The National Security Council and the Pentagon began military preparations for bombing North Vietnam, mining Haiphong harbor, and using tactical nuclear bombs near the Chinese and Laotian borders. terms for ending the war or face disastrous consequences. In clandestine talks with the Soviet ambassador in Washington and the North Vietnamese in Paris, Nixon and Kissinger set a November 1, 1969, deadline for Hanoi to accept U.S.

The film explores how the leaders of the antiwar movement mobilized disparate groups from coast to coast to create two massive protests that changed history. Talbot worked to tell the story through archival footage and first-hand accounts from movement leaders, Nixon administration officials, historians and others. war in Vietnam, including a threat to use nuclear weapons.Īt the time, protesters had no idea how influential they could be and how many lives they may have saved. “The Movement and the ‘Madman’ ” shows how two antiwar protests in the fall of 1969 – the largest the country had ever seen – pressured President Nixon to cancel what he called his “madman” plans for a massive escalation of the U.S.

The documentary is presented under the American Experience series and it will also stream online on the PBS app.

Flash forward a few years and Talbot’s “The Movement and the ‘Madman’ ” will premiere on New Mexico PBS, at 8 p.m.

Mocha pro premiere