[ cowbell clanging in rhythm ]
[ guitar playing rock and roll ]
THAT WAR WAS AN EMERGENCY.
IT WAS ON OUR MIND EVERY SINGLE HOUR OF THE DAY.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: SOMEWHERE I READ
THAT THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA
IS THE RIGHT TO PROTEST FOR RIGHTS.
WHEN THEY SAID, I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD,
THAT MEANT SOMETHING.
IT WAS THE AGE OF SELFISHNESS.
IT WAS THE AGE OF SELF-INDULGENCE.
IT WAS THE AGE OF ANTI-AUTHORITY.
IT WAS ABSOLUTELY EXHILARATING.
IT WAS THE GREATEST TIME TO BE ALIVE, EVER, FOR SURE.
THE '60s WAS THE LAST IDEALISTIC TIME.
MY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU,
AND NOW IT'S ON TO CHICAGO, AND LET'S WIN THERE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[ shot fired ]
I THINK AN ERA ENDED WITH ROBERT KENNEDY'S DEATH
AND MARTIN LUTHER KING'S, AND DOOMED US FOR SOME TIME
AND WE MAY STILL BE IN THAT TIME.
AND I THINK JACK NEWFIELD SAID IT BEST
WHEN HE SAID, AFTER THAT WE BECAME MIGHT-HAVE-BEENS,
A GENERATION OF MIGHT-HAVE-BEENS.
I THINK THERE'S AN AMOUNT OF BITTERNESS AND ANIMOSITY
THAT OUR GENERATION'S GONNA CARRY TO ITS GRAVE.
[ Rock and roll music continues ]
Female announcer: "THE SIXTIES, THE YEARS THAT SHAPED A GENERATION,"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM...
MARCH!
Male narrator: IN THE LATE 1960s AND EARLY 1970s,
SOMETHING HAPPENED TO A GENERATION OF YOUNG AMERICANS
THAT WOULD MARK THEM FOREVER.
IT IS A STORY OF WAR...
A STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY...
AND THE EXPLOSION OF A COUNTERCULTURE.
IT WAS A TIME WHEN A GENERATION REBELLED...
AND LOST ITS INNOCENCE.
NO ONE COULD HAVE GUESSED IN THE EARLY 1960s
THAT A TINY ASIAN COUNTRY WOULD COME TO DOMINATE
THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF A GENERATION
OF YOUNG AMERICANS.
THE DECADE THAT WOULD END IN DISILLUSIONMENT AND RAGE
BEGAN ON A MORAL HIGH NOTE.
[ crowd singing ]
IT SEEMED THAT THE TIME FOR RACIAL EQUALITY IN AMERICA
HAD FINALLY COME.
BECAUSE OF A WOMAN NAMED ROSA PARKS
AND A BUNCH OF COLLEGE KIDS WHO SAT DOWN
AT A WOOLWORTH LUNCHEON COUNTER IN 1960,
AND, OF COURSE, MARTIN LUTHER KING,
WHO WAS SURELY THE MOST IMPORTANT AMERICAN
OF THE 20th CENTURY,
IT WAS THEIR DECLARATION THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO CHANGE
AND THAT WHITE MEN WERE NO LONGER GOING TO CONTROL
EVERYTHING IN AMERICA AND THAT EVERYONE
WAS FINALLY GOING TO BE TREATED EQUALLY.
IT WAS THEIR EXAMPLE WHICH MADE EVERYTHING ELSE POSSIBLE.
[ applause ]
IN THE MID-1960s,
PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON WAS FLUSH WITH SUCCESS
FROM PASSAGE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT.
President Johnson: THIS CIVIL RIGHTS ACT IS A CHALLENGE TO ALL OF US
TO GO TO WORK IN OUR COMMUNITIES
AND OUR STATES, IN OUR HOMES AND IN OUR HEARTS
TO ELIMINATE THE LAST VESTIGES OF INJUSTICE
IN OUR BELOVED COUNTRY.
JOHNSON VOWED TO CREATE A GREAT SOCIETY
AND DECLARED WAR ON POVERTY.
BUT IN THE HEAT OF AN ELECTION CAMPAIGN,
JOHNSON MADE A FATEFUL DECISION
TO COMMIT ADDITIONAL AMERICAN SOLDIERS
TO AN ESCALATING WAR IN VIETNAM.
IT IS MY DUTY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
TO REPORT THAT RENEWED HOSTILE ACTIONS
AGAINST UNITED STATES SHIPS ON THE HIGH SEAS
IN THE GULF OF TONKIN HAVE TODAY REQUIRED ME
TO ORDER THE MILITARY FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES
TO TAKE ACTION IN REPLY.
[ Rock and roll music continues ]
[ Bomb exploding and gunfire ]
IT WOULD LATER BE DETERMINED THAT THE JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION
HAD LIED ABOUT THE ATTACK ON THE MATTOX,
BUT AT THE TIME, CONGRESS WAS CONVINCED
AND OVERWHELMINGLY PASSED THE TONKIN GULF RESOLUTION.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON WAS GIVEN VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED POWER
TO WAGE WAR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.
BY AMERICANIZING THE WAR IN VIETNAM,
PRESIDENT JOHNSON SET IN MOTION
FORCES THAT WOULD DIVIDE THE COUNTRY MORE BITTERLY
THAN AT ANY TIME SINCE THE CIVIL WAR.
[ automatic weapon firing ]
[ bomb exploding ]
THE CONFLICT IN VIETNAM WOULD PROVE THE DARK LENS
THROUGH WHICH THE ENTIRE DECADE WAS VIEWED.
IT WAS THE FIRST TELEVISED WAR,
AND THE IMAGES WERE INESCAPABLE.
BEFORE THE END OF 1967, HALF A MILLION AMERICAN SOLDIERS
WOULD BE STATIONED IN VIETNAM.
AT FIRST, AMERICANS ACCEPTED THE WAR
AS PART OF THE LARGER STRUGGLE AGAINST COMMUNISM.
BUT AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF BLOODSHED,
MANY HAD BEGUN TO SPEAK OUT IN OPPOSITION.
I SPEAK OUT AGAINST THIS WAR,
NOT IN ANGER, BUT WITH ANXIETY AND SORROW IN MY HEART,
AND, ABOVE ALL, WITH A PASSIONATE DESIRE
TO SEE OUR BELOVED COUNTRY
STAND AS THE MORAL EXAMPLE OF THE WORLD.
I SPEAK OUT AGAINST THIS WAR
BECAUSE I AM DISAPPOINTED WITH AMERICA.
THE SPEECH WAS VERY TOUGH.
I MEAN, WE'VE TURNED KING INTO, YOU KNOW, A SAFE FIGURE.
IN THAT SPEECH, HE SAID, MY GOVERNMENT IS
"THE GREATEST PURVEYOR OF VIOLENCE IN THE WORLD TODAY."
AND IT'S TRUE.
EXPLAINS WHY HE COULD NOT BE SILENT ABOUT IT.
IT WAS A TURNING POINT.
BY 1967, THE TIDE OF PUBLIC OPINION
HAD BEGUN TO TURN AGAINST THE WAR.
YOUNG PEOPLE IN PARTICULAR BEGAN TO REBEL,
CALLING FOR A SOCIETY THAT REJECTED WAR AND VIOLENCE.
IN JUNE, THE BEATLES OFFICIALLY USHERED IN
WHAT WOULD LATER BE DUBBED "THE SUMMER OF LOVE"
WITH THEIR HIT SONG,
"SERGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND."
ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
GAVE THE COUNTERCULTURE A WORLD CAPITAL,
THE HAIGHT-ASHBURY NEIGHBORHOOD OF SAN FRANCISCO.
THE MEDIA WAS ADVERTISING THE HAIGHT-ASHBURY,
DOING A LOT OF STORIES ABOUT 'EM.
KIDS WERE COMING HERE AND THE POLICE WERE HARASSING THEM
AND THERE WERE NO SOCIAL SERVICES AND THERE WERE NO --
NOTHING OFFERED TO THEM.
SO THE DIGGERS JUST STARTED TO FEED PEOPLE,
AND SO THEY WERE USING MY KITCHEN.
THE DIGGERS NAMED THEMSELVES
AFTER 17th-CENTURY ENGLISH RADICALS
WHO HAD DENOUNCED PRIVATE PROPERTY.
THEY BEGGED, BORROWED AND STOLE TO PROVIDE FREE FOOD,
AND WITH IT THEY OFFERED A NEW WAY TO SEE THE WORLD.
THE ONLY THING YOU HAD TO DO TO GET THIS FOOD
WAS YOU HAD TO STEP THROUGH A SQUARE FRAME
MADE OUT OF TWO-BY-FOURS.
IT WAS ABOUT SIX FOOT BY SIX FOOT.
IT WAS PAINTED YELLOW, AND IT WAS CALLED
"THE FREE FRAME OF REFERENCE."
AND YOU STEPPED THROUGH IT, AND THEY GAVE YOU A LITTLE ONE
ABOUT THIS BIG TO WEAR AROUND YOUR NECK,
AND THEY JUST INVITED YOU
TO LOOK THROUGH A FREE FRAME OF REFERENCE.
YOU KNOW.
WHAT IF IT'S FREE?
SO IT WAS LIKE A LEADERLESS INVITATION
TO REINVENT YOUR OWN WORLD, YOUR OWN DEFINITIONS OF FREEDOM.
AND THE DIGGERS BASICALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT IT WAS CULTURE
AND THE PREMISES OF CULTURE
THAT ATTACHED AND BOUND AND CHAINED PEOPLE,
AND THAT'S WHAT YOU HAD TO SHAKE UP.
YOU HAD TO CREATE NEW FORMS
SO THAT PEOPLE COULD EXPERIENCE NEW WAYS OF LIVING,
AND IF THEY LIKED THEM, THEY MIGHT DEFEND THEM.
MILLIONS OF YOUNG AMERICANS HAD GROWN UP
IN AN ERA OF UNPARALLELED AFFLUENCE.
BUT HERE, THEY WERE DENOUNCING
MATERIALISM, COMPETITION, AND CONFORMITY,
THE VERY VALUES THAT HAD PAVED THE WAY FOR THAT AFFLUENCE.
IT WAS ALSO AN ERA OF SEXUAL FREEDOM,
USHERED IN BY THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL,
LONG BEFORE THE EMERGENCE OF AIDS.
MARRIAGE AND MONOGAMY SEEMED PASSE.
MUSIC AND DRUGS WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD,
AND THE MESSAGE WAS HARD TO RESIST.
I WAS LOOKING AT THE GUYS
WHO WEREN'T DOING THE ACID AS SQUARES.
I ACTUALLY HAD THOUGHTS LIKE,
YOU'RE LETTING YOUR GENERATION DOWN,
YOU KNOW, IF YOU DON'T TRY THIS.
EVERY -- YOU GOTTA TRY THIS.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WILL LIBERATE YOU.
AND I FIRMLY BELIEVED
THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
WE WERE EXPERIMENTING WITH A LOT OF THINGS BACK THEN.
WE WERE EXPERIMENTING WITH DRUGS,
WE WERE EXPERIMENTING WITH RELATIONSHIPS,
WE WERE EXPERIMENTING WITH MUSIC.
Country Joe & The Fish: ¶ LET'S HOPE AND PRAY THAT IF THEY DROP THE BOMB ¶
¶ THEY DROP IT ON THE VIETCONG ¶
ALL OF A SUDDEN, I'M A GUY WHO CAN PLAY THE GUITAR PRETTY WELL,
AND IT'S THE 1960s,
AND GUITAR PLAYERS ARE LIKE LEADING THE REVOLUTION.
SO I DECIDE, HECK, FORGET THIS SCHOOL STUFF,
FORGET THIS LAWYER STUFF, FORGET THE SEMANTICS,
YOU KNOW, GO OUT THERE AND PLAY GUITAR, YOU KNOW,
GET A FOLLOWING, START A REVOLUTION.
WE HAD REACHED A MOMENT IN HISTORY
WHERE OUR TRADITIONAL THOUGHTS AND TRADITIONAL ADHERENCES
TO -- TO CUSTOM AND TO AUTHORITY HAD BROUGHT US
TO THE BRINK OF A -- OF A -- OF A GLOBAL DISASTER
THE LIKES OF WHICH THE WORLD HAD NEVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
AND -- AND ENOUGH PEOPLE SAID,
NO, WE'RE NOT DOING THIS ANYMORE.
WE'RE NOT JUST GOING THOUGHTLESSLY ANYMORE.
WE GOTTA THINK FOR OURSELVES.
YOU CAN'T TRUST THE AUTHORITY.
CONSERVATIVES WERE APPALLED
BY THE ANARCHY OF THE COUNTERCULTURE.
IT BROKE LOOSE IN THE '60s, ACCELERATED ENORMOUSLY,
IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF AN ENORMOUS GENERATION
OF GREAT SIZE, WHICH SWAMPED THE INSTITUTIONS
THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO CIVILIZE THEM,
IN PART BECAUSE OF ROCK MUSIC.
THERE WERE TWO VERY DIFFERENT MOVEMENTS GOING ON AT THIS TIME.
ONE WAS A POLITICAL MOVEMENT THAT WAS DEDICATED
ALMOST ENTIRELY TO ENDING THE WAR IN VIETNAM.
THE OTHER MOVEMENT WAS, IF YOU WILL, A CONSCIOUSNESS MOVEMENT.
THE MUSICIANS, IN EFFECT, BRIDGED THE TWO MOVEMENTS.
WE DIDN'T HAVE CONTROL OF THE RADIOS OR THE TVs
OR THE MEDIA OR THE PRESS OR ANYTHING.
IT ALL HAPPENED THROUGH THE MUSIC
AND A LANGUAGE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO OWNED IT
DIDN'T EVEN UNDERSTAND.
IT WAS FABULOUS.
AND THEN THERE WAS THIS SORT OF WORD-OF-MOUTH THING
ABOUT THIS FESTIVAL THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN IN MONTEREY,
AND THEN THE NEXT THING I KNEW I WAS ON A JET PLANE
WITH BRIAN JONES, HENDRIX AND THE EXPERIENCE.
THE SUMMER OF LOVE BEGAN SOUTH OF SAN FRANCISCO
WHERE THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF ROCK BANDS YET ASSEMBLED
PLAYED TO THE LARGEST CROWD YET GATHERED.
THERE WOULD BE BIGGER, MORE FAMOUS ROCK FESTIVALS
IN LATER YEARS,
BUT MONTEREY POP BECAME LEGENDARY AS THE FIRST,
AND SOME SAY, THE BEST.
MONTEREY POP CULMINATED WITH A PERFORMANCE
BY A BRILLIANT YOUNG GUITARIST NAMED JIMI HENDRIX.
¶ YOU GOT TO BE ALL MINE, ALL MINE ¶
¶ OOH, SHUCKS, FOXY LADY...
HENDRIX ENDED HIS PERFORMANCE BY SETTING HIS GUITAR ON FIRE
AND SMASHING IT ON THE STAGE.
THERE HAD NEVER BEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE IT.
MEMORIALIZED ON FILM,
THE PERFORMANCE WOULD LATER BE VIEWED AS A SYMBOL
FOR THE COUNTERCULTURE ITSELF, A GRAND GESTURE
SIGNIFYING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD SOCIAL ORDER
AND EVERYTHING IT STOOD FOR.
[ audience cheering and applauding ]
THERE WAS A FORCE TRYING TO STABILIZE WHAT WAS WRONG
AND -- AND MAKE A STATEMENT THROUGH MUSIC
INSTEAD OF THROUGH -- THROUGH VIOLENCE.
I THINK FOR PEOPLE MY AGE BACK THEN,
RADIO WAS THE GREAT, SECRET COMMON GROUND.
IT WAS THE WAY WE COMMUNICATED WITH ONE ANOTHER,
AND IT WAS WHERE ALL OF OUR PROPHETS AND LEADERS WERE.
IT WAS WHERE BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES AND THE SUPREMES
AND ARETHA FRANKLIN AND LAURA NYRO WERE,
AND THEY WERE ALL SINGING QUITE REVOLUTIONARY MESSAGES,
AND THEY WERE THE ONES WHO BOUND US TOGETHER.
WHILE THE WHITE COUNTERCULTURE CELEBRATED THE SUMMER OF LOVE,
AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE UNDERGOING
A TRANSFORMATION OF THEIR OWN.
OVER A PERIOD OF LESS THAN A YEAR, YOU HAD PEOPLE
WHO WERE CALM, RESPECTABLE, RESPONSIBLE NEGROES
ALL OF A SUDDEN MILITANTS WEARING DASHIKIS,
WITH HUGE AFROS, TAKING SWAHILI CLASS,
IDENTIFYING WITH THE HOMELAND.
THERE'S NOTHING MORE EXHILARATING OR SEDUCTIVE
THAN A CHANGE IN CONSCIOUSNESS.
AND IN THE 1960s, BLACKS MADE A TRANSITION,
ESPECIALLY ON THE COLLEGE CAMPUS,
FROM BEING NEGROES TO BEING BLACK TO BEING AFRO-AMERICANS.
WHEN THEY SAID I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD,
THAT MEANT SOMETHING.
[ drums beating ]
ACROSS THE BAY FROM SAN FRANCISCO,
IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY BURST ON THE SCENE,
FOUNDED BY BOBBY SEALE,
A STREET-SMART COMMUNITY ORGANIZER,
AND HUEY NEWTON,
A CHARISMATIC YOUNG LAW STUDENT ANGRY WITH THE POLICE.
IRONICALLY, NEWTON'S LAW SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR WAS ED MEESE,
LATER A CLOSE ADVISOR AND ATTORNEY GENERAL
FOR PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN.
HUEY NEWTON, BEFORE HE STARTED THE BLACK PANTHERS,
WAS A STUDENT OF MINE.
AND HE WAS TAKING THESE COURSES, HE LATER WROTE IN HIS BOOK,
SO HE WOULD KNOW WHAT THE, WHAT HE CALLED "PIGS" KNEW.
AND SO HE TOOK MY COURSE.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COURSE,
ONE DAY HE ASKED IF HE COULD RIDE TO THE COURTHOUSE WITH ME.
AND SO I SAID, SURE.
I THOUGHT MAYBE HE'D BEEN SO INSPIRED BY MY TEACHING
THAT HE WOULD WANT TO SEE SOME COURT TRIALS.
WELL, IT TURNED OUT ACTUALLY HE WAS ON TRIAL.
HE HAD STABBED SOMEONE WITH A STEAK KNIFE
AT A BARBECUE SOME MONTHS BEFORE.
WELL, HE WAS CONVICTED OF ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON,
SENTENCED TO PROBATION AND A YEAR IN THE COUNTY JAIL.
A YEAR LATER HE CAME BACK TO MY CLASS,
AND THE OTHER CLASSES HE WAS TAKING, FINISHED, GOT AN "A,"
AND IT WAS AFTER THAT THAT HE FORMED THE BLACK PANTHERS.
[ drums beating ]
WE ARE A NEW ORGANIZATION.
WE OBSERVED THESE POLICE HAVE BEEN BRUTALIZING OUR PEOPLE
IN THE COMMUNITY AND WE'RE A POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.
WE'RE GONNA TRY TO UNIFY THE PEOPLE, AND WE KNOW THE LAW.
THEY PROVIDED SURVEILLANCE ON POLICE OFFICERS
BECAUSE OAKLAND AT THAT TIME
HAD ONE OF THE MOST RACIST POLICE FORCES IN THE COUNTRY.
WHILE WE HAD AN ADVANCING, DEVELOPING,
EXPANDING BLACK MIDDLE CLASS,
WE ALSO HAD A DECLINING, ERODING,
EXPANDING BLACK UNDERCLASS AND LOWER CLASS.
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY WAS ONE OF THE FEW ORGANIZATIONS
THAT ATTEMPTED TO ORGANIZE AND ADVANCE THE INTERESTS
OF THAT PARTICULAR POPULATION.
THE BLACK PANTHERS WERE ONE MANIFESTATION
OF BLACK AMERICA'S GROWING FRUSTRATION.
BLACK COMMUNITIES IN OTHER CITIES SIMPLY EXPLODED IN RAGE.
[ gunshots ]
BEGINNING WITH WATTS IN 1965,
BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS ERUPTED WITH PENT-UP FURY.
ON JULY 11, 1967, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, BURST INTO FLAME.
THE NEXT WEEK, IT WAS DETROIT,
WHERE BY THE END OF THE THIRD DAY,
100 BLOCKS OF THE MOTOR CITY
WERE ENGULFED IN CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION.
FINALLY, PRESIDENT JOHNSON SENT IN NEARLY 5,000 FEDERAL TROOPS,
BUT WITH ORDERS THAT THEY CARRY UNLOADED WEAPONS.
STILL, WHEN THE DETROIT RIOTS ENDED, THERE WERE 43 DEAD,
33 OF THEM AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
AND THE KERNER COMMISSION REPORT WAS, IN MY VIEW,
THE MOST ACCURATE, HIGH-LEVEL PUBLIC DOCUMENT ON THE PROBLEMS
OF THE INNER CITIES THAT HAD BEEN PUT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
HOOVER WAS TRYING TO CONVINCE JOHNSON
THAT THESE RIOTS WERE A COMMUNIST PLOT,
AND SO THEY HAD EXPECTED THAT THESE HIGH-LEVEL PEOPLE
WOULD FIND COMMUNISTS.
INSTEAD THEY FOUND RACISM, AND THEY FOUND A WHOLE VARIETY
OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS IMPLICATED IN IT.
THE KERNER COMMISSION STATED THAT WHITE SOCIETY
CREATED, MAINTAINED, AND CONDONED THE BLACK GHETTO.
IT RECOMMENDED A MASSIVE, SUSTAINED NATIONAL COMMITMENT
TO ENDING DISCRIMINATION.
BUT THE WAR IN VIETNAM WOULD SOON OVERSHADOW
THE WAR ON POVERTY.
THE NATION'S ATTENTION HAD SHIFTED
TO A TINY COUNTRY CALLED VIETNAM.
THE PRESIDENT ESSENTIALLY SPURNED,
SHUNNED THE KERNER COMMISSION REPORT.
WHERE IS VIETNAM?
I HAD NO IDEA.
THE NEXT QUESTION IS,
WELL, WHY WOULD MY FRIENDS BE SENT THERE TO DIE?
WHY WERE WE KILLING PEOPLE THERE?
I MEAN, IT WAS AT THAT NAIVE LEVEL,
VERY, VERY, VERY SIMPLE KINDS OF QUESTIONS.
SO THEN I TOOK MY FIRST POLITICAL ACT OF MY LIFE,
WHICH IS I WROTE A LETTER TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON,
AND I SAID, EXPLAIN; NOW, WHAT IS THIS?
WE ARE THERE TO PERMIT THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH VIETNAM
TO DETERMINE FOR THEMSELVES WHO THEIR LEADER SHOULD BE
AND WHAT KIND OF A GOVERNMENT THEY SHOULD HAVE.
SOME HAVE SAID WE WERE THERE TO PRESERVE THE INDEPENDENCE
OF AN INDEPENDENT SOUTH VIETNAM.
NOT AT ALL.
I AM SURE WE HOPED THAT SOUTH VIETNAM
COULD BE AN INDEPENDENT STATE,
QUOTE, DEMOCRATIC, UNQUOTE, STATE.
BUT THAT'S NOT WHY WE SENT U.S. TROOPS THERE.
WE SENT U.S. TROOPS THERE TO PREVENT THE CONTROL
OF SOUTH VIETNAM BY NORTH VIETNAM, ACTING AS A PAWN
OF THE CHINESE COMMUNISTS AND THE SOVIET COMMUNISTS,
WHICH WE BELIEVED IF THAT -- IT OCCURRED
WOULD ENDANGER THE SECURITY OF THE WEST WORLDWIDE.
THE MONOLITHIC COMMUNISM, THE REASON WE WERE IN VIETNAM IS,
IF WE DON'T STOP 'EM THERE, YOU HAVE TO STOP 'EM IN SAN DIEGO.
OKAY? LOOK WHAT HAPPENED.
THE VIETNAMESE WIN AND THEY GO TO WAR WITH THE CHINESE.
THEY DIDN'T GO TO SAN DIEGO; THEY GO TO WAR WITH THE CHINESE.
LEFT, RIGHT...RIGHT... RIGHT, LEFT...
IN THE FALL OF 1967, THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
BEGAN TO FOCUS ON THE DRAFT AND DRAFT RESISTANCE.
THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT WAS THE GREAT EXAMPLE
OF ENLIGHTENED SELF-INTEREST.
I MEAN, WE DID IT BECAUSE IT WAS RIGHT,
BUT WE ALSO DID IT BECAUSE WE DIDN'T WANT TO GET KILLED.
THOUGH AFRICAN-AMERICANS
COMPRISED LESS THAN 12% OF THE POPULATION,
NEARLY A QUARTER OF THE U.S. ARMY WAS BLACK.
THERE WERE VERY FEW EDUCATED WHITE PEOPLE
WHO WENT TO VIETNAM AGAINST THEIR WILL.
EARLY IN THE YEAR, 25 YEARS OLD
AND WITH NO COLLEGE DEFERMENT TO PROTECT HIM,
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION MUHAMMAD ALI
HAD ELECTRIFIED THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
AND THE BLACK COMMUNITY BY REFUSING TO BE DRAFTED.
BY THE FALL OF 1967, A CALL AROSE,
FROM PROTEST TO RESISTANCE.
ANTI-WAR ORGANIZERS BEGAN TO PLAN
A NATIONWIDE STOP-THE-DRAFT WEEK FOR OCTOBER.
IT WOULD CULMINATE IN A MARCH ON THE PENTAGON.
ONE OF THE DEMONSTRATORS WAS AUTHOR NORMAN MAILER,
WHO WOULD LATER WIN THE PULITZER PRIZE
FOR HIS BOOK ON THE MARCH, "ARMIES OF THE NIGHT."
THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO CAME WERE MIDDLE CLASS.
THEY WERE ESSENTIALLY GENTLE PEOPLE.
THEY WERE NOT WARRIORS.
AND THEY CAME WITH THE EXPECTATION
THAT THEY MIGHT EVEN GET
A POLICEMAN'S BILLY CLUB ON THEIR HEAD.
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE BONUS MARCH OF 1932,
FEDERAL TROOPS GUARDED THE CAPITAL.
NONVIOLENT PROTESTERS SURROUNDED THE PENTAGON
AND CHANTED "OM,"
CLAIMING THEY WOULD ACTUALLY LEVITATE THE PENTAGON.
PARATROOPERS FROM THE 82nd DIVISION
CHARGED INTO THE CROWD.
DOZENS OF DEMONSTRATORS WERE BEATEN...
AND ARRESTED.
I THINK LYNDON JOHNSON SAID TO HIMSELF,
IF 50,000 OF 'EM DO THAT, THERE'S GOT TO BE SOMEWHERE
BETWEEN 10 AND 50 MILLION PEOPLE POTENTIALLY BEHIND THEM,
BECAUSE I COULDN'T GET 50,000 PEOPLE --
I COULDN'T GET 50,000 PEOPLE DOWN HERE TO SUPPORT THIS WAR
IF I PAID THEIR TRAIN FARE.
AND I THINK SOMETHING HAPPENED IN HIM ON THAT DAY.
SOMETHING HAPPENED TO McNAMARA.
HE'S EVEN WRITTEN ABOUT IT.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT McNAMARA
HAD ALREADY BEGUN TO DOUBT U.S. POLICY IN VIETNAM.
IN JUNE, HE HAD DIRECTED MEMBERS OF HIS STAFF
TO RESEARCH A LIST OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WAR.
THEIR ANSWERS WOULD BECOME THE PENTAGON PAPERS.
I WANDERED IN ON THAT SATURDAY MORNING TO McNAMARA'S OFFICE.
WE WERE WRITING THE PENTAGON PAPERS
IN AN OFFICE ADJACENT TO THAT.
AND I WENT IN, NOT EXPECTING TO SEE HIM THERE,
AND HE WAS THERE, AND I ALMOST DUCKED OUT.
HE PAID NO ATTENTION TO ME.
AND I LOOKED OUT AGAIN
AT THE SAME SCENE HE WAS LOOKING OUT AT.
AND I -- I -- I KNEW BY THAT TIME THAT HE AGREED WITH THEM,
THAT WHAT THEY WERE CALLING FOR WAS ESSENTIALLY RIGHT.
I HAD TREMENDOUS ADMIRATION AND RESPECT AND LOVE
FOR PRESIDENT JOHNSON, AND I THINK HE DID FOR ME.
ON NOVEMBER 1, '67,
I HAD PRESENTED HIM A VERY, VERY CONTROVERSIAL MEMORANDUM
THAT SAID ESSENTIALLY, WE CAN'T WIN THE WAR MILITARILY.
WE'VE GOT TO CHANGE OUR STRATEGY AND, IN EFFECT, WITHDRAW.
AND I TOOK IT DIRECTLY TO HIM
BECAUSE I KNEW THAT HE MIGHT DISAGREE WITH IT.
I HADN'T SHOWN IT TO OTHERS.
HE DID SHOW IT TO A FEW OTHERS.
TWO OF HIS CLOSEST ADVISORS SAID McNAMARA IS, IN EFFECT,
RECOMMENDING WE SURRENDER.
IT WOULD BE TOTAL DEFEAT.
WE CAN'T DO IT.
HE REALLY UNDERSTOOD VERY EARLY ON THAT THIS WAS A DISASTER,
BUT LIKE SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE, HE DIDN'T HAVE THE COURAGE
TO TAKE LYNDON JOHNSON ON IN PUBLIC, AND, THEREFORE,
HE DIDN'T CONTRIBUTE TO A MORE RAPID END OF THE WAR AT ALL.
I SERVED AS AN APPOINTEE OF THE PRESIDENT.
MY OBLIGATION WAS TO SUPPORT HIS PROGRAMS,
AND IF I COULDN'T, TO LEAVE.
BUT I FELT THAT I COULD DO MORE INSIDE
THAN I COULD HAVE OUTSIDE.
THE PEOPLE OUT IN THE STREETS WERE THINKING IN MORAL TERMS.
INSIDE THE POLICY CHAMBERS IT WAS DRIVEN BY AMBITION,
CALCULATION, A POLITICAL LOGIC OF SURVIVAL,
CYNICISM FROM DAY ONE.
Crowd chanting: WE'RE NOT AGAINST THE SOLDIERS, WE'RE AGAINST THE WAR.
McNAMARA'S DOUBTS ABOUT THE WAR WERE NOT EXPRESSED PUBLICLY
UNTIL MANY YEARS LATER.
BUT IN THE STREETS OUTSIDE,
TENS OF THOUSANDS WERE MARCHING ON THE PENTAGON.
Crowd chanting: HELL, NO, WE WON'T GO.
IT'S THE ONLY TIME I EVER REMEMBER
FEELING EMOTION FOR HOURS.
NOT SIMPLE EMOTION, EITHER.
I THINK THE BASIC EMOTION WAS THE DEPTH
AND THE TRAGEDY OF THIS MOMENT.
AND IS THIS COUNTRY DOOMED OR NOT?
ARE WE GONNA TEAR APART OR WILL WE MEND THIS?
WILL WE COME TOGETHER?
BECAUSE AT THE MOMENT IT REALLY SEEMED
LIKE THERE WAS NO RECONCILIATION POSSIBLE.
[ siren wailing ]
BY EARLY 1968,
THE WAR IN VIETNAM HAD CLAIMED OVER 15,000 AMERICAN LIVES.
NEVER BEFORE IN U.S. HISTORY HAD SUCH A VAST NUMBER
OF PEOPLE MOBILIZED TO PROTEST A WAR.
Crowd chanting: PEACE NOW, PEACE NOW.
WHY ARE YOU MARCHING?
WELL, I AM PERSONALLY MARCHING
WITH THE PAINTER'S UNION HERE IN SAN FRANCISCO,
AND WE'RE ATTEMPTING TO PROTEST THE WAR IN VIETNAM.
YOU THINK THIS IS GONNA HELP?
I HOPE SO.
EITHER THAT OR A REVOLUTION, ONE OR THE OTHER.
THE POWERFUL IN OUR COUNTRY HAD CEASED TO BE RESPONSIBLE,
AND SO THE POWERLESS -- STUDENTS, POOR PEOPLE --
WERE TRYING TO TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY AND SAY,
HERE'S HOW THINGS SHOULD GO.
ONE POLITICIAN DARED TO COME FORWARD:
EUGENE McCARTHY, THE SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA.
WELL, AS I SEE THE CAMPAIGN IN '68,
THE ISSUE OF VIETNAM ITSELF IS A VITAL ONE, OF COURSE,
AND YOU COULD PASS A HARSH JUDGMENT ON THAT WAR
IF IT WERE ISOLATED ALTOGETHER
FROM ANY DOMESTIC CONSEQUENCES OR...
THIS VERY INTELLIGENT, ELEGANT, ENIGMATIC POET FROM MINNESOTA
WHO ACTUALLY NEVER WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT HIMSELF.
HE WAS THIS CALM, CIVILIZED PERSON WHO MADE IT MUCH EASIER
FOR PEOPLE TO BECOME ANTI-WAR BECAUSE, AFTER ALL,
AT THE BEGINNING OF 1968,
IT WAS STILL QUITE A RADICAL THING TO BE.
McCARTHY, THE OUTSIDER,
ATTRACTED A LOYAL ARMY OF COLLEGE STUDENTS.
IT BECAME KNOWN AS "THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE."
ON THE REPUBLICAN SIDE, RICHARD NIXON,
A COLD WAR STALWART WHO HAD LOST TWO ELECTIONS,
WAS HOPING TO MAKE THE BIGGEST COMEBACK OF HIS LIFE.
THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE WAS BARELY UNDERWAY
WHEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE.
[ marching band playing ]
[ gunshot ]
DURING THE TET LUNAR NEW YEAR AT THE END OF JANUARY,
VIETNAMESE COMMUNISTS LAUNCHED THEIR BIGGEST OFFENSIVE
OF THE WAR, SIMULTANEOUSLY ATTACKING
ALL THE MAJOR CITIES AND TOWNS IN SOUTH VIETNAM.
THE SURPRISE ATTACK STUNNED AMERICANS,
ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY WATCHED ON TELEVISION
AS VIET CONG GUERILLAS STORMED THE U.S. EMBASSY IN SAIGON.
NOW CIA MEN AND MPs HAVE GONE INTO THE EMBASSY
AND ARE TRYING TO GET THE SNIPERS OUT...
BY THEMSELVES.
THE TET OFFENSIVE FAILED MILITARILY.
THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNISTS WERE DRIVEN OUT OF THE CITIES.
BUT THE FIGHTING WENT ON FOR MORE THAN A MONTH
AND SHATTERED FOREVER THE ILLUSION
OF AMERICAN OMNIPOTENCE.
OF ALL THE NIGHTMARISH IMAGES THAT HAUNTED AMERICANS,
THE ONE THAT LINGERED LONGEST WAS THIS:
SOUTH VIETNAM'S POLICE CHIEF
COLDLY EXECUTING A SUSPECTED VIET CONG GUERILLA.
[ gunshot ]
THESE RUINS ARE IN SAIGON,
CAPITAL AND LARGEST CITY OF SOUTH VIETNAM.
THEY WERE LEFT HERE BY AN ACT OF WAR.
I WENT TO VIETNAM IN '68 BECAUSE OF THE TET OFFENSIVE,
THE FACT THAT DESPITE ALL OF THE PROPAGANDA
THAT THEY COULD MOUNT SUCH AN OFFENSIVE
WHEN WE HAD BEEN TOLD WE WERE WINNING THIS WAR.
IT WAS A MOMENTOUS MOMENT WHEN CRONKITE GOT UP
OUT OF HIS CHAIR AND WENT TO VIETNAM
AND CAME BACK WITH THESE FAMOUS REPORTS
THAT THE WAR WAS UNWINNABLE
AND THAT WE SHOULD LOOK FOR AN HONORABLE WAY OUT.
WELL, WALTER CRONKITE DIDN'T DO THINGS LIKE THAT.
Walter Cronkite: THIS DISTRICT USED TO BE A MODEL OF PACIFICATION.
NOW AGAIN MOST OF IT IS AT THE MERCY OF THE ENEMY.
CORRESPONDENT ROBERT SHACKNEY TALKED TO CAPTAIN DONALD JONES,
DEPUTY PACIFICATION ADVISOR FOR THE DISTRICT.
I WALKED UNARMED WITH JUST ONE MAJOR CASUALTY
THROUGH GAI VOI IN DECEMBER.
COULD I DO IT TODAY?
NO, YOU COULD NOT.
YOU COULD NOT WALK THROUGH GAI VOI TODAY.
ARE YOU DISCOURAGED?
YES.
I WAS TOLD BY THE MILITARY MANAGEMENT OF THE WAR
THAT WITH ANOTHER 150,000 OR 200,000,
PERHAPS 300,000 TROOPS, WE COULD NOW FINISH THE JOB.
WELL, THAT'S WHAT THEY'D BEEN TELLING US FOR FIVE YEARS:
GIVE US ANOTHER 10,000, GIVE US ANOTHER 50,000.
THIS SOUNDED TO ME LIKE MORE OF THE SAME.
AND I CAME BACK WITH THE CONCLUSION
THAT WE WERE MIRED IN STALEMATE
AND THAT THE BEST THING FOR US TO DO
WAS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS FACT, TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE PEOPLE
THAT HAD DONE THE VERY BEST THEY COULD AND GET OUT.
GEORGE CHRISTIAN, WHO WAS JOHNSON'S PRESS SECRETARY,
SAID LATER THAT WHEN CRONKITE SAID WHAT HE SAID ABOUT THE WAR,
IT WAS AS IF AN EARTHQUAKE HAD GONE THROUGH THE WHITE HOUSE.
THE VIETNAM WAR WAS THE WHEEL
ON WHICH THE AMERICAN ESTABLISHMENT WAS BROKEN,
AND TET WAS THE BREAKING POINT.
THE TET OFFENSIVE GAVE LIFE TO THE McCARTHY CAMPAIGN,
WHICH WAS NOW ATTRACTING CELEBRITIES, LIKE PAUL NEWMAN.
YOU HAVE AREAS WHERE YOU FEEL YOUR OWN RUMBLINGS
AND YOUR OWN DISSENSION AND YOUR OWN QUESTIONING,
THEN I THINK IT'S NECESSARY TO GET BEHIND THE SENATOR NOW.
I LIKED McCARTHY, I ALWAYS DID.
I DISAGREED WITH HIM ON THE WAR.
BUT THE TRUTH IS, HIS CAMPAIGN WAS MAGNIFICENT
UP THERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
HE RAN A VERY CLASSY CAMPAIGN.
IT WAS AN INTELLECTUAL'S CAMPAIGN,
BUT IT WASN'T EGGHEAD LIKE STEVENSON.
HE HAD A WONDERFUL SENSE OF HUMOR.
AND THE PEOPLE WHO WERE BEHIND McCARTHY, THOSE KIDS,
THE "BE CLEAN FOR GENE" KIDS, WE WOULD SEE 'EM ALL OVER
BECAUSE WE'D CROSSED PATHS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
THEY WERE NOT RADICALS.
THEY WERE INTELLECTUAL, AND THEY WOULD PICKET OUR MOTEL,
AND I WOULD GO OUT AND TALK TO 'EM AND ARGUE WITH 'EM.
[ cheering ]
McCARTHY AND HIS STUDENT VOLUNTEERS CAPTURED
NEARLY 43% OF THE VOTE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE,
HUMILIATING PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
IT WAS A SYMBOLIC UPSET WITH ENORMOUS REPERCUSSIONS.
IMMEDIATELY, ROBERT KENNEDY, WHO HAD BEEN VACILLATING,
ANNOUNCED HE, TOO, WOULD RUN FOR PRESIDENT.
IT WAS LYNDON JOHNSON'S WORST POLITICAL NIGHTMARE.
GOOD EVENING, MY FELLOW AMERICANS.
TONIGHT I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU
OF PEACE IN VIETNAM AND SOUTHEAST ASIA.
NO OTHER QUESTION SO PREOCCUPIES OUR PEOPLE.
ON MARCH 31st,
JOHNSON ANNOUNCED A PARTIAL BOMBING HALT OF NORTH VIETNAM
AND CALLED FOR PEACE TALKS.
THEN, HE DROPPED A BOMBSHELL OF HIS OWN.
I SHALL NOT SEEK...
AND I WILL NOT ACCEPT...
THE NOMINATION OF MY PARTY
FOR ANOTHER TERM AS YOUR PRESIDENT.
PEOPLE FELT THAT THEY HAD WON.
A MAN WHOSE POLITICAL POWER WAS IMMENSE,
WHO HAD ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH FOR EVIL AND GOOD,
HAD SUDDENLY SAID, I QUIT.
YOU'RE OFTEN AMAZED WHEN THINGS THAT YOU DEVOUTLY WISH FOR
ACTUALLY COME TO PASS, AND THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS.
IT SEEMED ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN NOW.
IT WAS THE MAGIC OF 1968.
McCARTHY OR KENNEDY MIGHT BE PRESIDENT.
THE WAR MIGHT ACTUALLY END.
FOR THOSE WHO WANTED SOCIAL CHANGE,
IT WAS A MOMENT OF PURE EUPHORIA.
[ guitar playing blues ]
AT THE END OF MARCH IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, GARBAGE WORKERS,
WHO WERE MOSTLY BLACK AND GROSSLY UNDERPAID,
WERE OUT ON STRIKE.
THESE MEN, WHO WERE REALLY AT THE LOW RUNG ON THE TOTEM POLE,
JUST GOT TIRED OF BEING TREATED LESS THAN MEN.
AND IF YOU NOTICE THAT SIGN THEY HAD,
IT DIDN'T SAY PEACE,
IT DIDN'T SAY FREEDOM, IT DIDN'T SAY JUSTICE.
ALL IT SAID WAS, "I AM A MAN."
SOMEWHERE I READ OF THE FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY.
MARTIN LUTHER KING,
THE NATION'S PREEMINENT CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER,
CAME TO MEMPHIS TO EXPRESS MORAL SUPPORT
FOR THE MEN ON STRIKE.
SOMEWHERE I READ THAT THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA
IS THE RIGHT TO PROTEST FOR RIGHTS.
[ audience cheering and applauding ]
ON MARCH 28th, THE MEMPHIS POLICE WERE OUT IN FORCE.
ABOUT 12,000 DEMONSTRATORS GATHERED TO MARCH
DOWN BEALE STREET, IN SUPPORT OF THE GARBAGE WORKERS.
KING WAS PLANNING TO LEAD A POOR PEOPLE'S MARCH
ON WASHINGTON THAT SUMMER,
AN AMBITIOUS NEW CAMPAIGN FOCUSING ON ECONOMIC JUSTICE.
MEMPHIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE DRY RUN.
THERE WAS A GROUP OF YOUNG GUYS CALLED "THE INVADERS,"
SOME OF WHOM WERE ON THE FBI'S PAYROLL.
WE DIDN'T KNOW THAT AT THE TIME.
BUT THEY WERE THERE REALLY TO STIR UP TROUBLE.
[ crowd yelling ]
BLACK POWER!
THESE YOUNG GUYS HAD TAKEN THE STICKS OFF OF THE PLACARDS,
STARTED BREAKING OUT WINDOWS.
AND THEY STARTED THE RIOT.
AND YOU KNOW, ONCE YOU START IT, EVERYBODY GETS IN IT.
AND RATHER THAN TRY AND ISOLATE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE RIOTING,
THE POLICE JUST WADED INTO THE CROWD,
JUST BEATING PEOPLE INDISCRIMINATELY,
JUST -- JUST -- JUST BEATING THEM.
IT WAS HORRIBLE.
MARTIN WAS TAKEN OUT PHYSICALLY, PUT IN A CAR
AND TAKEN TO THE CLOSEST HOTEL FOR HIS OWN SAFETY.
AND HE SAID, WE'VE GOT TO HAVE A PEACEFUL MARCH.
IF WE DON'T DO IT HERE, WE CAN'T GO TO WASHINGTON.
KING WAS DESPONDENT.
OTHERS WERE LOSING FAITH IN HIS NONVIOLENT PHILOSOPHY.
MAYBE HIS TIME WAS PAST.
MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS AT A CROSSROADS.
DESPITE DOUBTS, DESPITE DEATH THREATS,
HE REFUSED TO TURN BACK.
ON THE NIGHT OF APRIL 3rd,
HE APPEARED BEFORE A PACKED CONGREGATION AT MASON TEMPLE.
IT WAS THUNDERING AND LIGHTNING, AND THE RAIN WAS COMING HARD.
AND MARTIN DIDN'T TAKE A TEXT.
WE CALLED IT A MOUNTAINTOP SPEECH.
HE JUST STARTED SPEAKING EXTEMPORANEOUSLY.
AND I'D NOT HEARD HIM --
OF ALL THE SPEECHES I'D -- TIMES I'D HEARD HIM SPEAK,
I'D NOT HEARD HIM LIKE THIS.
LIKE ANYBODY, I WOULD LIKE TO LIVE A LONG LIFE.
LONGEVITY HAS ITS PLACE.
BUT I'M NOT CONCERNED ABOUT THAT NOW.
I JUST WANT TO DO GOD'S WILL.
AND HE'S ALLOWED ME TO GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN.
AND I'VE LOOKED OVER, AND I'VE SE-E-EN...
THE PROMISED LAND.
I MAY NOT GET THERE WITH YOU, BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW TONIGHT
THAT WE, AS A PEOPLE, WILL GET TO THE PROMISED LAND.
[ audience applauding ]
SO I'M HAPPY TONIGHT.
I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT ANYTHING.
I'M NOT FEARING ANY MAN.
MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE COMING OF THE LORD.
[ audience shouting and applauding ]
I FEEL THAT HE WAS GOING THROUGH A PURGING OF HIS FEAR
THAT I NO LONGER FEAR DEATH.
HE ALWAYS SAID HE WOULD NOT LIVE TO BE 40.
HE DIDN'T THINK HE WOULD.
HE WANTED TO,
BUT HE NEVER THOUGHT HE'D LIVE TO BE 40 YEARS OLD.
HE WAS 39 WHEN HE WAS KILLED.
THE NEXT DAY, MEETING WITH AIDES AT HIS MOTEL,
KING SEEMED REJUVENATED.
AS EVENING APPROACHED, HE STEPPED OUT ON THE BALCONY
TO TALK WITH JESSE JACKSON AND OTHERS.
WE WERE ON OUR WAY
TO REVEREND BILLY KYLE'S HOME FOR DINNER.
AND I REMEMBER WE HAD OUR LITTLE BAND THERE FROM CHICAGO,
BEN BRANCH AND SOME MUSICIANS,
AND THEN WE WERE GONNA HAVE A BIG RALLY AT THE MASON TEMPLE
THAT NIGHT AFTER DINNER.
SO I WAS COMING ACROSS THE COURTYARD
AND HE SAID, JESSE, WE'RE LATE FOR DINNER.
I SAID, DOC, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU.
HE SAID, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR TIE ON.
I SAID, WELL, DOC, YOU KNOW A TIE IS NOT A PREREQUISITE
FOR DINNER, JUST AN APPETITE.
HE SAID, BOY, YOU'RE CRAZY.
AND HE SAID TO BEN, SAID,
PLAY MY FAVORITE SONG TONIGHT FOR ME, "PRECIOUS LORD."
BEN SAID, I WILL.
AND I SAID, DOC; HE SAID, YES.
WHEN HE SAID YES, THE BULLET HIT RIGHT HERE,
AND IT JUST KNOCKED HIM BACK AGAINST THE WALL,
AND IT WAS OVER.
POLICE WERE COMING TOWARDS US WITH DRAWN GUNS.
WE WERE SAYING THE BULLET CAME FROM THAT WAY.
IT COULDN'T HAVE COME FROM THIS WAY.
WHY ARE YOU COMING TOWARD US WITH DRAWN GUNS?
IT CAME FROM THAT WAY!
IN BLACK COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
THE REACTION TO KING'S ASSASSINATION
WAS A VIOLENT ERUPTION OF RAGE AND DESPAIR.
RIOTING BROKE OUT IN MORE THAN A HUNDRED CITIES.
TWENTY THOUSAND ARMY REGULARS
AND THIRTY-FOUR THOUSAND NATIONAL GUARDSMEN
WERE MOBILIZED.
IN CHICAGO,
MAYOR RICHARD DALEY ORDERED POLICE TO SHOOT TO KILL.
NATIONWIDE, 46 PEOPLE DIED.
MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS DEAD.
AMERICA WAS BURNING.
MANY FEARED THAT THE LAST HOPE
FOR RACIAL EQUALITY AND NONVIOLENCE
HAD BEEN EXTINGUISHED.
THIS SEEMED LIKE THE DEFINITIVE STATEMENT, YOU KNOW,
AMERICA TRIED TO REDEEM ITSELF AND NOW, YOU KNOW,
THEY'VE KILLED...THE MAN WHO WAS TAKING US TO THE MOUNTAIN.
Mahalia Jackson: ¶ SOON I WILL BE DONE
¶ WITH THE TROUBLES OF THE WORLD ¶
¶ TROUBLES OF THE WORLD
¶ OOO, TROUBLES OF THE WORLD
¶ SOON I WILL BE DONE
¶ WITH THE TROUBLES OF THE WORLD ¶
¶ WE'RE GOING HOME
¶ TO LIVE WITH GOD
¶ I'M GOING HOME
¶ TO LIVE WITH -- WITH GOD
WE WERE IN SHOCK.
YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH WE EXPECTED IT, WHEN IT HAPPENED,
YOU KNOW, IT'S -- YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
AND WE STAYED IN SHOCK FOR A VERY LONG TIME,
A VERY LONG TIME.
AT THIS POINT I HAD BEEN SO
KNOCKED OUT OF MY MIDDLE-CLASS ASSUMPTIONS
THAT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN.
PERHAPS THE COUNTRY COULD BE REFORMED
AND ROBERT KENNEDY WOULD BE PRESENT -- PRESIDENT.
PERHAPS WE'D BE PLUNGED INTO A CIVIL WAR,
I'D BE IMPRISONED AND KILLED.
ANYTHING WAS -- IT WAS -- IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHAT
COUNTRY WE WERE IN AND WHAT -- WHAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.
HIGHER EDUCATION WAS OPENING UP IN THE '60s.
IT WASN'T JUST A SOCIAL ELITE, BUT YOU'RE GETTING THE CHILDREN
OF WORKING-CLASS PEOPLE, VERY HIGH EXPECTATIONS.
1968 WAS THE YEAR OF THE STUDENT.
THERE WERE SEVEN MILLION ENROLLED IN AMERICAN COLLEGES,
AND THE MOOD ON CAMPUS WAS UNMISTAKABLY REBELLIOUS.
PEOPLE CUTTING CLASS TO GO OFF ON DEMONSTRATIONS
OR TO MARCH ON WASHINGTON AND SO FORTH,
AND A GENERAL LACK OF CIVILITY,
AND A GENERAL DISRESPECT FOR INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY,
WHICH WAS REGARDED, AS -- AS THEY USED TO SAY, NOT RELEVANT.
IN THE SPRING OF 1968, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK
BECAME THE FLASH POINT OF STUDENT REVOLT.
THERE WERE TWO DEMANDS:
END COLUMBIA'S AFFILIATION WITH I.D.A., A MILITARY THINK TANK,
AND STOP CONSTRUCTION OF A UNIVERSITY GYM
THAT WOULD REPLACE A PARK IN HARLEM.
ON APRIL 23rd, A CROWD OF BLACK AND WHITE STUDENTS
TORE DOWN FENCES AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE,
ONLY TO BE DRIVEN BACK BY POLICE.
THE RETREATING STUDENTS DECIDED SPONTANEOUSLY
TO OCCUPY SEVERAL CAMPUS BUILDINGS.
THE ATMOSPHERE, AS FAR AS ANYTHING I KNOW,
WAS VERY PEACEABLE IN THOSE OCCUPIED BUILDINGS.
A COUPLE FRIENDS OF MINE
ACTUALLY GOT MARRIED IN THEIR BUILDING.
ANDREA EAGAN AND HER HUSBAND GOT MARRIED.
THAT'S ONE OF THE PLACES WHERE WOMEN'S LIBERATION WAS BORN,
IN THOSE OCCUPIED BUILDINGS.
YOU KNOW, JUST OVER SIMPLE THINGS LIKE WOMEN SAYING,
HEY, WHY SHOULD WE BE SERVING... PREPARING THE FOOD?
THE LIFE-STYLE WAS COMMUNAL.
DRUGS AND LIQUOR WERE BANNED BY POPULAR VOTE.
BUT FOOD AND DRINK WERE SMUGGLED IN,
AND AS THE OCCUPATION CONTINUED,
IN BETWEEN THE TALK OF THEORY AND TACTICS,
THERE WAS A LOT OF PLAYFULNESS.
[ rock music playing ]
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT GRAYSON KIRK WAS NOT AMUSED.
OUR YOUNG PEOPLE, IN DISTURBING NUMBERS,
APPEAR TO REJECT ALL FORM OF AUTHORITY, HE SAID.
I KNOW OF NO TIME IN OUR HISTORY
WHEN THE GAP BETWEEN THE GENERATIONS
HAS BEEN WIDER OR MORE POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS.
STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE!!
Public address speaker: IF YOU DO NOT CHOOSE TO LEAVE THIS BUILDING,
I HAVE TO INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE
BUT TO CALL THE POLICE.
ANY STUDENT WHO IS ARRESTED WILL BE IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED.
WHEN THEY TOOK OVER THE CAMPUS
AND THEY PUT FECES IN SOMEBODY'S OFFICE
AND THEY WERE THROWING PEOPLE'S PAPERS OUT
AND GETTING PROFESSORS -- TAKING THEIR LIFE WORK
AND THROWING IT OUT ON THE FLOOR,
I WROTE A STATEMENT FOR NIXON,
AND SOME OF THE NIXON PEOPLE WERE REALLY OPPOSED,
AND I JUST DENOUNCED THE DEMONSTRATORS 100% AT FAULT,
OVERPRIVILEGED KIDS.
THE FIRST THING WHEN WE GOT INTO KIRK'S OFFICE WAS HIT HIS FILES.
BESIDES A BUNCH OF CRAP AND HIS GIRLIE MAGAZINES,
WE FOUND A BUNCH OF PAPERS LINKING COLUMBIA TO THE I.D.A.,
A WHOLE BUNCH OF SH--- ABOUT PUTTING DOWN S.D.S.
AND A LOT OF LETTERS ABOUT CLEANING UP THE AREA
BY MOVING OUT THE BLACKS AND THE PUERTO RICANS.
[ siren wailing ]
AFTER A WEEK, THE ADMINISTRATION HAD HAD ENOUGH.
THEY CALLED IN THE POLICE
TO CLEAR OUT ALL FIVE OCCUPIED BUILDINGS.
WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
WILL TAKE ALL THE NECESSARY ACTION IN CONNECTION
WITH OUR COMPLAINT AGAINST YOU.
IT WAS CLASS WARFARE:
A THOUSAND BLUE-COLLAR NEW YORK COPS
AGAINST SOME RADICAL IVY LEAGUE KIDS.
WATCH IT, WATCH IT, OKAY, GET BACK!
[ yelling ]
BRING 'EM IN TO THE DOOR.
WELL, I DROPPED MY GLASSES AND I WAS RUNNING.
I ASKED A COP, OFFICER, COULD I PLEASE GO BACK,
AND HE WHACKED ME IN THE F--- FACE.
I WAS COMPLETELY SHOCKED
WHEN THE POLICE WENT IN AND BEAT UP PEOPLE SO -- SO BADLY.
NOTHING PREPARED ME FOR THAT.
NEARLY 150 PEOPLE WERE INJURED AND MANY WERE ARRESTED.
BUT PRESIDENT KIRK WAS FORCED TO RESIGN,
AND EVENTUALLY, THE STUDENTS WON MOST OF THEIR DEMANDS.
STUDENTS WERE AT LIKE A REVOLUTIONARY BREAKING POINT.
I REMEMBER SOME POLL THAT SAID ONE MILLION COLLEGE STUDENTS
SELF-DESCRIBED THEMSELVES AS REVOLUTIONARIES.
IT WASN'T JUST THE UNITED STATES; IT WAS INTERNATIONAL.
STUDENTS IN GERMANY, FRANCE, JAPAN, IRELAND, CHINA, MEXICO
HAD ALL TAKEN TO THE STREETS, DEMANDING EVERYTHING:
STUDENT POWER, AN END TO THE WAR IN VIETNAM,
OR SIMPLY, MORE FREEDOM.
WE WERE HEARING BY 1968 IN THIS COUNTRY,
OVER AND OVER WE WERE HEARING THE ANALYSIS
THAT WE WERE A GENERATION OF SPOILED KIDS,
THAT WE WERE DR. SPOCK'S KIDS, THAT PERMISSIVE CHILD-RAISING --
WHICH ACTUALLY I NEVER EXPERIENCED IN MY OWN LIFE,
BUT -- WAS THE -- WAS THE SOURCE OF THE MOVEMENT.
WELL, THAT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN TRUE IN GERMANY.
IT WAS NOT TRUE IN ITALY.
I MEAN, IT WAS NOT TRUE IN JAPAN.
AND THE FACT IT WAS INTERNATIONAL, I THINK,
COMPLETELY REFUTES THAT VERY SIMPLISTIC
PSYCHOLOGICAL ARGUMENT, WHICH WE HEARD ALL THE TIME.
EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED OVERSEAS FUELED THE SENSE
THAT WE WERE ON THE CUSP OF SOME MOMENTOUS CHANGE
IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
THE COLUMBIA STRIKE MAY HAVE REMINDED PEOPLE
OF THE PARIS COMMUNE,
BUT MAY '68 IN FRANCE WAS THE REAL THING.
WHAT BEGAN AS A STUDENT PROTEST FOR REFORM OF THE ARCHAIC
AUTHORITARIAN FRENCH UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
SPARKED A GENERAL STRIKE THAT ELECTRIFIED THE COUNTRY.
THEY WERE ANARCHISTS, MOST OF THEM.
THAT WAS THE SPIRIT.
THE SLOGAN WAS, "ALL POWER TO THE IMAGINATION,"
THAT YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, YOU KNOW,
THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO LIVE WITH ALL THE VARIOUS FORMS
OF REPRESSION WHICH WE'RE USED TO.
SO IT WAS ANTI-CAPITALIST, BUT THAT WAS JUST PART
OF THIS GENERAL COMPLETE SORT OF CULTURAL REVOLUTION
THAT THE -- THE FRENCH STUDENTS WERE ANTICIPATING.
AND SO IT'S INTERESTING THAT ALTHOUGH THEY WERE
THE FURTHEST OUT IN ANY WAY POLITICALLY,
THAT WAS ALSO THE ONE PLACE
WHERE WORKERS JOINED WITH STUDENTS
AND ALMOST TOPPLED THE GOVERNMENT.
MAY 10th, THE NIGHT OF THE BARRICADES,
20,000 STUDENTS MARCHED IN THE LATIN QUARTER.
POLICE AND STUDENTS CLASHED.
STREET FIGHTING WENT ON FOR WEEKS.
THE RIOTING AND MARCHES OF UP TO HALF A MILLION PEOPLE
FRIGHTENED NOT ONLY PRESIDENT de GAULLE,
BUT THE FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY AS WELL.
THE OLD LEFT THOUGHT THIS NEW LEFT WAS OUT OF CONTROL,
THAT THEY HAD IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS.
THE TWO PRINCIPAL SLOGANS, I THINK,
WERE QUOTATIONS FROM MARX AND RIMBAUD:
FROM MARX, LET US CHANGE THE WORLD;
FROM RIMBAUD, LET US CHANGE LIFE.
CARLOS FUENTES, THE MEXICAN NOVELIST,
WAS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN MAY '68,
ALONG WITH MANY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
CAUGHT UP IN THE EXCITEMENT.
WELL, THERE WAS THIS SENSE
OF EXTRAORDINARY BROTHERHOOD AND SISTERHOOD.
THERE WAS THIS CAPACITY TO EMBRACE PEOPLE IN THE STREETS.
THERE WERE COUPLES KISSING.
THERE WERE COUPLES THAT FELL APART
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT SHARE POLITICAL VIEWS.
PARIS WAS DIVIDED BY THE RIVER SEINE AS NEVER BEFORE.
ON THE LEFT BANK YOU HAD THE LEFT,
THE REVOLUTIONARIES, THE DREAMERS.
ON THE RIGHT SIDE YOU HAD THE CONSERVATIVES,
YOU HAD THE GAULLISTS, YOU HAD THE FINANCIERS,
THE MONEY PEOPLE, THE BOURGEOISIE.
SO THE CITY WAS DIVIDED AS MUCH AS IN LES MISERABLES,
IN VICTOR HUGO, OR IN ANY OF THE GREAT OCCASIONS OF THIS CITY
THAT SEEMS TO NEED A GREAT REVOLUTIONARY EXPLOSION
FROM TIME TO TIME.
EVENTUALLY, THE MAY UPRISING SUBSIDED.
THE POWERFUL TRADE UNIONS CONTROLLED BY THE COMMUNISTS
REFUSED TO TAKE PART,
AND POLICE KEPT UP RELENTLESS PRESSURE.
BUT OVER TIME, THE STUDENTS DID SUCCEED
IN REFORMING AND MODERNIZING THE FRENCH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM,
AND THEY REJUVENATED THE SOCIALIST PARTY,
WHICH A DECADE LATER
BECAME THE ELECTED GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE.
IT BECAME A GREAT, GIGANTIC, FRATERNAL FEAST
IN WHICH EVERYBODY WAS KISSING EVERYBODY,
EMBRACING EVERYBODY, PATTING EVERYBODY ON THE BACK,
AND SAYING HOW HAPPY THEY WERE, AND HOW FREE THEY FELT,
AND THIS WAS CONTAGIOUS.
IT WAS MARVELOUS, AND I DON'T THINK WE'LL EVER SEE IT AGAIN.
BY LATE SPRING,
THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES WERE IN FULL SWING.
EUGENE McCARTHY WAS MORE POPULAR THAN EVER
WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS,
LIKE THE THOUSANDS WHO CHEERED HIM AT BERKELEY.
I THINK THERE ARE REALLY THREE AGENCIES OF GOVERNMENT
THAT NEED TO BE SOMEWHAT ALTERED:
ONE IS THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY,
THE SECOND IS THE FBI...
[ cheering and applauding ]
...AND THE THIRD ARE THE DRAFT BOARDS UNDER GENERAL HERSHEY.
McCARTHY SUPPORTERS WERE SUSPICIOUS OF ROBERT KENNEDY,
WHO THEY REGARDED AS AN OPPORTUNIST.
BUT IT WAS ALSO CLEAR
THAT KENNEDY WAS A MORE CHARISMATIC CAMPAIGNER
AND WAS APPEALING TO A BROADER COALITION,
NOT JUST STUDENTS, BUT BLUE-COLLAR WORKERS, WOMEN,
A WIDE RANGE OF MINORITY GROUPS, AND THE POOR.
KENNEDY HIMSELF WAS UNDERGOING
A DRAMATIC POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION.
THE MAN WHO WAS KNOWN AS RUTHLESS,
WHO HAD BEEN A HAWK ON VIETNAM,
WAS NOW CALLING FOR PEACE
AND BECOMING AN ADVOCATE FOR THE DISPOSSESSED.
I THINK ONE THING THAT HAPPENED TO HIM
WAS THAT HIS BROTHER WAS MURDERED,
AND I THINK THAT HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON HIM.
ON AN AIRPLANE DURING THE CAMPAIGN, SOMEONE ASKED HIM --
MAY HAVE BEEN JACK NEWFIELD --
WHAT'S YOUR POSITION ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT?
SOME ISSUE HAD COME UP.
AND HE SAID, I'M AGAINST IT.
AND WHOEVER IT WAS SAID TO HIM,
WELL, WHEN YOU WERE AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT,
THAT WASN'T YOUR POSITION, WHEN YOU WERE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
AND HE SAID, WELL, THEN I HADN'T READ CAMUS.
WELL, WHAT POLITICIAN, FIRST OF ALL, READS CAMUS,
AND SECOND, USES IT AS A REASON FOR HAVING CHANGED A POSITION?
ALBERT CAMUS, THE FRENCH EXISTENTIALIST,
HAD WRITTEN ABOUT THE REBEL SPIRIT.
AND THE KENNEDY CAMPAIGN, THOUGH RUN BY PROFESSIONALS,
BEGAN TO TAKE ON AN ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT CHARACTER.
IN CALIFORNIA, KENNEDY MADE COMMON CAUSE
WITH CESAR CHAVEZ AND HIS FARMWORKERS UNION.
I SHARE THAT MORE ROMANTIC VERSION OF THE KENNEDY STORY.
BUT AGAIN, IT'S ONE OF THOSE STORIES
IN WHICH WE PROJECT OUR OWN FANTASIES AND OUR OWN HOPES.
THE CALIFORNIA PRIMARY WAS THE SHOWDOWN
BETWEEN KENNEDY AND McCARTHY,
THE TWO CANDIDATES CALLING FOR CHANGE WITHIN THE SYSTEM,
THE TWO REBEL SPIRITS.
ON JUNE 4th, IT WAS KENNEDY WHO EMERGED VICTORIOUS.
IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT.
THE BALLROOM AT THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL IN LOS ANGELES
WAS JAMMED, THE HEAT STIFLING.
BUT KENNEDY WAS AT HIS BEST.
WHAT I THINK IS QUITE CLEAR IS --
IS THAT WE CAN WORK TOGETHER IN THE LAST ANALYSIS,
AND THAT WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON WITHIN THE UNITED STATES
OVER THE PERIOD OF THE LAST THREE YEARS --
THE DIVISIONS, THE VIOLENCE,
THE DISENCHANTMENT WITH OUR SOCIETY,
THE DIVISIONS, WHETHER IT'S BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES,
BETWEEN THE POOR AND THE MORE AFFLUENT,
OR BETWEEN AGE GROUPS, OR ON THE WAR IN VIETNAM --
THAT WE CAN START TO WORK TOGETHER.
WE ARE A GREAT COUNTRY, AND A SELFISH COUNTRY,
AND A COMPASSIONATE COUNTRY,
AND I INTEND TO MAKE THAT MY BASIS FOR RUNNING
OVER THE PERIOD OF THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT, THE REFORMERS,
NOW HAD A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
WHO MIGHT ACTUALLY WIN.
THE COUNTRY WANTS TO MOVE IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION.
WE WANT TO DEAL WITH OUR OWN PROBLEMS WITHIN OUR OWN COUNTRY
AND WE WANT PEACE IN VIETNAM.
[ cheering and applauding ]
THE MINUTE HE FINISHED,
I TURNED AND WALKED THROUGH THIS PANTRY AREA
ON MY WAY TO THE -- TO WHERE THE PRESS CONFERENCE WOULD BE HELD,
AND KENNEDY WAS RIGHT BEHIND ME.
AND I HEARD THE SHOTS RING OUT, AND I TURNED,
AND HE WAS ALREADY DOWN AND BLEEDING BADLY.
AND THE PLACE WENT CRAZY.
IT WAS -- IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE SCENE OF BEDLAM.
[ shouting ]
AND AFTER THE WHOLE SCENE WAS OVER AND KENNEDY WAS REMOVED,
A NUMBER OF MY COLLEAGUES,
INCLUDING A COUPLE OF BURLY PHOTOGRAPHERS,
BROKE DOWN, PUT THEIR HEADS DOWN ON THE --
ON -- ON THIS SERVING TABLE AND WEPT OPENLY.
AN EXTRAORDINARY THING HAPPENED WHEN KENNEDY'S BODY
WAS TRANSPORTED BY TRAIN TO WASHINGTON
FOR BURIAL AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY.
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SPONTANEOUSLY APPEARED
ALONG THE TRACKS IN SILENT TRIBUTE.
I THINK AN ERA ENDED
WITH ROBERT KENNEDY'S DEATH AND MARTIN LUTHER KING'S,
AN ERA IN WHICH WE COULD HAVE ACCOMPLISHED GREAT THINGS
WORKING TOGETHER, AND DOOMED US FOR SOME TIME,
AND WE MAY STILL BE IN THAT TIME,
TO BE SHATTERED AND FRAGMENTED AND SOMETHING LESS
THAN THE PEOPLE WE COULD BE.
AND I THINK JACK NEWFIELD SAID IT BEST WHEN HE SAID,
AFTER THAT, WE BECAME MIGHT-HAVE-BEENS,
A GENERATION OF MIGHT-HAVE-BEENS.
[ Band playing "California Here I Come" ]
THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION IN MIAMI WAS A WORLD APART,
SAFE FROM TURMOIL.
NIXON AND HIS RUNNING MATE, SPIRO AGNEW,
APPEALED TO THOSE THEY CALLED, "THE FORGOTTEN AMERICANS,"
YEARNING FOR STABILITY, LAW AND ORDER.
ALL OF THE CRISES OF THE '60s WERE COMING TOGETHER AT ONCE:
THE STUDENT, THE ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATIONS,
THE -- THE TURNING OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AWAY
FROM SORT OF NONVIOLENT DEMONSTRATIONS
TO GET LAWS CHANGED, TO -- TO RIOTS AND QUASI-REVOLUTION.
AND I THINK -- I THINK THERE WAS A SENSE
THAT THE COUNTRY WAS COMING APART,
AND HERE WE WERE, SUDDENLY WE WEREN'T --
WE WERE LOSING THE WAR.
MY FELLOW AMERICANS,
THE LONG, DARK NIGHT FOR AMERICA IS ABOUT TO END.
[ cheering and applauding ]
THE TIME HAS COME.
THE TIME HAS COME FOR US TO LEAVE THE VALLEY OF DESPAIR
AND CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN SO THAT WE MAY SEE
THE GLORY OF THE DAWN, A NEW DAY FOR AMERICA
AND A NEW DAWN FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM IN THE WORLD.
[ shouting ]
BUT AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION IN CHICAGO,
THE SYSTEM WAS FALLING APART ON NATIONAL TELEVISION.
IT WAS ONE OF THESE DREADFUL AND AMAZING CONFRONTATIONS
WHERE -- WHERE --
FORCES THAT HAD BEEN BUILDING FOR A LONG TIME
COME INTO COLLISION.
LEADERS OF THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT --
DAVE DILLINGER, ABBY HOFFMAN, AND TOM HAYDEN --
WERE DETERMINED TO PROTEST AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
Speaker: RICHARD J. DALEY.
MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, THE LAST OF THE BIG CITY BOSSES,
WAS NOT ABOUT TO LET THAT HAPPEN.
DALEY WOULD NOT GRANT PERMITS
ALLOWING PROTESTERS TO MARCH OR HOLD RALLIES.
AND AS LONG AS I'M MAYOR OF THIS TOWN,
THERE WILL BE LAW AND ORDER IN CHICAGO.
[ cheering and applauding ]
GET OUT OF THIS AREA!
THE CITY WAS AN ARMED CAMP.
THERE WERE 12,000 POLICE,
6,000 ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARDSMEN,
ANOTHER 6,000 ARMY TROOPS,
INCLUDING SOME JUST BACK FROM VIETNAM.
THERE WERE NEVER MORE THAN ABOUT 10,000 DEMONSTRATORS,
EASILY OUTNUMBERED BY POLICE AND SOLDIERS.
SOME OF US FELT -- I WAS CERTAINLY ONE OF THEM --
THAT IT WAS ALTOGETHER LIKELY THAT WE WOULD --
WE WOULD NOT COME OUT OF THE WEEK ALIVE.
SOMEBODY WAS NOT GONNA MAKE IT THROUGH THE WEEK.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28th, WAS THE DAY EVERYTHING EXPLODED.
IT BEGAN WITH A PEACEFUL RALLY AT THE BAND SHELL
IN GRANT PARK.
ANTI-WAR ORGANIZERS WERE STILL PLANNING
TO MARCH TO THE CONVENTION.
BUT WHEN A YOUNG PROTESTER CLIMBED THE FLAGPOLE
AND LOWERED THE AMERICAN FLAG, THE POLICE CHARGED.
[ yelling ]
[ booing ]
THAT AFTERNOON, AT THE CONVENTION,
DEMOCRATS VOTED DOWN THE PEACE PLATFORM.
FOR McCARTHY AND KENNEDY DELEGATES,
IT WAS A BITTER DEFEAT.
BACK ON THE STREETS, ANGRY, FRUSTRATED DEMONSTRATORS
MANAGED TO REASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE HILTON HOTEL,
WHERE THE CANDIDATES HAD THEIR HEADQUARTERS.
THEY WERE JUST AS NASTY AND CRUDE AND AWFUL
AND UGLY AS THEY COULD BE.
AND YOU COULD SEE THOSE COPS WERE JUST SITTING THERE
SEETHING WITH ANGER AND RESENTMENT OVER IT.
UNDER THE FULL GLARE OF TV LIGHTS AND CAMERAS,
THE POLICE ATTACKED.
THEY CLUBBED INDISCRIMINATELY --
PROTESTERS, REPORTERS, BYSTANDERS.
THE OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATION
WOULD CALL THIS... A POLICE RIOT.
[ yelling and screaming ]
IN A CONFRONTATION THAT WOULD BE REPLAYED COUNTLESS TIMES,
CONNECTICUT'S SENATOR ABRAHAM RIBICOFF
DENOUNCED MAYOR DALEY'S POLICE.
WITH GEORGE McGOVERN AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO HAVE GESTAPO STA -- TACTICS
IN THE STREETS OF CHICAGO.
[ cheering ]
Television reporter: MR. DALEY IS NOT PLEASED WITH SENATOR RIBICOFF.
HOW HARD IT IS TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH.
[ audience cheering and booing ]
AND HE LOOKED AT MAYOR DALEY.
THAT NIGHT, HUBERT HUMPHREY WON THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION,
BUT IT WAS A HOLLOW VICTORY.
YOU HAD HUBERT HUMPHREY WEEPING IN THE SHOWER
FROM THE EFFECTS OF TEAR GAS THAT WAS BEING SPREAD
IN THE PARK BENEATH THE CONRAD HILTON HOTEL.
THE WAY IT PLAYED OUT WAS EXTREMELY DRAMATIC.
BUT WHAT PLAYED OUT THERE WAS -- WAS A FACT,
THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY WAS -- WAS FINISHED.
AND NIXON USED AN EFFECTIVE LINE
AFTER THAT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
HE SAID, LOOK, IF THEY CAN'T UNITE THEIR PARTY,
HOW CAN THEY UNITE THE COUNTRY?
AND HE WAS RIGHT.
BUT THE TRUTH WAS,
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY COULD HAVE UNITED US IN 1968.
JUST A FEW DAYS BEFORE DALEY CALLED THE ARMY INTO CHICAGO,
RUSSIAN TANKS INVADED PRAGUE.
THEY MADE MAYOR DALEY LOOK LIKE A PACIFIST.
MANY ANTI-WAR AMERICANS IDENTIFIED WITH THE YOUNG,
FREE-THINKING CZECH STUDENTS
WHO WANTED TO CHANGE THE OLD COMMUNIST SYSTEM.
DUBCEK, WHO REPRESENTED THE PRAGUE SPRING,
HE WAS LIKE A -- A MILD REFORMER.
AND THIS -- THIS TREMENDOUS MOVEMENT GREW IN PRAGUE
WHICH THOUGHT THAT IT WAS GONNA CHANGE THE WORLD,
JUST LIKE WE DID.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT DID FINALLY, AND GOD BLESS 'EM,
BUT THEY PAID A BIG PRICE OF ALMOST 30 YEARS
BEFORE IT FINALLY HAPPENED.
PREOCCUPIED WITH THE WAR IN VIETNAM,
THE UNITED STATES TOOK NO ACTION TO STOP THE RUSSIANS.
THE CZECHS HAD LITTLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES
BEYOND THEIR OWN POWERS OF PERSUASION.
INVITED BY THE CZECH AUTHOR MILAN KUNDERA
TO OBSERVE WHAT WAS HAPPENING,
CARLOS FUENTES AND OTHER WRITERS CAME TO PRAGUE.
WE WERE WITNESSES TO THE FACT THAT THIS WAS A REVOLUTION
TO GIVE SOCIALISM A HUMAN FACE, AS DUBCEK HAD SAID,
AND THIS OTHER REVOLUTION OF THE YEAR 1968
WAS TRAMPLED BY THE SOVIET UNION,
WHICH DID NOT WANT SOCIALISM WITH ANY FACE.
IT WANTED SOVIET IMPERIAL DOMINATION
OF ITS PERIMETER OF DEFENSE.
TO HAVE A POLICY THAT CARES FOR THE SOCIETY,
THAT TAKES CARE OF THE SOCIETY,
BUT IT ALSO RESPECTS PERSONAL FREEDOM.
THIS IS WHAT THE CZECHS WANTED,
AND OF COURSE THE SOVIET UNION WOULD NOT TOLERATE IT.
AND IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE END, I THINK,
FOR THE SOVIET EMPIRE.
TWENTY YEARS LATER, THE VELVET REVOLUTION
ENDED SOVIET DOMINATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
AND PLAYWRIGHT VACLAV HOVEL, A VETERAN OF THE PRAGUE SPRING,
BECAME PRESIDENT OF A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY.
IN 1968, HERE WAS PARIS, CHICAGO, PRAGUE,
AND FINALLY MEXICO CITY.
THIS PLAZA, THE SCENE OF ANOTHER BLOODY CONFRONTATION.
IT HAD BEEN BUILDING ALL SUMMER.
MEXICAN STUDENTS WERE ON THE MARCH,
CHALLENGING AN AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENT
THAT CLAIMED TO BE DEMOCRATIC.
ON THE NIGHT OF OCTOBER 2nd, STUDENTS FILLED THE PLAZA.
SOLDIERS WITH FIXED BAYONETS SURROUNDED THEM.
SUDDENLY, WITHOUT WARNING,
A HELICOPTER HOVERING OVERHEAD OPENED FIRE.
THEY WANTED SOMETHING CALLED FREEDOM.
IMAGINE.
AS SIMPLE AS THAT.
THEY WANTED FREEDOM, AND THEY WENT OUT IN THE STREETS
TO DEMAND THIS FREEDOM,
AND THE ANSWER OF THE GOVERNMENT WAS TO MOW THEM DOWN
ON OCTOBER 2, 1968, AT TLATELOLCO,
THE PLAZA OF THE FREE CULTURES, TLATELOLCO, THE SAME PLACE
WHERE PEDRO de ALVARADO HAD MASSACRED THE AZTECS IN 1521.
THE MASSACRE, KNOWN AS THE NIGHT OF SORROW,
WAS THE WORST SINGLE DISASTER OF 1968.
BUT THE WORLD BARELY NOTICED.
THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT SHROUDED THE MASSACRE IN SECRECY.
ONLY RECENTLY HAS IT BEEN
OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGED AND INVESTIGATED.
BUT IT WAS A TURNING POINT IN MEXICAN HISTORY, THE NIGHT
WHEN ONE-PARTY RULE LOST WHATEVER LEGITIMACY IT HAD.
FROM THIS TERRIFYING EVENT,
IN WHICH OVER 500 YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN DIED,
A NEW MEXICO WAS BORN, A NEW DEMOCRATIC MEXICO
THAT HAS FINALLY FLOWERED IN THESE DAYS IN THE 1990s.
IT TOOK A LONG TIME,
BUT IT WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT THE EVENTS OF 1968.
THE MASSACRE TOOK PLACE JUST BEFORE THE OLYMPICS
IN MEXICO CITY AND HORRIFIED HARRY EDWARDS,
WHO WAS ORGANIZING A BOYCOTT OF THE GAMES BY BLACK ATHLETES.
THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE BEING PICKED UP,
SO MANY PEOPLE BEING KILLED
THAT THEY WERE LITERALLY HAULING OUT CORPSES IN FISH NETS
ON THE HELICOPTERS LIKE THEY DID IN VIETNAM,
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT WANT MASS FUNERALS AND SO FORTH,
EITHER JUST PRIOR TO
AND MOST CERTAINLY NOT DURING THE OLYMPIC GAMES.
THE WORLD HEARD VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE STUDENT MASSACRE,
BUT NO ONE MISSED THE BLACK POWER PROTESTS AT THE OLYMPICS
BY AMERICAN SPRINTERS TOMMY SMITH AND JOHN CARLOS.
SMITH AND CARLOS' DEMONSTRATION WAS NOT ANTI-AMERICAN.
IT WAS PRO HUMAN RIGHTS
AND MOST SPECIFICALLY, PRO BLACK RIGHTS.
PEOPLE EITHER WEPT AND CHEERED
OR THEY WERE OUTRAGED TO THE RAFTERS.
SMITH AND CARLOS WERE EXPELLED FROM THE OLYMPICS,
BUT THEIR BLACK POWER SALUTE BECAME ONE OF THE MOST
PROVOCATIVE AND ENDURING IMAGES OF 1968.
ANOTHER PROTEST MOVEMENT WOULD EMERGE BY SUMMER'S END.
SPEARHEADED BY VETERANS OF THE ANTI-WAR
AND CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS,
IT TAPPED INTO A DEEP WELL OF ANGER
AT THE INEQUALITIES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN.
ONE EARLY PARTICIPANT WAS SUSAN BROWNMILLER,
A TV NEWS WRITER WHO THOUGHT SHE WAS FINISHED WITH ACTIVISM.
A FRIEND OF MINE SAID TO ME ONE DAY, YOU KNOW,
WOMEN ARE MEETING,
AND THEY'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT WOMEN'S ISSUES.
AND I SAID, I DON'T BELIEVE IT.
AND SHE SAID, WELL, THERE'S A MEETING NEXT TUESDAY.
MAYBE YOU'D WANT TO COME.
EVERYONE GOES AROUND THE ROOM
AND SPEAKS FROM THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE.
AND THEY BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT UNWANTED PREGNANCY
AND HOW EACH OF THEM HAD COPED WITH IT.
AND IT WAS MY TURN.
AND...I WAS OLDER.
YOU KNOW, I WAS IN MY THIRTIES, THEY WERE IN THEIR TWENTIES.
AND I'M A COMPETITIVE PERSON, AND I'M THINKING TO MYSELF,
THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT ONE ABORTION, HUH?
SO I SAID, I'VE HAD THREE ABORTIONS, ALL ILLEGAL,
AND THEN I STARTED TO CRY.
AND I SAID, I GUESS I'M LUCKY TO BE ALIVE.
AND WHAT WAS SO ASTONISHING ABOUT THAT MOMENT
IS THAT MY BEST FRIEND JAN, WHO HAD BROUGHT ME TO THIS MEETING,
DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THOSE ABORTIONS.
YOU TOLD NOBODY.
YOU KNOW, YOU MADE YOUR ARRANGEMENTS,
YOU WENT OFF SECRETLY.
IN 1968 IN NEW YORK, IT WAS A FIRST FOR WOMEN TO SAY,
YEAH, I HAD AN ILLEGAL ABORTION.
Woman: WHAT HAS THAT GO TO DO WITH...
FROM THE PRIVACY OF CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING GROUPS,
THE WOMEN'S LIBERATION MOVEMENT QUICKLY CATAPULTED ITSELF
INTO THE PUBLIC ARENA.
WITH PICKET SIGNS IN THEIR HANDS
AND GUERILLA-THEATER TACTICS UP THEIR SLEEVES, 100 WOMEN
CONVERGED ON THE MISS AMERICA PAGEANT IN ATLANTIC CITY.
BUT FIRST, THEY HAD NOTIFIED THE PRESS,
WHICH TURNED OUT IN FORCE.
THE MISS AMERICA CONTEST WAS SO MIND-BOGGLING TO REPORTERS
BECAUSE NO ONE HAD THOUGHT THAT MAYBE SOME OF US
DIDN'T LIKE THE IDEA OF A BEAUTY CONTEST
WHERE WOMEN PARADED IN BATHING SUITS AND HIGH-HEELED SHOES.
Bert Parks: ¶ MISS AMERICA
YES SIREE, BOYS, STEP RIGHT UP.
HOW MUCH AM I OFFERED FOR THIS NO. 1 PIECE
OF PRIME AMERICAN PROPERTY?
SHE SINGS IN THE KITCHEN, HUNDREDS OF ...
WE, THE RADICAL ACTIVISTS,
KNEW HOW TO PUT ON A GOOD DEMO, YOU KNOW.
IT WAS THE RADICAL MOVEMENT'S FIRST NATIONAL ACTION.
Woman: ¶ COME JOIN THE FIGHT
¶ WE'RE GONNA HAVE...
THE DEMONSTRATORS HAD HOPED TO BURN BRAS, LIKE DRAFT CARDS.
BUT THE CITY REFUSED TO GRANT THEM A FIRE PERMIT.
FAMOUS FOR A BRA-BURNING THAT NEVER HAPPENED,
THE PROTEST GENERATED ENORMOUS PUBLICITY AND DEBATE.
DESPITE THE LACK OF ACTUAL FLAMES,
THE MISS AMERICA PAGEANT PROTEST
SPARKED A SOCIAL REVOLUTION THAT IS STILL UNDERWAY.
Hank Thompson: ¶ I CAUGHT YOU CHEATIN' AND RUNNIN' AROUND ¶
¶ THERE'S A SMILE UPON YOUR FACE ¶
¶ WHILE ANOTHER TAKES MY PLACE ¶
¶ AND THERE'LL BE LAUGHTER INSTEAD OF TEARS ¶
MORE THAN EVER, CONSERVATIVE AMERICANS THOUGHT THE COUNTRY
AND THE WORLD WERE ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.
THEY WANTED LAW AND ORDER.
GEORGE WALLACE WAS THEIR MAN.
[ crowd cheering and horns blowing ]
WELL, I'M FOR WALLACE BECAUSE I FEEL THAT ALL THROUGH HISTORY,
WHENEVER TIMES BECAME SO DIFFICULT, A LEADER HAS AROSE,
AND THIS IS THE LEADER.
INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE GEORGE WALLACE
HAD ONCE DECLARED, SEGREGATION FOREVER.
NOW THE ALABAMA GOVERNOR WAS HOLDING RALLIES
AS FAR NORTH AS SAN FRANCISCO,
AND POLLS IN OCTOBER SHOWED HIM WINNING 20% OF THE VOTE.
WHAT DO YOU THINK'S WRONG WITH AMERICA?
THE RIOTING.
THE TROUBLE IN THE STREETS, THE TROUBLE IN OUR SCHOOLS,
THE SUPREME COURT, WHICH IS ALMOST --
WELL, LET'S SAY, WE THINK IS PRO-COMMUNIST.
WE WANT WALLACE!
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT LAW AND ORDER A MOMENT,
AND WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT.
BUT REALLY YOU DON'T HAVE TO TALK ABOUT IT,
YOU SEE IT ALL AROUND YOU ALL THE TIME,
THE BREAKDOWN OF LAW AND ORDER.
THE REACTION THAT HE STIRRED SCARED ME,
BECAUSE HE HAD THE CAPACITY
OF JUST WORKING UP A CROWD TO A -- TO A FRENZY.
WHEN THAT SAME GROUP FROM BERKELEY
WERE GROVELIN' AROUND IN THEIR BEARDS AND FILTH
IN SELMA, ALABAMA, FOR EIGHT WEEKS,
THE WASHINGTON POST SAID, IT IS A GREAT AND HOLY CRUSADE.
AND NOW THEY'VE CREATED THEMSELVES
A FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER
AND THE CHICKENS ARE COMIN' HOME TO ROOST
ALL OVER THIS COUNTRY.
[ applause ]
WALLACE ENJOYED RESPONDING TO THE PROTESTERS WHO HECKLED HI.
COME UP HERE AFTER I'VE COMPLETED MY SPEECH
AND I'LL AUTOGRAPH YOUR SANDALS FOR YA.
I'LL LET YA -- I'LL DO THAT.
AND I'LL...
[ applause ]
OH, YEAH, A GOOD HAIRCUT'D HELP YOU.
I THINK THAT SOLVES YOUR PROBLEM.
A GOOD BARBER COULD CURE YOU.
IT WAS REALLY THE BEGINNING OF WHAT IS TODAY
THE -- THE PHENOMENON OF THE ANGRY WHITE MAN.
AND I'LL TELL YA, YOU OUGHT TO TAKE THEM PEOPLE OVER THERE
AND PUT 'EM IN A BUNCH OF CAGES AND SHIP 'EM OFF IN A SHIP
AND DUMP 'EM, OR TAKE 'EM TO VIETNAM, GET 'EM OFF,
PUT THEM ON THE FRONT LINES,
BRING OUR BOYS BACK AND A-BOMB THEM GUYS.
IT ALSO CONTAINED AN ELEMENT OF ECONOMIC POPULISM
THAT WAS VERY IMPORTANT.
OF COURSE, HIS PEOPLE WERE TRYING TO BEAT THE HELL
OUT OF ME, SO IT'S HARD FOR ME TO SEE THEIR ECONOMIC AGENDA.
¶ GOD BLESS AMERICA
¶ MY HOME, SWEET HOME
THE MORE MAINSTREAM LAW-AND-ORDER CANDIDATES,
NIXON AND AGNEW,
BUILT UP A COMMANDING LEAD OVER HUBERT HUMPHREY.
NIXON RAN A VERY CONTROLLED, ALMOST ANTISEPTIC CAMPAIGN,
DOMINATED BY MADISON AVENUE ADVISORS
WHO RECOMMENDED CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED APPEARANCES.
IT WOULD LATER BE DESCRIBED AS THE SELLING OF THE PRESIDENT.
THE HUMPHREY CAMPAIGN WAS STALLED.
HE WAS AFRAID TO BREAK WITH PRESIDENT JOHNSON
AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE WAR.
HE'S A TRULY TRAGIC FIGURE.
I MEAN, HE'S A REAL VISIONARY FROM 1948 ON.
HE MAKES HIS FIRST NAME WITH A FANTASTIC SPEECH
IN FAVOR OF CIVIL RIGHTS IN 1948
AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION,
AND THROUGHOUT THE '50s AND '60s
HE'S A REAL BEACON OF LIBERALISM.
BUT JOHNSON TREATS HIM TERRIBLY.
AS LYNDON JOHNSON PUT IT VERY SPECIFICALLY,
DON'T WORRY ABOUT HUBERT, I'VE GOT HIS PECKER IN MY POCKET.
AFTER THE DEBACLE IN CHICAGO,
THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT WAS BOYCOTTING HUMPHREY.
THERE WERE SOME OF US WHO ALREADY WERE THINKING,
YOU KNOW, NIXON WOULD NOT BE THE END OF THE WORLD.
PEOPLE LIKE I.F. STONE HAD ARGUED,
YOU GET A BETTER SHOT AT PEACE
WITH A REPUBLICAN THAN WITH A DEMOCRAT
BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING RED-BAITED.
BUT IT WOULD NEVER HAVE ENTERED MY MIND
TO VOTE FOR HUBERT HUMPHREY, WHO WAS,
AS FAR AS I WAS CONCERNED, WAS DEEPLY IMPLICATED IN THE WAR.
PEOPLE THREW EXCREMENT AT HIM AND CALLED HIS WIFE A WHORE.
AND THE GREAT IRONY, OF COURSE,
WAS THAT THROUGHOUT THE FALL CAMPAIGN,
ALL OF THE ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATORS
CONTINUOUSLY HARASSED HUMPHREY AND IGNORED NIXON ALTOGETHER.
AND THAT WAS A TRAGEDY.
THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MISTAKES OF THE '60s,
IN MY VIEW.
THE ELECTION WAS SO CLOSE
THAT YOU CAN ATTRIBUTE MANY FACTORS
TO THE MARGIN OF DIFFERENCE,
BUT CERTAINLY ONE OF THE FACTORS WAS THAT THOSE WHO WERE --
WHO HATED THE WAR DECIDED TO BE SO PURE AS TO SIT IT OUT.
I WAS ONE OF THEM.
I KNOW VERY FEW PEOPLE WHO VOTED IN THAT YEAR, AND WE WERE WRONG.
ONE OF THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MOVEMENT DURING THE WAR
WAS NOT TO IMAGINE HOW MANY INSIDERS THERE WERE
THAT ESSENTIALLY AGREED WITH THEM,
AND TO HAVE PRESSED THEM TO CHALLENGE THEM MORE,
TO SPEAK OUT MORE OPENLY.
AND IT'S NOT UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30th,
IN A FAMOUS SPEECH IN SALT LAKE CITY,
WHERE HE FINALLY PUTS A LITTLE BIT OF DISTANCE
BETWEEN HIMSELF AND THE PRESIDENT AND SAYS,
I WILL BE IN FAVOR OF A BOMBING HALT,
AND THE NEXT DAY HE'S AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE,
AND THERE'S THIS INCREDIBLE SIGN IN THE CROWD SAYING,
IF YOU MEAN IT, WE'RE WITH YOU.
I THINK IF HE HAD RENOUNCED THE WAR
AND THE JOHNSON WAR POLICY MAYBE A FEW WEEKS SOONER,
HE MIGHT VERY WELL HAVE WON THAT ELECTION.
HE CAME VERY, VERY CLOSE.
RICHARD NIXON WON BY A RAZOR-THIN MARGIN,
LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF THE VOTE.
THE VIETNAM WAR WOULD LAST SEVEN MORE YEARS.
JOHNSON'S WAR WOULD BECOME NIXON'S WAR.
THE POLITICAL DIVISIONS THAT ERUPTED IN 1968
WOULD SOON WIDEN INTO CHASMS.
'68 IS THE CUSP BETWEEN THE HOPE AND THE RAGE,
AND IT'S IN MANY WAYS THE YEARS WHEN THE MOST BENIGN HOPES
BURNED OUT OR WERE OBLITERATED.
RICHARD NIXON WAS NOW PRESIDENT,
AND RONALD REAGAN WAS GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.
TOGETHER THEY WOULD LEAD A BACKLASH
AGAINST REBELLIOUS STUDENTS AND THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT.
AS 1969 DAWNED,
THE MOST SUSTAINED STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS OF THE DECADE
WERE ALREADY UNDERWAY,
NOT AT AN ELITE SCHOOL, BUT AT A STATE COLLEGE,
AND NOT OVER THE WAR, BUT OVER IDENTITY.
[ crowd chanting ]
THE ORIGINS OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY
ETHNIC STUDIES DEPARTMENTS NATIONWIDE
WERE FORGED IN THE HEAT OF A 134-DAY STRIKE
AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE COLLEGE.
[ crowd shouting ]
GOVERNOR REAGAN SENT HIS EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT, ED MEESE,
TO SAN FRANCISCO TO SUPPORT THE COLLEGE'S TOUGH NEW PRESIDENT,
S.I. HAYAKAWA.
ONE OF MY JOBS WAS TO MAKE SURE
THAT PRESIDENT HAYAKAWA WAS SAFE,
BECAUSE THERE WAS SOME THOUGHT
THAT THEY MIGHT TRY TO STORM HIS OFFICE,
SO WE HAD THE NECESSARY POLICE AND STATE RESOURCES THERE
TO PROTECT HIM.
DISSIDENT FORCES DECIDED THAT THEY WOULD STAGE
A MAJOR DEMONSTRATION.
Public address speaker: ...THE SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THE PERSONS DEMONSTRATING HERE ARE UNLAWFULLY ASSEMBLED.
PRESIDENT HAYAKAWA PERSONALLY GOT ON TOP OF THE TRUCK
AND PULLED OUT THE WIRES AND SILENCED THE SOUND TRUCK.
S.I. HAYAKAWA, IN ESSENCE, BECAME SORT OF A HIT MAN
FOR RONALD REAGAN.
Crowd: STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE!!
THE STRIKING STUDENTS ULTIMATELY WON
THE BLACK STUDIES DEPARTMENT,
BUT IN THE PROCESS, 700 WERE ARRESTED.
COLLEGE PRESIDENT S.I. HAYAKAWA
WENT ON TO BECOME A UNITED STATES SENATOR.
GOVERNOR REAGAN FOUND THE CONFLICT A USEFUL TRIAL RUN
FOR HIS NEXT CHALLENGE IN NEARBY BERKELEY,
WHERE ANTI-WAR STUDENTS AND COUNTERCULTURE YOUTHS
JOINED FORCES TO CLAIM SOME UNDEVELOPED UNIVERSITY LAND
AS THEIR OWN.
THE GREAT HOPE IMPLICIT IN THE PEOPLE'S PARK
IS THAT IN OUR LEISURE TIME, SO TO SPEAK,
WE WILL MAKE THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION.
THE SPIRIT WHICH BUILT THE PEOPLE'S PARK
IS STRONGER THAN GAS AND CLUBS.
IT IS EVEN STRONGER THAN UNIVERSITIES.
Man on bullhorn: I WANT TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS PROPERTY IS PRIVATE.
IT IS POSTED.
YOU ARE NOW TRESPASSING.
AND SO THE UNIVERSITY SET OUT TO REMOVE THE PEOPLE
WHO WERE LOUNGING AROUND ON THE PROPERTY
OFF OF THE PROPERTY AND PUT UP FENCES
SO THAT THEY COULD BEGIN THE CONSTRUCTION.
LEFTIST ORGANIZERS, SOME STUDENTS, SOME NON-STUDENTS,
DECIDED THAT THEY WOULD USE THAT AS THE PRETEXT
FOR A DEMONSTRATION AND A PROTEST.
THEY -- THEY TRIED TO KILL POLICE OFFICERS.
THEY HURLED SPIKES FROM THE TOP OF BUILDINGS ON THE POLICE.
GOVERNOR REAGAN, EXPRESSING TE FURY THAT MANY OFFICIALS FELT
AT YOUTHFUL DEFIANCE, STATED,
IF IT TAKES A BLOODBATH, LET'S GET IT OVER WITH.
NO MORE APPEASEMENT.
ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFFS SHOT OVER 50 PROTESTERS
WITH BUCKSHOT.
ONE PROTESTER DIED.
WHAT HAPPENED TO JAMES RECTOR
WAS THE RESULT OF HIS BEING INVOLVED IN ILLEGAL ACTIVITY.
REAGAN CALLED IN THE NATIONAL GUARD,
WHICH QUELLED THE DISTURBANCE.
THEY OCCUPIED BERKELEY FOR A MONTH,
LEAVING THE BAY AREA ACTIVIST COMMUNITY
BROKENHEARTED AND DEMORALIZED.
THAT SUMMER, ONE DREAM WAS REALIZED
AND ANOTHER VANQUISHED.
ON JULY 20th, THE SPACE PROGRAM,
FOUNDED BY PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY,
TRIUMPHED WITH A WALK ON THE MOON.
THE DAY BEFORE, JFK'S ONLY SURVIVING BROTHER,
SENATOR TED KENNEDY, SAVED HIS OWN LIFE AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT.
BUT HIS PRESIDENTIAL PROMISE DIED,
ALONG WITH HIS DROWNED COMPANION.
BUT I REALLY DIDN'T BECOME TOTALLY DISPIRITED
UNTIL TED KENNEDY WENT OFF THE BRIDGE AT CHAPPAQUIDDICK.
TED HAS BEEN A TERRIFIC SENATOR.
WHATEVER ELSE YOU MIGHT SAY ABOUT HIM,
HE'S BEEN A TERRIFIC SENATOR.
AND HE WAS THE LAST PERSON WHO SCARED NIXON.
AND ONCE TED WENT OFF THAT BRIDGE,
NIXON VEERED TO THE RIGHT.
AND THAT WAS THAT, AND I KNEW IT,
AND FOR ME, THAT WAS WHEN THE '60s ENDED.
FOR AMERICA'S COUNTERCULTURE,
THE '60s WERE ABOUT TO PEAK ON A FARM IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.
THERE'S PEOPLE AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE IN EVERY DIRECTION:
UNDER EVERY TREE, UNDER EVERY LEAF, ON EVERY ROAD.
AND I REMEMBER BEING IN THIS HELICOPTER
AND THE DOOR WAS OPEN AND THIS BIG COP LOOKED DOWN AND SAID,
THERE'S A LOT OF HIPPIES DOWN THERE.
AND I'M GOING, WELL, YEAH.
AND THE OLD COP NEXT TO HIM GOING, YEAH.
AND THE FIRST COP SAID,
I BET THEY'RE DOING LOTS OF ILLEGAL STUFF.
THE NEXT ONE SAYS, YEAH.
AND THE FIRST ONE SAID, I'M NOT GOING IN THERE OR NOTHING, NO.
AND I SUDDENLY REALIZED, MAN, THIS WAS GONNA BE A PARTY.
THIS WAS GONNA BE FUN.
[ guitar playing rock and roll ]
DESPITE OVERCROWDING AND RAIN,
THE PARTY LASTED FOR THREE DAYS.
EMCEE WAVY GRAVY ANNOUNCED TO A SEA OF BODIES IN MUD
THAT FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS WOULD BE SERVING BREAKFAST IN BED
FOR 400,000.
WOODSTOCK IS DISTINGUISHABLE NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS
THE LARGEST POP FESTIVAL OF ITS TIME,
BUT IT WAS ALSO, IN EFFECT, THE LAST.
FOUR MONTHS LATER,
A FESTIVAL PROMOTED AS WOODSTOCK WEST
TURNED INTO ANTI-WOODSTOCK.
[ crowd yelling ]
THE ROLLING STONES HEADLINED A CONCERT AT ALTAMONTE,
EAST OF SAN FRANCISCO,
WHERE THE COUNTERCULTURE HAD SO FAMOUSLY BLOSSOMED.
[ Rock and roll music playing ]
THE ALTAMONTE CONCERT ENDED IN VIOLENCE AND DISARRAY.
SOMETHING SEEMED TO HAVE GONE TERRIBLY WRONG.
GANGSTERS MOVED IN,
KILOS OF WEED GOT EXCHANGED FOR BRICKS,
PEOPLE WERE SHOT, THERE WERE MURDERS,
THERE WAS THIS AND THAT.
THE WHOLE TENOR OF THINGS GOT UGLIER AND HARDER AND MEANER.
MARRED BY VIOLENCE AND DRUG ABUSE,
ALTAMONTE SEALED THE FATE OF LARGE-SCALE FREE CONCERTS.
THE EXPANSIVE SPIRIT OF THE LOVE GENERATION
WOULD NEVER BE QUITE THE SAME AGAIN.
A LOT OF US FELL RIGHT OFF THE EDGE,
AND I WAS ONE OF 'EM,
AND A LOT OF US WERE REALLY HURT BY HARD DRUGS.
THE COUNTERCULTURE PAID A PRICE FOR ITS EXCESSES.
IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, JANICE JOPLIN, JIMI HENDRIX,
AND JIM MORRISON WOULD BE DEAD, ALL FROM DRUG ABUSE.
MANY FORMER URBAN DWELLERS SOUGHT TO BUILD A NEW LIFE
IN THE COUNTRY.
COMMUNAL LIVING AND HOMEGROWN FOOD
WOULD BE THE ANTIDOTE TO THE EXCESSES OF THE CITY.
AND THERE CAME A MOVEMENT TO BECOME LAND-BASED,
TO GET BELOW THE SKIN OF ASPHALT, AS SOMEBODY CALLED IT.
WHERE I LIVE HERE NOW IN MENDOCINO COUNTY,
MANY, MANY PEOPLE CAME HERE IN THE '60s
IN FULL RETREAT FROM THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT,
DECIDING THAT IF WE'RE GOING TO CREATE A NEW SOCIETY,
WE JUST HAVE TO FORGET THEIR SOCIETY
AND GO START ONE OF OUR OWN.
AS NIXON'S FIRST YEAR IN THE WHITE HOUSE
CAME TO A CLOSE, THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS
BEING KILLED IN VIETNAM REMAINED HIGH.
WE WANTED TO END THE WAR, BUT YOU CAN'T TURN THIS THING OFF
AS IF IT WERE A TELEVISION CHANNEL.
NIXON'S NEW STRATEGY WAS VIETNAMIZATION.
HE BEGAN TO WITHDRAW AMERICAN TROOPS,
ANNOUNCING THAT SOUTH VIETNAM WOULD TAKE OVER THE GROUND WA.
PRIVATELY, HE BEGAN DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS
WITH THE NORTH VIETNAMESE,
EXCLUDING SOUTH VIETNAM'S PRESIDENT THIEU.
SIMULTANEOUSLY, HE ORDERED MASSIVE SECRET BOMBINGS
IN LAOS AND CAMBODIA.
[ whistling ]
[ bomb exploding ]
WHAT WE ATTEMPTED TO DO WAS TO EXTRICATE THE UNITED STATES
FROM VIETNAM, BUT TO DO IT IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT WOULD NOT
AFFECT OUR INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
AROUND THE WORLD.
MORE PEOPLE DIE, MORE AMERICANS, AND NO DOUBT VIETNAMESE,
DIE DURING THE NIXON WE'RE-ON- OUR-WAY-GETTING-OUT YEARS
THAN DURING THE KENNEDY AND JOHNSON YEARS PUT TOGETHER.
A NATIONWIDE MORATORIUM ON OCTOBER 15, 1969,
CALLED FOR IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL FROM VIETNAM.
WITH PROTESTS IN EVERY CITY ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
IT BECAME THE LARGEST ONE-DAY DEMONSTRATION EVER
IN A WESTERN DEMOCRACY.
UNKNOWN TO ITS PARTICIPANTS, THE MORATORIUM
WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY ALTER NIXON'S WAR PLANS.
¶ FREEDOM
¶ FREEDOM...
HE WAS MAKING SECRET THREATS AT ESCALATION TO NORTH VIETNAM,
SECRETLY FROM THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, BUT NOT AT ALL SECRET,
OF COURSE, FROM THE TARGET OF THESE THREATS.
IN SHORT, HE MADE THOSE THREATS EXPLICITLY TO THE SOVIETS
FOR THE VIETNAMESE AND DIRECTLY TO THE VIETNAMESE,
THAT HE WAS PREPARED TO USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
THE MARCH OF THE MORATORIUM IN CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY
ON OCTOBER 15th, JUST BEFORE HIS SECRET ULTIMATUM, WAS TOO LARGE.
TWO MILLION PEOPLE ON ONE DAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY
CONVINCED HIM REASONABLY THAT THIS WAS NOT THE TIME
TO ESCALATE THE WAR AND IN PARTICULAR NOT THE TIME
TO USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HIROSHIMA.
¶ ALL WE ARE SAYING
¶ IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE...
IT WAS PRETTY CLEAR THAT THERE WAS SO MUCH PROTEST
IN -- WITHIN OUR COUNTRY THAT --
THAT IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO CONDUCT THE WAR AT ALL.
NIXON'S PUBLIC RESPONSE, A SPEECH HE WROTE HIMSELF,
WAS A MASTER STROKE.
AND SO TONIGHT, TO YOU,
THE GREAT, SILENT MAJORITY OF MY FELLOW AMERICANS,
I ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
I PLEDGED IN MY CAMPAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENCY
TO END THE WAR IN A WAY THAT WE COULD WIN THE PEACE.
I HAVE INITIATED A PLAN OF ACTION
WHICH WILL ENABLE ME TO KEEP THAT PLEDGE.
LET US BE UNITED FOR PEACE.
LET US ALSO BE UNITED AGAINST DEFEAT,
BECAUSE LET US UNDERSTAND,
NORTH VIETNAM CANNOT DEFEAT OR HUMILIATE THE UNITED STATES.
ONLY AMERICANS CAN DO THAT.
AND SO THEN THE PRESS ATTACKED IT, SAVAGED IT,
AND SO I WROTE NIXON A MEMO.
I SAID, IT'S TIME TO ATTACK THE MEDIA.
AND I SAID, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
OUGHT TO DELIVER THIS SPEECH, AND SO I WROTE THAT AGNEW SPEECH
AND THERE WAS ONE EDITOR FOR THAT AGNEW SPEECH,
RICHARD MILLHOUSE NIXON,
AND HE SAID, THIS'LL TEAR THE SCAB OFF THOSE BASTARDS,
AND WE BROKE OUT LAUGHING.
AND IT DID.
PERHAPS THE PLACE TO START LOOKING FOR A CREDIBILITY GAP
IS NOT IN THE OFFICES OF THE GOVERNMENT IN WASHINGTON
BUT IN THE STUDIOS OF THE NETWORKS IN NEW YORK.
HE WAS THE POINT MAN FOR RICHARD NIXON
AND RICHARD NIXON'S WAR AGAINST THE COUNTERCULTURES,
AND THEN WITH SPEECHES BY WILLIAM SAPPHIRE
AND PAT BUCHANAN, HE BECAME EVENTUALLY
THE HERO OF THE RIGHT WING FOR HIS ATTACKS ON THE PRESS.
LIKE NIXON'S SILENT MAJORITY, AGNEW'S FAMOUS PHRASES,
EFFETE SNOBS AND NATTERING NABOBS OF NEGATIVISM,
SERVED TO FURTHER POLARIZE THE COUNTRY.
TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT,
ORGANIZE AND SMASH THE STATE!
TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT,
ORGANIZE AND SMASH THE STATE!
EXACTLY ONE MONTH AFTER THE MORATORIUM,
700,000 AMERICANS CONVERGED ON WASHINGTON.
THE ADMINISTRATION HAD ALREADY ORDERED THE FBI
TO MONITOR THE DEMONSTRATION,
CONVINCED THAT IT WAS INFLUENCED BY COMMUNISTS.
[ shouting ]
WHILE A HANDFUL TRIED TO STORM THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE EMBASSY,
YALE CHAPLAIN WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN
AND DR. BENJAMIN SPOCK LED A PEACEFUL MARCH AGAINST DEATH
FROM ARLINGTON CEMETERY TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN MITCHELL SAID,
IT LOOKED LIKE THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.
THERE WAS A VERY DEEP SENSE OF PATRIOTISM
THAT ANIMATED MANY OF US, NOT ALL OF US, YOU KNOW.
SURE, THERE WAS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF DEFIANCE, REVOLT,
ADOLESCENCE, IF YOU WILL, BUT THAT'S OVERDONE.
Man on loudspeaker: ...FIRST CONTINGENT IN THIS MARCH AGAINST DEATH.
THERE ARE FACILITIES IN THE WHITE HOUSE,
IN CASE OF A BOMBING ATTACK.
I MOVED INTO ONE OF THESE FACILITIES FOR A FEW DAYS
AND SLEPT IN THE BASEMENT OF THE WHITE HOUSE,
AND, YOU KNOW, THE WHITE HOUSE WAS RINGED BY STUDENTS
THAT WERE PROTESTING.
IT DIDN'T INTERFERE WITH WHAT WE WERE DOING,
BUT IT WAS UNCOMFORTABLE.
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR,
SAY IT AGAIN, STOP THE WAR!
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR,
SAY IT AGAIN, STOP THE WAR!
[ birds chirping ]
THE FOLLOWING SPRING, ON APRIL 30, 1970,
PRESIDENT NIXON ANNOUNCED
THAT AMERICAN TROOPS HAD ENTERED CAMBODIA.
BY EARLY 1970,
ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT IS SO SWEEPING IN AMERICA,
NOT ONLY IN PUBLIC OPINION BUT ON THE CAMPUSES IN PARTICULAR,
THAT IT DOESN'T REQUIRE ANY LEADERSHIP.
PROTESTS ERUPTED ON CAMPUSES NATIONWIDE.
THE MURDER OF FOUR STUDENTS AT KENT STATE
AND TWO AT JACKSON STATE BY NATIONAL GUARDSMEN
SHOCKED AND FURTHER DIVIDED THE NATION.
IT WAS AS IF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE GENERATIONS
HAD CRACKED UP ON SOME FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL.
AND, YES, IT WAS -- IT WAS ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR.
IT WAS ABOUT RACE.
IT WAS ABOUT POVERTY.
BUT THESE THINGS SEEMED TO BE REFLECTIONS OF A FAILURE
ON THE PART OF THE OLDER GENERATION THAT WAS SO PROFOUND.
THE MOVEMENT WAS MOVING LEFT AND THE COUNTRY WAS MOVING RIGHT.
THE COUNTRY WAS POLARIZING.
INCREASING NUMBERS OF WHITE RADICALS
BEGAN TO ASPIRE TO THE MORE CONFRONTATIONAL MODEL
OF THE BLACK PANTHERS.
I HAVE THESE BLACK PANTHERS UP HERE WITH GUNS
ON THE SECOND FLOOR.
AM I UNDER ARREST?
[ shouting ] AM I UNDER ARREST?
PLACE HIM UNDER ARREST.
[ shouting ] TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF ME IF I'M NOT UNDER ARREST.
THE PANTHERS RAN ON TWO LEVELS, YOU KNOW.
I MEAN, WE NOW KNOW THAT HUEY WAS KIND OF A SCHIZOPHRENIC GUY,
A BRILLIANT IDEALIST AND A THUG.
AND THERE WERE THOSE TWO STRAINS OF THE PANTHERS.
THEY WOULD DO BREAKFAST PROGRAMS FOR KIDS
AND THEN THEY WOULD DO THUGGERY.
IN AMERICA, THE BLACK PEOPLE ARE TREATED VERY MUCH
AS ARE THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE, OR ANY OTHER COLONIZED PEOPLE
BECAUSE WE'RE USED, WE'RE BRUTALIZED.
THE POLICE IN OUR COMMUNITY OCCUPY OUR AREA; OUR COMMUNITY
IS A FOREIGN-TROOP-OCCUPIED TERRITORY.
THEY MOVED LARGELY FROM A SERVICE AND SELF-DEFENSE
KIND OF ORGANIZATION INTO AN ORGANIZATION
THAT ADOPTED WHAT WAS ESSENTIALLY A SIEGE MENTALITY.
LET US ARM OURSELVES TO DEFEND OURSELVES,
BECAUSE IF WE DON'T, WE'RE ALL DEAD.
AND, OF COURSE, THAT'S THE WAY THAT --
THAT THINGS ULTIMATELY PLAYED OUT.
HUEY NEWTON.
HUEY NEWTON FELL APART, STARTED ABUSING DRUGS.
AND ONE DAY I WALKED IN THE HOUSE
OVER THERE WHERE I STAYED,
AND HE'S GOT A BIG BRICK OF COCAINE.
I SAYS, WHAT IS THIS?
OH, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.
HE'S HALF OUT -- WE GOTTA RAISE SOME MONEY FOR THE PARTY.
I SAYS, NOT LIKE THIS, HUEY.
I SAID, NOT LIKE THIS.
I SAID, THIS IS CHEAP.
I SAID, DO YOU REALIZE POLITICALLY
THEY WILL DESTROY US WITH THIS BULLSHIT?
WITH THE DEMISE OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY,
INTO THAT GAP STEPPED THE GANGS,
THE DRUG TRAFFICKERS AND SO FORTH.
THE CRIPS AND THE BLOODS ARE A DIRECT CHILD, IF YOU WERE,
OF THE DEMISE OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
WHILE THE PANTHERS COLLAPSE,
FUELED BY FBI COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TACTICS,
TOOK YEARS,
WHITE RADICALS SELF-DESTRUCTED ALMOST OVERNIGHT.
A TINY HANDFUL OF WHITE RADICALS,
INCLUDING A GROUP THAT CALLED ITSELF THE WEATHER UNDERGROUN,
CALLED FOR ARMED REVOLUTION.
BUT FOR MOST OF THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT,
THIS SEEMED BOTH FUTILE AND MORALLY IRRESPONSIBLE.
THIS WAS VERY PAINFUL TO SEE PEOPLE WHO YOU TRUSTED
AND WERE CLOSE TO SORT OF SEEM TO FLIP OUT
AND START SAYING THINGS LIKE,
IF YOU'RE NOT READY TO PICK UP THE GUN, YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS.
I MEAN, IT JUST SOUNDED CRAZY.
WE GREW UP REALLY BELIEVING IN AMERICA AND WHAT IT STOOD FOR.
VIETNAM CAME ALONG AND, A, I THINK MOST IMPORTANTLY,
IT VIOLATED OUR VIEW OF AMERICA
BECAUSE WE WERE KILLING INNOCENT PEASANTS;
BUT, B, ON A VERY DEEP PSYCHOLOGICAL LEVEL,
TO REALIZE THAT YOUR ELDERS ARE PREPARED TO SEE YOU DIE
FOR AN UNWORTHY CAUSE,
FOR SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANNA GO DIE FOR,
I THINK THREW US INTO A MORAL ABYSS.
AMERICANS WERE SHOCKED BY THE TRIAL
OF LIEUTENANT WILLIAM CALLEY.
CALLEY WAS ACCUSED AND CONVICTED
OF MASSACRING VILLAGERS
IN THE VIETNAMESE VILLAGE OF MY LAI.
SOON AFTER, IT WAS REVEALED THAT THE U.S.
HAD BEEN SECRETLY BOMBING LAOS AND CAMBODIA.
[ bomb exploding ]
AMBASSADOR SULLIVAN, IN THAT COOL, DIGNIFIED WAY HE HAS,
SAID, WE -- THE UNITED STATES HAS NEVER BOMBED
ANY CIVILIAN TARGETS IN LAOS, AND I HEAR THIS VOICE.
IT WAS ONE OF THESE, YOU KNOW, OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES
OF SENATOR KENNEDY GOING, WELL, EXCUSE ME, AMBASSADOR,
BUT I UNDERSTAND THERE'S A YOUNG MAN IN THE ROOM
WHO'S JUST BEEN RETURNED FROM LAOS.
AND I SUDDENLY STAND UP, YOU KNOW,
AND I REMEMBER MY HEART CHURNING,
BUT I WAS SURPRISED WHEN I SAW THE FOOTAGE RECENTLY
THAT I WAS VERY CALM.
I WAS EVEN SMOKING A CIGARETTE.
AND I SAID, YOU KNOW,
AMBASSADOR SULLIVAN IS SIMPLY NOT TELLING THE TRUTH.
I'VE INTERVIEWED THOUSANDS OF PEASANTS.
EVERY SINGLE ONE SAYS THEIR VILLAGE WAS DESTROYED,
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN MURDERED.
IT'S SIMPLY NOT TRUE THAT WE'RE NOT BOMBING LAOS.
[ bomb exploding ]
OF THE 27 MILLION YOUNG MEN OF DRAFT AGE DURING THE WAR,
SLIGHTLY OVER TWO MILLION, OR 6%, SAW COMBAT IN VIETNAM.
A SMALL BUT VOCAL MINORITY OF VIETNAM VETS
RETURNED TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE WAR.
IN APRIL, 1971, THEY BROUGHT THEIR MESSAGE
TO WASHINGTON, D.C. AND THE NATION'S TELEVISION CAMERAS.
VIETNAM VETERANS MARCHED ON THE SUPREME COURT,
CALLING FOR THE COURT
TO DECLARE THE WAR UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
YOU MUST STOP DEMONSTRATING IMMEDIATELY
AND LEAVE THE PREMISES OR YOU WILL BE ARRESTED.
ANOTHER GROUP OF VETERANS, INCLUDING JOHN KERRY,
TESTIFIED BEFORE CONGRESS.
FINALLY, THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS DONE US THE ULTIMATE DISHONOR.
THEY HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DISOWN US
AND THE SACRIFICES WE MADE FOR THIS COUNTRY.
THE VETERANS COMING BACK FROM VIETNAM
AND PROTESTING AGAINST THE WAR,
AND FORMING VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR,
TO ME, THAT WAS PERHAPS THE MOST POWERFUL EVIDENCE
THAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN HAVE
TO HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT STOPPING THE WAR.
THE DEMONSTRATION CULMINATED WITH A GROUP OF VETERANS
RETURNING THE COMBAT MEDALS THEY HAD EARNED IN VIETNAM.
I RETURN MY VIETNAM SERVICE RIBBON...
ONE BRONZE STAR FOR HEROISM, WHICH WAS REALLY ASININE...
ONE PURPLE HEART.
I'D LIKE TO SAY JUST ONE THING TO THE PEOPLE OF VIETNAM:
GOD, I'M SORRY.
[ applause and cheering ]
WE DID END THE WAR.
WE DIDN'T JUST TRY TO; WE DID.
THE REAL DEBATE BETWEEN US AND OUR CRITICS CONCERNED MONTHS.
COULD IT HAVE BEEN ENDED A YEAR EARLIER?
SIX MONTHS EARLIER?
HOW DO I KNOW?
IT WAS NOT UNTIL 1973 THAT A CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT
WAS SIGNED AND THE LAST U.S. TROOPS CAME HOME.
BUT THE SEEDS FOR NIXON'S POLITICAL DEMISE WERE SOWN
BY A MASSIVE LEAK OF SECRET GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS.
THE DOCUMENTS WOULD COME TO BE KNOWN AS THE PENTAGON PAPERS.
THE MAN WHO LEAKED THE DOCUMENTS
WAS DANIEL ELLSBERG.
IF I HADN'T BELIEVED THAT THE WAR WAS ABOUT TO GET LARGER,
I WOULDN'T HAVE EXPOSED MYSELF TO A LIFE IN PRISON
JUST TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.
AND HE TOLD US ABOUT HOW HE AND TONY RUSSO,
WHILE THEY WERE WITH THE RAND CORPORATION,
HAD SECRETLY COPIED 7,000 PAGES OF THIS TOP-SECRET DOCUMENT,
WHICH BECAME KNOWN AS THE PENTAGON PAPERS,
AND HOW THEY WERE GOING TO REVEAL IT TO THE PUBLIC.
ELLSBERG IS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET.
I KNEW HIM AT HARVARD.
AT THAT TIME HE WAS A HARD-LINER,
AND HE HAD GONE TO VIETNAM
TO HELP ORGANIZE ANTI-GUERILLA ACTIVITIES
AND EVEN TO PARTICIPATE IN THEM.
WHEN HE CAME BACK, HE TURNED.
I HAD SECRET INSIDE INFORMATION FROM MY WORK IN THE WHITE HOUSE
FOR HENRY KISSINGER AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE ADMINISTRATION.
BUT NIXON HAD NEVER INTENDED TO GET OUT
WITH ANYTHING OTHER THAN SUCCESS.
NOT ONE OF THOSE 15,000 PENTAGON PAPERS DID ANY DAMAGE TO NIXON.
ALL THOSE PAPERS, EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM,
DEALT WITH THE JOHNSON AND KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION.
THE PENTAGON PAPERS OFFERED A DETAILED
AND DEVASTATING INDICTMENT OF U.S. POLICY IN VIETNAM.
THEY REVEALED THE LIES
KENNEDY AND JOHNSON HAD TOLD THE PUBLIC,
THE YEARS OF SECRET BOMBING RAIDS IN LAOS
AND THE CIA INTELLIGENCE REPORTS THAT
CONSISTENTLY UNDERCUT OFFICIAL PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENTS
CHARACTERIZING THE WAR.
THAT WAS THEIR GREAT CLAIM.
WE KNOW STUFF YOU DON'T KNOW.
REMEMBER THAT?
NOW I WOULD SAY WE KNEW EVERYTHING THAT THEY KNEW.
WE GOT THE DOCUMENTS AND WE SEE
THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO LOGICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR WHAT THEY DID,
AND THEY KNEW IT ALL ALONG, YOU KNOW.
IT'S ASTOUNDING.
PRESIDENT NIXON SET OUT TO DESTROY
DANIEL ELLSBERG'S REPUTATION.
THE WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS,
SO NAMED FOR THEIR ASSIGNMENT TO STOP LEAKS,
BROKE INTO THE OFFICE OF ELLSBERG' PSYCHIATRIST.
THEY ESCAPED THAT TIME.
BUT A YEAR LATER, DURING THE 1972 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN,
THE PLUMBERS WERE CAUGHT
BREAKING INTO DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
IN THE WATERGATE BUILDING.
WHAT SURPRISED ME WAS WATERGATE.
I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT ANYBODY THAT SUCCESSFUL,
AND OBVIOUSLY HE COULD SEE THE SUCCESS HE WAS ABOUT TO HAVE,
WOULD GET HIMSELF INTO A MESS LIKE THAT.
THAT WAS -- THAT WAS UNBELIEVABLE.
AND I TAKE IT TO BE AN EXPRESSION
OF THE DEEPEST INSECURITY, PERSONAL INSECURITY.
ON AUGUST 8, 1974, UNDER THREAT OF IMPEACHMENT,
RICHARD M. NIXON RESIGNED AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
WITHOUT THE VIETNAM WAR, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN,
OF COURSE, NO PENTAGON PAPERS AND NO -- NO WATERGATE.
IT WORKS THE OTHER WAY, TOO.
WITHOUT WATERGATE, THE WAR WOULD HAVE GONE ON FOR YEARS.
BUT THE IMPACT OF THE '60s
WAS NOT LIMITED TO AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL, GAY RIGHTS AND WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS,
ALL BORN IN THE '60s, WOULD IN THE DECADES THAT FOLLOWED
GROW HUGE AND HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON AMERICAN SOCIETY.
YOU WENT FROM CIVIL RIGHTS TO ANTI-WAR TO WOMEN TO GAY.
I MEAN, YOU CAN TRACE THAT.
THE LARGEST-EVER DEMONSTRATION FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS
UNDERSCORED THE RAPID ADVANCES WOMEN SEEMED TO BE MAKING.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PASSED THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT,
AND NEW ABORTION LAWS IN NEW YORK STATE
WOULD HELP LAY THE GROUNDWORK
FOR NATIONWIDE ABORTION PROTECTION
IN ROE V. WADE THREE YEARS LATER.
THE '60s ARE ONE OF THESE AMAZING MOMENTS IN HISTORY --
THERE ARE NOT VERY MANY OF THEM -- WHEN DOWN
A NUMBER OF CHANNELS COME PEOPLE OF VERY DIFFERENT SORTS
WHO SIMULTANEOUSLY GET IT INTO THEIR HEADS
THAT THE WORLD DOESN'T HAVE TO BE WHAT IT WAS
OR WHAT IT'S ASSUMED TO BE.
ON BALANCE, THE '60s ARE A SUCCESS
BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY DID FOR BLACK PEOPLE AND FOR WOMEN
AND FOR GAY PEOPLE, AND EVEN FOR HANDICAPPED PEOPLE.
I MEAN, IT REALLY -- IT EMPOWERS EVERYBODY.
WE HAVE REASON TO LOOK BACK AND THEN FEEL GOOD
ABOUT THE WORK THAT WE HAVE ENGAGED IN,
THE BLOOD WE'VE SHED, EVEN LIVES THAT WE'VE LOST,
ALL HAS BEEN ULTIMATELY FOR THE GOOD.
FORMER ACTIVISTS REMEMBER THE '60s
AS A TIME WHEN THEY FELT EMPOWERED,
A TIME WHEN CHANGE SEEMED POSSIBLE
AND IDEALISM FLOURISHED.
BUT OTHERS REMEMBER THOSE DAYS VERY DIFFERENTLY.
FOR THEM, THE '60s WERE A DISTURBING TIME, A TIME
WHEN AMERICA'S FUNDAMENTAL VALUES SEEMED THREATENED.
I THINK THERE'S AN AMOUNT OF BITTERNESS AND ANIMOSITY
THAT OUR GENERATION'S GONNA CARRY TO ITS GRAVE.
IT TORE THE NATION APART, AND I THINK, TO SOME DEGREE,
WE'RE STILL SUFFERING FROM THAT.
IT WAS THE AGE OF SELFISHNESS.
IT WAS THE AGE OF SELF-INDULGENCE.
IT WAS THE AGE OF ANTI-AUTHORITY.
IT WAS AN AGE IN WHICH PEOPLE DID ALL KINDS OF WRONG THINGS.
THAT WAS THE START, REALLY, OF THE DRUG PROBLEM
IN THE UNITED STATES.
TO PEOPLE WHO WERE OF A CONSERVATIVE BEND,
EVERYTHING SEEMED THREATENING,
AND IT ALL SEEMED INDISTINGUISHABLY THREATENING,
INDISSOLUBLY THREATENING.
YOU KNOW, THE BEATLES SAYING THEY WERE AS POPULAR AS JESUS.
YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE TRASHING THE AMERICAN FLAG.
YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE DODGING THE DRAFT.
TO THEM IT ALL LOOKED LIKE THE SAME THING.
ME AND MY FRIENDS WHO WERE, YOU KNOW, TAKING DRUGS
AND PRACTICING ALL SORTS OF EXCESS WERE ALSO
DEDICATING OUR LIVES TO LEARNING ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT,
LEARNING ABOUT HOW TO GROW CHEMICAL-FREE FOOD,
LEARNING ABOUT WHAT HEALTH IS,
STUDYING ACUPUNCTURE, BECOMING NURSES, BECOMING HEALERS.
THE FACT THAT THESE IDEAS AND PREMISES
THAT HAVE SO AFFECTED MAINSTREAM CULTURE CAME
OUT OF CONTRADICTORY PEOPLE IS NOT A REASON TO INVALIDATE THEM.
IT SHOULD BE AN URGE FOR YOU TO DO BETTER.
WE DID THE BEST WE COULD.
WE CAME FROM A DIFFERENT GENERATION.
I KNOW THAT MY GENERATION WORKED TO MAKE THINGS BETTER
FOR ALL PEOPLE, AND THAT'S ABOUT THE BEST YOU CAN DO IN LIFE.
IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE YOUTH OF A GENERATION
TO FEEL THAT THEY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, 'CUZ THEY REALLY CAN,
BECAUSE THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD
ARE THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD
AND WE DEPEND ON THEM TO MAKE THINGS CHANGE.
AND THAT WAS A TIME OF TREMENDOUS CHANGE,
WHERE YOUTH WERE TREMENDOUSLY MOTIVATED.
IT WOULD BE GOOD TO SEE THAT HAPPEN AGAIN.
Captions by LNS Captioning Portland, Oregon www.LNScaptioning.com