COMMANDER IN CHIEF: INSIDE THE OVAL OFFICE is a gripping television event that reveals the untold stories behind the critical military decisions in different presidencies.
The program uses never-before-seen footage, newly-released presidential documents, and exclusive interviews with those who witnessed history in the making to reveal what it's like to be inside the Oval Office when the Commander in Chief makes a life or death decision. Read more about the episodes below.
October 2012 marks 50th anniversary of the most dangerous moment in human history - the Cuban missile crisis. In every presidency there comes a moment, a decision to be made, when the president becomes the Commander-in-Chief. For thirteen days in October 1962, the US and the Soviet Union stood paralyzed on the brink of nuclear war. Using rare images and declassified audio recordings, this behind-the-scenes story takes us deep into chambers of power where President John F. Kennedy resisted the forces pushing him towards war and pulled the world back from the edge of total destruction.
When Iraqi troops invaded the sovereign nation of Kuwait in August of 1990, one world leader stood up to the aggression from the start. Pres. George H.W. Bush, who introduces and closes the episode, marshalled national and international forces to stop the aggression, then dramatically expel Iraqi forces. Former Sec of State James Baker and National Security Chairman Brent Scowcroft take you inside the key planning meetings. And we go down the chain of command to hear the immersive stories of military planners, logisticians and Stealth Fighter pilots, who describe the drama of fighting the first modern war in the post Cold War world.
He feeds on chaos. His power is fear. Osama bin Laden targets the innocent with a campaign of terror. When CIA operatives track bin Laden down to a mysterious compound, it's up to President Barack Obama to make the tough call. But it won't be easy. His war cabinet is sharply divided, the most experienced military men, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates want to bomb the compound with 32 2,000-pound bombs. But his CIA Director Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton want to send a lethal Special Ops force on a kill or capture mission.
