dr. douglas brinkley. >> we are excited to have you at this event. part of the purdue university forum series. >> i am a sophomore in aeronautical and astronautical engineering and i'm a member of the perdue institute for civic communication. or picc. >> i'm a senior double major in political science and economics and i'm a student assistant to the executive director of the picc. >> this forum demonstrates the essential links between the humanities and engineering.

dr. douglas brinkley. >> we are excited to have you at this event. part of the purdue university forum series. >> i am a sophomore in aeronautical and astronautical engineering and i'm a member of the perdue institute for civic communication. or picc. >> i'm a senior double major in political science and economics and i'm a student assistant to the executive director of the picc. >> this forum demonstrates the ssential links between the humanities and engineering. going to the moon requires more than just science, as do solutions to most challenges facing our world. i have not worked on projects as exciting as the moonshot yet, but i have worked on robotics teams. people like me on the engineering side thought we were the lifeblood of the team because without the robots, we would not have been a robotics team. the humanities side, writers, artists, speakers, thought they were the lifeblood because without the community support, there would be no team in all. both perspectives were right and they were wrong. engineering and humanities are opposite sid

dr. douglas brinkley. [applause] >> well, thank you very much. i want to say governor perry i'm so used to seeing governor, not just president. is someone i've admired for a long time. he is somebody who looks at issues and grabs him by the scruff of the neck and comes up with new ideas. it is truly an honor, governor, for you to introduce me. also, i want to thank my friend his marvelous school of communication here. brian is a man of blinding .ntegrity anytime i am in his presence i always feel very honored. he is a very special -- he is very special to me and this is my first time to perdue. my wife and is with me here in the front row. we're going to be searching around, meeting students tomorrow. i'm greatly looking forward to my time here. i got involved with neil armstrong i suppose because i was a boy growing up in ohio when -- in a town called perrysburg near toledo just down the road not too far from of i was born in 1960. i was nine years old at the time of neil armstrong's going to the moon. that was everything for me. some people tal

dr. martin luther king jr. was assassinated, robbette kennedy assassinated, richard nixon elected president and so much more. joining us to discuss this is historian and author douglas brinkleyl conversations recorded by president nixon in the years following the '68 election. great to have you with us, doug. >> thanks for having me. >> when we think of the '60s it means a lot of things to different people. one of the things the '60s means is turmoil. when we think of turmoil, that's 1968. was there one thing that set it off or was it a combination of factors? >> i think it was the tet offensive in early '68 in vietnam, where the vietcong and the north vietnamese were able to sack some of south vietnam, do damage to our embassy in saigon. it started telling the american people just starting the year '68 we weren't winning in vietn vietnam. it's a chain effect. the tet offensive happens and lyndon johnson in march goes on television says i'm not going to seek re-election because i'm so mired. then it becomes a free-for-all with utheen mccarthy and bobby kennedy starting to fight for being the dove candidate of vietnam and the tragedies, the deaths, as you mentioned, of bobby