Nation Torn, A: U.S. Intensifies Involvement in Vietnam
Late in 1964, the situation in Vietnam appears to be getting worse despite the investment of American forces and the bombing of coastal positions in North Vietnam (Gulf of Tonkin). In 1965, Johnson makes a series of executive decisions, endorsed by ...
Nation Torn, A: Disillusionment Spawned by Vietnam Conflict
The Vietnam war and racial struggles at home creates a wedge between the American people and their government. In retrospect journalists like Marvin Kalb feel they were systematically lied to by the U.S. government, and as a result unknowingly misle...
Nation Torn, A: History of the Vietnam Conflict
Lyndon Johnson enters the presidency with even less experience in international affairs than John F. Kennedy. In his initial days in office, the country's foreign policy is dominated by the bitter civil war in Vietnam. At first it appears to be litt...
Nation Torn, A: America's Relationship with Ngo Dinh Diem
From 1954 to the 1970s Diem fills jails with people in the South suspected of being Communist. People are tortured and killed. When several Buddhists are killed for demonstrating in 1963, Kennedy sends Henry Cabot Lodge to Vietnam to bring order to ...
Nation Torn, A: Stalemate in Vietnam
There are 500,000 American soldiers in Vietnam by end of 1967, bogged down in a fight they can't seem to win. Critics charge that the military is being asked to fight with one hand tied behind its back. The Pentagon is blamed for not unleashing the ...
Most Significant Events Covered
Television news correspondent, presidential advisor and university professor Marvin Kalb looks back over his years as a network news correspondent and talks about the most significant events and people that he covered. The Cuban Missile Crisis is fi...
Voices of the People: Commitment to Civic Duty
Why do some people feel a commitment to civic duty while others are either apathetic or hostile toward the system? In the mid-20th century the public was more optimistic regarding government and politics. As a result of the Vietnam War and Watergate...
The First Branch: Motivation to Run for Public Office
What motivates a person to run for public office? Three people who have served in the House of Representatives--Mickey Edwards, Jim McDermott, and Loretta Sanchez--talk about the factors that caused them to compete for a Congressional seat. Fifty ye...
The Fourth Estate: Role of the Press as Watchdog, The
The press's role in protecting the public from corrupt officials and practices took on new meaning in the 1960s and '70s. Correspondent Marvin Kalb talks about his experience covering the Vietnam War. The idea that Presidents Nixon and Johnson lied ...