>> landmark cases returns live next february on c-span. join us here more stories of the people who sparked ground blades -- groundbreaking cases and the justices and lawyers who were key to the supreme court review. then thursday, august third, the presidential troubleshooter and general john arrived at the white house to report on conditions in the city of detroit. day, 12, on the previous the responsibility for law and order in the city had been returned to state authorities. little inad been america's recent past to prepare her for the nightmarish war they did her city streets during the summer of 1967. it had come with a sudden reality, crackling out of the overheated ghettos of new york and detroit. it has spread in a strange impulsive pattern through large and small communities, from

providence to wichita. >> one thing should be absolutely clear. this matter is far too important for politics. health and the safety of all american citizens. republicans and democrats, it goes for proper responsibilities for both of our parties. it goes to the heart of our society in a time of swift change and great strength. >> ladies and gentlemen, for the last hour and a half, i have met .ith the secretary >> the men most heavily burdened

with a quest for solutions displayed a deliberate comp. he said there were no sudden or short answers. the slums were too large and the point of the negro too complex for any hasty economic yours. important his new commission would cause the effect of the right and provide long-range answers. meanwhile, the immediate task of the administration was to keep federal health to the cities at a constant level. tragically enough, the administration's programs had been curtailed in congress during the year. the congressional night had cut deeply into the model cities built. rent subsidies, school age, rent control. and the teacher's corporation. the $2 billion anti-poverty package was in trouble. so is the administration's anticrime bill.

, to president johnson and the members of his desk cabinet, the mention of crime and chaos in the streets was of prime importance. so were other programs, programs that could offer slum residents jobs, educational opportunities and adequate housing. programs that were major cues to some of the underlying causes of unrest in the city. with defensest, and mystic spending running higher in january estimates for fiscal 1968, president johnson sent a new budget message to congress. then he called in the press for a rapid fire shoptalk. he had asked for a new tax package that would impose a 10% surcharge on all corporate and individual income taxes. along with some borrowing and belt-tightening and other fiscal measures, he hoped that the

search would put a sizable dent into a large, probable help. the surcharge, this would cause inflation, brutally high interest rate and tight money. an unjust distribution of the cost of supporting the men in vietnam. the war itself was now exceeding his earlier cost estimates. after listening to the recommendation of secondary -- secretary mcnamara, resident johnson had decided to authorize an increase of 45,000 men to be sent to vietnam, bringing the total of united states troops to 525,000. whengust of 1967, temporary american life entered a new face of crisis, a crisis of national purpose that link the problems of the city streets to the war in vietnam and to the state of the economy. the president's position was clear, there were times in a

nation's life when it's armies had to be equipped and feel it. the nation's business still had to go on. this was such a time. it was a time of change. every day, old institutions, values and beliefs were crumbling. swift and transforming change had not only become an accepted experience of modern life but also the source of an american dilemma. we had become the first generation to know with certainty that life would be different for our children. even for ourselves in just a few year's time. >> monday night, on the communicators, beer at the black hat conference in las vegas with jeff moulton, executive director of the stephenson national center for security research and training at louisiana state university. >> the hospitals are being impacted almost daily. the banks are getting whacked almost daily now. we will not limit this threat. we have to learn to live with

it. you do certain things when you feel exposed and the flu is going around, you get a shot, you isolate yourself from other people that actually have the flu. there are hygienic measures that you take in the physical world. communicators, monday night at eight eastern in c-span2. >> our c-span cities tour takes american history tv on the road to fusion the history of cities across america, here is a recent program. >> this became the very first national historic site to be dedicated for a first lady. the only historic site dedicated to one first lady.