If the present trend continues, if mr. Kennedy, senator kennedy, will be the next president of the United States. Nixon, we forget that he was capable of being gracious. When he had to go concede, his wife is on the verge of tears standing next to him, but nixon himself was quite gracious about it. But as the sun ricses on washington, accusations circulating about voter fraud. Federal officials set off to investigate. They said in chicago the cemetery wards were coming in strong for kennedy. As time goes on, it leaks out that in one black district, there were more votes casts than living in the district. Its corrupt. As the dead of illinois casts their votes, there were more fraud in texas. If texas and illinois had gone for nixon, he would have won the election. So, it mattered. All eyes are on nixon as he prepares to fly to washington. Will he contest the result . Now, i put the plane at the end of the air strip to get him as far away from the press as possible. There was no mechanic listening to an old hand radio. The votes are in, but who won illinois is exactly unclear. Was it jack or was it dick . At that moment, he said, get ike on the phone. I think the succession of the presidency of the United States should never be in doubt. And they discussed that he would not contest the election, and that was it. Just give me a chance very honorable and patriotic thing to do on nixons part. It was the right thing to do. He would have thrown a cloud over the election of john f. Kennedy. I think it would have been dreadful for the United States. Its the closest election of the century, with the highest turnout on record. Kennedy wins with the slim majority of just 120,000 votes to become the youngest president in the yauts of america. Without the vote of millions of africanamericans, kennedy would have lost the presidency. And so, my fellow americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. It must have been a bitter moment for nixon. Hed had eight years as Vice President. He really had thought he would be sworn in that day. But kennedy was better at dirty trucks than nixon, and nixon knew it. And it planted a seed with nixon that he never forgot. And what was the origin of watergate. The enemy of freedom has chosen to make this a decisive one. Somethings going to happen that change is on the way. We can change america. We can change the world. What we need now is a reconciliation in this land. Theres not anything wrong with you that a good haircut wouldnt cure. This Election Year of 198 has touched the emotions, assaulted lonlic as never before. I think we have a little too much violence in this country. We grow up together and we go down together. We have that understanding for our fellow citizens. And i need your help. If you look at the whole year as theater, as the real acts of tragedy, theres an almost poetic feeling to it. 1968 was one damn thing after another. Hardly a day goes by without a new report of another demonstration or protest against the vietnam war. There is in the land a certain restlessness. Lyndon johnson, whatever people think of him, his reputation will always have vietnam around it. Lyndon johnson is a common murderer. Johnson did things that no other president did. Civil rights, great society. He should have been somebody that every young person and every liberal would have celebrated, but they didnt. He became the vietnam war president. Wed been told repeatedly we are succeeding. They cant hold out. Johnson kept saying, theres light at the end of the tunnel. This is a cbs news special report. Saigon under fire. Allied military strength controls that country. The American Embassy are under siege. Inside are the viet cong that took offensive. They were shooting up the American Embassy. They had hit dozens of cities all over vietnam. It was a tremendous shock. We have known for several months now that the communists planned a massive spring offensive. We do not think our military operations are going to be at all materially effected. He was unable to be honest with the American People because simply unable to say, this is an unwinnable war. Reel one, take four. These ruins are in saigon. Capital, the largest city of south saigon. When we went to vietnam, it was the first time and maybe the only time walter had shown any kind of bias in his public broadcasts. It is increasingly clear to this report that the only rationale way out will be to negotiate, not as victims, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy and did the best they could. After Walter Cronkite, johnsons popularity sinks. It is clear the war is not being won. Opposition to the war was not rising. It wasnt just beatniks and young kids. We are not fighting a war. Im convinced it is one of the most unjust wars that has ever been fought in the history of the war. Martin luther king came out against the vietnam war. His own followers said, you shouldnt be focusing on that. You should be focusing on our issue. He said, theyre intertwined. You cant separate them. President said mankind must put an end to war. A war will put an end to mankind. You honestly think if there was an election, a vote for or against the war, the antiwar people would win out . Well, its really hard to tell now. The polls are uncertain. The polls do say most of the country is discontest with the war. I think something ought to be done. How are you . When some of the antiwar activists were looking for somebody to run for president , a number of people turned them down, including Robert Kennedy. There are increasing reports out of washington that your advisers are telling you you should run against president johnson this year. I have no plans. I have no plans to change the statement that ive already made. Senator . The assumption among the kennedy intimates was that lbj was totally unbeatable in 1968. And bobby would run in 1972. The Antiwar Movement needed a leader and it fell to Eugene Mccarthy. Very nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Senator, president johnson supporters say you dont have a chance here in New Hampshire and youll be lucky if you get 10 of the vote. What do you say about that . Well, i dont know. The people supporting me said well do better than that. One democrat, senator Eugene Mccarthy to bid for his nomination, peace. Eugene mccarthy does something thats taboo. He comes out against a sitting president from the same party. Mccarthy came in from left field. He was not thought of in the front rank of president ial contenders. But there was a great deal of frustration and even despair among the young. Eugene mccarthy gave them hope. How many volunteers for Senate Mccarthy . Im ready to vote in the primary. From nbc news Election Central in manchester, New Hampshire, this is the news. If mccarthy gets as much as 30 of the vote or more against an incumbent president , he can legitimately claim an important victory. Mccarthy didnt win the New Hampshire primary. But he took enough votes that it scared lyndon. He got 42 of the vote. But mccarthy was a nothing, an upstart. If mccarthy could draw blood, johnson was vulnerable. They said 68 was the year. I think that march the 1th was the day. [ applause ] how does this strike you . Youre not disappointed he didnt actually win . Oh, no. Oh, he did win, though. This is exactly what he wanted. He said we shouldnt have dissent that breaks down our system. You should work through the democratic process to get what you want. You can hope. You have to base it on a dream and this is coming true. Whatever happened to Robert Kennedy . Um, i think whos he . Perhaps the most important result out of all this from mccarthys viewpoint is that he will from now on be treated as a serious president ial candidate. All of a sudden, after New Hampshire, theres a new political reality, and bobby very rapidly starts recalculating. Would you welcome his entrance . Well, i its a little crowded now, but [ laughter ] let me tell you the issue of 68. The issue of 1968 is not the johnson personality, but the johnson policies. And i happen to believe that this country cannot afford four more years of lyndon johnson. Thats the issue of 1968. For 16 years now, in the shadow play of american politics, there has always been a richard nixon. Hes not coming back. He never left. Most political observers thought nixon was finished. Hed been counted out so many times. So, nixon wanted to show the leaders of the Republican Party he was a winner. Well inaugurate a republican president next january. Thank you. Media consultants worked with him so he wouldnt be the sweaty nixon of 1960. Im really the most difficult man in the world when it comes to a socalled Public Relations firm. Nobodys going to package me. Nobodys going to make me put on an act for television. If people looking at me say thats a new nixon, then all that i can say is, well, maybe you didnt know the old nixon. I wrote a diary of being on the Nixon Campaign plane. And i came out just saying, what does he believe in . What does he care about . How can we trust him . I realize that the person i felt most related to was Robert Kennedy. I have traveled and i have listened to the young people of our nation. And felt their anger about the war that they are sent to fight, about the world that they are about to inherit. I am announcing, today, my candidacy for the presidency of the United States. [ applause ] Eugene Mccarthy clears the way and tests the water. But he wasnt the guy who was going to get there. Bobby was going to get there. This nation must adopt a Foreign Policy which says clearly and distinctly, no more vietnams. [ applause ] you have the declaration of another rival candidate from within his own party, currents of antiwar sentiment are building up, and at the same time, the war is getting worse. I think if youre lyndon johnson, you feel youre being surrounded by a stampede. Good evening, my fellow americans. Tonight i want to speak to you of peace in vietnam and Southeast Asia. This is the moment for lbj, where the pressures of vietnam are becoming almost overwhelming. It is true that a house divided against itself is a house that cannot stand. Accordingly, i shall not seek, and i will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. You have just heard the president of the United States, lyndon baynes johnson, in an address from his office at the white house. The advanced text of his address did not contain those last remarks saying, and i quote from president johnson, i shall not seek and will not accept the nomination of my party for the presidency. Roger, no question about it, this was a bombshell politically. Well, you really dont know where to begin. Our guest today on meet the press is the Vice President , hubert h. Humphrey, who today announced his candidacy for the democratic president ial nomination. Hubert humphrey was lbjs Vice President and now hes running for president. Humphrey has doubts about vietnam but has been a good soldier. Hes stood by johnson. Your president made a supreme political sacrifice to promote this cause of peace. He was one of the casualties of this war. I dont think there was ever an overwhelming enthusiasm for hubert. The drama of mccarthy and kennedy had captured everyones attention. Is the key vietnam . Yes, in a large way. In a large measure. Not totally, but theres a certain degree of general protest amongst youth, which i think is, on balance, a healthy thing. [ Radio Communication ] there was a lot of frustration on the part of students that the war was not drawing to a close, despite our demonstrations. So students began to become more militant. At columbia university, students barricade themselves into university buildings. Their leader is a 20yearold exboy scout, mark rudd. I would say that we now have more support than any group about any political issue has ever held on any at any time. Columbia became the symbol of students and revolt. Activists like tom hayden went to columbia and said, lets have more columbias. Theres nothing like feeling that youre fighting the power or somebodys listening to you, at least, to draw more people in. We started shouting a phrase, and its a phrase that the youth in their words and by action of people all around the world, when they face truth, and that phrase is, up against the wall [ bleep ] we had an idea that this was the beginning of something very important. We took it as the beginning of revolution. Whats happening to america . Conversation three. Tonight our young people, whats bothering them. Is there really a generation gap . Generation gap is a way that whites in this country and the structure in this country, the system in this country, rationalizes its lack of responsibility in teaching this generation how to solve the problems that were faced with. 1968 was the year that you could point to and say, here is where the separation began between past generations and generations going forward. [ applause ] i think all of us have a role to play. And i think all of us have a great stake in the future. You, more than anybody else. As president kennedy once said, you have the least ties to the past and the greatest stake in the future. Youll always find idealism in youth. I think thats something my father and my uncle recognized and why they always visited the universities. I remember my father talking about how the founders of the american revolution, you know, they were young people. Well, you fellas dont even vote over here. Youre not any older than my son. You dont even vote. Come up here and ill autograph your sandals for you. Thatll make you feel better. There was a thirdparty candidate in this election, George Wallace. But wallace was not affected by the vietnam issue. He was going to have a certain amount of support in the south come what may. Theres not a dimes worth of difference in either one of the two parties. And if they dont give the people a choice, were going to give them a choice by having a new party. It was just a plain, ordinary, antigovernment streak in him. It was his act. You bastards in washington are not going to tell me what to do. And you anarchists had better have your day now, because i tell you again, youre through after november 5th in this country. Need to hire fast . Go to ziprecruiter. Com and post your job to over one hundred of the webs leading job boards with a single click. Then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. And now you can use zip recruiter for free. Go to ziprecruiter. Com. You go ahead. Ladies and gentlemen, could you lower those signs, please . I have some very sad news for all of you. And i think sad news for all of our fellow citizens and people who love peace all over the world. And that is that Martin Luther king was shot and was killed tonight in memphis, tennessee. [ audience shrieks ] when king was killed, bobby was on his way to a Campaign Stop in indianapolis. Going into the ghetto. And the cops said, dont go. They were fearful of a riot. Bobby went anyways. For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, i would only say that i can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed. And he was killed by a white man. He gives this spontaneous speech to an absolutely devastated crowd. This wasnt just politics. He made it personal. Let us say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much. [ applause ] this country and every person in it suffered a terrible loss tonight with the assassination of this man. The perpetrator of this deed brings down upon all of us the painful charge that we americans are prisoners of violence and destruction and death. That is the tragedy of it. Restraint, gentleness, charity, virtues we so desperately need, have had a dark day. King was the only rational voice that was left in america. He stood against the war in vietnam. He stood against violence, period. So, when you killed him, you killed everything. You killed the only rational voice thats left. It became absolutely clear. You dont want dr. King, you assassinated nonviolent, direct action, youve tried to kill the dream. Okay, heres a taste of the nightmare. [ sirens ] the outrage could not be contained. Fires burned the cities of america. Washington, chicago, detroit, boston, new york these are just a few of the cities in which the negro anguish over dr. Kings murder expressed itself in violent destruction. I remember coming back to washington two or three days after king had been killed. Youre thinking, what am i seeing here . This is the United States of america. And there are machine guns on the steps of the capitol . 100 cities raged with riot. 20,000 are arrested. People were in open revolt. Sirens wailing. People screaming. And it shook everyone, black and white, to the core. Nothing could be more desecrating to the memory of Martin Luther king than to use his death as an excuse to engage in violence. There was a faith and spirit vacuum. When you find people who have lost that hope, fear tends to fill that vacuum. People were increasingly afraid, and mr. Law and order stepped up on the republican side. This is a nation of laws. No one is above the law. No one is below the law. And were going to enforce the law, and americans should remember that. [ applause ] no divisions that exist between black and white. I want us to work together. And i run on that basis for president of the United States. [ applause ] my fathers appeal was to really the most disenfranchised classes. He felt like nobody else was speaking for them. And thats where his face was, rather than with the liberals. The liberals were for m