American Experience

On the evening of February 15, 1898, a massive explosion tore through the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba. The explosion sank the vessel, killed over 260 sailors and shocked the American public. Days later, William Randolph Heart’s newspaper, The New York Journal, ran a sensational headline.

William Randolph Hearst’s media empire included 28 newspapers, a movie studio, a syndicated wire service, radio stations and 13 magazines.

Explore the life of William Randolph Hearst, the pioneering media mogul and inspiration for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.

Explore the life of William Randolph Hearst. The model for Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane, he controlled a vast media empire, wielded unprecedented power and influence, and forever transformed the media’s role in American life and politics.

Joseph Pulitzer was a newspaper editor and publisher. In 1883 he moved to New York City, where he purchased The New York World.
The World became the most popular newspaper at the time, printing a quarter million copies on weekday mornings.

Millicent Hearst was married to the media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. She met W.R. in New York City in 1896, when he was 33 and she was a 16-year-old showgirl.

Marion Davies was the mistress of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Hearst used his influence and wealth to launch a film career for Davies.

William Randolph Hearst believed he was not reporting history but was instead creating it. By the end of the 1920s, Hearst owned newspapers in almost every major city, as well as magazines and even radio stations.

During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan promised to nominate the first woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. He made good on that promise in 1981, when he announced Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination.

Discover the story of the Supreme Court’s first female justice.

The Supreme Court’s first female justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. A pioneer who both reflected and shaped an era, she was the deciding vote in cases on some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues—including race, gender and reproductive rights.

In this exclusive conversation, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE’s executive producer Cameo George speaks with the acclaimed filmmaker about the parallels between the 1975 evacuation of Vietnam and the recent American withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the lessons that America’s history in Vietnam offer today.