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American Experience

How the vice presidency went from pitiful to powerful

Season 36 Episode 6 | 2m 33s

America’s first vice president, John Adams, called his job “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” But that would change dramatically over the next two and a half centuries.

Corporate sponsorship for American Experience is provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Carlisle Companies. Major funding by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Extras
Watch • 2:24
American Experience
Trailer | Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act
The dramatic story of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.
Preview: S37 E2 | 2:24
Watch • 2:50
American Experience
Trailer | Extended Audio Description | Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act
EXTENDED AD The dramatic story of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.
Preview: S37 E2 | 2:50
Watch • 2:23
American Experience
Trailer | ASL | Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act
ASL The dramatic story of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.
Preview: S37 E2 | 2:23
Watch • 9:17
American Experience
Chapter 1 | ASL | Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act
ASL Watch a preview of Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act.
Clip: S37 E2 | 9:17
Watch • 9:17
American Experience
Chapter 1 | Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act
Watch a preview of Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act.
Clip: S37 E2 | 9:17
Watch • 8:50
American Experience
Chapter 1 | Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP
Watch a preview of Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP.
Clip: S37 E1 | 8:50
Watch • 3:33
American Experience
This flag helped end lynching in the U.S.
How did a flag on the streets of Manhattan help end lynching in the United States?
Clip: S37 E1 | 3:33
Watch • 2:15
American Experience
Trailer | Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP
The story of one of the most influential yet forgotten civil rights figures, Walter White.
Preview: S37 E1 | 2:15
Watch • 2:00
American Experience
Who is Walter F. White?
He put his life on the line for civil rights but many don't know his name. Do you?
Clip: S37 E1 | 2:00
Watch • 2:00
American Experience
Trailer | American Coup: Wilmington 1898
The little-known story of the deadly 1898 race massacre and coup d’etat in Wilmington, NC.
Preview: S36 E7 | 2:00