Making Teddy

Growing up poor on his father’s farm in the frontier wilderness of Indiana, Abraham Lincoln seems to be  the least likely man to lead the country. But Lincoln’s  love for learning and desire to leave a mark on the world take him from a hardscrabble farm life to winning his first election.

Lincoln takes office as the southern states domino into secession. By spring of 1861, the country is at war, and eleven states have left the Union. As Lincoln learns to be both president and commander-in-chief, emancipation becomes the most pressing question. Lincoln must convince the nation that the Civil War should  be about more than simply preserving the Union.

Lincoln finally passes the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the end of slavery and establishing the United States Colored Troops. Meanwhile, Confederate forces gain momentum under their new general, Robert E. Lee. Hope for the end of the war hangs on a victory at Gettysburg. 

With the end of the war in sight, Lincoln grows frustrated as the Union army stalls, and his promises of emancipation struggle to take root even within his own army  When the Union finally does break the Confederacy and emerges victorious, Lincoln’s triumph - and his very life - is cut tragically short. But his legacy lives on.

Few presidents inspire such wildly different views of their legacy as our 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant.

Hosted by Broadway legend André de Shields “Making Grant” brings together leading historians, authors and journalists to understand the journey of this remarkable, unlikely hero to Civil War general and president.

From The HISTORY® Channel, a new five-part season about a man history still struggles to understand.

No one expected Ulysses S. Grant to grow up to be the Union general who would end the Civil War and eventually win the presidency. A string of early failures trains Grant to become one of America’s greatest and most unlikely heroes. 

A surprise attack at the Battle of Shiloh galvanizes Grant’s combat instincts.  His grit and dogged determination  leads President Lincoln to appoint Grant general of the entire Union Army.

Facing the infamous Robert E. Lee for the first time on Lee’s home turf, Grant must use every talent to take on the Confederate Army in the brutal Battle of The Wilderness.

Grant’s final victory brings Lee’s army to defeat and the Civil War to a close at last. But when President Lincoln is assassinated, Grant is charged not only with ending the war but with keeping the peace.

Fighting to uphold the promises of Reconstruction, Grant wins the presidency but finds politics is a very different game from war. His turbulent time in office will call Grant’s character into question and reshape his legacy for generations to come.

Making Washington unpacks the founding father that has become more myth than man. This season, leading historians, authors and journalists explore the man whose first military command sparked a European war, whose impatience and arrogance on the battlefield led to tragedy, but who grew amid the chaos of war and became the leader he is remembered as today. Making Washington premieres Thursday, May 25th.

As a young man, George Washington’s greatest ambition is to become an officer in the British Army. Sent to lead a diplomatic mission on the Western Frontier, Washington’s early mistakes in battle lead to assassination charges and help spark the French and Indian War.

Washington’s outrage grows as his Virginia farm struggles under the weight of British taxation.  At the same time, the Continental Congress is looking for the man who will lead the Revolutionary army.

Washington confronts the reality of fighting the world’s greatest military power with a patchwork volunteer army. But his clever tactics take the British by surprise.

Washington’s chance at victory is almost derailed and his own life is jeopardized by the traitor Benedict Arnold. The French finally join the Continental Army to make a final stand against the British.

After winning the War of Independence against impossible odds, Washington becomes president, and defines what that office will mean for centuries to come.

Making Teddy takes you inside the life of a man who went from the big city to life on the frontier, from leading a cavalry unit in the Spanish-American War to leading the entire country from the White House. Each episode will bring together leading historians, authors and journalists to paint in vivid detail the forces that shaped Theodore Roosevelt into the pioneer he would become.

Making Teddy premieres Thursday, July 27.

Teddy Roosevelt is a sickly child born into a wealthy New York family. But he’s determined to seek out physical and intellectual challenges that instill in him a spirit of adventure that will guide his political life.