Skip to main content
Back to Show
American Experience

The Great War: Chapter 1

In the summer of 1917, at docks up and down the eastern seaboard, thousands of American soldiers boarded ships bound for France. They were the vanguard of a new American army, about to enter the most destructive war the world had ever known. For President Woodrow Wilson, the war was a crusade “to make the world safe for democracy,” a chance to transform the international order in America’s image.

Support Provided By
Season
The Eugenics Crusade
1:53:12
The Eugenics Crusade tells the story of the campaign to breed a “better” American race,
The Gilded Age
1:52:46
The Gilded Age: Full Film
Rachel Carson
1:53:15
The woman whose groundbreaking books revolutionized our relationship to the natural world.
The Perfect Crime
52:03
After attempting to commit the perfect crime, would two boys get the death penalty?
stonewall-uprising-preview
1:20:50
The Stonewall riots marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement.
My Lai
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:21
The 1968 My Lai massacre and its subsequent cover-up.
The Polio Crusade
52:01
In the 1950's a Polio outbreak swept the U.S., devastating communities nationwide.
The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:49:38
The man behind the atomic bomb is put on trial for suspected communist ties in 1954.
Victory in the Pacific
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:49:22
The final months of WWII from the vantage points of both the Japanese and the Americans.
The Presidents
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:52:37
Part of the award-winning "The Presidents" collection.
The Presidents: Reagan (Part 2)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:53:50
Ronald Reagan left the White House one of the most popular presidents of the 20th century.
The Presidents: Reagan (Part 1)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:50:17
A biography from American Experience's collection of presidential portraits.
Active loading indicator