THE PRESIDENTS: GEORGE H. W. BUSH
~ AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Premieres First In-Depth Assessment Of The Forty-First
President ~
May 2008
When George. H.W. Bush left
the Oval office in 1992, rejected after one tumultuous
presidential term, his thirty-year career in public
service came to an abrupt and unexpected end. Despite
soaring approval ratings following military victory
in the Persian Gulf, his years as president after the
war were marked by decline. A sluggish economy and an
earlier decision to raise taxes, despite an explicit
campaign oath not to, led to his defeat. By the end
of his term many observers dismissed him as an artifact
of an irrelevant Cold War past.
On Monday and Tuesday, May
5 and 6, 2008, PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE premieres the
first in-depth assessment of the forty-first president
of the United States, drawing upon new scholarship and
unparalleled access to figures in Bush's private and
public life. From Emmy Award-winning producer Austin
Hoyt (Reagan, Eisenhower, Victory in the Pacific), the
documentary reveals Bush as a pivotal player during
a critical moment in American and world history and
in a powerful political dynasty.
George H.W. Bush tells the
story of a man born to both economic and political privilege
and tutored in modesty, who enlisted in the Navy on
his eighteenth birthday and became a hero in World War
II. It recounts Bush's post-war time at Yale University,
where he excelled in athletics, and his marriage to
Barbara Pierce. It tells of his adventurous days as
a Texas oil wildcatter, the tragic loss of a daughter
to leukemia, and his entry into Republican politics
at a time of roiling change.
Bush's personal letters and
interviews with his closest advisors and prominent critics
inform the film, which features interviews with First
Lady Barbara Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Mikhail
Gorbachev, and more. George H.W. Bush will air in two
parts on Monday, May 5 (Part 1: 120 minutes) and Tuesday,
May 6 (Part 2: 90 minutes) at 9:00 p.m. on PBS.
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