 It all began on a fateful weekend in September of 2008 when the American economy was on the verge of melting down. Then-Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, his former protégé John Thain, and Ken Lewis, one of the most powerful bankers in the country, secretly cut a deal to merge Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. This episode of Frontline draws on high-profile interviews with key players Lewis and Thain to reveal the story of two banks at the heart of the financial crisis, their rocky merger, and the government’s new role in taking over—or, in the minds of some, nationalizing—the American banking system. Distributed by PBS Distribution. (60 minutes)
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