Dean Rusk: At the Heartbeat of History | GPB Documentaries

Dean Rusk - At the Heartbeat of History, tells the story of a man chosen by JFK and LBJ to be secretary of state during one of the most turbulent periods in American history. Born in Cherokee County, Georgia Rusk played a key role in the 1960s during the Berlin Crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. In triumph or tragedy, Dean Rusk’s impact on the 20th century was extraordinary.
Original Air Date: 2014
Want more documentaries? Check out www.gpb.org/te...

[@roughhabit9085]

Nicely done.

[@charlessavoie2367]

Naturally they failed to mention his membership in The Pilgrims Society, whose origin was from the same source---Cecil Rhodes.

[@rosesprog1722]

Fascinating, thenk you. I saw somewhere that he is the man who cancelled the bomber supposed to go to Cuba on the morning of the Bay of Pigs to destroy the last three fighter planes Castro had, and that it was why the operation failed... There is so much about that period we will never know, strange days indeed but one thing is sure, no matter the mistakes or the successes, these people did what they did because they loved their country and its people more than anything else.

[@percymazinyane7537]

He sold Asia to communism

[@NoNameNo.5]

Rich Rusk and his reconciliation with his father was powerful. Yet, I can’t help but feel Rich was in the wrong, his father fought bravely in the Second World War, South Korea is a bastion of democracy and prosperity, Dean helped avoid a 3rd world war, a nuclear war…and yet he held such scorn for his father over Vietnam, despite the fact that Rusk was rather Doveish in the admin. Btw we didn’t lose that war by ANY measure able objective. When Paris was signed it was akin to Korea.

[@catsforhire9116]

I agree that it did seem a little harsh to go off 5000 miles away but at the same time I'd imagine he was under great strain from everything/everyone around him during that turbulent year.