American Presidents: Life Portraits


American Presidents: Life Portraits is a series produced by C-SPAN in 1999. Each episode was aired live, and was a two- to three-hour look at the life and times of one particular president of the United States. Episodes were broadcast from locations of importance to the profiled president, featured interviews with historians and other experts, and incorporated calls from viewers. The series served as a commemoration of C-SPAN's 20th anniversary.
The first program aired on March 15, 1999, and profiled George Washington. Subsequent programs featured each president in succession, concluding with the then current president Bill Clinton on December 20, 1999.
WWW americanpresidents.org

Peabody Award

American Presidents was awarded a George Foster Peabody Award in 1999. Excerpts of the official rationale for that award appear below:
...From the sites, noted biographers, presidential scholars, descendants, and other guests presented revealing information and assessments of the life, times and legacies of the presidents. The tone set by chairman and CEO Brian P. Lamb remains on point: good television often takes time, requires few special effects and demands good listening. While, like Mr. Lamb, they rarely seek the spotlight, especially deserving of mention are executive producer Mark Farkas, producers Maura Pierce, Paul Brown, Peter Slen and the more than 200 other unseen individuals who make the C-SPAN service increasingly indispensable...

...For creating a series that perfectly embodies the essence of public service in electronic communications, a Peabody Award is presented to C-SPAN for "American Presidents: Life Portraits."

Presidential portraits

Artist Chas Fagan was commissioned by C-SPAN to paint portraits of each of the 41 men who had held the office of U.S. president through 1999. He was given a 90-day window from the time he agreed to the assignment until the time that the project needed to be complete. In September 1999, Union Station in Washington, D.C., hosted a display of Fagan's presidential portraits. Since then, Fagan has also painted portraits of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, and tours with exhibits of those portraits.

Programs

Note: In addition to the interviewees listed, each program featured a variety of other experts, many of whom were employed by or volunteered for the historical sites from which the programs were being broadcast.
Original air date
with link to video		PresidentLocationFeatured interviewees
George WashingtonMount Vernon Estate and Gardens,
Alexandria, Virginia		Richard Norton Smith
John AdamsAdams National Historic Site,
Quincy, Massachusetts		David McCullough
Thomas JeffersonMonticello,
Charlottesville, Virginia		Andrew Burstein, Annette Gordon-Reed
James MadisonMontpelier,
Montpelier Station, Virginia		Jack Rakove, Holly Shulman
James MonroeJames Monroe Museum,
Fredericksburg, Virginia
John Quincy AdamsMassachusetts Historical Society,
Boston, Massachusetts		Lynn Hudson Parsons
Andrew JacksonThe Hermitage,
Hermitage, Tennessee		Robert Remini
Martin Van BurenMartin Van Buren National Historic Site,
Kinderhook, New York
William Henry HarrisonTippecanoe Battlefield,
Battle Ground, Indiana
John TylerSherwood Forest Plantation,
Charles City, Virginia		Edward Crapol, Harrison Ruffin Tyler
James K. PolkPresident James K. Polk Home & Museum,
Columbia, Tennessee
Zachary TaylorZachary Taylor National Cemetery,
Louisville, Kentucky
Millard FillmoreFillmore House Museum,
East Aurora, New York
Franklin PierceThe Pierce Manse,
Concord, New Hampshire		Barry Paris
James BuchananWheatland,
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Abraham LincolnLincoln Home National Historic Site,
Springfield, Illinois
Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson National Historic Site,
Greeneville, Tennessee
Ulysses S. GrantGeneral Grant National Memorial,
New York City, New York		John Y. Simon, Allan Ballard, Ulysses Grant Dietz
Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center,
Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio		Ari Hoogenboom
James A. GarfieldJames A. Garfield National Historic Site,
Mentor, Ohio
Chester A. ArthurUnion College,
Schenectady, New York		Thomas C. Reeves
Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland Birthplace,
Caldwell, New Jersey
Benjamin HarrisonPresident Benjamin Harrison Home,
Indianapolis, Indiana
William McKinleyMcKinley National Memorial and Museum,
Canton, Ohio
Theodore RooseveltSagamore Hill National Historic Site,
Oyster Bay, New York		Edmund Morris, Sylvia Jukes Morris
William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft National Historic Site,
Cincinnati, Ohio		David H. Burton
Woodrow WilsonWoodrow Wilson Birthplace and Museum,
Staunton, Virginia		John Milton Cooper, Jr., Nell Irvin Painter
Warren G. HardingPresident Harding's Home,
Marion, Ohio		Robert Ferrell, Eugene Trani
Calvin CoolidgePresident Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site,
Plymouth, Vermont
Herbert HooverHerbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum and
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site,
West Branch, Iowa		Richard Norton Smith
Franklin D. RooseveltHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site and
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum,
Hyde Park, New York		David Kennedy, Hugh Gregory Gallagher, Allida Black
Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum,
Independence, Missouri		Alonzo Hamby, Margaret Truman Daniel
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower Center,
Abilene, Kansas		Geoffrey Perret
John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy National Historic Site,
Brookline, Massachusetts		Robert Dallek, Thomas C. Reeves
Lyndon B. JohnsonLBJ Ranch,
Stonewall, Texas		Joseph Califano, Robert Caro
Richard NixonRichard M. Nixon Library and birthplace,
Yorba Linda, California		Melvin Small, Joan Hoff
Gerald FordGerald R. Ford Presidential Museum,
Grand Rapids, Michigan		James M. Cannon, Richard Norton Smith
Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter National Historic Site,
Plains, Georgia		Douglas Brinkley, Leo Ribuffo
Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan ranch,
Santa Barbara, California		Lou Cannon
George H. W. BushGeorge Bush Presidential Library,
College Station, Texas		John Robert Greene
Bill ClintonClinton Center and Birthplace,
Hope, Arkansas		David Maraniss