VHS cover art.
"The Smithsonian and the Presidency" is the seventh episode of This Is America, Charlie Brown. It first aired on CBS on April 19, 1989.
Plot[]
The gang visits the Smithsonian Institution, where they discuss three former United States presidents.
Abraham Lincoln[]
Newspaper boys Charlie Brown and Linus meet Abraham Lincoln during a trip to give the Gettysburg Address.
Theodore Roosevelt[]
The gang talk about Theodore Roosevelt and his conservation movement, which includes Roosevelt going on a trip with John Muir to the Yosemite Valley.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt[]
The gang discuss Franklin Delano Roosevelt's early presidency, which took place during the troubling days of the Great Depression.
Voice cast[]
- Erin Chase – Charlie Brown
- Brittany Thornton – Sally Brown
- Erica Gayle – Lucy van Pelt
- Brandon Stewart – Linus van Pelt
- Hakeem Abdul-Samad – Franklin
- Jason Mendelson – Peppermint Patty
- Marie Cole – Marcie
- Bill Melendez – Snoopy/Woodstock
- Frank Welker – Abraham Lincoln/Theodore Roosevelt
- Hal Smith – John Muir
Notes[]
- Franklin Roosevelt was the only president who did not appear in the animated portions of this episode.
- Among the items that appear in this episode include the Apollo 10 Commander Module (Snoopy) and Lunar Module (Charlie Brown), the Sunday strip from October 4, 1964, the Wright Brothers plane from "The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk" and the Duryea Brothers' "horseless carriage" from "The Great Inventors."
- The space capsule from the Apollo 10 flight was from 1969, the year A Boy Named Charlie Brown was released and the year It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown premiered.
- Sally mentions she wrote about the "bronchitis" dinosaur, a reference to the strip from December 11, 1972.
- This is the first time Franklin was voiced by a Black actor, having previously been voiced by white actors such as Todd Barbee.