The American – With streaming now and a release set for June 24 ahead of the U.S. 250th anniversary, Netflix’s five-part docuseries blends U.S. founding history with fresh political flashpoints—featuring Hillary Clinton on the Electoral College, Mike Pence on efforts to over
A countdown to the nation’s 250th anniversary is already underway on Netflix—and the show’s central question lands hard: what happens when the story of American democracy stops feeling like history and starts looking like the present.
“The American Experiment,” a five-part docuseries directed by Brian Knappenberger with Tom Hanks as executive producer, is streaming now. Its exclusive trailer arrives as the country heads toward its milestone on June 24. The series plays like a crash course in the early mechanics of the United States—from George Washington’s adolescence and the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the ratification of the Bill of Rights and the Jan. 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol.
Across its episodes. the series also puts a bipartisan roster of political voices on screen. including former vice presidents Kamala Harris and Mike Pence and former Vice President Al Gore. It includes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Republican Senator Ted Cruz. as well as Cherokee Nation principal chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and state senators Lisa Blunt Rochester, Rand Paul and Ron Wyden.
But the most striking through-line isn’t just what the docuseries covers—it’s how it pairs the nation’s founding ideals with the unanticipated cracks that still shape daily life, including slavery and the exclusion of Indigenous nations from policy.
Below are five takeaways drawn from the series.
Clinton replays a familiar wound over the Electoral College
In Episode 3, Hillary Clinton talks about losing the 2016 presidential race, focusing on the final tally of Electoral College votes. “Well, I personally think the Electoral College is an abomination,” Clinton said, with a laugh, “For obvious reasons.”
Her argument traces back to Alexander Hamilton’s warnings of demagogic leaders and the founding fathers’ creation of the Electoral College, which scholars have described as “a compromise on top of a compromise.”
Clinton points out that although she won the popular vote in 2016, she lost the Electoral College vote to Donald Trump—securing his victory. She says that outcome has occurred only in four other cases: 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000.
“It’s a very bizarre feeling to know that nearly three million more people voted for you,” Clinton said, “and a relic of compromises from the Constitutional Convention is going to prevent you from becoming president.”
Pence recalls Trump’s request after the 2020 election
In the final episode, Mike Pence recounts the moment President Donald Trump asked him to overturn the 2020 election results.
Pence describes the moment against the backdrop of claims of a rigged election and the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol. He says he didn’t have unilateral power in a letter to members of Congress, defied the president and certified the election.
“I’ll always believe that I did my duty that day,” Pence said. “To see to the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States.”
Pence said he was inspired by former Vice President Al Gore, who similarly lost the election and ratified the vote. “My only purpose was to keep my oath,” Pence added.
He also focuses on debates that defined the country’s founding and their ramifications in the present-day United States, while omitting details about his 2024 presidential race.
Harris frames power as something people can challenge
Also in Episode 3, Kamala Harris speaks about the early arrogance of the founding fathers—when they proposed independence while questioning who was actually entitled to freedom.
Harris said, “When we talk about power… I still also believe in the power of our people to speak up and speak out against the abuses that they see.”
The series places those founding-era tensions alongside later moments of political conflict, keeping the question of who counts in American democracy in view.
Martin Sheen turns George Washington into a voice
Martin Sheen, known for playing President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet in “The West Wing,” voices George Washington in the docuseries.
The casting is framed as a pleasant surprise for fans of the nineties political drama who are eager to hear the actor in another presidential role.
Cruz, Rochester, and the “experiment” as unfinished work
By the end of the docuseries. Ted Cruz references his favorite movie. “The Godfather. ” and the opening line. “I believe in America.” He later alludes to his upbringing as the son of a Cuban immigrant—who was imprisoned and tortured—and who. after arriving in Texas. washed dishes for 50 cents an hour.
“When I was sworn into office in January of 2013, I stood on the floor of the Senate,” Cruz said. “My hand was on my father’s Bible. In the gallery was my father looking down. He had tears running down his face and he said that day, ‘Only in America.’”
Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, who the series depicts fighting back tears during the episodes, ties the docuseries’ 250th anniversary frame to a sharper challenge: whether the country can withstand growing partisanship and pressure.
“Are we for some of us, or are we for all of us?” Rochester asked. “I’m not going to lean back. I’m not going to quit. I’m not going to stop. Democracy is worth it. It’s worth it.”
The through-line across “The American Experiment” isn’t a tidy celebration of the founding—it’s a reminder that the country’s constitutional design. its political fights. and its promises to different groups of people have always been contested. And as Netflix builds its historical journey from Washington to Jan. 6. the series makes viewers sit with a question that doesn’t stay in the past: whether the American experiment is still being decided in real time.
Netflix The American Experiment Tom Hanks Brian Knappenberger U.S. 250th anniversary Hillary Clinton Electoral College Mike Pence 2020 election Jan. 6 Kamala Harris Ted Cruz Lisa Blunt Rochester