‘Lincoln’s Dilemma’ Trailer: Jeffrey Wright, Bill Camp, Leslie Odom Jr In Four-Part Apple TV+ Docuseries

Apple TV+ on Thursday debuted the trailer for Lincoln’s Dilemma, its four-part docuseries that aims to capture through a 21st century lens a complicated man in a complicated time who rose to become one of the United States’ most influential presidents. The event series has its global premiere in its entirety February 18 timed to Black History Month.

Directed by Jacqueline Olive and Barak Goodman and based on historian David S. Reynolds’ book Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times, the series uses a diverse panel of historians including Jelani Cobb, Kellie Carter Jackson, Christopher Bonner and Justene Hill Edwards, as well as journalists, Lincoln scholars and rare archival materials help to reveal a more nuanced look into Lincoln’s presidency.

Jeffery Wright narrates the series, with Bill Camp playing Lincoln and Leslie Odom Jr playing Frederick Douglass, who becomes an influential figure helping Lincoln to see that his ultimate fight to unify the country must start with abolition. “As the voices that have access to Lincoln change,” one historian says in the trailer, “Lincoln himself changes in response.”

“Many of us forget that, though larger than life, Lincoln was first and foremost a man of his time,” Goodman says. “He worked to change the direction of the country’s history, but was also limited in his choices and his vision by that same history.”

Lincoln’s Dilemma also gives voice to the narratives of enslaved people, shaping a more complete view of an America divided over issues including economy, race and humanity.

“All four episodes feature intimate stories of the collective push for emancipation, as well as persistent resistance to Black equality,” Olive says. ‘We are thrilled to have helped create a series that reveals the fullness of Lincoln’s story and gives audiences a wealth of information about what equality meant historically and lessons that are valuable for ensuring it now.”

Lincoln’s Dilemma is produced by Eden Productions and Kunhardt Films, with Peter Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt, George Kunhardt, Josh Tyrangiel, Richard Plepler, Olive, Goodman and Cobb serving as executive producers.

Check out the trailer above.