Meet 12 of America's most important presidents. Through revealing anecdotes and inside stories" you can examine their lives, achievements, and legacies to American life and politics through the eyes of political expert Dr. Allan J. Lichtman. These 12 leaders steered the United States through pivotal times: Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Polk, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and Reagan."
Great Presidents
Meet 12 of America's most important presidents and examine their lives, achievements, and legacies to American life and politics.
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Bernie K from
Good Course
Professor Lichtman does a rather thorough review of 12 presidencies of significant consequence in America's history. He intended and generally accomplished a fair review of these 12 presidencies in spite of his obvious left leanings. For a man born in 1947 he has acquired a strong fluency in WOK talk. Settlers are not just American but white men or when really pejorative rich white men. The 21st century race theories on race pressed onto leaders back the Washington.
Date published: 2024-02-09
Rated 3 out of
5
by
America from
Interesting Course
I enjoyed the whole course except the portion on Ronald Reagan. Anything positive that Reagan did seemed to be attributed to "luck" and the "magic" of Reagan. Then in the final lecture the professor focused more on what is wrong with America.
Date published: 2023-01-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
JOY23 from
Great Information
Thanks for making these courses available and packing it with so much information.
Date published: 2022-09-26
Rated 5 out of
5
by
buddyb07 from
A terrific course
After a 40-year college teaching career, I am just awed by the energy and enthusiasm of this professor. And after 48 lessons! I know there are many great teachers out there, but I continue to be impressed by The Great Courses'/ Wondrium's ability to find them, and bring them to us. Many thanks to Professor Lichtman for this illuminating course.....
Date published: 2022-09-25
Rated 3 out of
5
by
EngineerinVA from
High School Level
This long (48 lectures) course is a series of biographies of 12 presidents from George Washington to Ronald Reagan. Each president is studied in isolation, usually in a subseries of about four lectures. The selection of “great presidents” shows a strong bias toward the 20th century. Two presidents are from the 18th century, three are from the 19th century, and the remaining seven are from the 20th century. Of the seven presidents from the 20th century, five are Democrats and two are Republicans.
It seemed to me that Dr. Lichtman was far more critical of Ronald Reagan than of any other “great” president. I’m not sure why he included President Reagan in this list.
Unfortunately, these biographies are all anecdotes and no analysis. Typically, the first lecture is about the president’s childhood, the second lecture is about the president’s political development, the third lecture is about the president’s first term, and the fourth lecture is about the president’s second term. (Obviously, this generic pattern is adapted for each president.) Dr. Lichtman typically does not discuss *how* he made critical choices or what were the downstream effects of those decisions. There is no common thread and no story arc. He establishes no theme of “greatness.” In my opinion, this is history is more suitable for a high school course than a college course.
Dr. Lichtman is a reasonably good lecturer. However, I got the impression that he was more concerned to present these presidents as nice guys than to address fundamental social issues that the nation faced during their terms of office. I’m not sure what Dr. Lichtman thinks it is that distinguishes a “great” president from all the others.
The course guide is written in outline form as opposed to paragraph form. (I think that paragraph form is a more effective summary.) It includes a timeline and a bibliography. In my opinion, the timeline is of limited value. It is primarily a collection of disconnected dates with no discernible theme or movement.
I used the video version. I was stunned to find that the most important visual aids are essentially PowerPoint slides of bullet points. This course could readily be taken in audio-only mode such as while jogging or commuting in a car.
The course was published in 2000.
Date published: 2022-07-13
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Pinto from
Well done and interesting
Liked all of the lectures so far. But noticed no Lyndon Johnson, but Ronald Reagan and not Richard Nixon. No Bill Clinton. Polk was fine
Date published: 2022-07-08
Rated 5 out of
5
by
LD23 from
Great course!
Although one can certainly argue who were the “great” presidents of our time, this course provides a great deal of insight and information of those presidents selected by Dr.
Lichtman. He not only provides substantial information about each president, but also the political context in which they were elected. Having viewed several previous Great Courses, I would rate Dr. Lichtman as an excellent and articulate presenter - certainly one of the best. All in all, a very informative and easily understandable course presented by a knowledgeable and excellent speaker.
Date published: 2022-06-15
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Janet MML from
Great Presidents. A good course.
This course was a good survey of our great Presidents which highlighted both there successes and failures against a historic backdrop.
Date published: 2022-05-18
Overview
About
Dr. Allan J. Lichtman is Professor of History at American University in Washington, D.C. He did his undergraduate studies at Brandeis University and earned his PhD from Harvard University. Professor Lichtman is the recipient of the Scholar-Teacher Award from American University. He was a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the California Institute of Technology. He is the author or coauthor of six books, including The Thirteen Keys to the Presidency and The Keys to the White House. The ìKeysî system predicted well ahead of time the outcome of every presidential election from 1984 to 1996. He is editor of the book series Studies in Modern American History. Dr. Lichtman has published more than 100 scholarly and popular articles that have appeared in journals and newspapers, including the American Historical Review, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, New Republic, Washington Monthly, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, and the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Lichtman has provided commentary for CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC, C-SPAN, Worldnet, Voice of America, the BBC, and many other networks worldwide.
01: The American Presidency
This first lecture will review the selection of 12 great American presidents who led the nation through crises of war, depression, and social upheaval. It explains how we will consider both the personal and public lives of these leaders, explore their presidencies, and show how they shaped both the office of the presidency and the history of the United States.
33 min
02: George Washington—The Rise of a Patriot
George Washington wanted fame and a lasting, positive legacy. By fame he did not mean mere celebrity, but the honest esteem that comes from service, sacrifice, and character. Even with all of today's debunking cynicism, he remains a true American icon.
31 min
03: George Washington—American Liberator
At critical moments during the Revolution and the nation's infancy, Washington was beyond doubt the "indispensable man." He led the Continental Army to victory against the British, and after the war, lent his prestige to the cause of strengthening the dangerously weak national government. In 1788, he was unanimously elected as the first president under the new Constitution.
31 min
04: George Washington—The First President
President Washington had to work to establish precedents for relating to the public and administering the new government. During his first term, he and his gifted cabinet established a new financial system, developed a foreign policy based on noninvolvement in European affairs, and pursued westward expansion.
31 min
05: George Washington—American Icon
"The approbation of [one's] country," said Washington, "is the highest reward to a feeling mind, and happy are they who so conduct themselves to merit it." His second term saw parties forming even as Washington remained above the fray. He dealt with threats from abroad and showed the power of the federal Union by crushing the Whiskey Rebellion. Refusing a third term, he stepped down in 1797 "first in the hearts of his countrymen."
32 min
06: Thomas Jefferson—The Pen of Freedom
Thomas Jefferson occupies a special place in American history. Before he was 45, he had written the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance, and Virginia's Statute for Religious Freedom. Also considered are his views on women and on slavery.
30 min
07: Thomas Jefferson—Party Leader
Between the Revolution and his election as president in 1800, Jefferson was minister to France and later Secretary of State. He lost the presidency to John Adams in 1796, but under the system of the time he became vice president. Jefferson led the formation of the party that became known as the Democratic-Republicans. In 1800, he unseated Adams; it was the first transfer of presidential power in U.S. history.
30 min
08: Thomas Jefferson—Expansionist President
Jefferson's greatest accomplishment as president, the Louisiana Purchase, came in his first term. These years also saw the first-ever presidential sex scandal when Jefferson was charged with fathering children by his slave, Sally Hemings.
30 min
09: Thomas Jefferson—The Agonies of a Second Term
Jefferson's second term was far more vexing and controversial than his first. When he left office, controversies in foreign policy remained unresolved. Like no other Founder or early president, Jefferson today remains an immediately influential—and controversial—figure.
31 min
10: Andrew Jackson—Hero of the New Republic
A combative product of the Western frontier and the bitter Southern phase of the Revolution, "Old Hickory" won a victory over the British at New Orleans in 1815 that made him the greatest American war hero since Washington.
31 min
11: Andrew Jackson—The Conqueror Returns
After fighting the Indians and the British, Jackson won the popular vote for president in 1824, but lost to John Quincy Adams in the House of Representatives. His supporters denounced this "corrupt bargain" in which Adams's chief supporter in the House, Henry Clay, became the new Secretary of State. Jackson's vindication would come four years later.
31 min
12: Andrew Jackson—The Warrior President
Jackson's war against the Bank of the United States was the highlight of his first term, a stormy period that also saw the Peggy Eaton affair, a struggle over the nullification of federal laws by South Carolina, and the forced removal from their lands of Native Americans.
31 min
13: Andrew Jackson—A President Defiant
The bank crisis continued as Jackson became the first president to be censured by the Senate. Social unrest, especially over slavery, forced new challenges on Jackson and his party. Finally, we examine Jackson's impact on American political life, especially his role in the development of the modern party system.
33 min
14: James K. Polk—Party Loyalist
Although relatively little known, Polk is an important president. Sickly as a child, he had an intense will to succeed. He was elected to Congress at a young age and became a disciple of Jackson. But by the early 1840s, his career seemed to be over.
30 min
15: James K. Polk—The First Dark Horse
Polk was the first "dark horse" nominated for president, and he won an upset victory over veteran Whig leader Henry Clay. He worked hard at all phases of his job, and especially when pursuing expansionist policies vis-à-vis Oregon and Mexico.
31 min
16: James K. Polk—Apostle of Manifest Destiny
Polk's single term featured the dispute with Britain over the boundaries of Oregon Territory, and the conflict with Mexico. Each receives detailed discussion, with specific attention to Polk's place at the center of "Manifest Destiny"—the drive toward the sea-to-sea expansion of the United States.
30 min
17: Abraham Lincoln—Frontier Politician
Abraham Lincoln had a true log-cabin upbringing in Kentucky and Indiana. He rose as a lawyer and state legislator in Illinois, served a term in Congress as a Whig, and moved like many antislavery Whigs to the new Republican Party in the 1850s.
31 min
18: Abraham Lincoln—The First Republican President
His debates with Stephen Douglas made Lincoln a national figure and set him on the path to the 1860 Republican nomination. The lecture will cover the crackup of the American party system in the 1850s, the complex alignments of 1860, and the repercussions of Lincoln's eventual triumph in the four-man presidential race of that year.
31 min
19: Abraham Lincoln—Wartime Leader
Although he lacked military or administrative experience, Lincoln was an active commander-in-chief. With the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address, he gave the war a purpose beyond the restoration of the Union on the old terms. And he faced the task of running for re-election in the midst of the struggle.
31 min
20: Abraham Lincoln—The Martyred President
After winning re-election, Lincoln was preoccupied with the problems raised by the end of slavery and the start of reconstruction. The lecture will also highlight the controversy surrounding Lincoln's assassination and examine the reasons why he is considered the greatest of all American presidents.
30 min
21: Theodore Roosevelt—Patrician Reformer
The first part of TR's life saw him go from sickly boyhood to a vigorous young manhood. This lecture considers his early experiences, his political ideas and involvements, his work as assistant Navy secretary, and his service with the Rough Riders in the war with Spain.
30 min
22: Theodore Roosevelt—The Cowboy as President
TR's rise was meteoric. He became the reform-minded governor of New York in 1898, and William McKinley's running mate two years later. After McKinley's assassination in 1901, TR became the youngest president ever. He used the "bully pulpit" more effectively than any prior president and put a distinctly progressive stamp on the presidency.
31 min
23: Theodore Roosevelt—Progressive Dynamo
TR's first term saw him steer a program of progressive reform through Congress and shape an expansive, active foreign policy. His landslide election to a second term in 1904 would bring an expansion of his progressive agenda, creating difficulties with conservatives in his own party.
30 min
24: Theodore Roosevelt—Third-Party Crusader
After trying to wrest the GOP nomination from Taft, TR ran as a Bull Moose Progressive. His losing bid gained the biggest vote share ever for a third party. As president, he had expanded his office's power, and his vision of world affairs enduringly influenced our foreign policy. He was fittingly the first president of what some would call The American Century.
31 min
25: Woodrow Wilson—American Visionary
Woodrow Wilson began the shift of the Democrats away from state's rights and limited government toward federal initiative and governmental activism at home and abroad. How did his youth in the Civil War and Reconstruction South affect him? What role did his scholarly career play in shaping his politics?
32 min
26: Woodrow Wilson—The Professor as Politician
After 1904, Wilson began leaning toward the reformism that he would embrace as governor of New Jersey and U.S. president. The unusual 1912 presidential election is discussed, as is Wilson's ambitious domestic program of tariff reform, antitrust initiatives, and creation of the Federal Reserve Board.
29 min
27: Woodrow Wilson—The World Stage
World War I was the central foreign-policy challenge that Wilson faced. As the war dragged on, U.S. neutrality became increasingly hard to maintain. Acting on his belief that it was America's mission to "make the world safe for democracy," Wilson took the country to war in 1917 despite his 1916 campaign promise not to.
31 min
28: Woodrow Wilson—The Fight for Postwar Peace
Having given the Allies crucial help in winning the war, Wilson wanted a League of Nations to help secure the peace. The British and French were cool to the idea, however, and at home Wilson lost a grueling Senate fight over the League. He suffered a debilitating stroke in October 1919. The impact of his efforts is still much debated.
31 min
29: Franklin D. Roosevelt—Provocative Politician
Meeting the challenges of war and depression led FDR to launch revolutionary changes that are still with us today. In many ways he created the modern presidency that TR and Wilson had helped establish. FDR's life began in privilege, but he knew deep personal and political adversity as well.
30 min
30: Franklin D. Roosevelt—New Dealer
This lecture examines the critical election of 1932 and FDR's significance in forging the New Deal coalition that made the Democrats the normal majority party. Many of the New Deal's early innovations, especially those designed to fight the Depression, lasted only a few years, but the sheer magnitude of New Deal experimentation was beyond anything previously envisioned.
31 min
31: Franklin D. Roosevelt—Into the Storm
After his 1936 landslide FDR sought to extend the New Deal, but fell victim to his own hubris. Even a president of huge stature and popularity can push his powers only so far. As the 1930s ended, war in Europe and the possibility of a third term dominated the 1940 campaign.
31 min
32: Franklin D. Roosevelt—President in a World at War
When FDR died in April 1945, just weeks after his inauguration and weeks before the end of the war in Europe, Winston Churchill said that the former president had "altered decisively and permanently, the social axis, the moral axis, of mankind by involving the New World inexorably and irrevocably in the fortunes of the old."
31 min
33: Harry S Truman—A Struggle for Success
Although the hardscrabble Truman was the least esteemed of presidents, scholars have reappraised him, and he usually ranks high in surveys of historians. When FDR's sudden death thrust him into the world's most important position at one of history's great turning points, Truman became a key shaper of the postwar world.
31 min
34: Harry S Truman—Needing America's Prayers
A vice president Roosevelt had largely ignored, Truman found himself in April 1945 facing the responsibility of ending the war and making foreign and domestic policy for the postwar world. The bold decisions he made over the next few months profoundly affected the world and America's place in it.
31 min
35: Harry S Truman—Winning the Peace
The strategy of containment was a product of the first Truman administration that became the hallmark of U.S. foreign policy throughout the Cold War. America would assume huge and unprecedented global responsibilities that would deeply affect both life at home and the shape of the presidency.
31 min
36: Harry S Truman—No Accidental President
In the early 1950s, the Cold War suddenly turned hot, Stalin got the bomb, and Americans began wondering if their neighbors were Communist spies. In a reversal of earlier roles, Democrats became the party of civil rights, activist government, and internationalism. Truman left office in 1953 having changed the future of his country and the world.
32 min
37: John F. Kennedy—The Construction of a Politician
The tragic end of JFK's short presidency left Americans wondering what might have been. He led the nation through three turbulent years marked by the Cuban Missile Crisis, the most dangerous moment of the Cold War, and the Civil Rights Movement, the most significant social movement of the postwar era.
33 min
38: John F. Kennedy—The Emergence of a President
After a campaign in which the use of TV, polling, and image-making would make it a model, the cool, analytical, and glamorous Kennedy would bring a new look, style, vitality, as well as a new idealism and realism to the presidency.
31 min
39: John F. Kennedy—A President in Crisis
Despite his bold rhetoric, JFK proceeded cautiously on domestic issues such as civil rights. Much of his early term was spent dealing with major Cold War crises involving Cuba, Berlin, and Vietnam.
31 min
40: John F. Kennedy—His Final Challenges
The Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 showed Kennedy at his best. In 1963, he proposed landmark civil rights legislation, began planning a major initiative against poverty, and struggled with the question of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
30 min
41: Lyndon Johnson—Politician in the Rough
Lyndon Johnson, one of the most activist presidents in history, left a legacy of both achievement and tragedy. Growing up amid rural hardship, he developed a deep need for attention and respect, and great sympathy for the less well-off. Devoted to and brilliant at politics, he became a successful six-term congressman.
30 min
42: Lyndon Johnson—Professional Politician
LBJ narrowly won a Senate seat in 1948, and by 1955 was the youngest majority leader in Senate history. Never fully comfortable in the vice presidency, he took office after JFK's assassination determined to follow the liberal precedents of Franklin Roosevelt.
31 min
43: Lyndon Johnson—Building the Great Society
As president, Johnson immediately pursued ambitious domestic reforms. These Great Society programs included his war on poverty, civil rights, Medicare and Medicaid, environmental and consumer protection, aid to education, and an expansion of federal welfare measures.
30 min
44: Lyndon Johnson—Acrimony at Home and Abroad
Turmoil and social unrest would mark Johnson's last three years in office. Above all, the war in Vietnam dominated events—detracting from the Great Society, undermining the economy, sapping the strength of Johnson's Democratic party, dividing Americans, and exacerbating other domestic problems.
31 min
45: Ronald Reagan—"The Gipper"
Ronald Reagan made conservatism respectable and formidable in late 20th-century America, slowed the growth of domestic spending, shifted priorities to the military, deregulated industry, achieved a major arms reduction treaty, and brought America to the brink of victory in the Cold War.
31 min
46: Ronald Reagan—A Conservative in the White House
Reagan's victory in 1980 capped a 20-year revival of conservatism. In 1981, he forced through Congress a major tax cut, an expanded military budget, and cuts in domestic programs.
31 min
47: Ronald Reagan—The Acting President
Reagan roused Americans from the malaise they had been in since the mid-1970s and made them believe again that America was a great country, a citadel of democracy, one worth fighting and dying for. But his domestic policies faltered as the administration failed to address problems of the late 1980s.
31 min
48: Ronald Reagan—The Teflon President
Although Reagan's final place in history is not yet clear, he successfully transformed the terms of political debate and understanding in the United States, and his second term ushered in the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
31 min
