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"Once upon a time there
lived two neighbors.
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One of them bought a shotgun.
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Ah ha!' thought the other.
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'All right.
I'll buy myself a bigger gun!
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'What could this mean?'
thought the first neighbor.
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'I'll buy myself something bigger!'"
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By the end of the 1960s,
the Soviet Union
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seemed likely to match America's
nuclear arsenal.
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The two superpowers faced a choice
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slow down their competition - the
process that would be called détente -
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or continue an arms race
that could end in all-out war.
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1969. A new American president
came to power.
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Richard Nixon had new ideas about
how to make the Cold War less dangerous.
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He was ready to accept the Soviet
Union as America's nuclear equal.
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"When President Nixon
came into office,
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the conventional wisdom
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of all...
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the...
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media
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and the people who thought of
themselves as intellectuals was
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that he was a warmonger
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and that they had to moderate him.
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And we were under enormous pressure
to start negotiations on trade,
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on SALT, on a whole
complex of things."
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"This was not a foreign
policy politician,
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particularly in his early years.
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He had gained notoriety and
power, as you know,
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on the wave of the great Red scare,
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the great McCarthy period
in American politics.
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He also knew - and this was
very important - the bureaucracy
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He knew that often the most
difficult belligerent powers
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with which he had to deal were not
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the Soviet Union or China but
the Department of State,
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the Central Intelligence Agency, the
Pentagon, the Department of Defense
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those belligerents arrayed
along the Potomac."
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Although Nixon wanted to revise
America's Cold War strategy,
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his first priority was to get American
troops out of the war in Vietnam.
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By 1969, this war had cost
the lives of 30,000 GIs
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and there was still no end.
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"When I became secretary of defense,
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there were 550,000 men on
the ground in Vietnam,
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another 1,200,000 in Asia, in the
Navy and the Air Force supporting
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...this operation.
It was a big war."
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America's ally, President
Thieu of South Vietnam,
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met Nixon on Midway Island.
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Nixon told Thieu he planned
to pull out American troops
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and hand over the ground war
to the South Vietnamese.
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'Vietnamization' was the term
that I coined in order to...
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get people thinking about
the responsibilities
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that the Vietnamese had there."
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"So we came in and said, 'That's fine,
as long as, you know, you leave behind
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a well-trained South Vietnamese army
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and equip us so that we could
take care of our own destiny."
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In July 1969, the first American
troops were pulled out.
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"... the 3rd Brigade of the
82nd Airborne ..."
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"Both Nixon and Kissinger knew
what it was doing to our society,
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the controversy, the distractions,
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the financial cost, the cost - the
terrible human toll
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in terms of lives lost and wounded,
not only of Americans
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but Vietnamese and others.
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And also the distractions from
other foreign policy initiatives.
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It´s one reason that Nixon and
Kissinger wanted to open up with China
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and to improve relations with Russia:
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partly to try to bring pressure
on the Vietnamese
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to negotiate a settlement,
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partly to show a dramatic
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forward movement in our foreign
policy, that we were not crippled
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and paralyzed by the Vietnam War."
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But Hanoi put on its own pressure
with a new offensive in the South.
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American generals proposed bombing
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North Vietnam's bases
in neutral Cambodia.
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Nixon agreed to the bombing
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but insisted the raids in Cambodia
be kept secret.
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"Bomb doors open at 30 PG!
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Coming up at 30 PG!"
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"I see it coming up."
"Roger!"
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"Stand by to release - ready,
ready, now!"
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"Bombs away!"
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"Impact time - ready, ready, now!"
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"I was all for bombing the
sanctuaries in Cambodia
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but I could not...
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tell the president of the United
States, the secretary of state
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or the national security adviser,
Henry Kissinger,
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that I could keep it secret.
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And I thought it would be a very bad
thing if that came out at a later time.
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And I knew it would
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because we had 12,000 people
that had all that information
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and you just can't keep secrets."
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Laird was right.
Anti-war demonstrators protested.
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"U.S. out of Vietnam!
U.S. out of Vietnam!"
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"James Hutton, Illinois!"
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"Dennis Hyland, Colorado!"
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They called out the names of soldiers killed in Vietnam.
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"Richard Nixon could look out the
window of the White House and see
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a mob of people marching in the street
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protesting the war in Vietnam,
for instance.
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He could take a 3-by-5 card
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out of his pocket and take a look.
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And the polls showed him
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with the confidence of 70-75 percent
of the American people
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And he'd say, 'I'm not going to
let those people in the street
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make foreign policy for this country."
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"And so tonight - to you,
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the great silent majority of
my fellow Americans -
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I ask for your support.
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I pledged in my campaign
for the presidency
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to end the war in a way that
we could win the peace.
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I have initiated a plan of action which
will enable me to keep that pledge.
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The more support I can have
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from the American people, the sooner
that pledge can be redeemed.
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For the more divided we are at home
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the less likely the enemy
is to negotiate."
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"Nixon believed, I think correctly,
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that the opposition to the war
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was mostly about the draft
and the casualties
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and not about the American
presence there.
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Americans didn't care if we
were bombing Hanoi
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they didn't care if there were
American airplanes around.
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What they didn't like was the fact
that young American men
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were being drafted, sent to
Vietnam and being killed."
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The bombing of the communist bases
in Cambodia was no miracle cure.
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one zero zero meters away from
it now! I'll get you from there!"
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American GIs still came under
attack in South Vietnam.
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"Right, who's wounded?
All right, give me some cover!
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OK, can you move him?
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OK, try and bring him back here!
Remember to stop the bleeding!
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You gotta stop?!"
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Nixon now ordered a ground
assault into Cambodia.
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"Anybody out here?"
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"Do you feel the people are united
behind you, Mr. President?"
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"Er, as far as the people are concerned,
I have no judgment on that.
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Er, all that I can say is that I know
that I did what I believe was right
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and what really matters is...
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as far as the people are concerned
is whether it comes out right.
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If it comes out right,
that's what really matters."
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"Leave this area immediately!
Leave this area immediately!"
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Nixon's invasion of Cambodia produced
violent protests on American campuses.
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At Kent State University, National
Guardsmen shot four students dead.
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"Every year in the early spring
and in the late autumn,
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the Soviet army gets
its new recruits.
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The forces are inconceivable
without strong,
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agile men possessing stamina.
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These are fighting men."
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Fighting men alone could not
guarantee security.
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Soviet leaders wanted arms agreements
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that recognized their nuclear
parity with America.
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They also wanted American understanding
in their quarrel with China.
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The Communist Party chief
Leonid Brezhnev
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championed relaxation of Cold War
tension with America
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the policy that would
be called détente.
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He was on his way to the very
top of Soviet power.
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"Brezhnev was a sincere
person in many ways.
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He had been through the great
Patriotic War from beginning to end.
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He returned with the very
strong conviction
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that he had to do his
best to prevent war.
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This was illustrated every time he
went to a collective farm, or factory.
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He would ask people
'How are things?'
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they would complain but
then they would say,
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'Well, we can put up with it
as long as there is no war."
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"Every leader in any country has
the need to express his character
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and to leave his mark in history.
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He wanted to become the leader
of the Soviet government.
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One of the ways he had of
strengthening his position
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was making foreign
policy his priority."
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"American-Soviet relations were always
at the center of our diplomacy.
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I would say that, basically, whether
the West believed it or not,
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our attitude was to have
a more constructive
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relationship with
the United States."
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In Europe, the Cold War showed
itself most painfully
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in the Iron Curtain that divided
the two Germanys.
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West Germany's new Chancellor,
the Social Democrat Willy Brandt,
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had his own ideas for improving
relations with the Soviet bloc.
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The Germans called it Ostpolitik.
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"The main thing that got
the ball rolling
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was the decision of the chancellor
to call East Germany a state.
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This was a fundamental
change in our position,
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which led to fierce criticism
from the opposition.
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In Moscow, people were all ears."
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"In our opinion, there were more sober
voices among the Social Democrats,
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those who would seek common
points of interests with us
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not similarities in our outlook but
similarities in our interests.
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I would like to stress
the difference.
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If we found points in common which
would preserve a balance of interests,
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this could lead relations between
the Soviet Union
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and West Germany out of a dead end."
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Willy Brandt became the first West
German chancellor to visit East Germany.
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Brandt's visit was a triumph.
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To ordinary East Germans, he
seemed to bring hope of change.
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But the Americans were worried.
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"My first reaction to Ostpolitik
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was concern that it would
lead to German nationalism,
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that if Germany operated
on its own vis-a-vis the East,
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it would emphasize its
own national concerns,
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if not immediately then
over a period of time."
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"The response we got from
Nixon and Kissinger
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was one of doubt and suspicion.
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Had we thought about everything?
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I had informed Kissinger shortly
before we got into office
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00:15:39,905 --> 00:15:41,613
what we planned to do.
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He asked a lot of questions.
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We reached the point where I said,
"I am not here to consult
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but to inform."
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This was a tone unheard
of in Washington."
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00:16:03,086 --> 00:16:06,005
"While the danger that
we feared was real,
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00:16:06,125 --> 00:16:09,754
the best way to avert it
was not to fight it
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00:16:09,874 --> 00:16:14,846
and then be accused of being the cause
of permanent German partition,
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00:16:14,966 --> 00:16:17,417
but rather to help guide it
in a direction
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00:16:17,537 --> 00:16:19,849
that was compatible
with allied policy.
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00:16:20,703 --> 00:16:25,877
And so we established
another back-channel to
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00:16:25,997 --> 00:16:29,074
Brandt through his
associate Egon Bahr
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00:16:29,436 --> 00:16:33,927
and to the Soviets via
Dobrynin and Falin.
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00:16:34,539 --> 00:16:38,556
And we insisted that before anything
213
00:16:38,793 --> 00:16:41,325
could be concluded with
respect to Germany,
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00:16:41,445 --> 00:16:45,753
absolute assurances had to exist with
respect to our position in Berlin."
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00:16:48,633 --> 00:16:51,203
Brandt's next destination
was Moscow.
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00:16:55,404 --> 00:16:59,600
He hoped to remove Russia's fear
of its old German enemy.
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00:17:01,713 --> 00:17:05,113
Brandt was willing to recognize
Europe's postwar borders
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00:17:05,233 --> 00:17:08,194
and the division between
East and West.
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00:17:10,677 --> 00:17:16,256
"The Moscow accords were the key to our
bilateral treaty system with the East.
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00:17:18,296 --> 00:17:20,591
The Federal Republic ceased
to be an excuse
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00:17:20,711 --> 00:17:23,647
for the Soviet Union to keep
the Eastern bloc in line.
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00:17:24,223 --> 00:17:29,543
The treaty was a signal from Moscow
that there was a readiness for change."
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00:17:32,948 --> 00:17:36,254
Willy Brandt flew to another
old German enemy.
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00:17:53,068 --> 00:17:56,340
Brandt had come to recognize
Poland's western border
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00:17:56,460 --> 00:18:01,175
carved out of territory seized
from Nazi Germany in 1945.
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00:18:03,850 --> 00:18:08,116
The German chancellor visited
the site of the Warsaw Ghetto.
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00:18:11,902 --> 00:18:13,463
Words failed him;
228
00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:17,791
he knelt at the memorial to Jewish
fighters who resisted the Nazis.
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00:18:26,911 --> 00:18:29,983
"Brandt was a stroke of
luck for German history.
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00:18:30,241 --> 00:18:33,638
For the Americans
he symbolized reliability
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00:18:33,758 --> 00:18:36,443
he had proved himself
the defender of Berlin
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00:18:36,563 --> 00:18:38,973
against the menace of the East.
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00:18:40,170 --> 00:18:42,939
And for the East, he was
a resistance fighter
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00:18:43,059 --> 00:18:45,843
against the Nazis - without any doubt."
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00:18:52,583 --> 00:18:54,382
In a divided Germany,
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00:18:54,502 --> 00:18:58,892
these steps towards détente brought
welcome cracks in the Berlin Wall.
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00:18:59,966 --> 00:19:05,318
Families and friends separated by the
Wall could see each other once again.
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00:19:11,426 --> 00:19:14,332
"OK, fine, fine, we'll
call you later!"
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00:19:15,046 --> 00:19:19,662
The architects of America's new approach
to the Cold War were Richard Nixon
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00:19:19,782 --> 00:19:23,417
and his national security adviser,
Henry Kissinger.
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00:19:24,157 --> 00:19:30,818
"Henry was very temperamental, very
bright, very territorial, very insecure.
242
00:19:32,004 --> 00:19:34,724
You could say the same thing
about Richard Nixon.
243
00:19:35,061 --> 00:19:38,408
And they complemented one
another a lot of the time.
244
00:19:38,528 --> 00:19:41,260
At the same time they were rivals.
245
00:19:41,676 --> 00:19:43,932
They fought with one another.
246
00:19:45,574 --> 00:19:51,340
They fought... not with one another
but behind one another's backs
247
00:19:51,460 --> 00:19:53,061
they were devious."
248
00:19:55,215 --> 00:19:57,984
The two men preferred
to work in secret.
249
00:19:58,271 --> 00:19:59,893
Through secret back channels,
250
00:20:00,013 --> 00:20:02,637
they set up summit meetings
in Beijing and Moscow.
251
00:20:02,757 --> 00:20:04,922
"We have a variety of
independent sources."
252
00:20:05,042 --> 00:20:07,279
"I know, I know!
None of them reliable."
253
00:20:07,682 --> 00:20:09,703
"None of them totally reliable."
254
00:20:09,823 --> 00:20:11,298
"That's right!"
255
00:20:11,418 --> 00:20:15,315
Nixon and Kissinger wanted the summits
in China and the Soviet Union
256
00:20:15,435 --> 00:20:18,147
to help America get out of Vietnam.
257
00:20:18,409 --> 00:20:22,488
They also hoped to bring China
into their diplomatic game.
258
00:20:23,388 --> 00:20:28,240
"The principal reason for seeking a
rapprochement with China was to...
259
00:20:28,577 --> 00:20:32,369
restore fluidity to the overall
international situation.
260
00:20:32,489 --> 00:20:36,423
If there are five players and you
can't deal with one of them,
261
00:20:36,910 --> 00:20:40,353
this produces rigidity. Secondly,
262
00:20:40,677 --> 00:20:43,921
we wanted to demonstrate
to the American public
263
00:20:44,041 --> 00:20:45,917
that Vietnam was an aberration,
264
00:20:46,037 --> 00:20:51,055
that we had ideas for the construction
of peace on a global scale."
265
00:20:52,752 --> 00:20:55,607
Soviet leaders were alarmed
after Kissinger
266
00:20:55,727 --> 00:20:58,965
and then Nixon returned
jubilant from China.
267
00:20:59,085 --> 00:21:03,088
"Not only have we completed a week of
intensive talks at the highest levels,
268
00:21:03,350 --> 00:21:05,311
we have set up a procedure
269
00:21:05,431 --> 00:21:10,226
whereby we can continue to have
discussions in the future.
270
00:21:11,153 --> 00:21:16,529
We have demonstrated that nations with
very deep and fundamental differences
271
00:21:16,649 --> 00:21:22,192
can learn to discuss those differences
calmly, rationally and frankly
272
00:21:22,312 --> 00:21:25,223
without compromising
their principles."
273
00:21:26,972 --> 00:21:29,304
"It was a great scare for our leaders
274
00:21:29,424 --> 00:21:32,672
who decided that an anti-Soviet
coalition was being formed,
275
00:21:32,792 --> 00:21:36,826
which included not only America
and NATO but also China.
276
00:21:36,946 --> 00:21:39,742
We felt we were being surrounded."
277
00:21:42,117 --> 00:21:44,599
"The Moscow reaction was
278
00:21:44,719 --> 00:21:48,725
that a summit which we had tried
to achieve before the trip to China,
279
00:21:49,149 --> 00:21:52,866
and in which they had been stone-walling
us and trying to use it to
280
00:21:53,091 --> 00:21:56,064
well, to put it kindly
- blackmail us into
281
00:21:56,184 --> 00:21:59,607
untoward concessions, or concessions
we thought were untoward,
282
00:22:00,203 --> 00:22:03,708
suddenly they agreed to the summit
283
00:22:04,063 --> 00:22:06,334
and it unfroze our relationship."
284
00:22:09,221 --> 00:22:13,924
In March 1972, North Vietnam launched
a new offensive in the South.
285
00:22:14,398 --> 00:22:17,379
Nixon responded with
more air attacks.
286
00:22:25,309 --> 00:22:27,667
Would the Soviets receive
Nixon in Moscow
287
00:22:27,787 --> 00:22:31,248
while his planes were bombing
their North Vietnamese ally?
288
00:22:32,988 --> 00:22:34,814
"The general debate that took place
289
00:22:34,934 --> 00:22:38,221
in the White House situation room
- and I was in many of these - was:
290
00:22:38,545 --> 00:22:42,163
which is more important - the
Vietnam front or the Moscow front?
291
00:22:42,283 --> 00:22:45,128
And Nixon was the only important
person that I can recall
292
00:22:45,248 --> 00:22:47,473
who said, 'We can have both.
293
00:22:47,593 --> 00:22:50,062
I'm willing to lose the Moscow
summit but I predict
294
00:22:50,182 --> 00:22:53,667
the Russians will go ahead even if
we bomb Hanoi and mine Haiphong.'"
295
00:22:53,787 --> 00:22:57,147
"Nixon and Henry Kissinger played
sort of good cop/bad cop
296
00:22:57,267 --> 00:22:59,494
with the Russians particularly.
297
00:22:59,614 --> 00:23:03,049
Kissinger would see Anatoly Dobrynin,
the Russian ambassador,
298
00:23:03,169 --> 00:23:06,230
frequently and I mean like
almost daily.
299
00:23:06,350 --> 00:23:09,815
And his line was - 'Look,
I work for this crazy man.
300
00:23:10,152 --> 00:23:12,347
There's no telling what he might do.
301
00:23:12,467 --> 00:23:15,877
So, Anatoly, you and I
as reasonable men
302
00:23:16,738 --> 00:23:22,876
must work together to an accommodation
between our countries."
303
00:23:23,784 --> 00:23:28,292
Kissinger was uncertain whether Moscow
would allow the summit to go ahead.
304
00:23:31,369 --> 00:23:33,178
"I went to see Kissinger.
305
00:23:33,298 --> 00:23:35,311
He was nervous but tried to hide it.
306
00:23:35,431 --> 00:23:38,866
He said jokingly,
'OK, let's have a bet!'
307
00:23:38,986 --> 00:23:43,467
because he knew I had a piece of
paper with the official Soviet reply.
308
00:23:44,616 --> 00:23:48,334
He said, 'Let's bet whether
I can guess the answer!'
309
00:23:48,568 --> 00:23:51,724
So we bet a crate of champagne.
310
00:23:54,433 --> 00:23:58,324
I asked him, 'So what do you
think the Soviet answer is?'
311
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,631
He was convinced that the summit
had been postponed to a later date.
312
00:24:04,218 --> 00:24:10,987
In fact, the official Soviet reply was:
the summit is going ahead as planned."
313
00:24:15,857 --> 00:24:18,538
May 22, 1972
314
00:24:19,748 --> 00:24:23,242
Richard Nixon became the first
serving American president
315
00:24:23,362 --> 00:24:25,524
to be received in the Kremlin.
316
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:32,966
The summit reached agreements to limit
offensive and defensive nuclear weapons,
317
00:24:33,086 --> 00:24:36,026
and it laid the foundation
of détente.
318
00:24:39,352 --> 00:24:41,100
For Brezhnev and Nixon,
319
00:24:41,220 --> 00:24:43,225
this was the most dramatic proof yet
320
00:24:43,345 --> 00:24:46,307
of the new relationship between
their two countries.
321
00:24:48,506 --> 00:24:52,589
But first the Soviets had to make
their point on Vietnam.
322
00:24:54,856 --> 00:24:59,271
"President Nixon, Dr. Kissinger,
myself and one other officer,
323
00:24:59,391 --> 00:25:03,089
four of us, went out to Brezhnev's
country dacha.
324
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:08,438
And there we saw Brezhnev,
Kosygin, Podgorny
325
00:25:08,558 --> 00:25:11,951
and the national security adviser
on their side - four on four.
326
00:25:12,424 --> 00:25:15,533
We sat for three hours in the dacha,
327
00:25:15,653 --> 00:25:18,502
in which each of the Russian
leaders took an hour
328
00:25:18,622 --> 00:25:21,770
to blast the United States
for its Vietnam policy,
329
00:25:22,406 --> 00:25:25,649
absolutely attacking Nixon
and the United States.
330
00:25:25,769 --> 00:25:28,212
Nixon knew what they were doing,
331
00:25:28,332 --> 00:25:31,346
namely, they were writing
a transcript to send to Hanoi.
332
00:25:31,466 --> 00:25:34,668
So he listened patiently, didn't
get overly argumentative,
333
00:25:34,788 --> 00:25:36,344
basically just took it.
334
00:25:37,068 --> 00:25:40,473
After three and a half
hours of Soviet diatribe,
335
00:25:40,593 --> 00:25:43,393
sort of a tag-team match
among the Soviet leaders,
336
00:25:43,766 --> 00:25:46,089
we then went upstairs for dinner
337
00:25:46,209 --> 00:25:48,197
and the entire mood changed.
338
00:25:48,317 --> 00:25:50,380
Brezhnev broke out the vodka.
339
00:25:50,636 --> 00:25:53,683
There was singing and
jokes and toasts.
340
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,230
"And then later that evening,
Kissinger went back
341
00:25:57,350 --> 00:25:58,868
- I believe with Gromyko -
342
00:25:58,988 --> 00:26:01,351
and did some more negotiating
on arms control."
343
00:26:03,097 --> 00:26:06,615
"The atmosphere was very
good, even friendly.
344
00:26:08,636 --> 00:26:12,327
We were quite aggressive in view
of Nixon's actions on Vietnam,
345
00:26:12,652 --> 00:26:15,384
but we made sure it didn't
overshadow the summit,
346
00:26:15,504 --> 00:26:17,892
because the issues that
Nixon was going to raise
347
00:26:18,012 --> 00:26:21,865
had already been agreed through
the confidential channel.
348
00:26:24,034 --> 00:26:27,252
These were very important
nuclear issues.
349
00:26:28,887 --> 00:26:30,863
All the members of the Politburo knew
350
00:26:30,983 --> 00:26:34,640
that the text of the treaty
had already been agreed.
351
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,845
Nixon knew that too from Kissinger.
352
00:26:38,581 --> 00:26:41,480
So if we gave in to our emotions
353
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:46,300
we would ruin everything that
had already been achieved."
354
00:26:46,648 --> 00:26:49,729
"The President of the United States!"
355
00:26:52,685 --> 00:26:56,571
The American Congress gave
Nixon a hero's welcome.
356
00:27:13,372 --> 00:27:17,757
"Last Friday in Moscow we
witnessed the beginning
357
00:27:17,877 --> 00:27:21,768
of the end of that era which
began in 1945.
358
00:27:22,485 --> 00:27:25,062
We took the first step toward
a new era
359
00:27:25,182 --> 00:27:28,115
of mutually agreed restraint
and arms limitation
360
00:27:28,235 --> 00:27:30,589
between the two principal
nuclear powers.
361
00:27:31,094 --> 00:27:36,707
With this step, we have enhanced
the security of both nations.
362
00:27:36,989 --> 00:27:40,786
We have begun to check the wasteful
and dangerous spiral of nuclear arms
363
00:27:40,799 --> 00:27:45,213
which has dominated relations between
our two countries for a generation.
364
00:27:45,747 --> 00:27:49,739
We have begun to reduce
the level of fear
365
00:27:49,859 --> 00:27:52,444
by reducing the causes of fear,
366
00:27:53,084 --> 00:27:56,509
for our two peoples and
for all peoples in the world."
367
00:27:59,319 --> 00:28:02,250
Two weeks after Nixon's
return from Moscow,
368
00:28:02,370 --> 00:28:05,893
five men working for his re-election
campaign were arrested
369
00:28:06,013 --> 00:28:09,579
for breaking into the Washington
headquarters of the Democratic Party.
370
00:28:09,699 --> 00:28:13,471
It was the start of a major
scandal - Watergate.
371
00:28:20,482 --> 00:28:23,289
As election day approached,
Kissinger returned
372
00:28:23,409 --> 00:28:27,555
from one of his many negotiating
rounds with the North Vietnamese.
373
00:28:28,601 --> 00:28:32,256
He told Nixon he at last
had a deal on Vietnam.
374
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,722
"The North Vietnamese
negotiator Le Duc Tho
375
00:28:37,008 --> 00:28:40,277
presented to Dr. Kissinger
376
00:28:42,024 --> 00:28:47,837
a draft agreement on restoring peace
and ending the war in Vietnam.
377
00:28:48,236 --> 00:28:52,888
And the first thing he said when he
presented that document to Dr. Kissinger
378
00:28:53,008 --> 00:28:55,818
was, "You are in a hurry,
are you not?"
379
00:28:55,938 --> 00:29:00,577
And I recall Dr. Kissinger
nodding affirmatively when...
380
00:29:00,697 --> 00:29:02,409
Le Duc Tho made that statement."
381
00:29:02,529 --> 00:29:04,792
"We knew that Kissinger had met with
382
00:29:04,912 --> 00:29:07,586
the North Vietnamese side
in Paris on October 9.
383
00:29:07,885 --> 00:29:12,588
So when he came on October 19
and gave us the text
384
00:29:12,708 --> 00:29:14,159
- in English, mind you -
385
00:29:14,279 --> 00:29:16,845
and he asked us, well, we've
got four days to sign
386
00:29:16,965 --> 00:29:20,247
and of course we politely said, 'Well,
you know, this is the first time
387
00:29:20,367 --> 00:29:24,505
we have been given this text, so we
would like to have time to study it.
388
00:29:24,625 --> 00:29:27,664
By the way, you know, where
is the Vietnamese text?"
389
00:29:27,958 --> 00:29:30,714
"When I see the widows, the orphans,
390
00:29:30,834 --> 00:29:34,376
when I see so many tombs,
so many sacrifices
391
00:29:34,496 --> 00:29:36,955
for the freedom and liberty
of Vietnam,
392
00:29:37,075 --> 00:29:43,066
I reaffirm again that the whole people
of South Vietnam will resist again
393
00:29:43,186 --> 00:29:46,987
any peace which demand the rendition
of South Vietnam
394
00:29:47,107 --> 00:29:50,267
and which will give South Vietnam
to the communist aggressors!"
395
00:29:50,517 --> 00:29:53,399
"I have great sympathy for Thieu
396
00:29:53,673 --> 00:29:56,767
and, at the same time, I have great
sympathy for our problem.
397
00:29:56,887 --> 00:30:01,001
We faced 65 congressional resolutions
398
00:30:01,121 --> 00:30:03,222
in the year 1972 alone
399
00:30:03,721 --> 00:30:07,379
that were urging unilateral
withdrawal from Vietnam."
400
00:30:07,646 --> 00:30:12,847
"And Mr. Kissinger said, 'Well, if you
sign this, we're going to bring peace
401
00:30:12,967 --> 00:30:14,606
and we'll be
402
00:30:14,830 --> 00:30:18,789
- South Vietnam will be developed,
people will be happy.' At which...
403
00:30:18,909 --> 00:30:20,716
President Thieu said, 'Listen,
404
00:30:20,836 --> 00:30:23,721
you know, we have the interests
and the future of our country.
405
00:30:23,841 --> 00:30:25,914
We are not looking
for Nobel Prize."
406
00:30:27,492 --> 00:30:30,312
South Vietnam refused to sign.
407
00:30:30,823 --> 00:30:32,981
With his deal facing collapse,
408
00:30:33,101 --> 00:30:37,783
Kissinger hastily reassured Hanoi
America still wanted an agreement.
409
00:30:38,469 --> 00:30:39,904
"We believe...
410
00:30:40,353 --> 00:30:42,810
that peace is at hand.
411
00:30:44,295 --> 00:30:50,544
We believe that an agreement
is within sight
412
00:30:52,764 --> 00:30:56,906
It is inevitable that...
413
00:30:57,604 --> 00:31:01,308
in a war of such complexity
414
00:31:02,119 --> 00:31:07,083
that there should be
occasional difficulties
415
00:31:07,203 --> 00:31:09,503
in reaching a final solution."
416
00:31:13,521 --> 00:31:18,222
This latest setback in the Vietnam
peace talks did not damage Nixon.
417
00:31:19,688 --> 00:31:22,982
He was easily re-elected
for a second term.
418
00:31:25,729 --> 00:31:27,113
Back in Paris,
419
00:31:27,233 --> 00:31:30,636
Kissinger had to put Thieu's
objections to the North Vietnamese.
420
00:31:30,756 --> 00:31:32,824
"How's it going, Dr. Kissinger?"
421
00:31:32,944 --> 00:31:34,598
"How do I get outta here?"
422
00:31:34,718 --> 00:31:37,361
"We thought you weren't having
a meeting today, sir."
423
00:31:37,481 --> 00:31:40,515
"Well, we do something surprising!"
424
00:31:41,466 --> 00:31:44,681
"It's getting to be difficult to have
a secret rendezvous in Paris."
425
00:31:44,801 --> 00:31:46,189
"It certainly is!"
426
00:31:46,951 --> 00:31:49,346
"Will you be meeting again
tomorrow, sir?"
427
00:31:50,506 --> 00:31:52,327
"Er, we expect to, yes."
428
00:31:54,179 --> 00:31:58,892
"One day we were on the verge
of finalizing the text.
429
00:31:59,012 --> 00:32:01,602
The next day, there were
suddenly 10 or 12
430
00:32:01,722 --> 00:32:04,311
different issues that popped up
431
00:32:04,803 --> 00:32:06,948
and were unresolved.
432
00:32:07,185 --> 00:32:12,799
And then Le Duc Tho said that he had
to go back to Hanoi for consultations."
433
00:32:15,961 --> 00:32:19,546
Le Duc Tho left Paris and
the talks broke down.
434
00:32:23,508 --> 00:32:26,210
Nixon ordered air raids
on North Vietnam,
435
00:32:26,330 --> 00:32:28,640
hoping to bludgeon Hanoi
into agreement
436
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,841
and at the same time
bolster the South.
437
00:32:42,531 --> 00:32:45,288
Over 12 days, Hanoi and Haiphong
438
00:32:45,408 --> 00:32:48,581
came under the most sustained
bombing campaign of the war.
439
00:32:51,501 --> 00:32:53,480
The bombing served its purpose.
440
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,244
North and South Vietnam
441
00:32:55,364 --> 00:32:59,496
were ready to agree to the deal
that Kissinger put together.
442
00:33:03,193 --> 00:33:05,097
Under the peace accords,
443
00:33:05,217 --> 00:33:07,609
American troops would leave Vietnam;
444
00:33:07,729 --> 00:33:10,203
the Saigon government
would remain in power
445
00:33:10,323 --> 00:33:13,827
but North Vietnam's troops
would stay in the South.
446
00:33:17,918 --> 00:33:20,718
Nixon called it "peace with honor".
447
00:33:21,958 --> 00:33:27,496
"It so happened that with Mr. Kissinger,
who had wanted to play the triangular,
448
00:33:27,616 --> 00:33:32,099
to do the détente, Vietnam had to go
in order for détente to happen.
449
00:33:32,219 --> 00:33:36,426
This is my own analysis and then
that, unfortunately, you know,
450
00:33:36,546 --> 00:33:39,495
was not very good for the
South Vietnamese people."
451
00:33:39,836 --> 00:33:43,249
"Good evening. The biggest White
House scandal in a century,
452
00:33:43,369 --> 00:33:46,342
the Watergate scandal,
broke wide open today.
453
00:33:46,462 --> 00:33:49,386
The attorney general, Richard
Kleindienst, has resigned
454
00:33:49,506 --> 00:33:52,250
because - in his own words -
he had close personal
455
00:33:52,370 --> 00:33:54,266
and professional associations
456
00:33:54,386 --> 00:33:56,811
with people who may
have broken the law.
457
00:33:56,931 --> 00:33:58,900
The two closest men to the president,
458
00:33:59,020 --> 00:34:02,179
H.R. Haldeman, his chief of staff,
and John Ehrlichman,
459
00:34:02,299 --> 00:34:05,024
his chief domestic adviser,
have resigned.
460
00:34:05,144 --> 00:34:08,801
Last week both men were fighting
hard to keep their jobs."
461
00:34:08,921 --> 00:34:14,265
"We had a great staff system in the
White House for dealing with crises.
462
00:34:15,329 --> 00:34:18,610
We didn't apply that system
to Watergate.
463
00:34:18,917 --> 00:34:22,435
I think part of the reason was
we didn't consider it a crisis.
464
00:34:22,555 --> 00:34:26,076
It was a very small
potatoes episode."
465
00:34:26,196 --> 00:34:30,779
"I had no prior knowledge of
the Watergate break-in.
466
00:34:30,899 --> 00:34:34,793
I neither took part in nor knew
about any of the subsequent...
467
00:34:34,913 --> 00:34:36,639
cover-up activities.
468
00:34:37,005 --> 00:34:42,226
I neither authorized nor encouraged
subordinates to engage in illegal
469
00:34:42,346 --> 00:34:44,604
improper campaign tactics.
470
00:34:45,091 --> 00:34:49,183
That was and that is
the simple truth."
471
00:34:50,692 --> 00:34:55,120
Regardless of Watergate, the process
of détente continued.
472
00:34:58,189 --> 00:35:01,651
Brezhnev came to America for
a second summit with Nixon.
473
00:35:04,482 --> 00:35:09,372
In California, the Soviet leader
partied with Hollywood film stars.
474
00:35:15,325 --> 00:35:18,743
The Russians were still keen to deal
with the American President.
475
00:35:31,794 --> 00:35:33,042
"Goodbye!"
476
00:35:36,169 --> 00:35:37,667
"Dosvidan'ya!"
477
00:35:39,015 --> 00:35:42,295
In spite of Nixon's denial
of guilt over Watergate,
478
00:35:42,415 --> 00:35:44,690
he was accused of obstructing justice
479
00:35:44,810 --> 00:35:47,506
and faced impeachment by Congress.
480
00:35:49,293 --> 00:35:51,384
In August 1974,
481
00:35:51,504 --> 00:35:54,824
Richard Nixon, the man who
took America into détente,
482
00:35:54,944 --> 00:35:57,443
gave up the fight and resigned.
483
00:36:08,865 --> 00:36:11,522
His successor was Gerald Ford.
484
00:36:23,379 --> 00:36:27,687
The Soviet leadership was astonished
by Nixon's downfall.
485
00:36:30,570 --> 00:36:34,325
"They thought, 'How could the most
powerful person in the United States,
486
00:36:34,445 --> 00:36:37,559
the most important person in
the world, be legally forced
487
00:36:37,679 --> 00:36:41,525
to step down for stealing
some silly documents?'
488
00:36:42,186 --> 00:36:45,334
It was so contrary to the mentality
of the Soviet leaders
489
00:36:45,454 --> 00:36:49,936
that a person in such a senior position
could be removed by legal means.
490
00:36:50,056 --> 00:36:53,292
They simply couldn't understand it."
491
00:36:56,752 --> 00:36:58,748
"There were various suspicions.
492
00:36:59,559 --> 00:37:01,330
One of those suspicions
493
00:37:01,450 --> 00:37:04,930
was that it was done deliberately
by the enemies of rapprochement
494
00:37:05,050 --> 00:37:08,031
between America and the Soviet Union."
495
00:37:14,995 --> 00:37:20,389
In Vietnam, the 1973 peace accords
had not stopped the fighting.
496
00:37:21,444 --> 00:37:25,573
By April 1975, South Vietnamese
troops were struggling
497
00:37:25,693 --> 00:37:29,615
to defend Saigon against
Hanoi's final offensive.
498
00:37:30,126 --> 00:37:33,710
They could expect little
help from the Americans.
499
00:37:34,689 --> 00:37:37,559
"The Congress of the United States
500
00:37:37,870 --> 00:37:39,717
refused
501
00:37:40,764 --> 00:37:46,016
to supply the kind of
military assistance
502
00:37:46,136 --> 00:37:52,715
that was necessary to keep the South
Vietnamese military forces strong."
503
00:37:57,328 --> 00:37:59,277
South Vietnamese who had fought
504
00:37:59,397 --> 00:38:02,529
and worked alongside the Americans
against the communists
505
00:38:02,649 --> 00:38:04,964
besieged the U.S. Embassy.
506
00:38:15,071 --> 00:38:17,500
The Americans were getting away
507
00:38:17,620 --> 00:38:19,051
but they had lost the war
508
00:38:19,171 --> 00:38:21,093
and now they could not even save
509
00:38:21,213 --> 00:38:23,724
thousands of their South
Vietnamese friends.
510
00:38:25,021 --> 00:38:27,506
"The American experience in Vietnam
511
00:38:27,626 --> 00:38:31,066
- and particularly my own -
had been like a B-52 strike
512
00:38:31,186 --> 00:38:34,908
from 60,000 feet up.
Oh, we had done a lot of damage
513
00:38:35,370 --> 00:38:39,868
but very seldom did you have to gaze
upon the consequences of that...
514
00:38:40,192 --> 00:38:41,939
...damage.
515
00:38:43,036 --> 00:38:48,661
That last day was like being in
a B-52 strike right on the deck.
516
00:38:48,886 --> 00:38:53,688
You saw what our actions had wrought
517
00:38:54,266 --> 00:38:57,229
and the horror and the shame...
518
00:38:57,603 --> 00:39:00,335
was almost more than you could bear."
519
00:39:30,673 --> 00:39:33,567
The Soviet Union proclaimed
itself confident.
520
00:39:33,687 --> 00:39:36,715
It believed it was a superpower
equal to America
521
00:39:36,835 --> 00:39:40,472
and boasted history was on its side.
522
00:39:41,667 --> 00:39:44,824
This rosy view ignored one problem.
523
00:39:45,804 --> 00:39:49,968
The treatment of Soviet dissidents
like the writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn
524
00:39:50,088 --> 00:39:52,556
threatened to derail détente.
525
00:40:00,782 --> 00:40:02,125
"Mr. Cantor..."
526
00:40:02,621 --> 00:40:09,355
"Russian pig, go home! ...
Never again, never again!"
527
00:40:10,216 --> 00:40:12,885
American passions flared
over restrictions
528
00:40:13,005 --> 00:40:15,406
on the emigration of Soviet Jews.
529
00:40:19,366 --> 00:40:22,475
"The questions of Jewish emigration
from the Soviet Union
530
00:40:22,595 --> 00:40:26,031
and of human rights were
a very strong irritant.
531
00:40:27,826 --> 00:40:31,174
These issues were raised
regularly by the U.S. Congress
532
00:40:31,294 --> 00:40:34,828
and by demonstrations organized
by pro-Israeli activists
533
00:40:34,948 --> 00:40:37,619
and sometimes by hooligans."
534
00:40:39,352 --> 00:40:43,356
"There was at the outset of course
a genuine backlash
535
00:40:43,476 --> 00:40:47,021
in the Congress of the United States
against the policy of détente
536
00:40:47,141 --> 00:40:50,347
not in the first instance from
where one might expect it,
537
00:40:50,467 --> 00:40:53,385
from the right-wing pews
of the Republican Party.
538
00:40:53,505 --> 00:40:58,408
It came instead from the traditionally
right-wing Democrats,
539
00:40:58,528 --> 00:41:02,723
the hard-line, sort of Cold Warrior
Democrats like 'Scoop' Jackson."
540
00:41:02,843 --> 00:41:05,906
"When we have something
we feel strongly about
541
00:41:06,026 --> 00:41:09,577
and in this case it is civil liberties
and freedom and...
542
00:41:09,697 --> 00:41:12,166
what this nation was
founded upon, that...
543
00:41:12,576 --> 00:41:16,028
we should do something to implement
international law
544
00:41:16,148 --> 00:41:17,831
and it is international law now
545
00:41:17,951 --> 00:41:20,825
the right to leave a country
freely and return freely
546
00:41:20,945 --> 00:41:25,071
that we should put that issue
of principle on the table
547
00:41:25,191 --> 00:41:26,843
knowing that the Russians...
548
00:41:27,206 --> 00:41:29,335
are not going to agree to it."
549
00:41:29,661 --> 00:41:35,116
"The debate about détente
took a very curious form,
550
00:41:35,551 --> 00:41:38,532
because some liberals
seemed to take the view...
551
00:41:38,652 --> 00:41:41,311
that maybe tension
wasn't all that bad.
552
00:41:41,577 --> 00:41:44,581
And they suddenly developed
theories of...
553
00:41:44,701 --> 00:41:47,667
the need to intervene in
human rights procedures
554
00:41:47,787 --> 00:41:49,536
that we'd never heard before
555
00:41:49,656 --> 00:41:52,233
and that were strenuously
rejected before."
556
00:41:55,216 --> 00:41:56,837
In the Soviet Union,
557
00:41:56,957 --> 00:42:00,786
where memorials kept alive the
remembrance of a terrible war,
558
00:42:00,906 --> 00:42:03,040
détente had few enemies.
559
00:42:08,323 --> 00:42:12,604
Soviet leaders hoped to guarantee
their country's status and security
560
00:42:12,724 --> 00:42:14,960
with a treaty to be signed
in Helsinki
561
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:18,318
which would recognize the
postwar division of Europe.
562
00:42:20,699 --> 00:42:24,600
But this treaty had a stumbling
block - human rights.
563
00:42:25,939 --> 00:42:29,047
"The members of the Politburo
read the full text.
564
00:42:29,167 --> 00:42:32,737
They had no objections when they
read the first and second articles.
565
00:42:32,857 --> 00:42:35,773
When they got to the third
'humanitarian' article,
566
00:42:35,893 --> 00:42:38,236
their hair stood on end.
567
00:42:39,881 --> 00:42:44,187
Suslov said it was a complete betrayal
of communist ideology.
568
00:42:47,484 --> 00:42:50,520
Gromyko then came up with
the following argument:
569
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:54,995
The main thing about the Helsinki treaty
is the recognition of the borders.
570
00:42:55,115 --> 00:42:58,854
That's what we shed our blood for
in the Great Patriotic War.
571
00:42:58,974 --> 00:43:04,667
All 35 signatory states are now saying
these are the borders of Europe.
572
00:43:05,187 --> 00:43:08,079
As for human rights, Gromyko said,
573
00:43:08,199 --> 00:43:10,881
'Well, who's the master of this house?
574
00:43:11,001 --> 00:43:12,880
We are the masters of this house
575
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:16,727
and each time it will be up to us
to decide how to act.
576
00:43:16,847 --> 00:43:18,648
Who can force us?"
577
00:43:26,976 --> 00:43:29,598
After overcoming the doubts
of his colleagues,
578
00:43:29,718 --> 00:43:31,796
Brezhnev arrived in Helsinki,
579
00:43:31,916 --> 00:43:35,249
keen to cut a figure among leaders
from East and West.
580
00:43:59,710 --> 00:44:03,350
Both sides believed they had
the agreement they wanted.
581
00:44:04,140 --> 00:44:09,611
"The Soviet Union and the Warsaw
Pact nations did not recognize
582
00:44:09,731 --> 00:44:13,473
that the human rights provision
was a time bomb.
583
00:44:16,111 --> 00:44:21,155
We the United States believed
that if we could get...
584
00:44:21,495 --> 00:44:28,124
the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact
nations to respect human rights,
585
00:44:28,699 --> 00:44:35,477
that was worth whatever else was
agreed to in the Helsinki Accords."
586
00:44:35,597 --> 00:44:39,634
"Three, two, one, engine sequence
start, one, zero,
587
00:44:39,754 --> 00:44:41,896
launch commence! We have a liftoff!"
588
00:44:44,550 --> 00:44:49,001
Thanks to détente, rockets could
now point the way to coexistence,
589
00:44:49,121 --> 00:44:50,880
rather than war.
590
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:53,020
"Houston flight to Moskva...."
591
00:44:55,119 --> 00:44:57,876
"Apollo Houston, I got two
messages for you.
592
00:44:58,167 --> 00:45:01,278
Moscow is go for docking! Houston
is go for docking!
593
00:45:01,398 --> 00:45:03,119
It's up to you guys! Have fun!"
594
00:45:03,239 --> 00:45:04,887
"Less than five meters distance!"
595
00:45:05,007 --> 00:45:08,247
Soviet and American spacecraft
made history,
596
00:45:08,367 --> 00:45:11,842
docking together 140 miles
above the Earth.
597
00:45:13,882 --> 00:45:17,082
"Contact! All right, aha!?"
598
00:45:18,723 --> 00:45:25,616
In space, cooperation was replacing
years of Cold War confrontation.
599
00:45:27,807 --> 00:45:30,482
"When we went to the United
States for training,
600
00:45:30,602 --> 00:45:32,239
we met the Americans.
601
00:45:32,982 --> 00:45:35,282
I remember one of them saying to me,
602
00:45:35,402 --> 00:45:39,811
'Since this international project I
have begun to sleep better at night.
603
00:45:39,931 --> 00:45:42,169
I am no longer afraid of nuclear war,
604
00:45:42,447 --> 00:45:45,354
because we are working together."
605
00:45:48,718 --> 00:45:51,272
Subtitles by
Juan Claudio Epsteyn
606
00:45:52,404 --> 00:45:55,112
E-mail:
epsteyn@hotmail.com