American Experience: Season 9
Season 9 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of American Experience Season 8.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 9 Progress Shield
T.R.: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt (1): The Long Campaign
Oct 6, 1996 · 55 min
TR is born into a wealthy New York family that has a strong sense of social justice. He fights his severe asthma through a strenuous exercise program. He becomes New York State ass
T.R.: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt (2): The Bully Pulpit
Oct 6, 1996 · 55 min
After McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt becomes an "accidental" president. Seeing himself as a crusader, TR uses the presidency to advance his agenda of social reform. He expands
The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie
Jan 20, 1997 · 55 min
A look at the poor emigrant boy who built a fortune in railroads and steel, and, unlike any industrialist of his time, began to systematically give it away; a man full of contradic
Hawaii's Last Queen
Jan 27, 1997 · 55 min
Liliu'okalani moved easily between two worlds -- she had dined at the White House, had been a guest at Buckingham Palace, yet never abandoned her Hawaiian traditions. A writer and
The Telephone
Feb 3, 1997 · 55 min
At first rented only "to persons of good breeding," seen as an expensive luxury for doctors and businessmen, within a decade the telephone had begun to transform American life. Tre
Big Dream, Small Screen
Feb 10, 1997 · 55 min
The little known story of Philo T. Farnsworth, a Utah farm boy who first sketched out his idea for electronic television at the age of fourteen. An eccentric genius, Farnsworth spe
New York Underground
Feb 17, 1997 · 55 min
It began with the blizzard of 1888 -- mountains of snow twenty feet high, horse cars and omnibuses abandoned, the city paralyzed. There was no doubt New York needed a public transp
Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern
Apr 14, 1997 · 55 min
A story of the realities leading to the vanishing role of the family farm in the United States.
Around the World in 72 Days
Apr 28, 1997 · 55 min
At the age of nineteen, Nellie Bly talked her way into an improbable job on a newspaper, then went on to become "the best reporter in America." She was serious and spunky. To expos
Gold Fever
May 12, 1997 · 55 min
The 1890's in America were desperate times. A depression brought bank and business failures and forced millions of men and women from their jobs. When gold was discovered in a froz
Vietnam: A Television History (Part 1 & 2)
May 26, 1997 · 111 min
"Vietnam: A Television History" begins by tracing the "Roots of a War" to French colonialism. "America's Mandarin" looks at the start of America's involvement in Vietnam during th
Vietnam: A Television History (3): LBJ Goes to War
Jun 2, 1997 · 55 min
LBJ Goes to War (1964-65) examines the escalating American involvement following the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Interviewed: Gen. William Westmoreland (USA Ret.) and former Secretary
Vietnam: A Television History (4): America Takes Charge
Jun 9, 1997 · 55 min
In "America Takes Charge (1965-67)," GIs recall combat experiences during the years of U.S. military escalation. Also: a sequence in which Americans and Vietnamese describe the sam
Vietnam: A Television History (5): America's Enemy
Jun 16, 1997 · 55 min
As "Vietnam: A Television History" continues, "America's Enemy (1954-67)" examines the escalating war from the point of view of North Vietnamese leaders and their followers, beginn
Vietnam: A Television History (6): Tet 1968
Jun 23, 1997 · 55 min
Vietnam: A Television History": TV-news footage graphically recalls "Tet 1968," the bold North Vietnamese and Vietcong offensive. The attacks gave the enemy a "brilliant political
Vietnam: A Television History (7): Vietnamizing the War
Jun 30, 1997 · 55 min
"Vietnam: A Television History": The gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and their replacement by the South Vietnamese are recalled in "Vietnamizing the War (1968-73)." But morale wa
Vietnam: A Television History (8): Cambodia and Laos
Jul 7, 1997 · 55 min
America's involvement in—and secret bombing of—Cambodia and Laos are chronicled as "Vietnam: A Television History" continues. After the bombing halt in August 1973, the Communist K
Vietnam: A Television History (9): Peace is at Hand
Jul 14, 1997 · 55 min
"Vietnam: A Television History": "Peace Is at Hand (1968-73)" recalls the peace negotiations in Paris, including Henry Kissinger's "secret" talks with Le Duc Tho. As the talks drag
Vietnam: A Television History (10): Homefront USA
Jul 21, 1997 · 55 min
"Vietnam: A Television History - Homefront U.S.A.," traces the widening rift between supporters and opponents of the war, from the first demonstrations in the mid-1960s to the May
Vietnam: A Television History (11): The End of the Tunnel
Jul 28, 1997 · 55 min
"Vietnam: A Television History" concludes with "The End of the Tunnel," which recalls the 1973 Paris accords and the subsequent collapse of South Vietnam. Included: vivid footage o
T.R.: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt (3): The Good Fight
Oct 7, 1996 · 55 min
TR is just 46 years old when he is inaugurated as president. He builds the Panama Canal, wins the Nobel Prize for Peace, and combatively introduces widesweeping social reforms. As
T.R.: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt (4): Black Care
Oct 7, 1996 · 55 min
TR opposes his old friend Taft for the 1912 Republican nomination. When Taft wins, TR runs for president with his own Progressive Party. Despite enormous popular support, he loses