20th Century with Mike Wallace

Disc 1
Episode 1:Vietnam: How We Went to War
Before Johnson’s escalation, before Kennedy’s military commitment, and even before Eisenhower’s financial support, the United States took its first tentative steps toward a conflict that would turn into a quagmire.

Episode 2:Vietnam: A Soldier’s Diary
For soldiers on the ground, the last eight years of the Vietnam War became a living hell, marked by endless frustration and punctuated by sudden, savage violence.

Episode 3:Vietnam Dilemma: Tet and the Anti-War Movement
A coordinated series of surprise attacks by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong in January 1968 left U.S. forces temporarily reeling, and the shock fed growing dissension at home over the war.

Episode 4:Portraits of Courage: Air War in Vietnam and the Prisoner of War
By the early 1970s, North Vietnam held nearly 600 prisoners of war, mostly aviators shot down in the bombing campaign. Considered criminals by their captors, they persevered through torture and became a bargaining chip in the quest for peace.

Disc 2
Episode 5:Korea: The Forgotten War
America’s first Cold War conflict began boldly but ended in an unsatisfying stalemate that cost 54,000 U.S. lives over three long years.

Episode 6:America’s Elite Forces: A Checkered History
The peculiar nature of “limited warfare” required specially trained combatants, but political leaders had to learn when and where to apply these units’ unique skills successfully.

Episode 7:Military Debacles
Foreshadowed by Pearl Harbor, post-World War II conflicts often mixed politics and military power, leading to disasters such as those in Korea, Vietnam, the marine barracks bombing in Beirut, the abortive hostage rescue in Iran, and the action in Somalia.

Disc 3
Episode 8:The Gulf War Revisited: The Untold Story
Although the multinational effort to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait seemed like an unqualified success, subsequent analysis shows missed opportunities, friendly fire casualties, and smart bombs gone awry.

Episode 9:A Few Good Women
Throughout the 20th century, the American military has increasingly relied on women. But women who serve have often faced institutional sexism—and worse—while doing their duty.

Episode 10:The Changing Face of Warfare
Since World War II, high-tech weapons have influenced outcomes on the battlefield, and their continued development promises to make future wars quicker, more violent, and more information driven.

• 12-page viewer’s guide with articles on war reportage, “forgotten” conflicts, constitutional war powers, and 20th-century war memorials
• American Warriors: updates on important military leaders mentioned in this series
• Discussion questions and a timeline of 20th-century conflicts at athenalearning.com

Packaging: Boxed set
Run Time: 470 minutes
Format: Full screen
Number of discs: 3
Language: English
Subtitles: No
Color or B&W: Color and Black & White
CC: No
SDH: Yes
Region Code: 1
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Rating: NR
Other: Due to the age of these programs and the improved resolution that DVD provides, you may notice occasional flaws in the image and audio on this DVD presentation that were beyond the studio’s ability to correct from the original materials.

20th Century with Mike Wallace Awards:

• GLAAD Media Award Nomination for Outstanding TV Journalism (2001)

Mr Wallace is the recipient of numerous awards and career achievements including:

• More than 20 Emmy Award Wins, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy
• Golden Globe Award Winner for Best TV Show (The Big Surprise, 1958)
• Television Critics Association Awards, Career Achievement Award Nomination (2000)
• Recipient of a Star on the Walk of Fame – Television
• Three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards
• Three George Foster Peabody Awards
• Robert E. Sherwood Award Recipient
• Distinguished Achievement Award Recipient from the University of Southern California School of Journalism
• Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Recipient
• University of Illinois Prize Recipient for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism
• Quinnipiac College’s Fred Friendly First Amendment Award Recipient
• Elected a fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi (1975)
• Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Massachusetts (1978)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Michigan (1987)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Pennsylvania (1989)
• Television Academy Hall of Fame Inductee (1991)
• Radio/Television News Directors Association Paul White Award Recipient (1991)
• International Radio and Television Society Broadcaster of the Year (1993)

Disc 1
Episode 1:Epidemic of Fear
In the early 1950s, the United States felt besieged by Communism at home and abroad. The fear took a particularly virulent form in the Hollywood blacklist and the rise of McCarthyism.

Episode 2:JFK: A New Look
Cut down by an assassin’s bullet in 1963, John F. Kennedy’s presidency took on a mythic glow immediately afterward. Subsequent revelations, however, have shown the personal and political recklessness behind his carefully constructed persona.

Episode 3:Assassination and Chaos: The Death of RFK and the ’68 Democratic Convention
Coming in quick succession, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy left the nation reeling. The sense of chaos reached its climax that August at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

Episode 4:Presidents in Crisis: Johnson Quits and Nixon Resigns
In 1968, growing opposition to the Vietnam War led President Lyndon Johnson to abandon his candidacy. Six years later, Richard Nixon’s presidency came undone by crimes and cover-ups involving the Watergate break-in.

Disc 2
Episode 5:Diplomacy and Conspiracy: President Nixon's Trip to China and the Watergate Burglary
In 1972, President Richard Nixon did what none of his predecessors had dared to do: visit China, a Communist nation virtually closed to the West for nearly 25 years. But just two years later, his status as a statesman was damaged irreparably when scandal forced him from office.

Episode 6:Ronald Reagan and the Rise of the Right
Combining personal charm, political savvy, and unwavering principles, Ronald Reagan left the White House as the most popular departing leader since polling began. As president, he led a sea change in American politics that outlasted his term in office.

Episode 7:The Impeachment of Clinton
Rumors of extramarital affairs dogged Bill Clinton throughout his candidacy and followed him into the White House. They finally caught up to him after a liaison with intern Monica Lewinsky, which led to his impeachment and trial.

Disc 3
Episode 8:First Ladies
From Eleanor Roosevelt to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 20th century saw the role of the first lady evolve from hostess and helpmate to influential advisor and policy advocate.

Episode 9:Upstairs at the White House
Just how much privacy should we give presidents? History shows that the press kept some secrets that the American people probably deserved to know, but the question of “character” came to make almost everything fair game.

Episode 10:Washington Scandals: Sex, Money, Power
Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, the press confined its reporting to financial improprieties and influence peddling. But in the ’70s, a bizarre incident involving a powerful congressman and a stripper flung open the door to politicians’ sex lives, and an FBI sting revealed the extent of corruption in Congress.

• 16-page viewer’s guide with questions to consider, Broadcasting Big Moments, and more.
• After Their Exits: updates on the fates of figures from 20th-century history.

Packaging: Boxed set
Run Time: 410 minutes
Format: Full screen
Number of discs: 3
Language: English
Subtitles: No
Color or B&W: Color and Black & White
CC: No
SDH: Yes
Region Code: 1
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Rating: NR

20th Century with Mike Wallace Awards:

• GLAAD Media Award Nomination for Outstanding TV Journalism (2001)

Mr Wallace is the recipient of numerous awards and career achievements including:

• More than 20 Emmy Award Wins, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy
• Golden Globe Award Winner for Best TV Show (The Big Surprise, 1958)
• Television Critics Association Awards, Career Achievement Award Nomination (2000)
• Recipient of a Star on the Walk of Fame – Television
• Three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards
• Three George Foster Peabody Awards
• Robert E. Sherwood Award Recipient
• Distinguished Achievement Award Recipient from the University of Southern California School of Journalism
• Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Recipient
• University of Illinois Prize Recipient for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism
• Quinnipiac College’s Fred Friendly First Amendment Award Recipient
• Elected a fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi (1975)
• Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Massachusetts (1978)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Michigan (1987)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Pennsylvania (1989)
• Television Academy Hall of Fame Inductee (1991)
• Radio/Television News Directors Association Paul White Award Recipient (1991)
• International Radio and Television Society Broadcaster of the Year (1993)