A tangled web of issues is involved in electing a president. Edmund Muskie, former presidential press secretary Jody Powell, party officials and others discuss the role of political parties, the electoral college, and what to do if a president becomes disabled.

Many equate it with the Presidency, but the Executive branch of our government is far more complex than that. Containing departments and agencies that directly affect the health, safety, security, and prosperity of the American public, the Executive branch is an administrative mountain with the White House at its peak. This program expands on that description, familiarizing students with the most visible arm of U.S. leadership and its evolution through...

With the Pragmatic Sanction, the Spanish rule passed to Ferdinand VII's young daughter, Isabella, upon his death-and touched off the Carlist Wars, with Ferdinand's brother Don Carlos pitting himself against Queen Regent Maria Cristina. This program employs dramatizations, artwork, maps, film clips, and footage of palaces and other landmarks to make sense of the complex political and social forces at work during the years of the First and Second Carlist...

It would seem to be a universal human goal-creating a society in which all citizens experience belonging, security, freedom, and interconnection. But in reality, some portion of a populace inevitably feels out of place. The question is, is that acceptable? Does the happiness of the "mainstream" trump any assessment of collective harmony, or should civilization be defined in terms of the broadest possible common good? This program searches for answers...

The Geneva Summit brings Dwight D. Eisenhower together with representatives of Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in an effort to reduce international tensions. Adlai Stevenson makes another presidential bid, covered in this episode of Year by Year.

This Program from the Combat Studies Institute is designed to give military instructors ideas on presenting "Nuclear Weapons and the Cold War," lesson 12 in "Evolution of Modern Warfare." It offers suggestions for how to present the Cold War context, thinking on nuclear strategy and deterrence, and the post-WWII reorganization of the military and national security apparatus. Panelists show how the existence of nuclear weapons led to questions of whether...