CLINTON On AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

Encore broadcast!

Meet the president who rose from a humble Arkansas childhood to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history, and one of the most complex men to ever stride across the public stage.

From draft dodging to the Dayton Accords, from Monica Lewinsky to a balanced budget, the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton veered between sordid scandal and grand achievement.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE "Clinton," explores the fascinating story of an American president who rose from a broken childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history and one of the most complex and conflicted characters to ever stride across the public stage.

It recounts a career full of accomplishment and rife with scandal, a marriage that would make history and create controversy and a presidency that would define the crucial and transformative period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11.

It follows Clinton across his two terms as he confronted some of the key forces that would shape the future, including partisan political warfare and domestic and international terrorism, and struggled, with uneven success, to define the role of American power in a post-Cold War world.

Most memorably, it explores how Clinton’s conflicted character made history, even as it enraged his enemies and confounded his friends.

The program features unprecedented access to scores of Clinton insiders including White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, as well as interviews with foreign leaders, members of the Republican opposition, childhood friends, staffers from Clinton’s years as governor of Arkansas, biographers and journalists.

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Portrait shot of President Clinton during a Clinton/Gore Fundraiser event in Miami, Florida. (September 19, 1995).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton dances with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the 1993 Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C. (January 20, 1993).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton Greeting Citizens of Charleston, West Virginia (August 9, 1993).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman of the Palenstinian Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat shake hands with President Clinton behind them at the Middle East Peace Agreement Ceremony on the South Lawn at the White House. (September 13, 1993)

Courtesy of Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton talks to reporters and photographers on the South Grounds, Bruce Lindsey and Dee Dee Myers stand nearby (October 8, 1993).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton meets with senior staff regarding his schedule (November 9, 1993).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (December 19, 1995).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton talks to Newt Gingrich (December 30, 1995).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton addresses the people of South Dakota at the Sioux Falls Arena and Convention Center (November 4, 1996).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton is sworn in during the Inauguration Ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. (January 20, 1997).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton makes a statement to the press about Ambassador Pamela Harriman's death on the South Lawn (February 5, 1997).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton stand alone and look out a window before the President Kim State Arrival Ceremony (June 9, 1998).

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library

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Stream on demand through Aug. 18, 2020.

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Credits:

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is a production of WGBH Boston. Senior producer Sharon Grimberg. Executive producer Mark Samels.