Feature: In search of presidents

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The National Geographic Channel will observe Presidents' Day with a two-hour special examining the experiences of four of the five surviving ex-presidents -- Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

The special edition of the channel's "Inside Base Camp with Tom Foreman" is based largely on interviews with Ford, Carter and Bush. Reagan suffers from advanced Alzheimer's disease, so two prominent members of his administration -- James Baker and Michael Deaver -- spoke on his behalf.

The show's producer, Gil Pimentel, told United Press International the special would have also covered the Clinton presidency, but Clinton was unable to grant an interview because of his contract with Knopf, which expects to published a memoir by Clinton this year.

"He wants to speak and thought that 'National Geographic' would be a valuable forum," said Pimentel, "but ... he can't speak to anybody before his book comes out."

As it was, arranging interviews with Ford, Carter and Bush was a tall order.

"You have to get all of them to agree or none of them will agree," said Pimentel.

Pimentel left open the possibility of examining the Clinton presidency at a future date.

For anyone who has followed public affairs in the United States over the past 30 years, the program provides few surprises. It spends a little more than 20 minutes examining each of the four presidencies, so it is unable to go much beyond what has already been widely reported.

The participation of Ford, Carter and Bush gives the program first-person perspective, and all three seem to allow themselves some unguarded moments. But none strays far from generally accepted conceptions of themselves and their legacies.

Ford said the Helsinki agreement with the former Soviet Union was his proudest accomplishment. He also said he remains convinced that he did the right thing when he pardoned Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 over the Watergate scandal.

"I knew I was right and I'm pleased that public opinion today supports my decision," he said.

Ford revealed that he harbored some resentment over the media's habit of promoting his image as a bumbler and a stumbler.

"I never said anything publicly critical of the press for what they did," said Ford. "Subjectively, I'm sure I was very resentful."

Carter said his reputation as an ineffective president is a misconception.

"I believe the Congressional Quarterly did an analysis of a so-called batting average of presidents with Congress," he said. "The top three in this century were Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy and me."

Carter listed the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaty, airline deregulation and the creation of the Department of Education as some of his major accomplishments. He said his loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the Iran hostage crisis account for his reputation as a failed president.

"The hostage crisis, I think, put a blemish on my administration and reputation that is almost eradicable," said Carter. "If I could write my own legacy it would have something to do with peace and human rights."

Baker, who served as chief of staff and treasury secretary under Reagan, said Reagan's accomplishments easily qualify him as a great president.

"He won the Cold War, if you want to put it that way, and he changed America domestically," said Baker, "where we had this longest sustained economic expansion in our history, where we saw America's pride and confidence in itself restored, and pride of the military in the United States restored."

Deaver -- a top adviser during Reagan's White House years -- spoke of the last time he saw Reagan, several years ago, at Reagan's Los Angeles office.

"And I realized, you know, for the first time -- because I have not spent much time around Alzheimer's patients -- that he was someplace and I had just sort of barged into wherever he was," said Deaver.

Bush said he is sure that history will be kinder to his presidency than the news coverage was at the time, particularly concerning the notion that he did not finish the job of Operation Desert Storm, because the U.S.-led coalition allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power in Iraq.

"I did finish the job," said Bush, "and the job was to end aggression, kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait."

Bush said he fully endorses his son's prosecution of the war in Iraq.

"I totally support what he's done," said Bush. "The president made exactly the right call."

"Inside Base Camp with Tom Foreman" airs on the National Geographic Channel at 9 a.m. EST Monday.