. >> had the vietnam exhibit before had an exposi on vietnam and its past? >> i think it is safe to say that in the past the subject was avoided, and that most museums and institutions across the country, there is a level of comfort in telling the story , opening that up and telling the story. >> do you think that expands with the archives of the subject being avoided is reflective of how vietnam over the past 50 years has been received in the united states? >> it is a subject that no one talked about. it never happened. it is not often covered in k -12 history classes. it is a region that never talked about. >> your exhibit breaks it down into 12 chapters or episodes. tell is the reasoning behind that, and what you hope people will learn as they go through these different stages. >> it is a big story that goes back to the truman administration, and even before that. so, we are putting it in perspective to give people an opportunity to reflect on each of the times that we cover in the war. there is a lot of information to deal with, and there is a lot of per

in vietnam. the country never wanted to face the fact that that war was not winnable so there was a complicated question about should we be there and by 1968 the answer was 50% said no. do we want to lose customer most people do not want and so there was this inner conflict in the country about that. but you know, the johnson administration tried so hard 367 to convince the public that the war was going well and it was almost over and we could see light at the end of the tunnel. there was a little uptick and support for the policy. but after many years of casualties and no real progress the public was losing patience with the war. >> stanton, here in washington a somewhat similar question, but about the troops themselves, by the beginning of 68 did most us soldiers in vietnam feel the war was winnable? >> i can speak mostly about echo company of 101st airborne. when they discovered lbj decided not to run for reelection, i know a number of them felt quite betrayed. and they said that we are winnin

will be in vietnam, some new zealanders in vietnam and south koreans also fighting in vietnam. i talked to some veterans from the north vietnamese side and they told me that they were absolutely terrified of the south korean troops. they were really, really scared. the south koreans were really, really ferocious troops and eventually the communist north creates a special unit to deal with the south koreans because they are thought to be to be so intimidating from the perspective of communist forces. also little known fact, 35,000 35,000 canadians would volunteer to serve in vietnam. so canada itself doesn't fight in vietnam. but 35,000 canadians volunteer because they think that's a good fight. which is probably why we lost the vietnam war. we're great fighters. we're great fighters. so here's a 65, right? so marines, initially 3,000 of them landing in, in, in southern vietnam. they're expecting action and what they get is young vietnamese women with leis. you see that in that upper left-hand corner. and then there's the bombing of the north. so spring of '65 the war effectivel

was heading to vietnam. so his son-in-law is on the way to vietnam. do you remember the question she asked? and why it was so poignant? why are we fighting for people that don't really seem interested in fighting for themselves? that's not the exact quote but that's the essence of it. how did ladybird say that affected the president? what was it like? >> that's good, though. you got down to the right part. the day that his mother died, that's the saddest she had seen him since that day. so the decision is throughout the day, didn't you love that going back and forth, where others are trying to persuade him to continue and run. wasn't that fascinating, that whole day? but at 9:01, he finally makes his decision. i love that part. when did you make your decision, mr. president? speech started at 9:00 and he says at 9:01 i made my final decision. and the final decision is this. with america's -- the speech is only about vietnam and stopping the bombing to try to jump- start the negotiation. but he says with america's sons in the fields far away, i do not

>> the vietnam war? when i think of the vietnam war, first of all, i can't help but think about the omission in our conversation is the south vietnamese who are with us. and how they were treated after the war. the greatest mission i think for me in the healing process is for -- is to reach across and had the vietnamese be together. and that will eventually happen, i think. >> martin luther king on april 4, 1967, one year before he was assassinated at riverside church, he said it if american soldier becomes poison, the autopsy will reveal it was vietnam. >> marine veteran, former navy secretary formal you a senator, james webb. generally, thank you both for being with us. >>> or look at the vietnam war in 1968 and u.s. policy at the time will continue in a moment. u.s. army command professor richard faulkner. we will show you his lecture on the late 1960s and early 70s. that's followed by a film about the tet offensive, a 50 years ago by south vietnamese armed forces. we are showing you some of american

there will be australian troops in vietnam. there will also be tie troops in vietnam. there will be some others in vietnam. there will be south koreans also fighting in vietnam. i talked to some veterans from the north vietnamese side and they told me that they were absolutely terrified of the south korean troops. they were really scary. the south koreans were really ferocious troops. eventually, the communist north create a special unit to deal the south koreans. they are thought to be so intimidating from the perspective of communist forces. also, a little-known fact, 35,000 canadians were volunteered to serve in vietnam. kennedy himself doesn't fight in vietnam but but 35,000 canadians volunteered because they thought it was a good fight. which is probably why he lost the vietnam war. [ laughter ] >> we are great fighters, we are great fighters. here is a slide, 1965. initially 3000 marines land in southern vietnam. they are expecting action, what they get is young vietnamese women with lays. you see that up in the upper left-hand corner. then there is the bombing o

so americans vietnam is there only if you have to fight vietnam. pretty much everyone else, it's life as it was before. because of the state of war and the bombing, every man, woman and child effectively starts contributing to the war effort in one way or another. for the vietnamese. a lot of guys being drafted and sent south to fight. the women are being employed to fill in bomb craters or else, to go to the south, not to fight but to serve as nurses, as medics and so on and so forth. and then kids end up being co-opted, as part of your school curriculum. you study math, history and all that great stuff in the morning and in the afternoon, you put out fires, that's usually more of an impromptu thing, you fill in bomb craters, you contribute to the rebuilding of bridges and so forth. so everyone in the north is effectively mobilized for the purposes of the war effort. which is really kind of helps the cause of this. i got this from the vietnamese archives. recognize him? john mccain. john mccain. so the archives in vietnam, they have this photo col

several of them are also about vietnam. this was a memoir partly about vietnam. and i've met with the leaders in the north and the people who fought. and one of the key characters in stanley carnow's book about vietnam, the leader that was on the palace grounds in 1985, he later said that the rear front of the communist effort was here to galvanize the anti-war movement and to demoralize the war. that followed him to, as david said, a lack of clarity on the political and strategic objectives. the other thing, i think, again, needs to be said because it isn't talked about enough is the policy of the communist government since 1958. it's classic policy of trotsky communism to have assassination as a key element of a strategy. they would go after people who were a part in any way of the leadership of south vietnam. government officials by the day in 1960 when president kennedy decided we needed to do something. we didn't know how to do that. we had incidents that were regretful and disgusting. generally they were the result of emotional overload and people just blow

you could have seen that same potential in vietnam. >> vietnam was united. it is a very different place today. >> there's no way you can wind back the clock. i started working with the inside vietnam in the vietnamese community here for many years. inside it not as i do here, sometimes i got mean trouble, the mantra from the communist on the cd american veteran is shake hands, makepeace. -- let'sshake the hand all move together in the future. host: that your conduct of vietnam on occasions, other physical remnants of the war? >> as i was first going back in the committee 1, 1992, drove the entire length of the country. host: which took how long? >> about a month. we started in hanoi, drove near highway -- the national road all the way to cambodia. the agreement was let's treat veterans from both sides. let us help treat the amputees who were in the south vietnamese army and we will also treat the people from both sides. but bring them together. at that point, there were a lot of what you call remnants or reminders. some of them were deliberate. the communist

to the vietnam war in 1968. coming up, the impact of artists at the 1968 democratic national convention in chicago. then the citizen protest movement in 1968. and similarities to what's happening now. this is some of american history tv programming normally seen only on the weekends here on c-span3. we are taking the opportunity while congress is on break to show you what we offer. american history tv starts saturday mornings at 8:00 eastern and runs through monday morning at 8:00. >>> these programs are from our c-span series "1968 -- america in turmoil." you can listen to the programs as a podcast on spotify or watch any time at c-span.org on our 1968 page. if you missed any of today's program, we'll show them again tonight at 8:00 eastern. our nine-part series wraps up tomorrow with a look at the cold war in 1968 and how events in vietnam and reaction to the war at home impacted u.s. policy on the cold war. wednesday, american history tv continues with the development of the automotive industry in the u.s. an

north vietnamese dead in vietnam. the black granite with the names of those who were killed. it is a place for all of the vietnam generation, and it is a place for all generations to come. if you go there, it is a fine place to take a child. with this ken burns thing we are going to relive the vietnam war and get ready to see the fight start all over again. the rift of the generation is going to be on display, but at least now we have a place of contemplation for what is the ultimate cost of war. the brilliance of the black granite to reflect the experience of the survivors, but beyond that, to celebrate the key players, that modest vietnam veteran whose vision and determination made this happen, that white-haired manager of the historic competition, but also the artists who are not here today, maya lin and frederick hart. thank you. [applause] >> can everyone hear me? i'm the founder of the vietnam veterans memorial, jan scruggs. actually born in the nation's capital and i grew up in bowie, maryland. ended up in the

vietnam. this is one of the greatest of problems on campuses. during world war ii, we believed that hitler's should be defeated. we believed we should have germany, we believe we were fighting for the freedom of america. >> it's a great country. i really believe that. somethingfighting for as it did in world war ii, today in vietnam, i don't see any cause for anybody to die. >> i don't think any of the kids understand what the war is about. i don't understand what the war is about myself. >> you are the head of a family. you are the head of the community. a the road.ad -- head of the road. i don't think we should be in vietnam because we are not immediately threatened. here, wemmunists came could stop it. >> most of the younger father, leslie i feel. i think the united states should stop playing policeman of the world. >> that hasn't happened since world war ii. joining us is doug stanton, the author of this book which just came out. guest: it just came out in paperback. host: also join us in

special forces in vietnam." nt material, the archivist of the united states and its a pleasure to welcome you here. what you hear in the theater or joining us on our youtube station and a special welcome to our friends at the span. today's program is part of a series of discussions, films, programs, lectures and other events related to remembering vietnam exhibit upstairs in the gallery. before we bring out -- you bring up nick brokhausen, that tell you about two other programs for the coming year later this week. tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m., join us for a bipartisan discussion about how citizenship citizenship -- citizen movements of influence policymakers in a program called citizen engagement in america's history, citizen activists will join the panel with former members of congress to discuss civic engagement, civic education and how to petition the government. then on thursday, june 21st at noon, robert f. kennedy legacy program to hear from kerry kennedy about her new book about her father robert f. kenned

in vietnam, it's not called the vietnam war. >> we have george on the phone. what would you like to say or ask? >> caller: thank you. i would like them to comment on tet offensive and walter cronkite. tet offensive was a military victory. they threw everything at us, and they got clobbered. wasn't reported that way, but that's what happened. walter cronkite gets on tv and, well meaning, says what he said, which was 180 degrees opposite to what happened. journalists are prognosticating about things that perhaps they don't know everything about. could you just comment on that, please? >> thank you. let's ask lyn to take that one. >> i think the caller is reflecting a very common understanding of -- this is -- a lot of people feel the way that you feel. and i think it is important to kind of take a step -- telescope out from that in that, yes, one could argue that the tet offensive was a military defeat for the north vietnamese and north vietcong because they lost so many people. tens of thousands of their soldiers were killed. on the surface that could look like

in the vietnam war. if you miss any of this week's american history tv programs, you can find them any time online in the c-span video library at c-span.org. american history tv weekdays will continue until labor day. on friday, the fight for civil rights in the u.s. from the zoot suit riots to the women's movement. next week the presidency. we take you to visit museums on george washington, harry truman and ford. tuesday, a former white house chef, and a look at designers and stonehouse masons who worked on the white house. >>> this sunday on "oral histories," we continue our series on women in congress with former republican congresswoman helen bentley. >> i knew i had to do well because i couldn't afford not to. i just kept plugging and working hard. it's not a -- a campaign is tough work. and i admire anybody who goes into it. >> and in the weeks ahead we'll hear from barbara kennelly, nancy johnson and lynn woolsey. watch "oral histories" sunday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span

>> of the vietnam war? when i think of the vietnam war, first of all, i can't help but think about the omission in our conversation is the south vietnamese who were with us and how they were treated after the war. and the greatest mission, i think, for really healing the process is for the -- to reach across and have the vietnamese be together. that will eventually happen, i think. >> on the other side, martin luther king, on april 4, 1967, one year before he was assassinated at riverside church in new york said, if america's soul becomes totally poisoned part of the autopsy will be vietnam. >> david maraniss, associate editor and author of a dozen books including "they marched into sunlight." marine veteran, former navy secretary and former u.s. senator, james webb, author of ten books, including his memoir -- "i heard my country calling." gentlemen, thank you both for being with us. >>> a look at the 1968 tet offensive and its effect on the vietnam war and u.s. policy will continue in a moment with u.s. a

he said it was vietnam. this period from january of march 1968 is one of the most intense and important in u.s. history. because it's going to set the country now down a different path. and that path is going to be about negotiation. negotiating our way out. and really going full circle to what cronkite said. negotiating as an honorable people. here are just some of the pictures. in the book, don't you love that picture of lucy sitting behind him? and just -- you can tell she's not in good shape. she's on the couch. they're watching on the three channels. that's all they had at the time. and the president is going to say about this, this was the most momentous decision, and the one where i do feel like i sacrificed for the country and its betterment. do you think it's as monumental as i tried to make it out to be? why? derek, your thoughts? >> -- his powers were greatly deminished because he didn't seek re-election. >> he's putting all his energy now towards vietnam. that's what you have to keep in mind. now

and the vie reolence in vietnam. there's very little good news that walter cronkite is delivering on the nightly news in 1968. that's why politician who is have law and order messages, who are coming out and saying i'm going to clean up the streets, we going to reduce crime. we're going to create some order out of this chaos, have are increasingly potent and convincing. the progenitor of this message is ronald reagan. who in 1966 in a foreshadowing of what happens in 1968 is elected governor of california. unsurprisingly california happens to be the place where these two types of disorders first break out. first, on the campus of perkily in 1964, the free speech movement, demonstrations, mass demonstrations by students on the campus of berkeley against the berkeley administration. and then on the streets of los angeles, the watts neighborhood, going up in flames in the summer of 1965 in response to police violence. and in 1966, ronald reagan runs against the incumbent liberal governor, somebody who had beaten richard

in the vietnam war. if you miss any of this week's american history tv programs, you can find them any time online in the c-span video library at c-span.org. american history tv weekdays will continue until labor day. on friday, the fight for civil rights in the u.s. from the zoot suit riots to the women's movement. next week the presidency. we take you to visit museums on george washington, harry truman and ford. tuesday, a former white house chef, and a look at designers and stonehouse masons who worked on the white house. >>> this sunday on "oral histories," we continue our series on women in congress with former republican congresswoman helen bentley.

soldiers in the vietnam war. my question, as i have come back and read a lot about the vietnam -- i took a trip back to vietnam in 1998. we flew into hanoi, and i was to reader there mainly books and the area where i served. but what struck me, the eagerness of the the emmys people wanting to engage me in conversation, the young people wanting to get my email address -- it just is amazing the reception i got. and no one talked about the vietnam war. just recently a few months ago we had the u.s. navy carrier denying for the first time in 50 years. here is my question for dr. kramer. i believe in a sense, we as veterans, we were young, we just happen to be the age of being rotc.d or serving an i believe we did accomplish something in the sense that that --t domino, maybe it fell laos, cambodia, thailand, malaysia, those countries did not. question, do you see maybe we changeved did have some in the sense of ending the cold war? that is my question, dr. kramer. host: thank you, george. --st: thank you to yours than

in vietnam. last time reading our text, we discussed air power in the south. primarily his chapters discussing the advisory role. we're doing a chronological approach and we've reached -- we looked at that period of time from insurgency growing, north vietnamese support of that insurgency in '59 and that advisory role from '61 to '64. so, now we're focusing on air power against north vietnam. just give some context, a lot of historians when they look at the vietnam war break it down into four phases. the air power was in that advisory phase, '56 to '64. the rise of the advisers and watching them in the air power role, how they were applying air power in the south. now we're getting to the americanizing of the war. we'll look at context how the gulf of tonkin affects the understanding and development and planning for a strategic air campaign against the north. and how this -- how we the get into this air campaign in march of '65. remember, we're at a very specific time. very chaotic time in the un

vietnam is not essential. we could win other ways or if he goes with vietnamization, you know, it's not our responsibility to always defend communism. it's up to you to help do it. he has some wiggle room to say that because he's already showed he's done it correctly. >> to large extent, it's that. have you heard the saying, only nixon could go to china? it's sort of part of this. if you have sterling credentials as being a bad guy, that gives you a little bit more wiggle room to do it, and nixon's going to use that. when he comes into office, read that first one there. i think that's sort of interesting. the madman theory. what do you make of that? >> it's kind of what we see in the news right now with north korea and kind of how trump is handling it. he wants north vietnam to think that, you know, will he, will he not, in that way. >> don't show your hand. >> well, is he -- i'm not showing my hand. i'm keeping a little bit of ambivalence. >> little information operations there. really. >> how so? >> like you

what did he say about stalemate in vietnam? and in afghanistan, but we'll start with vietnam. this sort of goes to what you were saying. okay? >> that may be how we met. as we talked about in the war, i mean, senior politicians start to realize that early, that we may not be able to win unless we're willing to go farther than they want to go. >> and you're not willing to do that, so you're sort of stuck, sfri right? >> how can you achieve a win and leave? >> how did this occur to the united states when it came to the vietnam? when it came to the stalemate? >> when there's a change in the administration, you only have a couple options. stay where you are or to go more in. so in the intents to fault that, you intend to go sometimes with more, that's the case. >> and we have seen that, right? more and more troops by the time you get to 1968. we have over a half million dudes and dudettes in vietnam. but what's the problem with half a million dudes and dudetttes in vietnam? >> it's expensive. >> it is expensive. what else? we have europe and other places. what happens if you need

again, last time we talked about vietnam, this is our second of four lessons on vietnam. last time, reading our text, we discussed airpower in the south. primarily, this chapter is discussing the advisory role. we kind of do a chronological approach, and we have looked at that period of time from insurgency growing, north vietnamese support of that insurgency in 59, and that advisory role from 61-64. now, we are focusing on airpower against north vietnam. >> just to give some context, a lot of historians when they look at vietnam war, break down the four faces. that airpower that we studied last lesson was in that advisory phase. 56-64, the rise of the advisors watching them in the airpower role. now they are applying airpower in the south but now we are getting to the americanizing of the war. so we will look at the context of the gulf of tonkin, the understanding and the development in the planning for strategic campaign, air campaign against the war. and, how we get into the air campaign in march 1965. >> remember, we are at a very specific time, very chaotic time in t

the airpower campaign could show to south vietnam and north vietnam and either two allies look at you as resolve that we are in conflict. this is the result against communism. the more practical idea is, we need a strategic destruction of north vietnamese ability to make war. where is all the material really coming from for them to make this war. this is the idea. not only a strategic to go over the transportation system industrial base but also to prevent that stuff from moving around. the transportation line is the reason. even if it is coming from outside to prevent that from keeping north vietnam sustain. make them feel the pain of war. likewise let's do an interdiction campaign that prevents the material from going to the north down to the self and primarily through laos. you have to stop that movement. the development that is happening in 1964, if we do a strategic air campaign. then there is another incident. a lot of small attacks. things are happening. we get a situation in the gulf of tonkin right off the shores of north vietnam where patrol boats attack intelligence gatheri

soldiers in the vietnam war. but my question as i've come back and read a lot about the vietnam war era is, i took a trip back to vietnam in 1998 and i was just -- we flew into hanoi and i was going over there mainly just to revisit some of the areas i had served, but what struck me was the way the vietnamese people, the eager of them wanting to engage me in conversation, the young people of wanting to get my email address. it just was amazing the reception i got and no one talked about the vietnam war and then just recently a few months ago, we had a u.s. navy carrier call on denying for the first time in 50 years, here's my question to dr. kramer, i believe in a sense that we as veterans that served over there, we were young, we were just -- we just happened to be the age of being drafted or -- i was in rotc, i think we just happened to be the soldiers of that time, but i believe we did aaccomplish something in the sense that that last domino, maybe it fell, but laos, cambodia, malaysia, those countries did not

particularly over the war in vietnam. but not just over the war in vietnam. a whole series of issues on civil rights, crime. a bunch of things that divide the party. you had a wing of the party, the more conservative democrats, southern democrats. who i mean for example, someone like bobby kennedy, he had a lot of opposition within the party. labor didn't like him. southern democrats couldn't stand him. there was a lot -- there were serious, serious fault lines in the party. nothing like that today. you do see this debate between the bernie sanders wing of the party. the establishment wing of the party. they're not, i don't want to paper them over, there's some serious differences, but nothing on the scale we saw in '68. the differences then were fundamental. in a way, there was a big wing of the party, mccarthy support, anti-war activists who viewed the democratic party and johnson as illegitimate in general. when the demolition began, you had anti-war activists that regularly picketted and interrupted hubert humphrey's speeches, refused to support him becau

was an establishment that had lied to them about vietnam. it was an establishment that had fallen short of its promises of progress, of everything getting better and better, and this skepticism infused politics, and with the end of the nixon administration, with nixon administration in 1964, watergate becomes another blow to that trust in institutions. i'll leave it there. thank you for coming. >> tonight at 8 pm eastern, a 1968, america in turmoil. we look at the presidential campaign. we will discuss the cast of characters and events dominating 1968 presidential politics. we will discuss the cast of characters and events dominating 1968 presidential politics, robert f kennedy's assassination, televised clashes between chicago police and protesters during the democratic national convention and richard nixon's decisive victory. watch 1968, america in turmoil, tonight at 8 pm eastern on american history tv, on cspan3. >> senate confirmation hearings for brett kavanaugh to be a supreme court justice are to be expected in september. senators ar

i watched this vietnam thing that is on pbs are now. i had to turn it off because it draws so much for me. but i want to thank them for their work and for all the photos they have done. i think they are brave for being here after what the press has been going through lately. i do want to say one more thing for the black gentleman who called. i think it is very difficult for any white person to understand -- you can say, well, i'm not prejudiced. we will never have any idea what the black people have gone through. we did not experience it. we will never know. my daughter had a friend who used to say to her, you have no idea what it is like to go through a revolving door and have a white mother pull her daughter away from you because she will get contaminated. host: ken burns will be joining us next week. guest: i would take exception to the fact that photojournalism has gone by the wayside. it has not. there are still photographers on the front line of history every single day. an example i used earlier was just the median of north and s

what is his focus on vietnam? >> with johnson, even if he sported him total hit, he couldn't campaign, because it was too dangerous. the secret service did not want him on college campuses. so he was not able to go out on stump, and do much campaigning for him. i think, i think like eisenhower, he did go full out for nixon in 1960, so johnson, i think, was supportive, but he also had the tension with humphrey, and humphrey had tension with him over the war. >> pat buchanan, ronald reagan in 196, what if he won in 1968? >> he would have gone for victory in vietnam. i would have ended the bombings the -- the one thing johnson did do for humphrey, i think it was october 31, declare a bombing halt, and people forget, humphrey, at the beginning of october, it was nixon 43, humphrey 28, wallace 21. it was 34-all, much -- 43-all. much of the wallace vote moved to humphrey, and so he had a tremendous campaign there, and the bombing halt, i think, almost put humphrey over. the north vietnamese, excuse me, south vietnamese

this not only saved my life in the vietnam era, but post- vietnam, i worked special forces all over the world. for instance, when i retired at 22 your service, i had been serviced and 177 different countries, and most of those was as an uninvited guest. >> thank you. >> thank you for your question, sir. yes, sir? >> how many still survive? >> at the present time, there are five of us still alive. all five were interviewed and have been put into the book. >> you said you were asserted into camps inside of vietnam. what was your purpose there for each of these camps? >> our purpose there was a prediction of the north vietnamese communications, and trying to stop some of the, i would say, their troops are being supported into that. >> so to cut off -- coming into the trail? and, cut off the supply for the vietcong? >> that is correct, to cut off certain supplies, and occasionally we might get a few of the north vietnamese. >> i know some of the programs like the cia and the green beret, they were kind of intermixed -- >> i have heard of the organization, yes. >> can't talk about that one.

there were smaller ones like north vietnam. than what became communist vietnam. north korea and the people's republic of china. in the 1960s, the prc had replaced the soviet union for a while as being seen as the most hostile. ultimately until the late 80s, the soviet union was the overriding enemy for the united states from 1945 until the end of the cold war. >>> the next callers from michigan. ron, go ahead. >> in 1968 i was 19 years old. after i saw walter cronkite i was against the war. i turned down my deferment and volunteered to go to vietnam. i had to work against the war. i had to have a gun and bombs to work against it. while i was in transit to my station, i learned that my father, uncle [null] helped my father survived the war. i had a debt to pay to the vietnamese people for helping my father stay alive. i got every antiwar paper, i got the black panther party papers. a past them out to gis. the biggest peace march was held . that is where i did most of my organizing. i reported incidents. a year later there was a fracking --. the spreading of the wo

how the vietnam war eroded political support for lyndon b. johnson, and helped lead to his decision not to seek re election. she also describes month by month events leading up to the election, such as student pro, rise of the black power movement, and assassinations of martin luther king, jr., and robert f. kennedy. her class is about an hour and 10 minutes. >> let's get started. we will talk about 1968, a year when a heck of a lot happened, including a presidential election. and a year where there were a lot of social economic and political parallels that are some ways familiar because in part, some changes that the early 21st century america experienced, particularly in politics, were set in motion in this period. so let's get started. so i want to start with an unlikely presidential news conference addressed to the american people. march 31, 1968. lyndon b. johnson, president lyndon b. johnson gave a televised address to the nation, and the subject was the vietnam war. by this point, vietnam had escalated into a bloody conflict involving

vietnam fall to communists. the sense in the 1950's that democrats were not tough enough on communism, and so that is one of the reasons they fought in the anon. it basically showed a lot of people that democrats cannot effectively manage foreign policy and the war effort in vietnam. it created a sense that democrats were weak on national security, and that image has been propagated for 50 years. i am not going to say richard nixon fixed the war, although he obviously got the u.s. out of vietnam, but there is a sense that democrats created this problem and it undermined them politically for a long time. i want to share with you a view about the past beginning, who joined us -- cap beginning, who joined as a couple -- pat buchannon, who joined as a couple weeks ago. unit, whichantiwar may the democrats angry. johnson was seen as an american lackey. the best and the brightest had been broken at the wheel of vietnam. your thoughts. didt: i think vietnam destroy a lot of the knewlishment because they that they were

for remembering vietnam. our curatorial staff combed through the national archive records and across the country to find events that tell the stories recounted in the 12 episodes of the exhibit. one of the most powerful features of the exhibit is hearing the voices of veterans giving visitors a firsthand account of their experience during the war. since the exhibit opened last november, we have heard from many veterans sharing their own stage. on the today, we are privileged to hear adkins, commander intoant major was drafted the u.s. army on december 5, 1956 at the age of 22 from oklahoma. after attending school he volunteered for special forces in 1961 and served with them for more than 13 years. well and the special forces, he deployed to vietnam for three 1963,secutive tors 1965-1966, and 1971. during the second tour in march of 1966, the north vietnamese force attacked his small unit. it was during that engagement that adkins distinguished for the actions he was awarded the medal of honor. it is the high

re-establishing relationships in vietnam, relations with vietnam, but he did it and they worked together beautifully on that. >> martha, thank you. >>> cindy mccain, the wife of john mccain has just put out a tweet. we want to read it now. she writes, my heart is broken. i'm so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. i want to go to one of his closest friends, kelly ayotte. your thoughts tonight on the passing of senator john mccain. >> yes. >> senator, can we get your thoughts on the passing of your colleague and friend, senator john mccain? >> well, i'm just so sad to lose such a dear friend and someone who's been a tremendous mentor to me and so many others. but what a loss for not only his family and friends but for the country. just an incredible person, you know his courage, his integrity. his character. but, you know, his sense of humor. he had an incredible way of -- of self-deprecating, always making a joke, but also just -- what a leader. i had the privilege, i heard you talking about his vietnam. i had the privilege of traveling with him t

there were five vietnam war presidents. truman got us really engaged in vietnam. eisenhower, kennedy, johnson, nixon. this cold war logic, the sense that we had at all costs to maintain this pushback against the spread of communism really trapped people. and what's so interesting, fascinating about johnson -- i'm so glad this viewer mentioned this -- he brought us medicare. he created a social security system that allowed people to have a living support. so very complex man. >> the year began with the tet offensive and escalated with political violence and assassinations. and it ended with this photograph in december of 1968, as we view planet earth from space i want to share with you, as we conclude this program, the words of jim lubbell. on board the apollo mission 1968. >> god created the heaven and the earth. and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. in the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters and god said, let there be light, and there was light. and god saw the light. it was good. and god divided the light

added more troops in vietnam and increased spending. over the next several hours, american history tv is going to talk about that transforming year of 1968. also how 1968 changed u.s. politics and topics, that led to the war. this is some of the american history tv programming normally seen weekends here on cspan3. we are able to show it to you this week while congress is on its august break. >> our nine part cspan series, 1968 america and turmoil, continues throughout the week. each day, we focus on a different aspect of the state of the u.s. 50 years ago. tuesday, the 1968 presidential election as former vice president richard nixon faced democratic nominee, the incumbent vice president hubert humphrey, and alabama governor george wallace who ran on the american independent ticket. wednesday it is civil rights and race relations. thursday, the rise of liberal politics, with a special look at the democratic convention in chicago. friday, conservative politics, and richard nixon's rise of the republican party. all nine programs are avai