we hope the people up and down the east coast are safe. brooke, thanks for joining me and of course, "the sixties" and of course, "the sixties" documentary starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the average time spent watching television is five to six hours a day. >> there is a reason for growing the tube. >> let's change the channel. >> here is the news. >> you must give the american viewer the kind of television that they desire and deserve. >> let's try and do it again and see what comes out this time. >> television has grown faster than a teenager.

now it is time to grow up. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

the tv was the center of the house. i don't remember a time without tv. >> by 1960, essentially every household in america had a television. it was a new way of bringing the world to you. >> when something big happened on television it really did happen to the entire country and impacted the entire country at the same time. >> keep an awakened eye on the world. >> suddenly television was the main event. everything else changed even the way you went about the business of getting someone elected president. >> david, would you hit the one-minute button. 30 seconds and the cut please. >> in 1960 the nixon-kennedy debate was a first in television. a lot of people were watching that night and it introduced a lot of people to kennedy.

>> the tight shot on camera one. >> hear me now speaking in is that about the right tone of voice. >> good evening, the television and radio stations of the united states and their -- >> when the networks offered a debate, kennedy immediately said yes because he was sure he could do better than nixon. >> i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of his party. i hope he would grant me the same. the question before us is which point of view and which party do we want to lead the united states. >> mr. nixon do you have a comment on that statement? >> i have no comment. >> if you are live on television and there is a camera right here there is no place to hide. once you see a guy sweating when asked a question, are you sure he is the leader for you? >> that the question before the

american people and only you can decide what you want this country to be and what you want to do with the future. i think we're ready to move. >> if you saw it on television, clearly kennedy won that debate. >> it was the beginning of a new form of political craftsmanship. you could structure the message appropriately for the tv camera you were in and if you couldn't, you were toast. >> please give a warm hand to mr. john kennedy. >> may i ask you a tough question right off the bat? >> whether i'm democrat or republican? >> television was now the medium that mattered. it wasn't before 1960 and it was every day after 1960 after those presidential debates. >> try to find a western. >> once everyone had a tv set in their living room and

advertisers got a grip of how effective a way it was to sell products what you were doing is trying to create entertainment that would appeal to as many people as possible. >> eat your brussels sprouts. >> i can't. >> no excuses. >> "leave it to beaver" was something that a lot of families understood. it's the first show that was ever shot from the perspective of a child. >> beaver. >> most people have had a lot of the experiences that the beef or wally had and everyone in their life has an eddie haskell. >> some dumb kid fell in his soup. >> good evening, mr. cleaver. some poor unfortunate child is trapped up there. >> everyone has that moment when they were so embarrassed and thought they would never get over it but they did. >> tonight's special report from

the scene of the 1961 emmys. >> whether it's a situation comedy or western or drama, i think it's the quality of the show itself that's important. >> the "andy griffith show" a kinder, gentler place. >> the core of the "andy griffith show" was this rock at the center of it. wisdom. >> i have taken parts of the people i know in my life and put them into andy taylor. i hope there comes a time when you have to stop the play acting and tell the truth. >> don't you believe me, pa? don't you, pa? >> people appreciate emotional honesty. they appreciate it more than laughs. it's great the you can achieve

both simultaneously and the "andy griffith show" did that often. for a sitcom it shows unexpected depth. >> the second dance number should come before the big sketch. >> i don't know. >> i like it. >> now i like it. >> me too. >> now i like it too. >> what do you know? look at that tie you're wearing. >> i only wrote what i knew about which was my life. and if you're writing about that, nobody can say that's not true. it is true, i'm living it. >> on the "dick van dyke show" we could relate to them because these are real people. >> women are -- >> honest and direct. >> no. >> courageous -- >> we all have the same needs, feels, relationships with husbands and wives. that's the comedy we did, the problems of living. >> how much do you like that baby? >> don't tell me you are jealous already.

>> the season opening episode for the 1963 season was seared into my head. >> our wives had a baby in the same day and the hospital was very busy. >> they thought they got the wrong baby from the hospital. so he calls the parents of the other kid and thinks you know, we may have your kid and you may have our kid. >> hi, we're mr. and mrs. peters. >> come in. >> mrs. peters, won't you come in? >> it was beautiful. absolutely beautiful. here they're tackling a subject

without tackling it. >> why didn't you tell me on the phone. >> miss the expression on your face? >> the network worried about the fact that the african-americans might be upset by it. the network was always a little behind. there is always somebody back there who doesn't have b-a-double l-s balls. >> in the hollywood, the co-writer, carl reiner, "dick van dyke." >> i wish somebody had told me. i would have worn my hair. >> i have got to tell you this one, you know those knock, knock

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i have got to tell you this one, you know those knock, knock jokes? >> yeah, but they're old now. >> i have got a real good one, a real funny one, go ahead, start,

say it. >> knock, knock. >> who is there? >> there was only three networks, there was only one late night show, really, jack parr -- >> they don't understand what -- how we do this show. we just keep talking with no script. >> i know, it is agony. >> jack parr invented the late night television talk show. >> you feel confident? there is not a man in the world to beat me. i'm as good as liberace. >> jack had in his corner his personality. his fabulous, complex, frightening, neurotic, but in other cases, enthusiastic, informed personality. it made for great television. >> how much time have i done? >> i don't have a watch either. how much?

has it been charming? i'll quit now, then. >> here's johnny! >> johnny carson inherited "the tonight show" but he made it his own. >> it is going to be wild tonight, i can always tell. >> he hosted a nightly party. >> are you married? >> oh. >> and if his buddies came, and they started playing together you felt like what it must have felt like to go to las vegas at 3:00 a.m. and have the rat pack come out. >> no, but where is the guy you talk to? >> it was a beautiful thing to watch a guy working at his best. >> okay. bingo. get your axe and let's go. [ laughter ]

>> if you watch it closely, he is gauging how much longer he can wait to let the laugh die before what he says will be irrelevant to what happened. and he gets it just on the nose. it is beautiful to watch. >> i didn't even know you were jewish! >> johnny was the best audience in the world. and he loved comedy. >> the woman is watching him from the corner of her eye and says to him what are you looking at? the guy says i'm looking at that ugly baby. that's a bad-looking baby, lady. >> johnny was there listening for you. he wanted you to score.

and when you scored, he scored. >> i said now calm down. he said madam, the pennsylvania railroad will go to any length to avoid having differences between the passengers. perhaps it would be more of a convenience if we rearranged your seating. and as a small compensation, if you come with me to the dining car, we'll give you a free meal. maybe we'll find a banana for your monkey. [ laughter ] >> i'm dick cavett, funnier than chet hutley, and as pure and honest as new jersey. >> you could get people like norman mailer and woody allen. >> my only new year's resolution this year, i think i'm going to try to sleep through the nixon administration. >> you have authors on there. heavyweight boxers. >> there were conversations.

>> when you mentioned the national anthem and talk about playing it in any unorthodox way, you immediately get a guaranteed percentage of hate mail from people who say how dare -- >> that is not unorthodox? it isn't unorthodox? >> no, no, i thought it was beautiful. there you go. >> i just thought anything that is interesting ought to have a place on a talk show rather than young pretty actresses who use the word "excited" in every sentence. >> you're not frequently seen on television. is that by choice? >> it is the most impressive medium. it is the medium that will either save america or send it down into demise, there is no question. >> i'm getting out of it myself. >> really? we'll be right back after this. >> what you do is book the best possible guests from different kinds of businesses, maybe not everybody in show businesses, some politics, some newspaper people. get them all on the stage together and hope something works.

but it is a great show, a great platform for people who have something to say. >> the point is they take these scripts out of the drawers. they change the things around. maybe it doesn't work on "green acres" but that is why night after night you turn on these serials and they saul seem they came out of the same bread box. >> back then you had copy cats. you had "the adams family" and then "the munsters," you have "bewitched." and then "i dream of jeanie." if one person is doing this fantastical hit, we're going to do that. >> now, is that considered a crime? >> i'm afraid not. there are not laws to protect us against bad tv shows yet. so you're safe. >> well, thank you. >> what i'm surprised by are some of the shows i can't even imagine the pitch meetings for. like "hogans heros." >> it's a story about american prisoners of war in a nazi concentration camp which doesn't sound like it's exactly a funny comedy. >> why don't they trust us? >> that shows you how weird the '60s was right there.

>> there is another one of our fine shows this year. pit stop! moving story of an effeminate race car driver, who was really an astronaut for the mafia. 9:30 eastern time, 8:30 central time, quarter after 2:00 pacific time.

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cbs presents this program in color. >> i didn't have color television until i was 16 years old. yes, i lived like an animal. >> the following program is being brought to you in living color on nbc. >> getting the color tv was huge because suddenly we could watch walt disney's wonderful world of color on sunday nights. which was just an acid trip of a show. we just could not believe it. tinker bell going bing, bing, bing, and it was like special effects, par excellence. ♪ the world is a carousel of color ♪ >> it also happened just coincidently at the time when what we think of as the mod '60s came in, colors were all over the place just as tv could start to take advantage of them. >> hi.

>> well, glad you could make it. >> i remember saying stay tuned for "gidget" next, in color. >> in color on abc. >> it was a big marketing thing. >> color tv was a huge step forward as far as the technology went. and yet, i think of "lost in space." it started off as a black and white show and went to color. it didn't get any better when it went to color. >> dr. smith, you're alive. >> of course i'm alive. do i look like a corpse? >> the period has a reputation for it have as a kind of candy. it seems like an aggressive innocence to it. >> you are only to blow that in an emergency. >> this is an emergency, you're standing on my foot! >> "gilligan's island" made no

sense whatsoever logistically. how is the professor able to build all this stuff but not build a damn raft? it makes no sense if you pull any single thread on it but it was just the kind of show designed to live forever in syndication. >> who are you looking for? >> a nun, who else. >> are you kidding? >> "flying nun" is a crazy show. like, what is that about? >> look, it is very simple. you see i only weigh 90 pounds and the combination of my cornet and the wind lifts me. >> which was just complete nonsense. let's face it. it was the height of the '60s, and everybody was eating granola and dropping out and doing god knows what else, and i wasn't. >> hello, central? i'm switching to my eyeglasses. put a hold on my wallet but keep my shoe open. >> television more than ever in the '60s was a place to escape to. >> let's go. ♪ >> seemed like it was sort of almost a willful respite from the stuff that was going on in

the world and in real life. >> here is a bulletin on cbs news. there has been an attempt as you know on the life of president kennedy. he was wounded. in an automobile driving -- >> in the early '60s, television was by and large seen as something as a back water to print journalism. and even to radio. but the kennedy assassination was the moment that television journalism came of age. >> continue full-day coverage of the presidential funeral. and the final procession -- >> more and more people were depending on television to give them the headline news of the day. >> 330 americans were killed in combat last week in vietnam. but the number of wounded, 3886 was the highest of any week in the war. >> most of the 1960s, the contrast between what you saw in your entertainment and what you in the news was, you know, planetary. >> never has this descent been as emotional. as intense.

>> in the '60s, it was one thing after another. each year it was filled with important events. >> governor wallace has ordered 500 alabama national guardsmen into tuscaloosa. at the moment, they are under his control. >> whether it was the civil rights movement or it was the kennedy assassination or the space race, when there was a huge thing that happened, it happened on tv. >> the witness to the violence, said it seemed to be unprovoked on the part of the demonstrators. >> television became the fire in which the whole tribe gathered around to listen to the elders telling them what was going on. >> police reinforcements moving down the street now. [ chanting ] [ chanting "the whole world's watching" ] good evening, ladies and gentlemen, tonight, live from

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good evening, ladies and gentlemen, tonight, live from new york. >> from hollywood. >> from beautiful downtown burbank. >> here is the star of our show,

bob hope! >> variety was the backbone of television back then. one year, there were like 18 different variety shows. everybody had a variety show. >> everybody was different because of who was helming the show. ♪ >> dean martin was just so loose he acted as though he was doing the whole show drunk without a rehearsal. >> this is a real international show, now, where else could you see a smooth italian and a slippery pole? >> he was funny, he was really, really funny. ♪ >> he always looked as if he was a bit lost.

people thought that it was because he was tiddly. but that was part of the charm. >> here he is, ed sullivan! >> thank you. >> no matter who controlled the tv set on the other nights, on sunday night at 8:00, you were going to watch ed sullivan. >> now, ladies and gentlemen, a very -- >> ed sullivan was a phenomenon. he was a powerful force. >> quiet, please. >> the beauty of the sullivan kind of variety show is that if you didn't like something, something else would be around in four minutes. >> no. >> no. >> why? >> it is very difficult. >> easy. >> advertisers wanted everybody. and so they got everybody. a little kid and his grandparents to watch the same show. >> they would have an elephant on, and then the next thing somebody doing shakespeare, and the next thing, a comic. there would be an acrobat and then an opera singer the next bit, which was true variety.

♪ go downtown things will be great when you're downtown ♪ >> anything that was current was on "the ed sullivan show." >> a young richard pryor. joan rivers. >> rodney dangerfield. >> everybody wanted a showcase. if you got on sullivan you could talk about it. did you see sullivan? >> my whole life i don't get no respect, no respect from anyone. >> as a performer you couldn't get a better place to sell your product. >> when i started out they would say variety is a man's game. it's dean, milton berle, jackie gleason, but variety is what i know. i felt it was in my genes to do this.

>> she had been so good on the garry moore show, she always knew she could sing and dance and be funny. >> on my show, i would do prat falls and jump out of windows and get pies in the face, and it was heaven. >> i think it is -- >> you know, i still see a rerun of carroll burnett show, and i say they're funny! there has never been a better three-wall sketch show ever. >> and the best in bed, too, remember? >> you never went to bed with -- >> well. >> not supposed to curtsy, you're supposed to bow. well, i get dizzy when i bend over. >> when tim conway came on his goal in life was to destroy harvey. >> here's tim with our own harvey korman as a new dentist with his very first patient. we used to have a pool back stage, not as to whether harvey was going to break up, but how far along he would get on a

sketch before he broke up. >> novocaine. okay here. novocaine. take a firm hold of the hypodermic needle. right. >> they never knew what he was going to do. but they knew it was not going to be what they expected. >> when they did the dentist sketch none of that was rehearsed. >> yeah, be right with you. >> poor harvey was helpless, tears coming down. and tim swears that harvey wet his pants during that sketch. >> i don't know why that worked so well. watching two actors break character and just crack each other up. should not be as entertaining. but somehow when it is tim conway and harvey korman doing it, i could just watch that stuff forever.

>> i just thought if we have fun, the audience will. we're going to go out there and do what we do best and it worked. >> you can plan it and write it and rehearse it. you hoped for magic. it was carol, carol, the magic of carol burnett. are you saying he is a tv

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are you saying he is a tv addict? >> well, perhaps he has been staring at this electronic blessing, the tv set for so long that his life became his. and he is at a stage of confusion that he no longer knows whether or not he is watching the action or participating in it. ♪ >> you unlock this door with the key of imagination. beyond it is another dimension. >> there was desire on the part of writers and producers to push the envelope and stretch the medium. you certainly saw that with the "twilight zone." it was a very cinematic show. >> this is not a new world, it has patterned itself since the beginning of time. >> rod serling who created "the twilight zone" realized he could through a lens of fantasy or science fiction he could tell stories about racism, he could

tell stories about fascism. >> tonight, i shall talk to you about glorious conformity. >> it was a way to deal with a lot of the issues that america was starting to go through at that time. but in a fantastic setting so that there is some divide between you and the show. >> they sent four people, a mother and father and two kids who looked just like humans. but they were not. >> "the twilight zone" had these little oh, henry like little twists and was allowed to have happy endings. >> they picked the most dangerous enemies they could find and it is themselves. now sixth months a fugitive, this is richard kimball a new identity and for as long as safe, a new name. >> "the fugitive" was a character study. >> beware the eyes of strangers, keep moving. >> everybody wanted to see what happened to "the fugitive".

>> i'm about ready to give up. >> when it ended, it broke the viewership records set by the beatles on ed sullivan. it was one of the first tv shows that actually went somewhere. >> you know, youngstown is not exactly on our course. >> in a lot of ways, television was showing slices of the world that people may have never seen before. "route 66" was an innovative show because it was actually filmed on location. so the audience was exposed to things that were not their exact orbit. >> space, the final frontier. >> you know, there is a little bit of the mayberry aspect to the world of "star trek." follow me here. people want to believe that such a place can exist. the idea of a future in which a lot of the biases and the fears of the past has evolved out of us. >> where i come from, size, shape or color makes no

difference. >> there is one episode where some of the members of the crew were taken over by these mental giants. >> this psychokinetic power of yours, how long have you had it? >> they forced captain kirk and and lieutenant ohura to kiss. it was the first interracial kiss on television. ♪ >> nbc asked me if i would do my own special. and i had always adored harry belafonte. we decided to do one duet called "the path of glory." it is an anti-war song and we just felt strongly about it. i just touched his arm. the sponsor went crazy. my star doesn't touch a black

man's arm. >> petula clark said, i'm not doing it over, and it is my show and it is going out that way. >> we weren't having any of that nonsense, no way. so it went out the way we wanted it to go out. i didn't really have any other problems with sponsors but that sort of gave me a taste of what could happen. ♪ ♪ a car that's moving fast and clean and strong ♪ ♪ get the leather seats you can't go wrong ♪ >> in the tv business, the '60s was probably about the last decade during which the sponsors had a really iron grip on content. >> brought to you by dash. >> even if they tried to keep tv this white homogenous whole milk product, the world found its way in. it just had to. >> what's the trouble, driver?

>> can't you ever remember to bring a silencer? >> it ruins the liner in my suit. >> with "i spy," robert culp and bill cosby were equals. cosby is this pioneer in terms of a black male lead in a drama. he made race a nonissue. because he's undeniable. >> the winner is bill cosby. >> bobby and i tried to put forth an example of the way it should be, racially, in this country. we need more people in this industry to put forth that message and let it be known that the bigots and the racists, that they don't count. thank you. >> as television changed, it was helping all americans to understand that this is what america looks like. >> frankly, you're not exactly what i expected.

>> no? >> no, not from what i read yet. >> did you expect me to be older or younger? >> julia was going to be the first time a black woman starred in her own television show. >> has mr. colton told you? >> told me what? >> i'm colored. >> what color are you? >> she was a black woman raising her own son. it has a universality that is just something new. >> and you keep out of mischief. >> i'll just watch the old tv. >> good. >> in the '60s, america was exploding in a way that needed to be reflected on tv. ♪ >> stand still! >> "dragnet" came back in the late '60s and friday was now in a very different world than he had been in in the black and white days. and suddenly there were the dirty hippies. >> jack webb would lecture you

about the dangers of marijuana smoking and crazy drug culture. >> they're trying to deal with the counter culture but they don't understand it. so it is basically the stereotypes of what the hippies were like. and it plays exactly like that. >> keep your nose out of my purse. >> keep yours out of the acid. next time i will. latte or au lait?

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nbc presents rowan and martin's "laugh-in." >> our country would be much better off with a strong leader. >> i know but sinatra can't do everything. ♪ >> when "laugh-in" came along we never seen anything that was kind of like grown-ups acting goofy and hip that way, you know. they had girls dancing in bikinis and the joke wall. >> who's in there with you? >> cool hand luke. >> and it was nothing but jokes. >> i was at the hospital. >> anything serious? >> a black widow bit me. >> if never would have happened if he'd been a gentleman. >> we took it to the network and the network said, what the hell is this? this makes no sense. i said, right. >> hi, you two.

>> they acknowledged the hippie generation, yet the hosts were in tuxedos smoking cigarettes. they were still your parents. but other people let loose on the show were this kind of young vaudeville. >> hey. it's sock it to me time. >> she socked it to herself. >> we knew that sock it to me didn't mean sock it to me. right? so we thought, oh. >> sock it to me. >> sock it to me. >> ha-ha. >> sock it to me. >> it wasn't as subversive as it sounds. yes it was. no, it was fun. >> sock it to me? >> it was the first time presidential candidates ever appeared on a comedy show and that may have got him elected. and i've had to live with that. anyway -- >> the family that watched laugh-in together really needs to pray together. >> just happening right now,

about right now, that was the greatest thing ever. the fusion of politics and comedy and everything else into one television show. >> when we take over, i'm going to look out for you. >> the subjects that were verboten, we don't talk about these things, were starting to come up in tv. because it was well executed, it changed everything. >> this is the smothers brothers comedy hour. production 124 air, take one. >> good evening and welcome to the smothers brothers show. >> if rowan and martin and the smothers brothers are the new stars of tv comedy, it is the comedy itself rather than the comedians which is more often in the spotlight. these two programs tried to influence people by comedy techniques that break through the traditional song and skit routines and with subject matter often on the cutting edge of

what is new. >> our government is asking us as good citizens to refrain from traveling to foreign lands. >> okay. all you guys in vietnam, come on home. >> times were changing so quickly. and the '60s. and we didn't change them. >> we just reflected them. >> i can't hear you. what are you doing? >> getting ready to go to college. >> cbs gave the smothers brothers that show because they were clean-cut folk satirists. they wore blazers. they could sing well. they were funny. >> mom liked you best. >> you lower your voice. >> mom liked you best. >> they told us what they thought we could do and what we should do and it was totally wrong. about and tommy came in and said i would like to show where we could be relevant. >> if we could get a war without blood and gore i would be the first to go ♪ ♪ but until then, mr. mcnamara, i'm just 18 and i always carry a purse ♪ >> if you were in counter

culture started making these shows and they don't want to play by the rules that other people did before then but who would expect the smothers brothers of all people to be the ones raising this much of a fuss. >> good script. >> i would hold my breath every time they did the show. because i knew that the network people were befelling their trousers with fear. >> nothing funny in this. yeah, boys, we're through censoring your show. >> they said that the social subjects we touched on were not appropriate for the 9:00 family viewing hour. they came up with any excuse to make it difficult. >> and i came up with any excuse to push it. >> yeah. ♪ cbs would like to give us notice ♪ ♪ and some of you don't like the things we say but we're still here ♪ ♪ oh, yeah we're still here >> they were going to speak truth to power. and they were not compromising.

>> you have something important? >> something very important to say on american television. >> a lot of times we don't have the opportunity to say anything important because on american television, every time you try to say something important -- >> well, whether you can say it or not, keep trying to say it. that's what's important. you get that? >> there's no way in the world if anything is meaningful and truthful that you're not going to offend someone. you've got to be able to say what it is. say how it is. and take the consequence. >> cbs announced today that the smothers brothers comedy hour will not return to the cbs television network next season. network president robert woods said it became evident that brothers, quote, were unwilling to accept the criteria of taste established by cbs. cbs news efforts to reach the brothers for comment have been unsuccessful. >> i was angry. but we never regretted it.

we never did regret it. >> what do you think television, honestly, do you think it's good? >> yes, i do. particularly for what it is. for the amount of hours that it gives you for enjoyment. either education or for pure entertainment, it's remarkably good. >> what television did in '60s was to show the american people to the american people. until then, we did not truly know much about each other. we knew only what we had seen, which was very little. and what we had read, which was even less. >> a few years ago i thought it was the end of the world. >> no, it's just the beginning. >> i think people looked at television for answers, maybe. that world is just confusing. it's going to hell all over the place. maybe something on here will help. >> there was no denying the shift and attitudes towards sex, towards race relations, towards politics. it was all televised. >> that i will faithfully

execute the office. >> that i will faithfully execute the office. >> when it works, television conveys impression and evokes memories. when it works well, television makes us feel. >> good morning. it's t-minus 1:29:53 and counting. >> television created the sense of national unity around cultural events. >> okay, neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now. >> you can turn on the machine and be somewhere else. >> looking good. >> television changed absolutely everything. >> beautiful view. isn't that something? ♪

♪ a national effort will be needed to move this country safely through the 1960s. >> across the world, soviet missiles are aimed at the united states. whatever the president does, he risks nuclear war. >> khrushchev calls west berlin a cancerous sore. >> 25 russian ships are en route to cuba on what may be a collisn course. >> no way of knowing whether western civilization will live or die. >> i think unless something is done that humanity will destroy itself.

early on in the '60s, you have this backdrop of tension. you have capitalism versus

communism and it was palpable fear. in the united states and in the soviet union that the two sides were going to get into a nuclear war. >> the temper of the world is crisis. architect of the crisis, nikita khrushchev. >> as the head of the soviet union, khrushchev was very ideological. he believed that the future belonged to communism. he said, america needs to be contained and the only way to do it is to create crises all around the american empire. >> khrushchev came to the u.n. in 1960 and he said we are grinding out missiles like sausages. we'll bury you. americans took it seriously. >> the toughness of the khrushchev speech did as some propaganda fuels of the fire that is now raging diplomatically between moscow and washington. >> to see if the soviets were

building nuclear weapons, more importantly, missiles to launch them at the united states. we were flying a spy plane over the soviet union called a u-2. >> i'm bill fox. united press editor in new york. a single engine u.s. air force plane with one man aboard went missing today not far from the soviet border in the rugged mountains in southeastern turkey. >> to a stunned and startled audience, khrushchev announced that an american u-2 spy plane was shot down in the soviet union. >> khrushchev made the wreckage a public exhibition. to the soviet union, this wreckage was a national cause. national outrage over the violation of soviet boundaries. >> and so, out comes the cover story.

>> the department has been informed by the nasa. a u-2 weather research plane piloted by a civilian has been missing since may 1. >> eisenhower had said, no, that didn't happen, et cetera, et cetera. he had been drawn into a trap. by khrushchev. >> the soviet leader was able to show not only that they shot down the plane but they had the pilot. >> francis gary powers, an ordinary man, caught up in extraordinary circumstances and in a way magnified by them. >> i realize that i have committed a grave crime and i realize that i must be punished for it. >> the evidence of espionage, currency, presumably for the spy to buy his way to freedom. and the spy's last resort, a poison needle with which he could kill himself instantly if captured and threatened with torture. >> no one wants another pearl harbor.

this means that we must have knowledge of military forces and preparations around the world. the safety of the whole free world demands this. >> our government was in effect admitting that we had previously lied and that we had committed espionage, admissions that no nation had ever made before. >> how will this mission affect the united states do you think? >> i feel it gives the americans a black eye all over the earth. >> i think we thought to sink a submarines that have been spying off cape canaveral. >> i don't think we should admit it. we have a right to protect ourselves. >> the shootdown was such a big event that it basically torpedoed detente. it torpedoed the chance to have a peaceful period, and actually, it was the beginning of the scariest part of the cold war. >> america's public mood was one of demoralization and there's the feeling that we can do better. and that's when the election of

1960 comes along. ♪ ♪ kennedy, kennedy, kennedy, kennedy, kennedy for me ♪ ♪ kennedy, kennedy, kennedy >> i think the question before the american people is, are we doing as much as we can do? are we as strong as we should be? are we as strong as we must be if we're going to maintain our independence? >> kennedy was a cold warrior more than eisenhower was, really. >> i want people in latin america and africa and asia to start to look to america. to see how we're doing things, to wonder what the president of the united states is doing and not to look at khrushchev or the chinese communists. >> the fact is that kennedy did run to the right of nixon and he was saying that they were letting the russians get ahead of us in missiles. >> it frightens people. it's not true. but it frightens people and it's very effective in the campaign. >> i believe the soviet union is

first in outer space, you said to khrushchev, you may be ahead of us in rocket thrust. but we're ahead of you in color television. i think that color television is not as important as rocket thrust. >> the missile gap was a total lie. we out missiled them at that time better than 100 to 1. if eisenhower came forward and said this kid is not telling the truth, it would have been a different election. ♪ >> let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. >> kennedy in his inaugural speech did not have a single mention of domestic issue.

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if you had left new york by car at seven minutes past 1:00 this morning, by 2:55 you could have made philadelphia. 95 miles in an hour and 48 minutes. in that same time this morning, a man went around the world. the spaceship was built in russia. >> when the russians put yuri gagarin into space, it was another sense of america being knocked back on its heels.

we're behind. >> khrushchev greeted the hero saying now let the capitalist countries try to catch up. >> for the russians to be the first to put a man in space, dealt a real blow not only to american pride but restarted the whole question about whether the u.s. government could protect the american people. >> the spacecraft weighed fife tons. the biggest payload we have been able to push into orbit weighed only a few hundred pounds. >> if you can put a man into space, you can put nuclear warheads into space and lots of them and then we're in trouble. >> this is norman kalb in moscow. the people that work back here in the kremlin are convinced that the balance of power in the world shifted in their favor and encouraged by this conviction they have stepped up their activities all over the world not only in berlin but also in latin america.

>> a great jam of camera men here now. an absolute mad house here. the first historic meeting between premier khrushchev and premier castro is now over. >> my father first met fidel castro in 1960 in the united nations. cubans became heroes in the soviet union. it was like the day david challenged goliath. >> if ever city in the united states could be cuba -- >> in the years since he took power, fidel castro has become an enemy of the united states. >> in cuba, you have fidel castro who's tying himself to the soviet bloc. which seems to be threatening the united states by the possibility that they're going to export communism to other south american countries which are in many instances anti-american.

khrushchev is saying that you have to understand that cuba matters a lot to us. don't mess with cuba. khrushchev not using rhetoric. the eastern bloc was supporting castro with military assistance. >> many latin americans were shocked to find out how much communist equipment castro actually has. >> the sense was that kennedy has to do something about castro. >> when kennedy comes to the presidency he's briefed on the fact there was a plan in place to topple castro. >> but the plan that's presented to him is not what he wants. it's a huge invasion on a noisy beach. it is going to look like a u.s. invasion of cuba so he says to the cia we can't be associated with this. i want something that's believably cuban. >> this is ron oppen in miami. i'm standing in one of the many anti-castro recruiting places scattered throughout the city. >> they were into communism and we found there's something

against castro, we learned where it was a recruiting center and approached them and joined. we had no idea it was the cia. >> since 2:00 this morning, men and boys have been filing through this door behind me anxious to join the fight in cuba against fidel castro's government. >> they were mainly cuban exiles. they hated castro. they thought that they could mount a small-scale invasion which could gatherer more and more support until it ended up overthrowing the castro regime. >> cuban business men, doctors, white collar workers, men who once drove taxis, always hoping the muscle of the united states would sustain them. >> we thought the united states behind this operation it was no way we were going to lose and we were wrong. >> small force of invaders landed at a semi isolated resort area on the south coast of cuba at the bay of pigs.

>> castro alerted his small air force and his large army and raced toward the scene. >> the showdown at the dawn and the rebels were only able to move 20 miles inland and those able to move beyond the beach were trapped in swamp or high growth. >> long live the revolutionary forces which are shooting down yankee planes and are smashing the invaders of the land. the castro-controlled television network is parading prisoners captured on the beaches before the cameras for public interrogation. >> one writer called the bay of pigs the perfect failure. it was the tragedy on the beach and in washington. >> out of the news of this week, the attempt of cuban exiles to re-establish a foothold in their homeland. a tactical failure that became a strategic defeat for cuban democracy and american prestige. >> let's ask of the

imperialistic piracy falls squarely on the government of the united states. >> united states has committed no aggression against cuba. and no offensive has been launched from florida or from any other part of the united states. >> the american role is immediately exposed. no one believes that this isn't happening with some american help. >> the leader of the free world has been humiliated on its own doorstep. castro prevailed over kennedy at least for a moment and will take a long time to destroy that image. >> it was a calamity. kennedy had been totally misinformed by american intelligence about the strength of the anti-communist movement. and the fact is when these poor people arrived on the beaches in cuba, they were decimated. >> only landing themselves, stewart, how large were they actually? >> best indications, walter, there were about 300 men armed

only with the weapons they could carry. unmistakably clear, walter, from all the evidence available that the cia planned this operation. it was the cia that established the revolutionary counsel by saying to the dissident factions, get together or else. >> today in his news conference the president acknowledged the failure and took the responsibility for it. >> detailed discussions are not to conceal responsibility because i'm the responsible officer of the government. victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan. >> the russians, i think, see this as evidence of a young, feckless, inexperienced president. >> kennedy privately goes around saying, how could i be so stupid? he's full of self-recrimination. >> kennedy listened to the experts, cia, military, little bit too much and they were wrong. >> the lesson he learns from this is not to trust the cia.

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after the bay of pigs, kennedy was more anxious than ever to meet with khrushchev because he knew that he had screwed up. >> there he is, president kennedy with mrs. kennedy. he thought the meeting in vienna would straighten all that out. in fact, it made it much worse. >> vienna was at its romantic best, almost, enough, it seemed, to remove a bit of the chill from the cold war. it began with a police escort

leading mr. kennedy's limousine to the soviet embassy. nikita khrushchev was waiting, also, for talks to explore such issues as berlin, nuclear testing and disarmament. >> tell us what you think about this meeting between the young president and khrushchev? >> well, i think it was long overdue because the world needs peace and the world needs disarmament. >> for khrushchev, it is a chance to test the new president on a subject of berlin, khrushchev is tough and blunt. >> khrushchev said west berlin is a bone in my throat. and we must extract it. >> berlin, of course, is divided at the end of world war ii but berlin is 110 miles inside of the east german zone. khrushchev is threatening to force the integration and take over west berlin and kennedy says to him, berlin is part of our western commitment and world war ii. don't challenge us there. >> after two days, the talks end. >> kennedy did not do well.

he allowed himself to be caught in an ideological argument with khrushchev. he'd been warned against it. he did it anyways and khrushchev bullied him and pushed him around. >> khrushchev has made the first move in the chess game. and the president knows it. as he leaves, he says, it's going to be a cold winter. >> kennedy thought there might be a basis for dealing with the soviets. instead he gets the berlin crisis. >> in july, 1,000 east germans escaped into west berlin every day. now in august, they're coming out at the rate of 2,500 a day. as a result of khrushchev's threats and demands. east germany is being bled of its best-trained people. >> i went to berlin to cover the bureau and the nbc news desk in new york called in the middle of the night and said what's this about closing off the border at the brandenburg gate? >> at 2:00 a.m., the communist regime issued a u-case.

no east german going to west berlin without special dispensation. >> the sound of jackhammers erupts in the night. suddenly east german police appear, tear up the sidewalk and street. >> a small crowd gathered and the east germans were unrolling barbed wire and starting fences. they were sealing off the border. i thought, my, god, this is, you know, unbelievable. >> president kennedy was in hyannis port for the weekend. a telephone call from washington that sunday morning told him that the communists had finally begun to seal the berlin sector border against the east germans and east berliners. >> through backyards, down canals, across streets. all along the 25-mile border between east and west berlin. >> telephone lines to west germany are cut. the flood of refugees is dammed up. west berlin is isolated. ♪

>> communist country like east germany cannot exist with an open border. it must be able to wall its people in and make them work until communism succeeds. >> president kennedy decided on thursday to send johnson to berlin because mayor brant had written a letter warning that the city's rotting morale required bold and quick treatment. >> and the united states wants you to know that the pledge he has given to the freedom of west berlin and to the rights of western access to berlin is firm. >> is khrushchev entirely convinced that our words have meaning? and if he is not, what can we do

short of war to convince him that they do? >> 1500 american soldiers arrived in west berlin after a 110-mile road trip across east germany. soviet person radio described the arrival of additional american forces as a challenging military act. >> the berliners know that western strength is their only protection. >> there are all sorts of people who say send the tanks in, knock the damn wall down. and kennedy, no. he understands this solves his problem. will khrushchev try to take over the rest of berlin if he's putting up a wall? will he risk a war with us? no. the wall saves us from that kind of conflict. >> after the berlin crisis, khrushchev tests the largest nuclear device ever. he basically is going to say to the americans, you can't scare me. i'm going to scare you.

>> the west has nuclear jitters. people worry about fallout, about war. khrushchev has turned testing into a weapon of terror. >> there was tremendous anxiety and fear that if you got into a nuclear war it was going to mean the devastation of civilization. it was the apocalypse. >> let us face without panic the reality of our times. the fact that atom bombs may some day be dropped on our cities and let us prepare for survival by understanding the weapon that threatens us. >> the threat of nuclear war was the center of many of our lives. >> the fallout shelter could save your life in a nuclear war. >> the family room of tomorrow. it's a truly shipshape room only 8 1/2 by 12 feet in size but with an amazing amount of storage space. >> seems unless we control the use of such a thing as that all

the civilization that we built up over these many thousands of years will just be washed out. >> it gives you quite a square to think about something like that happening to us. >> we were close to nuclear war in 1961. and as jfk said to his brother bobby, you know, we've had a good life. but our children, what if there's a nuclear war and our children die? that's how close war felt. ♪ [ female announcer ] we love our smartphones. and now telcos using hp big data solutions are feeling the love, too. by offering things like on-the-spot data upgrades -- an idea that reduced overcharge complaints by 98%. no matter how fast your business needs to adapt, if hp big data solutions

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as he said he would, mr. khrushchev has exploded his giant bomb in cynical disregard of the united nations. >> kennedy recognizes that he's on the verge of yet another crisis but he's looking in the wrong direction. and then, in 1962, there's a lot of political chatter about cuba. >> if at any time the communist build up in cuba were to endanger or interfere with our security in any way, then this country will do whatever must be done to protect its own security and that of its allies.

>> the cia had a consultant who spotted soccer fields all along the coast in cuba. and as he said, the cubans play baseball. russians play soccer. >> kennedy approves a series of u-2 flights. >> he didn't want to get sucked in once again as he had at the time of the bay of pigs. he wanted hard evidence. >> it was the combination of very good, high level photography plus espionage that made it possible for the u.s. intelligence community to say, mr. president, we are absolutely convinced that they're putting missiles in cuba. >> kennedy gets together a group of his closest advisers known as the ex-com. the executive committee of the national security council.

>> how far advanced is this? >> sir, we have never seen this kind of installation before. >> even in the soviet union? >> no, sir. >> how do you know this is a medium-range ballistic missile? >> the length, sir. >> u.s. intelligence showed half of the parts of the united states that would be hit by a nuclear attack and the figure was about 30 million americans were in danger of dying. >> my father, he want to be recognized as equal. if you're not recognized as equal, you challenge opposite side. >> now, what kind of military action are we capable of carrying out? and what may be some of the consequences? >> we could carry out an air strike within a matter of days. >> big debates. should we bomb? should we invade? back and forth. >> after we've launched 50 to 100 sorties, what kind of a world do we live? how do we stop at that point? i don't know the answer to this. >> most of them thought we should attack cuba.

kennedy almost alone did not want to do that. >> kennedy is the only person who has a sort of larger view. there are times when he's not just the president of the united states. he is thinking in terms of the survival of the human race. >> the question really is the chances of a nuclear exchange, obviously failure. >> he was frightened that a wrong move by him could trigger a whole sequence of moves by the other side so he wanted to slow everything down. and the method he chose was the imposition of a blockade. >> president kennedy will address the nation tonight on radio and television on a subject of the highest national urgency. >> good evening, my fellow citizens. this government, as promised,

has maintained the closest surveillance of the soviet military build-up on the island of cuba. >> these large, long-range and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction constitutes an explicit threat to the peace and security of all the americas. to thwart this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine of all offensive military equipment to cuba is being initiated. i have directed them for any eventuality. >> within minutes after the president spoke, the navy announced that it was sustaining a blockade of cuba with more than 40 ships and 20,000 men. >> i hate like heck to see us go to war, but if it's necessary to prevent a nuclear war, i think the action has to be taken at this time. >> i think it's high time we stopped russia from having things their own way. >> i know that some action should be taken.

but he's going to have to tread very lightly, short of war. >> but the american people were very frightened that they were on the edge of a cataclysm, something no one had ever experienced before. a nuclear war. >> we have been jammed up. we have been mobbed. people are buying like food is going out of style. >> is this your normal order or are you stockpiling? >> oh, i'm not stockpiling. i feel if anything were to happen, you wouldn't be able to eat it anyhow. >> kwop a shelter spot where there is food, water, medical supplies, a geiger counter and a radio. >> congressional leaders were recalled from the campaign labors flown back to washington in military planes and there were reports of troop movements in the florida keys. >> fidel castro told his people that the armed blockade is the most dangerous adventure since world war ii. he called president kennedy a pirate and said it's a life and death struggle is underway

between an empire and the revolution of a small and weak people. the cuban militia was mobilized and the country was put on a war footing. russia alerted its military forces and warned that the united states is playing with fire. >> at a special session of the united nations security council, the united states, cuba and russia offered separate resolutions and traded bitter charges. >> do you, ambassador, deny to the ussr has placed and is placing medium and intermediate range missiles and sites in cuba? yes or no? don't wait for the translation. yes or no? >> i am not in an american court room, sir. therefore, i do not wish to answer a question that's put to me in the fashion in which prosecutor does. in your due course, you will have your reply. >> i'm prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over if that's your decision. >> each side didn't know what the other side was doing and there was a lot of room for

miscalculation. >> we believe there are about 25 soviet ships moving toward cuba. if the vessel does not stop, refuses to heed the instructions, force will be applied to assure that it does stop. >> nikita khrushchev said soviet ships will never submit to the united states blockade. >> the next few days are critical. who is going to blink first? (vo) after 50 years of designing

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a dispatch just in. a late development. >> 25 soviet ships steam toward cuba. >> if the ship's captains do not stop, force will be used to stop them. >> it was all a truly historic drama taking place every moment of every day. >> we are now in the most dangerous situation since the end of world war ii. the next 48 hours will be decisive. >> right up until the last minute, the first ship looked like it was going through the barrier and at that point, kennedy would have had to do

something more. what it was wasn't even clear to him. >> the white house was on the point of being evacuated. they thought that this was the early stages of world war iii. >> listen to the tapes of the missile crisis and on the last day when we seemed so close to war, you can hear the voices becoming a little bit more ragged and a little bit more urgent. >> my main point is i don't think at this particular point we should show a weakness to khrushchev and i think we would show a weakness if we get -- >> president kennedy is the calm voice. >> well, let's be prepared for either one tomorrow. let's wait and see if they fire on us. in the meantime, i'm not yet convinced of an invasion. >> and at the last minute, the soviet ships turned around.

>> khrushchev has changed his position. >> there was an announcement from moscow that they would withdraw the missiles. and i said, the other guy just blinked. >> this is the day we have every reason to believe when the world came out from under the most terrible threat of nuclear holocaust since the end of world war ii. >> the message to president kennedy was long and rambling but for the first time mr. khrushchev acknowledged the presence in cuba of soviet missiles. he argued they were defensive in nature but he said he understood the president's feeling about them. he said he would withdraw the missiles if president kennedy would promise not to invade cuba. >> the following is the text of president kennedy's statement of noon. i welcome chairman khrushchev's statesman-like decision to stop building bases in cuba.

this is an important and constructive contribution to peace. >> it was an incredible sigh of relief in the country and in the world. >> with the tranquil courage of the great leaders of democracy, john fitzgerald kennedy said to the communist world, enough. >> there had been some back and forth between kennedy and khrushchev. we'll make a promise not to invade cuba and within a matter of months the united states will take its missiles out of turkey. >> in return for that, khrushchev publicly and verifiably removed soviet missiles from cuba. >> the conditions of the cold war had been altered in spirit if not in fact by what happened in cuba. as a result of american determination in the crisis, morale has been raised throughout the non-communist world. >> perhaps this is the beginning

of more understanding between our peoples. >> both sides realize we need to stand back from this and we need to create a framework that's less dangerous. >> i have chosen this time and place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds. and the truth too rarely perceived and that is the most important topic on earth, peace. >> the following june, kennedy gives the famous peace speech at american university in which he talks about changing our attitudes toward the soviet union. >> for in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. we all breathe the same air. we all cherish our children's future. and we are all mortal. >> kennedy and his people waited for any reaction from moscow at all.

and then, they got the teletype saying that for the first and only time a speech of an american president covered a complete page of pravda, the party newspaper. >> khrushchev decided to change his world policy. the strategy of creating tension all around the american empire was dropped. and he said to his colleagues, you know what? let's give him the test ban treaty. >> the united states, the soviet union and great britain promise to end all nuclear test explosions in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater. >> big deal soviet union, the same as united states. and khrushchev was very proud that they stopped testing and poisoned atmosphere. >> man's long hopeful quest for peace will cease to be only a dream and will begin to acquire solid reality.

>> the nuclear test ban treaty is one of the truly great achievements of the kennedy presidency. >> we shall not regret that we have made this clear and national commitment for the cause of man's survival, for under this treaty we can and must still keep our vigilant defense of freedom.

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the people of this country are elated by the feeling that the united states finally has taken the initiative in our conflict with communism. but all along the borders of communism, we and our enemies have unfinished business. >> mr. president, the headline and the story of the new york times yesterday morning said that administration would try diplomacy in vietnam, which i assume we had been trying all along. what can we do in the situation which seems it parallel other famous debacles of dealing with unpopular governments in the past? >> well, in the first place, we ought to realize that vietnam has been at war for 25 years. >> kennedy treated vietnam as a second-tier issue until 1963. he was dealing with berlin. he was dealing with cuba. he had his domestic challenges.

he sent troops to train the south vietnamese army. but he wasn't happy about it. but he wasn't happy about it. >> in the final analysis, it's their war. they're the ones that have to win it or lose it. we can help them, give them equipment. send our men out there as advisors. but they have to win it. the people of vietnam against the communists. >> kennedy felt that the united states had to draw a line against communist expansion but the soviets supported the north vietnam regime. we supported the south. >> it's what becomes known as the domino theory. if south vietnam falls, then all the rest of southeast asia laos, cambodia, the philippines, they might be defeated. >> as i believe i reported upon my return from previous visits, i'm very much encouraged by the progress the south vietnamese forces have been making, and by

the assistance which our forces have rendered to them. >> when vietnam started up, they believed that they so expertly micro managed the cuban missile crisis that they can do the same in the southeast asian nation 10,000 miles away. the north vietnamese were very different from the soviets and khrushchev. and the attempt to resolve the vietnamese crisis through controlled escalation simply didn't work. >> the government of south vietnam has been overthrown by a military coup. >> if we are at all involved, i hope we don't have another bay of pigs on our hands. >> are we winning the war in south vietnam? >> winning? no, we're losing it. >> kennedy says to one of his principal aides that after he is re-elected in '64, then he can talk about getting out of vietnam. it is difficult to believe that the story of the united states in vietnam would have followed

the same course if john f. kennedy had not gone to dallas in 1963. do we know what kennedy would have done if he had lived? there's all sorts of evidence to suggest that he never would have done what linden johnson did in vietnam. >> this nation will keep its commitments from south vietnam to west berlin. >> though lbj had experienced the same crises by sitting next to kennedy, he had not come out with the same conclusions. he did not share kennedy's suspicion of the united states military or military advice. once kennedy was gone, it was inevitable that u.s. military policy was going to change. we lost a president that was skeptical of military advice and gained one who usually took it.

>> the initial russian announcement said he resigned. the crowds that once cheered khrushchev wildly were in the dark as to what went on when leonid brezhnev was the new leader of the party. >> my father was shocked. his successor just went in the opposite direction, then divorce of his policies. he was very upset. >> he had begun a new age of the soviet union, a thawing of the cold war. not complete, but the beginning of something. but things change. >> the cuban missile crisis showed that neither side could gain a military victory over the other side. so therefore, the competition had to take a different form. >> it was the beginning of the very rapid changes in the relations between two countries. next period in our history would compete in the economy.

>> in the end, we couldn't defeat the soviet union militarily, but we could demonstrate that we had a much better attractive society. >> the united states of america wants to see the cold war end. we want sanity and security and peace for all. and above all, president kennedy, i'm sure, would regard as his best memorial the fact that in his three years as president, the world became a little safer. and the way ahead became a little brighter.

♪ >> in average man's life there are two or three emotional experiences burned into his heart and his brain. and no matter what happens to me i'll remember november 22nd as long as i live. >> there has been an attempt on the life of president kennedy. >> they are combing the floors of the texas book depository building to find these assassins. >> did you shoot the president? >> i'm just a patsy. >> oswald has