Episode
American Experience: Vietnam: A Television History (9): Peace is at Hand
Overview
"Vietnam: A Television History": "Peace Is at Hand (1968-73)" recalls the peace negotiations in Paris, including Henry Kissinger's "secret" talks with Le Duc Tho. As the talks dragged on, the U.S. stepped up air attacks.
Details
- Series
- American Experience
- Season
- Season 9
- Episode
- Episode 18
- Air date
- 1997-07-14
- Runtime
- 55 min
Episode context
Vietnam: A Television History (9): Peace is at Hand is Episode 18 in Season 9 of American Experience. It aired on 1997-07-14. The runtime is 55 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 17: Vietnam: A Television History (8): Cambodia and Laos
America's involvement in—and secret bombing of—Cambodia and Laos are chronicled as "Vietnam: A Television History" continues. After the bombing halt in August 1973, the Communist Khmer Rouge advanced on the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, and finally, in April 1975, the city fell.
Episode 19: Vietnam: A Television History (10): Homefront USA
"Vietnam: A Television History - Homefront U.S.A.," traces the widening rift between supporters and opponents of the war, from the first demonstrations in the mid-1960s to the May 1970 Kent State shootings.
More episodes from this season
Episode 16: Vietnam: A Television History (7): Vietnamizing the War
"Vietnam: A Television History": The gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and their replacement by the South Vietnamese are recalled in "Vietnamizing the War (1968-73)." But morale was low among Americans still in the country, and veterans interviewed recall racial divisions and the availability of drugs.
Episode 20: Vietnam: A Television History (11): The End of the Tunnel
"Vietnam: A Television History" concludes with "The End of the Tunnel," which recalls the 1973 Paris accords and the subsequent collapse of South Vietnam. Included: vivid footage of helicopter evacuations in Saigon during the final hours before the Communists took the city on April 30, 1975.
Episode 15: Vietnam: A Television History (6): Tet 1968
Vietnam: A Television History": TV-news footage graphically recalls "Tet 1968," the bold North Vietnamese and Vietcong offensive. The attacks gave the enemy a "brilliant political victory" in the U.S, says former Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
Episode 30: T.R.: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt (3): The Good Fight
TR is just 46 years old when he is inaugurated as president. He builds the Panama Canal, wins the Nobel Prize for Peace, and combatively introduces widesweeping social reforms. As his presidency draws to a close, TR names his best friend, Secretary of War William Howard Taft, as his successor. Taft wins the 1908 election.
Episode 14: Vietnam: A Television History (5): America's Enemy
As "Vietnam: A Television History" continues, "America's Enemy (1954-67)" examines the escalating war from the point of view of North Vietnamese leaders and their followers, beginning with the country's partition after the French defeat. Interviewed: former Premier Pham Van Dong.
Episode 31: T.R.: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt (4): Black Care
TR opposes his old friend Taft for the 1912 Republican nomination. When Taft wins, TR runs for president with his own Progressive Party. Despite enormous popular support, he loses to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. TR, now 55, retreats to the jungles of Brazil for two years for what becomes the most harrowing expedition of his life. His four sons join the World War I effort; shatters TR. Nearly six months later, he dies in his sleep at Sagamore Hill.
Episode 13: Vietnam: A Television History (4): America Takes Charge
In "America Takes Charge (1965-67)," GIs recall combat experiences during the years of U.S. military escalation. Also: a sequence in which Americans and Vietnamese describe the same operation.
Episode 12: Vietnam: A Television History (3): LBJ Goes to War
LBJ Goes to War (1964-65) examines the escalating American involvement following the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. Interviewed: Gen. William Westmoreland (USA Ret.) and former Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
Episode 11: Vietnam: A Television History (Part 1 & 2)
"Vietnam: A Television History" begins by tracing the "Roots of a War" to French colonialism.
"America's Mandarin" looks at the start of America's involvement in Vietnam during the 1950s and '60s.
Episode 10: Gold Fever
The 1890's in America were desperate times. A depression brought bank and business failures and forced millions of men and women from their jobs. When gold was discovered in a frozen no man's land between Canada and Alaska, 100,000 people made the treacherous journey in search of riches.