On this episode of Our American Stories, when the brand-new Saturday Night Live first took the airwaves by storm, it was Chevy Chase’s clumsy impression of Gerald Ford, an All-American athlete turned commander in chief, that changed the way Americans saw their president. The sketch also helped shape the future of political satire, presidential impersonations, and even the 1976 election itself.

Peter Funt, author of Playing POTUS: The Power of America's 'Acting Presidents', tells the story behind one of comedy’s most consequential impressions.

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