. Colburn has conducted over the last two decades with the people closest to Ike during the war years and his presidency. 

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In this program from our 1999 "American Presidents: Life Portraits" series we focused on James Polk's life and career. Author and historian William Seale talked about President Polk and the events of his presidency, including the acquisition of Oregon and Texas, his dark horse candidacy, and the Mexican War. John Holtzapple, the director of the James K. Polk home, gave a tour of the house and talked about some of the furnishings as well as about Polk’s personal life. 

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C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles take American History TV on the road. Throughout the weekend of April 6-8 we feature the history of Mesa, Arizona.

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