The Movement and the "Madman" | Chapter 1 | AMERICAN EXPERIENCE | PBS |

[@luvdylanstar]

My generation has had to deal with much sadness and anger from coming of age during the Vietnam War. It was a tragic time in history, but for the generation forced to fight in and against the Nixon Administration in Vietnam it remains a nightmare of loss and unanswered questions. We paid dearly for Nixon's hateful decisions, soo many young lives extinguished for no reason. At 73, I still mourn my loved ones that didn't come home alive or came home damaged and half alive.

[@Vtgyvuvyvrcevrv]

Would you say we paid dearly for JFK's hateful decisions? Decision like sending over 10,000 military advisors and assassinating Diem? It's a straight forward fact of history that Nixon inherited the mess in Vietnam. He accomplished the negotiation of a seize fire. Nixon reduced the rate of casualties significantly and reduced troops before ultimately ending the war. These are basic facts that contradict the notion that blame should be on Nixon for the war and its casualties. It's not easy to "end" a war. The withdrawal of troops and complete surrender to a vicious soviet-backed communist aggressor comes with devastating consequences and in the case of southeast Asia the deaths after the communist overran south Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, ended up in fact being much greater than the death and suffering during the war. Maintaining strength and bombing north Vietnamese installments in Cambodia may well have saved many of the troops during the drawdown of forces and showed the world that the US would stand up to soviet backed regimes, which helped bring China into the western orbit and brought the soviets to the negotiating table for arms reduction agreements. I've only brought up a few points among many more that shaped the policy in Vietnam. It's safe to say that the strategies needed to end the war in Vietnam required difficult decisions that all led to death and devastation and the trick for tricky Dick was to determine which course of action led to the least negative outcomes and accomplished the most good within the framework or war with foreign enemies. You may disagree with Nixon's approach and that is your right as a citizen of a free country like the USA. That right to free expression to speak against the president and the government foreign policy was not a right of people under the North Vietnamese regime for instance.

[@kaimalino528]

This man makes Trump look positively clueless and benign ...

[@shahrulamar5358]

@@kaimalino528 Donald Trump is peace loving man. He is not a war monger like some previous American Presidents. Almost like Kennedy and Clinton.

[@lperea21]

​@@kaimalino528 You don't always get to pick the war

[@kaimalino528]

@@shahrulamar5358 Kennedy accelerated the Vietnam War and Clinton made half-assed efforts to intimidate Iraq and other bad guys. Neither of which ended well.

[@dawnadriana1764]

This brings back horrible memories. The boys in my high school senior class were faced with being drafted to fight in Vietnam unless they went to college. Some of them didn't have the means or opportunity to do that. It was a horrible time, and the 2 boys I knew that came back were absolutely ravaged by their experience. I always despised Nixon, and it hasn't abated to this day.

[@jstasiak2262]

You need to get over your animus for Nixon. I remember the kids in school whose big brothers died in the Vietnam war too. But LBJ put them there, not Nixon. Nixon began de-escalating the war the moment he entered office. Nixon also ended the draft and instituted the all volunteer US armed forces which exists to this day. By opening relations with China and détente with the Soviets, Nixon relaxed tensions with America’s adversaries (in contrast to the current senile war mongering buffoon in the White House) and made 50 years of relative peace and stability possible. Get over it.

[@goodgood9955]

Blame LBJ. Oh no, u can't, because he was a democrat.

[@goodgood9955]

Blame LBJ. Oh no, u can't, because he was a democrat.

[@TheSaltydog07]

My childhood friend died for nothing in Vietnam. Still in his teens. Go to the Wall in D.C. and curse Nixon's name.

[@TheSaltydog07]

@@goodgood9955 It began with JFK. Read a history book.

[@modernworldiscrap]

Vietnam War Veteran here. I say it very clearly and without ambiguity, war is man's misunderstanding. War is a hateful freedom. War is only self-destruction... I lost this guy from the Bronx in my arms, and many other brothers in arms. There are no words to explain this... I am a believer and I want to ask God for one favor, don't send me back to hell. President Nixon was a poker player in his private life but necessarily during his presidency. I had the misfortune to shake his hand during his first visit in the summer of 1969. This guy loved his country and really wanted to come out of the conflict with his head held high. Him in the lead! But this day I thought to myself, is it worth killing and dying for a game of poker? Vietnam is already the end of our society... We only play extra time.

[@TerlinguaTalkeetna]

Shirley Chisholm was right, she always spoke Truth to Power. She was a American heroine in my way of thinking.

[@boat6float]

No. She wasn't. Was practically a Communist.

[@mikebrody6985]

AND I VOTED FOR HER.

[@josephzerkel1966]

I was just a.kid in the 60s. Looking back on the events of the 60s its a wonder my generation survived

[@SoundTracksQH]

It's wonderful to hear Daniel Ellsberg's prophetic voice in this film.

[@SoundTracksQH]

The whole film is available on Amazon Prime, Kanopy, and PBS Passport.

[@alexthompson9516]

I guess Jimi Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower" is like the theme song of the Vietnam War.

[@susanbowman2731]

As someone who marched in 1969 (I wasn't quite 17), the anthem of the anti-war movement for me will always be Dylan's Blowin in the Wind. "How many deaths will it take til he knows, that too many people have died?"

[@GordonCaledonia]

"Fortunate Son" by Credence Clearwater Revival has to surely be the song that hit home the most! And The Animals', "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" was MASSIVELY popular over there.

[@jorgejohnson451]

As someone who served AFTER the war and who celebrated Vietnam veterans when they returned, it boggles my mind that some people still look favorably on Nixon and his presidency. He not only escalated the war, he interfered with a possible resolution to the war at the end of LBJ’s term.

[@onomatopoeia162003]

not to mention his actual Treason

[@kaimalino528]

And many people today think Trump was bad ....

[@jorgejohnson451]

@@kaimalino528 Trump is bad. And perhaps more dangerous.

[@lance8080]

Liberals and hippies/draft dodgers weren’t out to win a war their all about capitulating. LBJ wouldn’t even bomb North Vietnam what kind of loosing strategy is that ????? Linebacker II should have been used everyday on Hanoi just like Berlin.

[@mikealvord55]

Another idiot heard from. You don't even know Trumps view on war do you?

[@earthling017]

Heart wrenching, for both the American people and the Vietnamese.

[@Bacalao2929]

A prayer for our Puerto Rico brothers who died

[@geneobrien8907]

Stephen Talbot does good work. This and The Boys Who Said No are terrific documentaries.

[@arttoegemann]

Also The Last Days in Vietnam, here at PBS.

[@geneobrien8907]

@@arttoegemann Yes, The Last Days in Vietnam is also a very informative and important documentary!

[@arttoegemann]

@@geneobrien8907 And the lovely Girls Who Say Yes to Boys Who Say No. 🙂

[@johnnytoobad7785]

They didn't call him "Tricky Dick" for nothing. Nevertheless Nixon (with the help of Rumsfeld) DID end the draft in 1973, so I got a "draft card" but never had to report. Lucky Me.😉

[@kaimalino528]

I think Tricky Dick did want to end the Vietnam War. The question was how to end it without losing face. After years of trying to intimidate North Vietnam into submission he simply gave up and left South Vietnam to its historical fate. He obviously decided no amount of American lives and treasure could save an artificial nation in the face of a determined enemy. So despite the fact that many Americans despise him, they ought to applaud him for ending an utterly useless war (that Democrats started) and accepting the reality that America had enough of wars.

[@arttoegemann]

@@kaimalino528 This documentary proves war protesters had much to do with ending the war but were and are denied recognition. Nixon finally lost after years of squirming otherwise. Nixon had a high casualty rate, tens of thousands, due to his obstinacy. Both parties in Congress voted for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in 1964, a war powers act. Only two Senators, Democrats, voted against it.

[@chrishlady]

Excellent doc.

[@paulroozendaal97]

Can someone tell me please when/where we can watch the full documentairy? thanks

[@AmericanExperiencePBS]

You can watch the full film on our website now: www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/movement-and-madman/#part01

[@paulroozendaal97]

@@AmericanExperiencePBS excellent thank you so much.

[@Paumanokcom]

After the meeting the students realized the "Madman" strategy wasn't a strategy.

[@learnerm3120]

The American war was a real tragedy for the Vietnamese.

[@newyardleysinclair9960]

Nixon was crazy. He was a smart man with class insecurities .

[@shahrulamar5358]

Thanks God, Vietnam 🇻🇳 now a prosperous country. 👍👍👍

[@TheSaltydog07]

My dear friend was among the boat people. She has a good life here in Georgia.

[@gturcott1]

Are you kidding me?

[@gturcott1]

It got real bad in Vietnam after the war

[@kaimalino528]

@@gturcott1 Not as bad as it was During the War. And it got better After the war. Or perhaps you disagree ...

[@gturcott1]

@@kaimalino528 I’m just curious I think it’s interesting to consider what happened after the war, very little about this is talked about in USA

[@kzmOP]

Well made video

[@davidbarraco2045]

If men like Nixon Kissinger or trump served maybe there wouldn't be a Vietnam

[@user-ii4zf5iq3t]

My father always said, No one under the age of 78 should ever be allowed to go to war. Wars would end much quicker.

[@user-ii4zf5iq3t]

Nixon didn't start the Vietnam War. LBJ-Lyndon Baines Johnson got it rolling full throttle. LBJ was still President in 1969.

[@kaimalino528]

During WW2 Richard Nixon served with the US Navy and Kissinger served with the US Army. Donald Trump did not serve, although he looked really good in uniform when he attended the New York Military Academy (who apparently had no issues with his bone spurs).

[@junkboxxxxxx]

Kissinger was the real psycho of that duo

[@andrewx7806]

Actually Kissinger convinced Nixon NOT to use nuclear bombs on North Vietnam.

[@GordonCaledonia]

He was. Nixon, at heart, was a Quaker whose mother would have been appalled at her son wages that war. Whereas, Kissinger was pretty nihilistic, he had no beliefs, he would even hesitate at calling himself an America, he's one of the original globalists.

[@melodymarks4927]

They both were Corrupt!

[@GordonCaledonia]

@@melodymarks4927 True. But Nixon was at least a patriot, whereas Kissinger isn't, he's a globalist who sold out America to the highest bidder.

[@MrPopaganda]

Where and how can I watch the whole thing? Is it available on the PBS website? Can anyone help?

[@SoundTracksQH]

Yes, it is available on the American Experience PBS website.

[@KC2MFCs]

Why this? Why did American Experience not make a documentary on the 1968 October Suprise instead? Does not that sad and tragic episode also deserve closer scrutiny?

[@michaelreidperry3256]

Why does Henry Kissinger still breathe our air?

[@h.nguyen4193]

It should be "MADMEN". Kissinger had the same thought.

[@nancychace8619]

Thanks for sharing this important history. Imo much about the Vietnam war is still poorly understood today. It's a good thing to review. Who does Nixon remind you of here? As far as I'm concerned - Vladimir Putin. Listen to this again...

[@user-ii4zf5iq3t]

Same people starting wars all over the globe today, the Ukraine!!

[@alexr4208]

I will say this about President Nixon: I can understand what he is saying when he speaks.

[@schroederscurrentevents3844]

When Nixon got in office 500,000 US troops were in Vietnam. He decreased the troop presence to 30,000 by ‘73 and in ‘73 the last US troops pulled out. He was NOT the one who escalated, started, or continued the war. He inherited a terrible situation and did pretty well with it.

[@kaimalino528]

Most of Nixon's critics have conveniently forgotten that it was JFK who escalated America's involvement in Vietnam. They also conveniently forgot that it was Trump who initiated the pull out from the utterly useless debacle in Afghanistan. America has not learned that a big part of the World do not care for their brand of Democracy.

[@williamyoung9401]

Who needs physical protests to change things anymore when we have Facebook, Twitter, KZbin, and TikTok...

[@grazydine2]

First dont threaten something unless you are willing to do it. Because if someone calls your bluff, you've given away your cards. Also it took two nuclear bombs to get Japan to surrender. You have to understand Asian cultures. And figure that some may be willing to commit seppuku.

[@mikealvord55]

David Mixner- just pulling out was naive. Look at what happened when we just left Afghanistan. We have now heard the full effect of that

[@tanhpham825]

Mấy lúc xông pha ngoài trân tuyến / vì đời mà đi ?

[@tanhpham825]

Linh tánh / vượt lên trên su tầm thường của con người * 2003

[@tanhpham825]

Cuộc hồng trần xoay vần púa ngán / chiếc xuồng kia tu tán mấy hồi ?

[@seredikakuba8538]

Nuclear weapons are meant to act as a deterrent for wàr. Never to be actually used.

[@user-ii4zf5iq3t]

They were used to end WW2 in Japan. One didn't work. Certain ideologies will fight to the death of everyone. They do not reason verbally. Much like today and the Socialists, Marxists, Communists, Progressives. They will defend their ideology and continue to force it on you.

[@incognito3620]

We didn’t learn a damn thing. Americans will believe anything.

[@bryonmacdonald3125]

Inane and Insane after a Nixon we elected a Trump, repeat the same destructive behavior in mental health context defines a mental health condition that needs treatment.

[@williamyoung9401]

It doesn't help when the former Nixon sycophants find their way back to Washington... 'cough' Roger Stone...

[@Wallydaft]

Nixon and Kissinger had an incredible love-hate relationship. Kissinger would brief behind Nixon's back and even criticise him to newspaper people. As for Nixon threatening to use a nuclear weapon its not credible. Though he did increase bombing when the Hanoi failed to response to peace moves. In truth, the Vietnamese and the Chinese saw him as a paper tiger. The Vietnam fault was the Democrats ie Kennedy and Johnson got the US in too deep. Nixon had the common sense to begin the pull out and create the Vietnamisation policy.

[@tanhpham825]

HOA NGHIÊM PUYỀN NĂNG / BIỂN LÀ TÍCH SỐ SẤM SÉT LÀ SỐ HANG

[@lokesh303101]

I got my option not in your notes.

[@tanhpham825]

Thần học / biển là tích số / sấm sét là số hang

[@benitg-eg6uf]

is that billy graham in the front row?

[@SoundTracksQH]

Yes. A big supporter of Nixon and the war.

[@benitg-eg6uf]

@SoundTracksQH I'm pretty sure they were friends, but wasn't he also good friends with MLK and some other progressive anti war people. I really hope he didn't support engaging further in Vietnam.

[@tanhpham825]

Nhất tâm bất loan / chánh kiến bất động / bom nguyên tử

[@user-ii4zf5iq3t]

Kissinger & Klaus Schwab go way back.

[@tanhpham825]

Khéo dùng phương tiện thì hơn / chìu nguoi tri thức kẻ thân mới thành

[@chaddelk3605]

The fact remains that President Nixon did end the war as he said he would.

[@kaimalino528]

A war that JFK started ...

[@bryonmacdonald3125]

Our hearts, our heads, and our guts aligned that we were on the right side of history and the Nixon crowd never ever could be. Trump gets his playbook from Nixon, (Presidents can do anything they want don't get caught).... let's pray the ending for Trump is as sorry a chapter in the USA as Nixon's was.

[@ilyatsukanov8707]

Trump didn't start any new wars, negotiated the Afghan pullout, talked to Kim Jong-Un and Putin, didn't ramp up tensions with China over Taiwan and tried to get out of Syria and Iraq (but was ignored by the Pentagon). What on earth are you talking about? As for the "presidents can do anything they want and don't get caught" please tell me how anything Trump did is different or worse than a) Bush lying America into Iraq b) Obama droning people in Africa and the Middle East and stripping Americans of habeus corpus c) Clinton flying to E's island dozens of times ?

[@tanhpham825]

Chim khôn tránh bẩy tránh giò / người khôn tránh kẻ nghèo hèn mới khôn

[@tanhpham825]

Thần linh / châu sa / thần sa / bom nguyên tử ?

[@kristJ25]

Interesting the Vieitnames do not have nuclear weapond

[@tanhpham825]

Mảnh xương còn ẩn dấu trong núi / cứu rỗi những tội lỗi bất kính ( 66/33/ 001932 )

[@tanhpham825]

Chữ rằng đồi núi hoang vu / cao bồi thắng trân kinh sư sang giàu

[@tontolinification]

Ese nunca se tomó una duff

[@tanhpham825]

Bõ biển / thất kinh cắt màu

[@kylegoodreau2170]

10:48 no bud you might've been invited to the white house but YOU were never in the situation Room LOL ..does this guy even know what the situation Room is or what its used for LOL!!!

[@tanhpham825]

( hùng dũng / các puan bó buộc )

[@tanhpham825]

Mũi cung hình ngon lửa / thường có hoa hòe ( viên dan hay viên bin )

[@tanhpham825]

Thứ thế phước cơ mạng vi các nguyên xương long / làm chủ về kinh tế / làm chủ về chính trị ?

[@paulyokoyama7162]

The present is rhyming to the past's beat as Putin plays the same insane game in Ukraine.

[@kaimalino528]

He learned from the best ...

[@mortalclown3812]

Digging him up and putting him in office would have been better than #45.

[@tanhpham825]

( đèn kéo puân / kéo puần khủng bố )

[@tanhpham825]

Dạo phật la gì ( tướng lĩnh an ninh puân báo )

[@georgemckenna462]

Although I hated him at the time, now looking back I have found a great deal to admire about this man who presided over such a difficult era. Self destructive in his terrible choices in who he surrounded himself with, Henry Kissinger for foreign policy, a true sociopath. Destroying his presidency when he had the election easily sewn up. Richard M. Nixon was a genuine public servant of all citizens, a far cry from today.

[@thewkovacs316]

he was a drug addled, drunk, sociopath whose actions led to the deaths of thousands of americans and south east asians

[@shahrulamar5358]

Kissinger almost 100 years old now.

[@matthewolsen8370]

I don't know if giving a man credit for presiding over "such a difficult era" when that man had the ability to make such times easier in many regards and for many individuals is fair at all. Is it easier to be critical of other than it is to lead? Absolutely. But that notion is mutually exclusive from all of the lost lives he could have positively impacted instead of indirectly taking away.

[@user-ii4zf5iq3t]

​@@matthewolsen8370 Operation Homecoming in 1973 brought almost 600 captured servicemen back to the United States. … Ended the Draft.

[@kaimalino528]

@@shahrulamar5358 Heaven or Hell does not want him ...

[@freedomnews5221]

The most censored politicians and yet most decent in retrospect😊😊😊😊😊

[@tanhpham825]

Thần tiên đi khắp năm châu / chống bom nguyên tử / bằng câu cờ rình

[@tanhpham825]

( thiên / tư / phúc / tư ) cầu y sĩ vì mang dua cường hào vi hơn

[@tanhpham825]

Cờ về tay ai nấy thắng / giành giật

[@tanhpham825]

Làng xóm nhà nào giáo dục nhà nấy / ông mười hat giữ puyền chỉ huy quân đội

[@tanhpham825]

HIỆN TẠI PUA KHU TUONG LAI ? Ngoai giao lập / tu do tùy MỸ &NGA

[@emeraldkimble7602]

He had most time at top teonhighest positions fourteen years eifgt ac pres and six as veep

[@tanhpham825]

Tri túc & thiểu dục / xóm đạo con không biết

[@markmcmillan5485]

I thought it was about Progressives and Biden.

[@handlewithcare1234]

monsters

[@boat6float]

Nixon was a great man. If I ever get a chance to travel back in time, I'd would save his second term.

[@mikealvord55]

I wonder if the moratorium fools know how their protests costs lives by hardening Hanois resolve by flying N Vietnam flags. That's where you lost me

[@SoundTracksQH]

I'd say the far bigger problem for Nixon was the resolve of the North Vietnamese and the NLF in the South to have a united country free of foreign rule or occupation. The Vietnamese had been resisting China's control for centuries, they fought against Japanese occupation (with US support) during WW II, they defeated the French (ending colonial rule), and they were determined to defeat the US. Yes, Ho Chi Minh and others were communists but above all they were nationalists, and the US never really figured that out.

[@kaimalino528]

Vietnam had the resolve to win, America did not. I can see why many Americans did not see the point of losing their sons fighting off another people's quest for independence. Their sons were literally the "Red Coats" in Vietnam's war for Freedom and Independence.

[@tanhpham825]

Sao không hát cho những người vừa nằm xuống chiều pua 2023 ?

[@jayzzzkk]

Nixon the great

[@fredsmith3456]

President Nixon was a true visionary. Very under rated leader.

[@TheSaltydog07]

Crook.

[@dawnadriana1764]

O M G. He left office in disgrace you foolish, partisan hack.

[@johnwalker4642]

You are a little over the top are you not?

[@bryonmacdonald3125]

Right and Trump should be canonized by the Pope.

[@marincassebastian1086]

A liar

[@kaimalino528]

Aren't they all?

[@marincassebastian1086]

@@kaimalino528 indeed , but few of them were exceeded others în terms of how often and how much had they lied. Nixon was definitely one of those who were outstanding regarding this feature.

[@kaimalino528]

@@marincassebastian1086 IMHO Nixon had some stiff competition: Biden, Trump, Obama, GW (about 2 Wars no less), Clinton (about a sex act), George Bush (about taxes), Reagan (the Iran Contra affair) .... They were all outstanding liars.

[@marincassebastian1086]

@@kaimalino528 I am sorry for my statement , you are right.

[@kaimalino528]

@@marincassebastian1086 No apologies needed. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is entitled to voice their opinion. And there is never a right or wrong answer, occasionally there is the better answer.

[@DavidKeithWilliams]

Watching Richard Nixon in this short question and answer causes me to feel as though he was less prepared to be President, at least socially, than even Donald Trump, who absolutely had no right being elected President.

[@verybad6425]

The same BS happens again today in Ukraine

[@chrismorfas7515]

Putin is using the Nixon playbook in Ukraine?

[@freedomnews5221]

Do you expect liberals to say good things about a Conservative

[@thewkovacs316]

nixon wasnt really a conservative

[@buckeyewill2166]

@@thewkovacs316 ….He was an Eisenhower Republican

[@kaimalino528]

About as likely as a former slave-owner saying good things about Lincoln ...

[@williamyoung9401]

@@buckeyewill2166 Just because he was Eisenhower's VP doesn't mean he was an "Eisenhower Republican." He saw where the power was at the time, and he was the leader of the isolationist faction of America. He certainly was never a Democrat, so he latched on to the Republican seat of power at the time. This isn't rocket science, if you understand Nixon's psyche and what his goals were. "I'm saying when you're the president, that makes it legal."

[@dankelly4747]

Nixon was an Angel compared to TRUMP 😅

[@williamyoung9401]

How many people did Trump bomb again?

[@lordgrande9561]

I was a little boy around 6 or 7 when Nixon resigned the presidency we Saw it lived on tv I remember sitting in my living room and remember my mom happy that he had resigned

[@ttacking_you]

Well I'm sorry but our actual strategy in Vietnam wasn't any better than his.. going "beyond the crossover point"? and purposely walking into set-ups? Technowar? C'mon. Should've never been there . Thank the Dulles bros .

[@bruceblosser384]

I knew fairly quickly that as bad as LBJ was, concerning Viet Nam, Nixon and his war machine was 1,000 times worse! Then the stories about Cambodian Bombing, Laos Incursions, and all the rest of it sunk in, and I avoided the draft, by being in college, until I got draft lottery number 192, and decided to go home! Eventually getting my BA degree several years later. I have NO doubt I would have died in Viet Nam, if I was ever sent there, and I am ever more sure of that, as the years go by!

[@GordonCaledonia]

Gad you never got sent over there, brother! Greetings from Scotland.

[@vig37]

California gave us Nixon and Reagan. New York gave us Trump.