American Presidents

Did you know John Tyler opened the first U.S.-China trade route? (Did you even know John Tyler was an American president?) Sure, you could get a lot more in-depth information from a CD-ROM program or from the Internet, but the fact is that most classrooms have a VCR cart, not computers, and certainly not on-line access. This video presents 60-90 second thumbnail biographies of all 42 American presidents, including dates of birth and death, term, and political affiliation, followed by narration detailing each man's credentials, education, work history, major accomplishments, etc. A wealth of archival footage, historical documents, paintings, photographs, and sound bites are used to illustrate the narration. Although not meant to be viewed sequentially, one gets a sense of the United States of America developing as a country over time as each president comes and goes, riding a rollercoaster of respect and disfavor, while navigating issues, scandals, wars, and Congress. A very affordable, fantastic resource for any U.S. history classroom, this is highly recommended. Other new titles priced at $24.95 in the Just the Facts series include: Little Known Facts in American History, 50 Great Years in American History, America's Explorers and Pioneers, and United States Constitution and Bill of Rights (2 vols., $49.95). Aud: I, J, H, P. (E. Gieschen)