What is presidential leadership? Which qualities make a good president? How much presidential power is enough?

What is presidential leadership? Which qualities make a good president? How much presidential power is enough? INSIDE THE PRESIDENCY WITH BOB WOODWARD Featuring interviews with Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, Vice President Dick Cheney and others Friday, Jan. 21 at 10pm ET/PT on The History Channel NEW YORK, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- From the shame of Watergate to the fall of Baghdad, the office of President of the United States has grown to a position of power that makes it the focal point of many of the world's hopes and fears in the early years of the 21st century. Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and Vice President Dick Cheney headline a group of past and present American leaders who join veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward in an intimate look at the American presidency and its evolution over the past thirty years. The one-hour world premiere of The History Channel special presentation INSIDE THE PRESIDENCY WITH BOB WOODWARD, produced by Newsweek Productions in association with Docere Palace Studios, debuts Friday, January 21 at 10pm ET/PT. Woodward explores with Presidents Ford and Carter the behind-the-scenes details that influenced their decision-making. What is the role of personal religious faith in the presidency? How does one accept sole responsibility for a decision that may defy popular opinion and carry a huge political cost? What is the personal toll of a decision to go to war? And in an extensive Woodward interview, Vice President Cheney discusses the power of the presidency as George W. Bush begins his second term, and he comments on the gradual restoration of that power over the past 30 years from his vantage points as Ford's chief of staff, as a congressional leader working with Ronald Reagan, as George H. W. Bush's Secretary of Defense, and as George W. Bush's powerful second-in-command. Ford, Carter, Cheney, former Secretary of States James A. Baker III, Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, and Carter press secretary Jody Powell reflect candidly on Vietnam, Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis, the fall of Communism, The Persian Gulf War, and the performance of current President George W. Bush in the post-9/11 world. Among the highlights: * On the option of using military force to curb the rising tide of fundamentalist Islam in the Middle East, President Carter says, "I could have killed 10,000 Iranians in one air strike. But I decided that I wouldn't do that." * How would past Presidents have handled the current situation in Iraq? President Ford says, "I think we have an obligation to be a leader on a global basis, but I don't say that means every time we don't like somebody, we have to go to war about it." INSIDE THE PRESIDENCY WITH BOB WOODWARD is produced by Newsweek Productions in association Docere Palace Studios and The History Channel. Executive Producer for The History Channel is Susan Werbe. Executive Producer for Newsweek Productions is Patrick Butler. Senior Producer for Docere Palace Studios is Timothy Smith. Now reaching more than 87 million Nielsen subscribers, The History Channel(R), "Where the Past Comes Alive(R)," brings history to life in a powerful manner and provides an inviting place where people experience history personally and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past. In 2004, The History Channel earned five News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and previously received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's "Save Our History(R)" campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel web site is located at http://www.historychannel.com/. EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at http://www.historychannelpress.com Source: The History Channel CONTACT: Kathie Gordon of The History Channel, +1-212-210-1320, kathie.gordon@aetn.com Web site: http://www.historychannel.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment