The Executive Connection

History always repeats itself. And nowhere is that adage more evident than in the White House.

Philip B. Kunhardt III, who produced, wrote and directed the 10-hour PBS documentary “The American President” with his brother Peter and their father Philip Jr., was astonished by the close connections between certain presidents.

“It’s amazing,” says Kunhardt, who also produced the ABC documentary “Lincoln” with his father and brother.

“You kind of see a reincarnation of types,” he explains. “When you are looking at it in that way, you see that people have more in common with somebody who lived 100 years earlier than they did with anyone in their own era.”

Like the 38th president, Jimmy Carter, who historians have considered to be like no other 20th century president. But the Kunhardts discovered he was very much akin to the second president, John Adams.

“He had similar intellectual gifts,” says Philip Kunhardt, who also wrote the lavish companion book, “The American President” with his father and brother.

“He had similar independent-mindedness, this prickly sense of righteousness. Carter didn’t like the political give and take very much. He worked alone. A lot of those qualities would make him very similar to Adams.”

The first documentary series ever to tell the stories of all 41 of America’s commanders in chief, “American President” is thematically organized with each hour profiling four presidents who shared an important attribute.

The series kicks off Sunday with “Family Ties,” which examines how several families were born to political power. Through the lives of John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Harrison, Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, the documentary illustrates the blessings and downside of inherited power.

“Happenstance” sets the tone for the second episode, looking at five vice presidents who came into power when the chief executive died in office--John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Alan Arthur and Harry Truman.

Besides the political history of each president, the series frequently examines the commander in chief’s personal life and lighter moments, from candid films of F.D.R. swimming to rare color films of John F. Kennedy cavorting at the beach with his children Caroline and John Jr. to Ronald Reagan in a photo opt with golfer Raymond Floyd.

The documentary also profiles independent-minded presidents, professional politicians, presidents who extolled less intrusive government, as well as presidents who excelled in foreign affairs.

Journalist Hugh Sidey, who has written about the American presidency for more than 40 years, first for Life and then for Time magazines, provides the narration.

The voices of the presidents are supplied by such diverse individuals as Walter Cronkite (George Washington), columnist George Will (John Quincy Adams) and radio shock jock Don Imus (Andrew Johnson).

“That was a risky decision we took,” says Kunhardt. “It was my brother Peter’s instinct that it was a good way to go. He was getting a little tired of hearing some of the same actors used by documentaries over and over again. I was frankly a little nervous at first because I didn’t know if these so-called ‘amateurs’ would be able to bring to it as much as an actor would. But I think there is a certain realism they do bring.”

Sidey believes there is an extraordinary interest in the presidents and not just because it is an election year. Still, he admits, there is a “great ignorance” in the country as to the histories of the more obscure presidents like John Tyler, Franklin Pierce and James Knox Polk. “Who bothers to find out about Millard Fillmore except [what you hear] as banquet jokes.

“But I go around the country and give a lot of lectures on the presidency and there is no question in my mind of the interest in history now all over the country.”

Americans’ passion for their past has been piqued because of a renewed interest in their roots. “My hunch is that for 200 years we have been trying to subdue this country--its natural resources, its cities. We have now reached the point of grace where we want to know how it all started.”

Despite their flaws, Sidey honors all the nine presidents he has covered, from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. “They are extraordinary people to get to that level of national leadership,” he explains. “‘Every single one of them left something good.”

He recalls being with Nixon during his triumphant trip to China “and I watched him leave [the office] in disgrace. Jimmy Carter probably had as good a soul as any man that has ever been on the job. But it didn’t work very well for him. They all wanted to succeed. They had a higher purpose in searching for the job. Some did better than others.”

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“The American President” airs Sunday through Thursday at 9 p.m. on KCET and KVCR.