The crucial years of the Second World War. Stone, on the one hand, denounces the steadfastness of Allied forces in the face of the rise of Nazi-fascist regimes and the Americans' choice to use atomic weapons at the end of the conflict, on the other. He celebrates the sacrifice of the Soviet people who succeeded in curbing Hitler's advance, allowing the Allied forces to win the war.
Highlights from the historical upset of Harry Truman replacing Henry Wallace as Roosevelt's Vice President. Exploration of the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union and the beginnings of the Cold War.
The strategies behind the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan are explored as well as the new mythology that emerged from the war. The bombing haunted the Soviets and mistrust towards the Allies grew quickly.
The equation changes: specific month-by-month causes of the Cold War emerge and it is not entirely clear who started it. Highlights include Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, the civil war in Greece and the Red Scare that prompts the rise of Joseph McCarthy, the House Un-American Activities Committee and the FBI.
Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles replace Truman. Stalin dies but relations with the Soviet Union turn colder. The H-bomb and the doctrine of nuclear annihilation are explored, as are the Korean War and U.S. rearmament. McCarthyism grows and so does the ruthlessness of U.S. policy towards a Third World. Eisenhower emerges as a game changer.
JFK and the Bay of Pigs; on the brink of total war during Cuban Missile Crisis; early Vietnam; JFK's attempts at peace with Khrushchev; JFK assassinated. Directed and narrated by Oliver Stone.
The war in Vietnam reaches a turning point; President Nixon's involvement in Watergate comes to light.
Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter; Reagan and the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev powwow; and Reagan's legacy is examined.
George W. Bush's doctrine of endless war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the continued cannibalization of the U.S. economy. Squandered chances given by the end of the Cold War. A new USA, the National Security Fortress.
In the Season 1 finale, the war on terrorism and the presidential administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama are examined.
The first of two bonus prologue episodes delves into the evolution America underwent as it began to transform into a superpower. Topics include the turn of the century in America, early 20th century elections and political shifts, the Spanish-American War, various European and Asian influences on United States policy, the role of imported oil around the world, neutrality agreements and complications, World War I, the growing relationship between U.S. industry and government, and the Russian Revolution.
Despite the years listed in its title, the second prologue episode begins in 1920 and plunges well into WWII. Topics include the divisions that developed in the United States after World War I, racial and social unrest across the nation, economic busts and declines, the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt's presidency, Stalin's oppression and the state-run economy of the USSR, Hitler's rise to power in Germany, growing tensions between capitalism and communism, and pre and post-World War II North America, Europe and Asia.
Executive producer Oliver Stone and author/political philosopher Tariq Ali share a wide-sweeping discussion on American history, the myth of national benevolence, corruption by way of power, the roots and entanglements of the military-industrial complex, post-World War II international events that came to bear on fears and anxieties in the United States, the wars, conflicts and social upheavals of the 20th century, the naiveté of young citizens, the ever-developing narratives of history, and much, much more.
