The death of Franklin Roosevelt, as World War II was raging, seemed to many an international tragedy of insurmountable proportions.  His successor was plain-spoken where Roosevelt had been eloquent, a man of the people where Roosevelt had been an Olympian aristocrat, and he lacked Roosevelt's towering stature.  But Truman possessed acute judgment, sterling character, and a no-nonsense approach to leadership that ultimately produced one of the greatest upsets in American presidential politics, his reelection in 1948. 

Brief Biography                        Campaign and Election Information

Nearly one in five American presidents has died in office.  The vice presidents who succeeded them were often chosen for the ticket less because they were equal to the most powerful office in the land than because they provided some electoral advantage, such as geographical balance.  What happens when such a man takes office—frequently facing widespread conviction that he is unworthy of the powers he inherits?

A word about this show from the producers. 

For lesson plans developed for this program, go to Lessons on the Series.
For discussion questions on the featured presidents in this program, go to Issues to Ponder.

When William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office, his vice president, John Tyler, found himself facing a very fundamental question: was he president, or just acting president?  Although the Constitution was vague on the issue, Tyler asserted that the presidency's full powers were indeed his.  His steely resolve and competence prevailed, and he set the precedent for those who would follow—and helped to ensure the orderly transfer of power when the elected chief executive is struck down

Brief Biography                        Campaign and Election Information

After a triumphant climb from poverty and obscurity to the second-highest office in the land, Millard Fillmore found his career becalmed: the president, Zachary Taylor, ignored his existence.  When Taylor died after a year in office, Fillmore was handed the reins of a fragmented nation locked in furious debate over the issue of slavery.  He desperately sought to keep the Union intact.  But, even as the Compromise of 1850 calmed secession fever in the South, the Fugitive Slave Act that it contained hardened abolitionist attitudes in the North and helped to light the fuse for the Civil War.

Brief Biography                        Campaign and Election Information

For many Americans, already reeling from the carnage of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the succession of Andrew Johnson to the presidency seemed yet one more link in a long chain of misfortune.  The new president lacked Lincoln's stature and was known to be a heavy drinker—and his opposition to racial equality encouraged white resistance to Reconstruction and the return of white supremacy.  While probably no vice president could have filled Lincoln's shoes, Johnson was the wrong man in the wrong place, and he became the first president to be impeached.

Brief Biography                        Campaign and Election Information

John Tyler (1841–5):  Establishing the Precedent

Millard Fillmore (1850–3):  "Called by a Bereavement"

Andrew Johnson (1865–9):  "Elect of an Assassin"

Harry Truman (1945–53): American Optimist

THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT
Program 2: "Happenstance"

Under the corrupt Grant administration, Chester Alan Arthur had held one of the richest positions of patronage—collector for the graft-riddled Port of New York—until his removal by President Rutherford B. Hayes.  A portly, cynical dandy, Arthur seemed to represent the worst kind of professional politician of his time.  To everyone's surprise, he proved a competent, honest president who refused to help old political cronies and supported long-overdue Civil Service reform.

Brief Biography                      Campaign and Election Information

Chester A. Arthur (1881–5): Gentleman Boss