Movies by David McCullough

Seabiscuit
True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Featuring Natalie Cole
Each year, the Christmas concert presented by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square is seen by more than 85,000 people live and by millions more via television broadcast. This year the Choir was joined by none other than multiple Grammy-award winner Natalie Cole and Pulitzer prize-winning author David McCullough.

The Donner Party
Doomed attempt to get to California in 1846. More than just a riveting tale of death, endurance and survival. The Donner Party's nightmarish journey penetrated to the very heart of the American Dream at a crucial phase of the nation's "manifest destiny." Touching some of the most powerful social, economic and political currents of the time, this extraordinary narrative remains one of the most compelling and enduring episodes to come out of the West.

The Hurricane of '38
In September of 1938, a great storm rose up on the coast of West Africa and began making its way across the Atlantic Ocean. The National Weather Bureau learned about it from merchant ships at sea and predicted it would blow itself out at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as such storms usually did. Within 24 hours, the storm ripped into the New England shore with enough fury to set off seismographs in Sitka, Alaska. Traveling at a shocking 60 miles per hour -- three times faster than most tropical storms -- it was astonishingly swift and powerf...

Napoleon
In David Grubin's NAPOLEON watch Napoleon's rise from obscurity to victories that made him a hero to the French people and convinced him he was destined for greatness. Learn of his love for Josephine Beauharnais, and his rise to Emperor. Witness his extraordinary achievements and ultimately his fall, his final battles, his exile to Elba, and his defeat at Waterloo. For nearly two decades he strode the world stage like a colossus -- loved and despised, venerated and feared. From his birth on the rugged island of Corsica to his final exile on...

Huey Long
Ken Burns' portrait of Louisiana governor and U.S. senator Huey Long.

California Typewriter
A story about people whose lives are connected by typewriters. A meditation on creativity and technology featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, Sam Shepard, David McCullough and others.

The Wright Stuff
On August 8, 1908, at a racetrack outside Paris, Wilbur Wright executed what was, for him, a routine flight: a smooth take-off banking into a couple of tight circles, ending in a perfect landing. The flight took less than two minutes, but it left spectators awestruck. While the combined talents of Wilbur and Orville Wright had produced the first plane capable of controlled flight , their distrust of others had almost cost them the credit for their invention. Now, having proved to the public that they had mastered the sky, the reserved brothe...

The Words That Built America
In recognition of the 4th of July, several celebrities and politicians of differing ideologies join to read the historic documents which laid the foundation for the United States of America.
Truman
He was a farmer, a businessman, an unknown politician who suddenly found himself president. Of all the men who had held the highest office, Harry Truman was the least prepared, but would prove to be a surprise.

New York Underground
In the mid 1800s, New York City was one of the most crowded places on earth. The congested streets and pokey transportation system were a source of constant complaint. On March 24, 1900, ground was broken for the Big Apple's subway; the Interborough Rapid Transit Line opened four years later, running more than 26 miles of underground track at the speed of 35 miles per hour. Soon thousands in the city were "doing the subway."
Ike
He went off to war an unknown soldier and returned a beloved national hero. Often dismissed as a "do-nothing" president and a good-natured bumbler, Dwight D. Eisenhower -- the last American president to be born in the 19th century -- was actually a skillful politician, a tough Cold War warrior, and one of America's most misunderstood and unappreciated presidents. Two-part documentary from American Experience.