The Presidents

This series from the History Channel covers all 43 presidents from Washington to Bush and it runs about 6 hours in length.

Each president is covered in some detail with descriptions not only of the key historical events of their presidency but more importantly what each was like as a person.

Both their strengths and weaknesses are discussed and the coverage seemed fair.

There is a little baseball-like "trading card" that pops up for each president that summarizes what they were like that grew on me as the series unfolded and marked a clear start of the next president.

There are some decent extras as well to round this offering out.

I was disappointed that only interview actually conducted with a still living president was with Jimmy Carter and I would really would have liked to hear a few words from the others.

The coverage of the early presidents actually seemed better than those of more recent vintage.

Trying to stayed focused and involved as much as possible, I found the pace slow at times but clearly some presidents were more interesting than others so perhaps that is understandable. How much gripping information can be provided about someone like Millard Fillmore?

I also would have liked a little more discussion on the election campaigns. Who was the opponent and what were the issues? Why did this man win over the other? This aspect is covered pretty extensively for some presidents but is often non-existent for others.

Recommended for those interested in politics and/or American history, but perhaps a little dry for others. Still I learned a lot of new things that surprised and sometimes amused me about American presidents.