Presidents at War

I'm beginning to wonder how low the History Channel's bar is for accepting or commissioning new documentaries for its viewers. This programme is a case in point. The moment I saw footage of a B52 jet bomber supposedly dropping bombs on southern Italy in November 1943, I gave up any hope of this being a professional documentary production. It's just the same old lazy grab-any-footage-that-looks-near-enough approach to war documentaries. The makers apparently think the viewers are too ignorant to spot the glaring errors. Don' waste your time with this.

This two part "history" of several future U.S. Presidents covering their service during World war II is, at best, a glamorized and sometimes fictionalized account of the events surrounding their actions during the War. For example, the awarding of the Silver Star to Lyndon Johnson omits the actual reasons for him getting this medal. It had nothing to do with valor and bravery, but more to do with a deal cut between Johnson and General MacArthur in order to procure more supplies for his army in the SW Pacific (Johnson was a sitting Congressman and had the ear of FDR. His Naval rank was temporary.). A viewer should always check the facts before believing, at face value, any presentation by a TV show. While some of the information is valid, the attempt by the writers of this piece to change the actual events leaves me no choice than to rate this as Alternative History. Unfortunately, too many people view something seen on the internet, TV or in the theater as fact. Let the Buyer Beware!

This documentary/docudrama is well worth watching if you're interested in American history in the second half of the 20th century. It covers the war time activities of US Presidents from Eisenhower through the first Bush, covering JFK, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Carter. They have home movies, re-enactments, interviews and a host of other ways of keeping you involved. I didn't care for the editing and I think the show hopped around too much. I'd also prefer if they set the stage better by telling us, for example, "when Eisenhower was planning to invade Italy, George Bush was flying in the Pacific in the battle of.. and only a few miles away JFK was fighting outside the Phillipines...." Apart from those critcisms it's well worth watching and I learned quite a bit.

FWIW - there was a time when just about anyone who was President saw military service - 1952 through 1992. Clinton, Obama and Trump did not, and quite frankly, neither did George W Bush. Reagan was in uniform safely in the U.S. making war films, but at least he enlisted. FDR had polio and even though he volunteered he didn't serve, but was Asst Sec of the Navy in WW1. Prior to FDR none of the Presidents saw service, from Hoover to Taft.

From William Henry Harrison (1841) through Chester A Arthur (1885) every President served.

In total 13 people served as President without having served in the military. 8 served during WW 2 (the subject of this show) . 7 served in the Civil War, 5 in the American Revolution and 3 in the War of 1812. The highest ranking Presidents were Washington, Eisenhower, and Grant

Very interesting account of presidents military participation in World War II. It was not just boring narration, it had interviews and lots of clips and pictures. I like the way they Incorporated the timelines together. This could be a 10/10 one day of they had some interviews from family members.

A great premise for a documentary - however, it soon became clear that this was lowest common denominator television. Terrible re-enactments, big flashing graphics to maintain your interest, a cavalcade of talking heads who traded in seemingly weighty but ultimately trite soundbites: "war is the ultimate test of character".

Having read about LBJ's war service (he went out of his way to avoid it), it was clear that the producers of this documentary wanted to avoid any nuance and instead settled for lots of gun sounds and explosions.

Avoid.