The "winds of change" were more like a cyclone. We find President Johnson, LBJ, in the midst of the Vietnam War which had begun some years earlier and could continue several more years. He found it difficult as time went on to balance his domestic War on Poverty with the War on Communism in Vietnam. He began losing the support of his advisers, the media, and the people. Dick Salant, President of CBS News, sent Walter Cronkite to Vietnam to see what was really going on. After Cronkite's return, CBS aired a news program with Cronkite reporting his findings and following up with his own commentary. In the program and commentary, Cronkite stated that he didn't think we were winning. LBJ commented afterward that if we lose Cronkite, we lose a whole lot of people. Of course, the continual visual images of the war on television including the incursion into the U.S. Embassy compound in Saigon didn't help. Martin Luther King also withdrew his support for the war.
In the political arena, the war dominated the primary season. LBJ had announced that he would not seek, nor would he accept the nomination for the presidency. Eugene McCarthy was a candidate. Many young people got shaves and haircuts so they could be "clean for Gene." George Wallace was also a candidate. Before Robert Kennedy declared his intentions, he offered a deal to LBJ. The deal being that Kennedy would not run if Johnson would organize a group of "wise men" who would make recommendations and then abide by those recommendations. Johnson refused. There was also Nixon and George Romney.
In the sports world, Peggy Fleming, who did not attend the opening ceremonies because her competition was early the following morning, won the gold in figure skating. Jean-Claude Killy won the gold in skiing after Karl Shrantz was disqualified. Shrantz protested saying that someone had entered the course and he was just avoiding that person. The judges went to the ABC control room and spent several hours reviewing the tapes for a final decision. (Jim McKay thinks this is probably the first use of video replay in this manner.) No one was seen. This Olympic Games was the first to be televised in color using a total of 36 cameras as opposed to 100 to be used in the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
Television saw The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, USMC, and Petticoat Junction. Laugh-In also started. George Schlater said that when the execs saw it, they didn't like it. They said no one would understand it. When Schlater said, "Well, you laughed," they let it go if the show would be tightened up a little. Jimmy Durante is seen doing the song Old Man Time on the show Hollywood Palace, which just happened to air the night before Johnson's "I shall not seek" speech. Other performers noted were Jim Morrison of the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. All died shortly after.
This episode was packed with visuals and interviews: Dean Rusk, Secy of State; Harry McPherson, LBJ speech writer; Clark Clifford, Secy of Defense; Peter Max, artist; Jeff Grudnick, CBS News; Frank Mankiewicz, RFK's press secy; Rod McKuen, writer; George Christian, LBJ's press secy; Hugh Sidey, Life Magazine; Jack Valenti; Walter Cronkite, CBS News; George Schlater, Laugh-In; Peggy Flemming, gold medal winner; Jim McKay, ABC Sports; General William Westmorland; Alan Wendt, State Dept. official at the embassy in Saigon; Philip Habib, special envoy.
Other happenings: both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated; riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago; Lt. Jane Lombardi, an Air Force nurse was the first woman to receive a combat decoration for service in Vietnam; Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was killed testing a new aircraft; the space shuttle prototype HL-10 was tested; gasoline was 33.9 cents per gallon; gas stations were having give-aways, 304 of them...Dino Dollars at Sinclair; the wars in the Falkland Islands an on Granada were taken by the military because because the government didn't want to fight another war on TV; at the ordination of an Episcopal priest in California, Hymns were sung by the rock group Mother's Laundry, and the sermon was "God Is Doing His Thing"; the Beatles were in India meditating with the Maharishi; and Lisa Marie Presley was born.
In the political arena, the war dominated the primary season. LBJ had announced that he would not seek, nor would he accept the nomination for the presidency. Eugene McCarthy was a candidate. Many young people got shaves and haircuts so they could be "clean for Gene." George Wallace was also a candidate. Before Robert Kennedy declared his intentions, he offered a deal to LBJ. The deal being that Kennedy would not run if Johnson would organize a group of "wise men" who would make recommendations and then abide by those recommendations. Johnson refused. There was also Nixon and George Romney.
In the sports world, Peggy Fleming, who did not attend the opening ceremonies because her competition was early the following morning, won the gold in figure skating. Jean-Claude Killy won the gold in skiing after Karl Shrantz was disqualified. Shrantz protested saying that someone had entered the course and he was just avoiding that person. The judges went to the ABC control room and spent several hours reviewing the tapes for a final decision. (Jim McKay thinks this is probably the first use of video replay in this manner.) No one was seen. This Olympic Games was the first to be televised in color using a total of 36 cameras as opposed to 100 to be used in the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
Television saw The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, USMC, and Petticoat Junction. Laugh-In also started. George Schlater said that when the execs saw it, they didn't like it. They said no one would understand it. When Schlater said, "Well, you laughed," they let it go if the show would be tightened up a little. Jimmy Durante is seen doing the song Old Man Time on the show Hollywood Palace, which just happened to air the night before Johnson's "I shall not seek" speech. Other performers noted were Jim Morrison of the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. All died shortly after.
This episode was packed with visuals and interviews: Dean Rusk, Secy of State; Harry McPherson, LBJ speech writer; Clark Clifford, Secy of Defense; Peter Max, artist; Jeff Grudnick, CBS News; Frank Mankiewicz, RFK's press secy; Rod McKuen, writer; George Christian, LBJ's press secy; Hugh Sidey, Life Magazine; Jack Valenti; Walter Cronkite, CBS News; George Schlater, Laugh-In; Peggy Flemming, gold medal winner; Jim McKay, ABC Sports; General William Westmorland; Alan Wendt, State Dept. official at the embassy in Saigon; Philip Habib, special envoy.
Other happenings: both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated; riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago; Lt. Jane Lombardi, an Air Force nurse was the first woman to receive a combat decoration for service in Vietnam; Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was killed testing a new aircraft; the space shuttle prototype HL-10 was tested; gasoline was 33.9 cents per gallon; gas stations were having give-aways, 304 of them...Dino Dollars at Sinclair; the wars in the Falkland Islands an on Granada were taken by the military because because the government didn't want to fight another war on TV; at the ordination of an Episcopal priest in California, Hymns were sung by the rock group Mother's Laundry, and the sermon was "God Is Doing His Thing"; the Beatles were in India meditating with the Maharishi; and Lisa Marie Presley was born.