- Every president since george washington
Has had to define what we mean
By the words, "we the people,"
And, "a more perfect union."
In moments of harmony and conflict,
Of growth and severe distress,
In times of triumph and tragedy,
Each of our presidents has had to make a choice
To take us forward or backward, to unite us or divide us,
To greet the future with open arms or a clenched fist.
The choices they made and how they acted on them
Is the story of the american presidency.
When I was finishing high school
And looking ahead to college,
I knew exactly where I wanted to go,
Georgetown university school of foreign service.
With the united states firmly established as a superpower
And the cold war in full swing,
I wanted to learn everything I could
About the world beyond our borders.
I wanted to understand the powerful forces
Shaping our world, how to engage with other nations
And how america could help build
A better, more peaceful and more prosperous future for all.
At georgetown, I was really fortunate
To learn from great professors and fellow students
From every part of america and all around the world.
In fact, my graduating class produced the presidents
Of three nations.
My experience there helped me to better understand
Not only the time I was graduating into,
But the time in which I would eventually serve.
And when I became president, america's role in the world
Was much different than it was
From my earliest predecessors.
Regardless, every president has had to answer
Important questions about when and how to exercise power
In the global arena.
(film reeling)
(upbeat music)
- Theodore roosevelt was, in some respects,
The least likely president in american history.
He was this rich kid born in new york city,
Just before the civil war and he was someone
Who, from a young age, was always trying to prove himself.
He had a lot of enthusiasms, he pursued all of them
To the limit.
He had an extraordinary amount of energy,
He drank a gallon of coffee a day.
Theodore roosevelt was my great-great-grandfather
And in terms of america's place on the world stage,
He has a vision of a robust military powerful nation
That's going to be more of a global actor
Than america had been in the past.
- In 1898, he led the rough riders
During the spanish-american war.
That earned him the vice presidency
Under william mckinley
And then president mckinley was assassinated.
- All of a sudden, he's president,
The youngest president in american history,
Absolutely convinced that he knows what's best
For the country and that the more of the world
That was exposed to american influence,
The better the world would be.
This was the age of the great european empires
And roosevelt thought that the united states
Ought to play in that league.
- But, we have to remember that back in the earliest phases
Of american history, the predominant approach
To foreign policy was to avoid as much as possible
Entanglement with foreign powers.
- George washington and all of the founders knew very well
How europe's position and its sometimes very messy borders
Had led to a lot of conflict, strife and warfare.
And so, from the very beginning, they wanted to avoid
That violence that had plagued the european continent.
- Washington's "farewell address",
Which he publishes in 1796 lays out very clearly
That the united states should not be involved
In formal alliances with other nations.
We should trade with the world,
But we should not form military alliances.
- His "farewell address" really did come to define
American foreign policy for the next century, plus.
- That aversion to great power politics
Starts to change in the very early 20th century.
Teddy roosevelt was comfortable with the idea
That, you know, the united states had matured to the point
Where it really could get deeply involved
In global geopolitics.
- Theodore roosevelt wants america to grow in stature,
But he also came across at the right time
Because america is industrializing,
America's getting bigger and america was poised
To take that step.
- And roosevelt gets that opportunity in 1904.
The eyes of the world are watching
As the russo-japanese war continues to
Rage over manchuria.
We're witnessing the tiny island nation of japan
Really check russia, one of the largest land powers
At that time.
Neither side wants to yield and it has been
A terrible and bloody war.
But also, there is deep concern
About america's imperial holdings,
Specifically guam, hawaii and the philippines.
Roosevelt recognizes that whoever wins,
It can upset the balance of power in asia.
He's concerned about a russian victory
And what that will mean for the pacific.
But he's also worried about the japanese victory
And how that could upset the balance, as well.
- [kermit] and so, the question is
How could american interests be secured
With a minimum investment of american resources?
- And so, that's really where theodore roosevelt came in.
(upbeat music)
- So, roosevelt proposed a conference
To be held in portsmouth, new hampshire,
Where the foreign ministers of japan and russia
Were invited to the united states
As it never happened before.
- It would not have occurred to nearly all the presidents
Of the 19th century to think that the president
Of the united states should become this mediator,
This arbiter, between two countries
As far from the united states as russia and japan.
But it was something that occurred to roosevelt
And whatever occurred to roosevelt,
He almost immediately started doing.
- International affairs came naturally to him
And given the opportunity to end the war
And do what we, today, would call a camp david-like meeting,
Bringing warring nations to a diplomatic table,
He went with it.
- But of course there's danger, too.
If he takes this on and fails,
Then it's gonna discredit american diplomacy.
(upbeat music)
Theodore roosevelt isn't actually at
The peace conference,
He's staying at the summer white house in sagamore hill,
But he's playing a very active role.
He's receiving visits from the russian
And the japanese ambassador and behind the scenes,
He's really managing what goes on.
(upbeat music)
And, as always with theodore roosevelt,
He was hypoenergetic, following things very closely
By telegram, he wanted to keep them isolated from others,
So they would have to talk to him,
Doing everything he could to cajole both sides
To an agreement.
And it's a very good negotiating tactic, right?
Bring the people away from their home territory
And away from any other friends,
That way you control the agenda.
And he did.
It was a very hubristic thing for him to do,
I mean, you have a count from russia,
You have a japanese aristocrat who have come.
(upbeat music)
And this american president is basically telling them
What to do and controlling the agenda.
(upbeat music)
- The portsmouth peace treaty would end
The russo-japanese war.
It's neither a victory for the japanese,
Nor is it a victory for the russians,
But it does bring peace with honor to both parties.
Ultimately, the greatest winner is theodore roosevelt.
- For the president of the united states
To step smack in the middle of this war
Caused people around the world to look on the united states
And especially the president of the united states
As this individual who might have a lot to do
With the way the world evolved
In the succeeding 20th century.
And there are all sorts of people who thought,
"boy, I had no idea that theodore roosevelt
Had this in him," because through much of his life,
He was one who could not speak, except to shout
And he couldn't write, except in capital letters
And all exclamation points.
But he winds up winning the nobel peace prize,
For heaven's sakes.
- It's another sign that an american president
Is being taken seriously.
This is a coming out party for the united states.
We were joining the club of elite nations
As we had not before.
(upbeat music)
- [bill clinton] by brokering the world's stabilizing peace,
Teddy roosevelt proved that america is a player
On the world stage.
Then, a half century later, another conflict
And another roosevelt would claim for the united states
A much larger role on that stage.
To get us there, president franklin roosevelt
Has to convince americans to become global defenders
Of democracy.
But can he convince a weary public to join that fight?
(film reeling)
- So, the year is 1940 and it's franklin delano roosevelt's
Seventh year as president.
- He did something that had never been done before,
He ran for and won a third term.
- And I will faithfully execute the office
Of president of the united states.
- Roosevelt made the argument that the international crisis
Was so great that what the united states needed
Was an experienced leader at the helm
And americans were persuaded.
(crowd cheering)
- At the time, world war ii was essentially raging
Across europe and the united states has yet
To become involved in the situation.
This is a nation that still hasn't fully recovered
From the great depression and there is a strong, strong
Anti-war, pro-isolationist sentiment
Within the united states.
And not simply just people on the ground,
But certainly politicians.
- Members of congress took action as early as 1936 and 1937
To legislate limitations on anything the president could do
That might get the united states into war.
So, they prevented roosevelt, for example,
From selling weapons to belligerents,
And the idea was to tie roosevelt's hands
And to make it clear to the world
That the united states was doing everything
To really stay neutral.
- [edward] this is edward miles speaking from london.
There were more german planes over the coast
Of britain today than at any time since the war began.
- But, by 1940, it was clear that if the united states
Did not take action, then nazi germany
And its italian allies might actually conquer
Most of europe.
- And so, winston churchill is urging the united states
To get involved in the war effort.
- In 1940, churchill wrote fdr an impassioned letter,
Essentially saying, "mr. President, in the long history
Of the world, this is a thing to do now.
Churchill needed weapons because he was standing alone,
Looking across the channel and was the only force
Standing against adolf hitler at that point.
Fdr read the letter, he was thinking about the congress,
He was thinking about the country.
How do you get a people that do not wish to fight
Into a fight?
He came to him when he was on a fishing cruise
With harry hopkins, his aide,
And hopkins later reported that while they were fishing,
Suddenly fdr came out with what was lend-lease.
- The british people and their grecian allies need ships.
From america, they will get ships.
(audience applauding)
- He proposed what came to be called the lend-lease act
And it was cleverly named because we're gonna lend
Or lease this equipment to the british.
We're not gonna give it to them,
We're not even gonna sell it to them,
We're gonna lend it and when they're done with it,
They'll give it back to us.
- They need tanks and guns and ammunition
And supplies of all kinds.
From america, they will get tanks and guns and ammunition
And supplies of all kinds.
- It was one of roosevelt's genius moves.
You can think fdr's hands are tied,
But like houdini, he'll find a way
To untie himself and be free.
- So, our country is going to be
What our people have proclaimed it must be,
The arsenal of democracy.
- Some critics said lending military weapons
Is like lending chewing gum, once it's been used,
You don't want it back.
But roosevelt got this through congress.
- [leah] and so, he is setting up an idea
That the united states has a duty to be involved
On the national stage and on the international scene.
- Lend-lease was a critical step,
As an isolations nation was moving painfully slowly
Into global responsibility.
- It takes the united states from being
One player among many, as it was
Under theodore roosevelt's presidency,
And it makes the united states, in some ways,
The leading player.
- [h.W.] and then came pearl harbor.
- No matter how long it may take us
To overcome this premeditated invasion,
The american people and their righteous might
Will win through to absolute victory.
- [news announcer] america goes to war.
Men of the army, navy and marines
Clear battlefronts on six continents
To save the homes and ideas of free men
From axis domination.
- It's very clear in this moment
That the might of the united states
And where it decided to put its blood and its treasure
Was going to be one of the really definitive factors
In the second world war.
- And so, by the end of world war ii,
Power has shifted to the new world.
England, the traditional countries of europe,
Are becoming less significant
As the united states and the soviet union
Begin to eye each other wearily
And it becomes clear there was going to be
A superpower rivalry.
- Fdr led us to the verge of victory in world war ii,
But with his sudden death in April of 1945,
It fell to president harry truman to end the conflict.
As truman assumed office, he learned for the first time
About a weapon of terrifying destructive power.
He shouldered a lonely responsibility,
Deciding whether or not to use it.
(film reeling)
- With great humility, I call upon all americans
To help me keep our nation united in the memory
Of our fallen president, we shall not fail.
(audience applauding)
- Harry truman was flabbergasted
When he actually became president of the united states.
He was an achingly candid person.
He said to reporters, "I feel like the sun, the moon
And the stars had fallen in on me."
- The transition from roosevelt to truman
Is a very difficult moment.
The united states is approaching victory in europe,
But the japanese are showing stiff resistance.
And so, the challenge is to bring these wars to an end.
- And so, here we have this moment
Where truman is thrust into the role
Of not just commander in chief of the united states,
But commander in chief of a war effort.
He discovers there is a whole world of information,
Of decisions, of strategy that he has not been privy to.
And he's pretty upset.
- He'd been vice president for all of, what, three months
When he became president.
Fdr had not briefed him on the manhattan project.
- The manhattan project was a top secret
Technology development program
That's objective was to beat the nazis
To developing the first nuclear weapon.
- Just a few months into truman's presidency,
The manhattan project really came to fruition
With the first test of the bomb's effectiveness.
That was the trinity test in the summer of 1945
Out in the deserts of new mexico.
- Trinity was the first test of a implosion style
Nuclear weapon.
(bomb exploding)
You would se this flash, you would see
This tremendous blast wave that would go
Kind of in all directions, out and up,
You would see the thermal energy coming from the fireball
And then they would also see the rising of a mushroom cloud,
The quintessential symbol of nuclear weapons.
And if you think about dropping
That level of destructive force on a city,
You can level it in an instant.
- Harry truman had to start thinking about,
"okay, do we use this?"
"this could end the war."
And this is one where the whole decision
Fell on harry truman's shoulders.
- One of the most fateful decisions in human history,
If not the most fateful, falls to an american president
With three months on the job.
A united states senator, veteran of world war I,
A good and decent and thoughtful man, but my god.
- So, the first thing that truman had to deal with
Is are you willing to have, in effect,
The blood of 100,000, maybe, civilians on your hands?
On the flip side, there was the question,
Well, okay, if I don't use it, what does that mean?
Worst case scenario is the war might continue
For another year.
Truman had to ask himself, "okay, how are you
Gonna explain this to the mothers and fathers,
The children of american servicemen
Killed in the invasion of japan
When they learn that you were sitting on this bomb
That might have saved those 50,000 american lives?"
How are you gonna answer that question?
- [harry] as president of the united states,
I had the fateful responsibility of deciding
Whether or not to use this weapon for the first time.
It was the hardest decision I ever had to make,
But the president cannot duck hard problems,
He cannot pass the buck.
- So, truman finally came to the conclusion
That I've got this weapon that could end the war suddenly.
- [harry] I decided that the bomb should be used
In order to end the war quickly and save countless lives,
Japanese, as well as american.
- So, August 6, 1945, the military deploys
The enola gay and it flies over to hiroshima.
(bomb exploding)
The entire city is destroyed in a matter of minutes.
The heat from the blast is so intense
That it actually burns people's shadows into the ground.
- After the first bomb was dropped on hiroshima,
It was clear the japanese were still not gonna surrender
And what was most striking to truman was their defiance.
- If they do not now accept our terms,
They may expect a rain of warring from the air,
The like of which has never been seen on this earth.
- [jeremi] and after the August 9th bombing of nagasaki,
The japanese did surrender on August 14th.
- America's decision to drop the atomic bombs,
I would argue is the most significant moment
In human history since the passion
Of jesus of nazareth in the first century.
Everything afterward was different
Because suddenly we had the capacity
To end all of human life.
- When truman chose to drop two nuclear weapons
By the end of world war ii, he had two objectives.
So, the first was to bring an unconditional surrender
From the japanese leadership, but the second
Was to demonstrate not only that this weapon exists,
But that it exists in number.
- Truman is thinking about the geopolitical order
That's going to come out of the end of the war.
The main question is what can the united states
Project to the soviet union about its own power
And I think this is most significant
In the decision to drop the second bomb
To position the united states in the post-war world
As the dominant global power.
- [bill clinton] america has ushered in a new era,
The atomic age, and with it, a power beyond what any nation
Has ever before possessed.
And as the cold war against the soviet union intensifies,
This power, along with a great deal of foreign aid,
Becomes a key deterrent against unchecked
Communist expansion.
But in that all consuming global fight,
Presidents can end up misusing their might.
This is the dilemma dwight eisenhower faces
Shortly after he takes office.
Just because a president can topple
An unfriendly government, should he?
(film reeling)
(crowd cheering)
- The main pressure that eisenhower's facing in 1953
Is the spread of communism and soviet influence
Around the world.
And the united states foreign policy, at this time,
Is primarily driven by the containment theory,
The idea that soviet influence had to be stopped
Wherever it might manifest itself
And it was a driving factor, certainly in 1953 in iran.
- Iran has a constitutional monarchy,
So you have the shah, the king, mohammad reza pahlavi,
But you also have a prime minister, mohammad mosaddegh.
So, mohammad mosaddegh was leading this campaign
To nationalize iran's oil industry.
- Before 1953, the british were in control
Of iran's oil industry.
They kept essentially all of its revenues.
- But now, mosaddegh nationalizes the oil industry
And he takes that away from great britain.
- And later, he shuts down the british embassy
And expels all the diplomats,
Which gives the british less access to iran
And to the government.
- Britain's answer to this was to try
To remove mosaddegh from power.
And to do this, britain approached the united states
With a proposal.
- This whole plan was shrouded in secrecy.
The channel of communication between great britain
And the u.S. Came through the secretary of state,
John dulles, and the cia director, allen dulles,
His brother, they bring eisenhower a plan
To basically overthrow the prime minister of iran.
And eisenhower is a little skeptical at first.
- And he needed to be convinced.
And the dulles brothers used the argument
That there's a risk iran will fall into the soviet orbit
Because this mosaddegh guy may very well turn communist.
And that triggered something for eisenhower
And so in that moment, sitting across
From the dulles brothers, he makes a decision
That the u.S. Will attempt to overthrow
The prime minister, mohammad mosaddegh.
- The cold war context pushed united states over the edge
In order to do something that not done before.
This is the moment where the united states
Loses its innocence.
- The cia took the lead on carrying out this mission.
It was assigned to the chief of the near east
And africa division of the cia, kermit roosevelt.
- My grandfather, he was theodore roosevelt's grandson
And he was an intelligence officer at the cia.
- Kermit roosevelt crosses over into iran
And he was the guy in charge of figuring out
How to actually, on the ground, carry out a coup.
- What my grandfather did was to stir up unrest.
So, he paid people to go out in the streets and fight
To create a perception of unrest.
- [asha] and he tells them, "I want you to be screaming,
'we love mosaddegh, we love communism,'"
So it's very clear who's responsible for
All of this chaos.
And so, now you have violent clashes taking place
In the streets of tehran.
- And that justified military intervention,
So the army came in and took control.
- Mosaddegh was out of power and the coup has succeeded.
And now they had the shah who was much more friendly
To the west in power.
- Eisenhower sought covert action
As an effort to avoid larger scale military conflict
To fight the cold war in a way that would be constrained,
But would produce the kinds of outcomes that he wanted.
- After the coup, both great britain and the u.S.
Profited from iran's oil and it really does
Beg the question, what was the real motivation
Of this coup?
- I had the opportunity some years ago
To talk to a descendant of one of the british operatives
Who was involved and they said to me,
"of course it was about the oil."
"we just knew that if we mentioned communism,
The americans would jump."
- This covert action would come back
To bite the united states decades later
Because as the united states' involvement
Began to be known, it created a lot of anti-u.S. Resentment
And ultimately, this culminates in the iranian revolution
In 1979 and the takeover of the u.S. Embassy.
We learn the longterm costs of interfering
In the affairs of other countries
And how they impact our own national interests
In the long run, even if they provide a short term gain.
(upbeat music)
- [bill clinton] after world war ii, america has become
A colossus on the world stage.
The iran coup of 1953 was just the first
Of a wave of american backed interventions
In nations from guatemala to indonesia.
Our power to influence global events seems limitless,
But a small nation in southeast asia
Is about to demonstrate that limits do exist.
Under president lyndon johnson, the vietnam war,
Which had escalated over the course
Of three administrations, would consume
And ultimately end his own presidency.
(film reeling)
- Lyndon b. Johnson was president kennedy's
Vice president
And he assumes the presidency following
Kennedy's assassination
And along with that,
Inherits the vietnam war.
- The u.S. Is in vietnam
To support south vietnam,
Which is non-communist, versus north vietnam
Under ho chi minh and the viet cong, which is communist.
- Lbj took it for granted that it was very important
For the united states to resist communist expansion
Wherever a communist expansion threatened.
So, when lbj takes office, there were
About 21,000 americans in south vietnam,
But they were also called advisors,
They were not combat forces, per say.
Lbj makes the decision to cross that all important line
Between an advisory role and a direct combat role.
- The thought is that this is a conflict
That can be won quickly.
- [mark] so, he authorizes the first combat forces
To be sent into south vietnam.
- We built our troop strength from 50,000 to 100,000
To 450,000.
We had a lot of troops out there
Who were dropping a lot of napalm,
But we couldn't quite finish the fight.
- And president johnson really didn't want to demonstrate
That he was not soft on communism.
He simply did not want to be the first president
In u.S. History to lose a war.
- I have asked the commanding general
What more he needs to meet this mounting aggression
And we will meet his needs.
We will stand in vietnam.
- So, what lbj decided to do in that context
Was really to double down on the war
And to try to convince americans
That, look, things are going well,
Whereas, in fact, things have come badly off the rails.
- Lyndon johnson kept saying that there was light
At the end of the tunnel in vietnam,
But low and behold, in January of '68,
We had the tet offensive and it belied johnson's optimism.
- The communists struck and they overran many, many places,
Including the american embassy.
And suddenly, a war, which looked like
It was winding down because of heavy american presence
Turned upside down.
(guns firing)
- There was a steady diet of bad news
Coming out of vietnam and you know why?
It was bad news.
(upbeat music)
For the north vietnamese, it was a big success
Because it showed the vulnerability of the americans.
- Overnight, the emotions in the united states flipped.
Suddenly, boom, after tet it was like,
What the heck are you doing over there?
What's the point of this?
- But the biggest casualty of tet
Will be lyndon johnson himself.
The lowest point really comes
When walter cronkite from cbs news
Travels to vietnam to see firsthand
What's happening on the battlefield.
- [christian] president johnson loved to watch tv.
He had in his office several big tv sets
And would watch all three networks at the same time.
- The nature of the vietnamese war has changed.
- So, walter cronkite, the most trusted man in america,
He said that the united states is bogged down
In a hopeless quagmire.
- Well, it seems now, more certain than ever,
That the bloody experience of vietnam
Is to end in a stalemate.
- And johnson apparently turned to an aide
And he said, "if I've lost cronkite,
I've lost middle america."
- Cronkite delivers what is, in essence,
The first on-screen editorial in american history.
It is the death knell for the johnson administration.
- I shall not seek and I will not accept
The nomination of my party for another term
As your president.
- [mark] very few people saw this coming.
This was a man almost made for politics
At the highest levels.
It was unimaginable that someone who had pursued
The highest office with such energy and vigor
Would give it up.
- This is definitely a turning point in american history
That demonstrates the limits of american power.
American political power, american military power
And american international capital.
- [bill clinton] amid our cold war interventions
And military operations, we were also asking ourselves
How we could achieve a balance between power and principle.
Could we use soft power and non-military means
To protect and project our interests
Beyond our own borders?
President john kennedy was looking for unconventional ways
To advance american interests in the world
When he came up with a bold idea that still lives today.
(film reeling)
- In 1961, john f. Kennedy represents the hopes
For the future of the united states,
Something that he capitalizes on
In his first inaugural address.
- The torch has been passed to a new generation
Of americans, born in this century, tempered by war.
- There was this real emphasis on youthful energy.
Partly, I think this was the way to blunt criticism
That he was, in fact, too young to be the president.
Another reason why kennedy, I think,
Was drawn to this rhetoric of youth and vigor
Had to with new nations that were literally
Shaking off european colonialism.
There was a sense in which the world was changing
In the direction of those young, dynamic,
Energetic societies and kennedy wanted to convey the message
That the united states had something to offer
To those societies.
- Kennedy came to the idea that you could do better
In the cold war by making americans into the good guys
By using soft power.
Soft power's a way to win over hearts and minds
To create a sturdy alliance based on economic incentives
And cultural imperatives.
Soft power's an essential part of the battle
Between the soviet union and the united states
To attract countries to your side.
- I have today signed an executive order
Providing for the establishment of a peace corps
On a temporary pilot basis.
It is our hope to have between 500 to 1,000 people
In the field by the end of this year.
- [douglas] he created a peace corps to send young americans
To new countries that
Were just becoming
Part of the united nations.
- In that first year, 52 americans volunteered
For the peace corps and they were sent
To ghana in west africa.
- [peace corps spokesman] here in africa,
Like a lot of places around the world,
The peace corps is alive and well.
- The peace corps mission was to help other nations
Deal with some very basic fundamental problems,
Whether it be agriculture or water sanitation
Or sewage removal or just basic education.
- This was part of how to expand american dynamism
Around the world in a way that wasn't about nuclear bombs
And militarism.
- The people of this country are anxious to see
A world in peace.
Young people in this country are anxious
To hold out their hand to people in other worlds.
- [douglas] and the fact of the matter is it worked.
The peace corp became very popular.
- And over the next few decades,
Some quarter of a million young people
Would volunteer for the peace corps
And they would be sent to 140 different countries.
- [douglas] kennedy had us all leaning forward,
Thinking we could make the world a better place.
- More than 60 years after president kennedy
Created the peace corps, it remains a shining embodiment
Of american ideals around the world
And I was proud to expand it when I was president.
I believed america's security and prosperity
Could best be advanced in a world with more friends
And fewer enemies, through strong alliances
Rooted in respect and cooperation.
Whether I was right or not, one thing is certain,
Our world is only going to keep becoming more connected.
Everyday, what happens to us is at least partly determined
By what happens to other people somewhere else.
So, like it or not, we can't escape each other.
The vast oceans that allowed presidents
Throughout our history to choose isolationism
Offer a little protection today
Against cyber warfare, global market crashes,
Pandemics or climate change.
So, the real question that every future president
Will have to answer is not whether we will engage
With the world, it's how we will engage with the world.