Dive into the unexpected twists and turns that have highlighted presidential politics over the last half-century with a focus on the 10 most surprising and shocking political contests, leaning into the personalities and the brawls, the unlikely moments, missteps and backstabbings that would shape the history of the country forever.
Carlos Watson

2026

After tasteless tweets about the Trump assassination, Sebastian "El Hotzo" Hotz was the butt of everyone's jokes. Now he has the chance to make amends: he is to travel to the USA and apologize to the Americans in person.
2024

November 5, 2024 is election day and the USA is facing a momentous decision linked to the questions: Will Kamala Harris succeed in becoming the first woman President of the USA? Or will Donald Trump return to the White House? What consequences would a Trump victory have for the USA, the world and especially for Germany? Ingo Zamperoni, together with filmmaker Birgit Wärnke, embarks on a multifaceted journey through a country that seems more irreconcilable and polarized than ever before. The well-known Tagesthemen anchorman discusses the election-deciding issues such as inflation, migration, abortion and the Ukraine war during visits to members of his partly American family and their acquaintances, but also with celebrities such as pop star and Trump friend Kid Rock, football legend Jürgen Klinsmann, who lives in California, and the former commander of the US Army in Europe, Ben Hodges.
2024

An 8-year journey into divided America, The American Question examines the insidious roots of polarization and distrust through past the past and present, revealing how communities can restore trust in each other to unite our country.
2024

2024

The documentary investigates the lives and characters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they seek the presidency. In a historic election, those who know the candidates best reveal key moments that shape how they would lead America. Award-winning filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team sat down with Trump and Harris’ friends, advisors and critics, as well as authors, journalists and political insiders to present deeply reported narrative arcs of both candidates’ lives, going all the way back to their childhoods. What emerges in FRONTLINE's "The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump" is the story of two fighters: One seeking vindication and promising a return to greatness, and the other seeking to move beyond the past and promising a greater future.
2024

In 1992, at the height of the AIDS pandemic, activist Terence Alan Smith made a historic bid for president of the United States as his drag queen persona Joan Jett Blakk. Today, Smith reflects back on his seminal civil rights campaign and its place in American history.
2021

2019

For three months, the teams of Grand Angle investigated the fall of François Fillon. The right-wing candidate was the favorite of the presidential election. Was he the victim of a conspiracy? From a black cabinet? Settling accounts within his own camp? Has not he also been a victim of himself? The main protagonists of this incredible series have agreed to come back behind the scenes of this descent into hell. Headliners on the right, members of the campaign team, friends, enemies.
2018

2017

This observational documentary follows the men behind the Super-PACs that persuaded Dr Ben Carson to run for President. Believing Carson can save the Republican Party, they successfully draft him to run, raise millions of dollars and catapult him to the top of the polls. However, as Carson's political inexperience begins to show, his constant media gaffes make fundraising increasingly difficult. Donors and voters abandon Carson's campaign as wallets close, hearts open and faith is tested. As Trump inexplicably rises, the campaign descends into chaos and the PACmen begin to wonder - did they pick the wrong savior?
2017

Let's look back at the 18th presidential vote. The 13,500 ballot boxes were taken to 251 ballot count locations and were sorted by 1,300 automatic ballot openers. The chairman announced the sorted data and soon it was announced to the public. But something strange happened. The 251 ballot count locations found 'a number' that have the same pattern. Scientists, mathematicians, statistician and hackers from all over the country start looking into the secret of 'this number'. The result is tremendously shocking...
2017

A stream-of-conscious look at a woman, Quinn, and her walk home from work. Inside her head, the debate about the fate of the free-world. Will America go Bernie or Hillary? Outside her head, just another walk through the bowels of New York City.
2016

Green was the symbol of recognition among the supporters of Iranian presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. This documentary-collage illustrates with animated blogs and tweets the story of democracy under fire and the dramatic events before and after the 2009 presidential elections in Iran.
2012

2008

Michael Moore visits colleges in swing states during the 2004 election with a goal to encourage 18–29 year olds to vote.
2007

In Alex Jones' 11th feature documentary, made in 2004, Alex documents the major candidates in the staged 2004 United States presidential election.
2004

Following the 1974 French presidential campaign with Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.
2002

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.
1960

Ross Perot, the Texas billionaire who could be America's next president, gives the straight answers he's famous for in a 1-hour interview with Emmy Award-Winning journalist David Frost. Questioned on topics ranging from the federal budget deficit (he says he knows how to eliminate it), to his views on his employee's marital fidelity ("If your wife can't trust you, how can I?"), to abortion, Perot speaks his mind on today's most important issues. Perot has made himself one of the country's most successful men. Now he is attracting unprecedented support for his presidential bid. You must know about this man, here is a revealing portrait of the philosophy, character, and personality of this most independent candidate.