It's a central premise of the American dream: If you're willing to work hard, you'll be able to make a living and build a better life for your children.

But what if working hard isn't enough to get ahead — or even to ensure your family's basic financial stability?

Two American Families: 1991-2024, a special, two-hour documentary filmed over more than 30 years, is a portrait of perseverance from FRONTLINE, Bill Moyers, and filmmakers Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes that raises unsettling questions about the changing nature of the American economy and the impact on people struggling to make a living through hard times, falling wages and loss of manufacturing jobs.

Premiering Tuesday, July 23, 2024, this is the saga of two families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — one Black, the Stanleys, and one white, the Neumanns — who have spent the past 34 years battling to keep from sliding into poverty, and who refuse to give up despite the economic challenges that their stories reveal.

Behind President Joe Biden's fateful decision are decades of challenges and controversies, triumphs and tragedies. FRONTLINE tells the inside story of Biden's rise to the presidency, and the personal and political forces that shaped him and led to his dramatic decision to step aside.