Filmmaker Austin Hoyt answers questions on his new documentary, American Experience: Victory in the Pacific, which examines the final year of World War II in the Pacific, including the rationale for using the atomic bomb, and features firsthand recollections of both American and Japanese civilians and soldiers. The presentation includes a collage of audio and visual clips from the film.
Audio and video options are available.
Historian Sheldon M. Stern, author of Averting the Final Failure, discusses the secret Executive Committee meetings among President Kennedy and his most trusted advisors during the Cuban Missile Crisis. His presentation includes video footage of Kennedy.
Mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba describes the effects of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on the city and on the lives of the survivors, and calls for nuclear disarmament.
A series of professors and historians look at the presidential tape recordings of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon B. Johnson, focusing on what these tapes reveal about the presidents' decisions and roles during the Vietnam War. The panel also discusses the significance of such recordings in general—to memory, to the press, to historians—and what they reveal about the character of individual presidents.
Audio and video options are available.
Several panelists involved in the original reportage of the Cuban Missile Crisis discuss and debate their coverage of the Crisis and how the media might cover such a situation today. The presentation includes audio clips from original coverage of the Crisis.
Professor Priscilla McMillan examines the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, physicist and director of the Manhattan Project. McMillan focuses particularly on his post-World-War-II opposition to development of the hydrogen bomb, the 1954 trial in which his security clearance was revoked, and the context of these events at the beginning of the USSR-U.S. arms race.
Joseph Cirincione, Senior Vice President of the Center for American Progress, discusses the history and future of nuclear weapons, looking particularly at nuclear weapons production in Iran.
Digitized versions of 20 volumes of Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, spanning from 1992 to 2004, are presented on this website.
Materials include papers and speeches issued by the Office of the Press Secretary during the terms of William J. Clinton (17 volumes, 19932001), in addition to two volumes pertaining to George H. W. Bush for 1992, and four volumes for George W. Bush (January 20June 30, 2004). The documents, including addresses, statements, letters, and interviews with the press, are compiled by the Office of the Federal Register and published in chronological order.
Also included are appendices with daily schedules and meetings, nominations to the Senate, proclamations, executive orders, and photographic portfolios. Users may access multiple volumes by keyword searches and separate volumes by title of document, type, subject matter, and personal names.
Professor Larry Schweikart argues that most popular textbooks today show a liberal, left-wing bias. He reexamines specific periods in U.S. history from a conservative perspective, focusing particularly on the slave market within the U.S. and then on Ronald Reagan's presidency and his role in ending the Cold War.
This lecture continues from A Patriot's History of the United States, Part One: Liberty and Property in the American Past.
Professor Larry Schweikart argues that most popular textbooks today show a liberal, left-wing bias. He reexamines specific periods in U.S. history from a conservative perspective, focusing on Ronald Reagan's presidency and the colonization of the original colonies, particularly as documents from the latter discuss property rights.
This lecture continues in A Patriot's History of the United States, Part Two: Reinterpreting Reagan and the Cold War.