Stories & Myths: The JFK Assassination, Vietnam, and Watergate
Learn how the assassination of John F. Kennedy led to nearly 20 years of tumult in the United States, including Vietnam and Watergate on this week's Stories & Myths with Dr. Craig von Buseck.
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Transcript
Good evening. Good afternoon.
Good morning. Wherever you are
tuning in from around the
world. We are so glad to have
you join us here tonight for
Stories and Myths yet another
episode of Stories and Myths.
I'm here with the uh Seafair
and Captain John C. Farrell.
So, John you decided to go with
the nautical theme this week.
Yes. I am that I'm my heart is
with those people who are being
affected with the by the
hurricane. Um oh, that's what
it was exactly. Yeah. It's kind
of your way. authenticity comes
through in a beautiful way. I
want you to know II. I'm glad
you appreciate that and have
noticed that um no. well,
you're always stressing the sea
so I was like, I don't I don't
want to just be boring and put
AC so I spelled it out for you.
I'm kind of like a pirate that
way. I'm stressing the sea
Alright, now, moving on. Yeah.
You know that voice you just
did. Yeah. Let's not revisit
that. You don't like my pirate
voice?
No. Well, it it will come out
when appropriate but for now,
we'll we'll it needs some work.
It needs some work. My pirate
voice needs some work maybe It
sounds like you just woke up
after like a long slumber and
you're you have like a fun on
my ship. The red pearl Yes.
Yeah. So, did you ever get that
fixed? That has the black
pearl? I have the red pearl.
Did you ever get that piece
that I was trying to help you
fix? that piece of on top of
your um of your car? Oh yes, I
fixed it that afternoon. Quite.
it took me all of 25 seconds I
think to finish and it took me
about 10 minutes to do just a
little bit. I have the I have
the pirate hands long of
gathering the jewels. It was a
really, really hot and that's
my. Oh, okay. That must be
it.
Yeah. Alright. What do what do
we have on top for the this
evening's episode of Stories
and Myths? Well, we are going
to talk about JFK and what he
meant to American history and
all the um his assassination
and um his involvement with the
Vietnam War as well as we're
going to
be talking a little bit about
Watergate and um some things
that have happened since then.
So, that's why on this program,
we've talked about the
nineteenth century and last
week, we talked about the
eighteenth century. So, I
thought it would be good for us
to come in to the twentieth
century Uh we're just a little
behind the times. We don't
know. It's it's a show about
history so uh. Right, right.
You never know where we're
going to talk about it. Yeah.
we're not talking about
yesterday.
Now this is uh before before I
were born. so Yes. So what What
is our first question? So, the
first question is um it's about
JFK. You say that he ran for
president If he ran for
president today, he would be
considered a conservative and
that is how much of the country
has shifted to the left. I was
wondering if you could explain
that statement a a little
Kennedy was a cold warrior. Uh
he believed in a strong defense
of the United States. uh
Kennedy. He cut taxes. Um he
believed in um in a strong
space program and he was a very
strong um he's very strong on
free enterprise. So, across the
board, uh Kennedy had positions
that are now considered
conservative that right back
then uh you know he was
considered a centrist or even a
liberal to a certain degree and
by certain members of the
country but today, Uh his
positions are the positions of
more conservative politicians
which shows how the country has
moved politically uh far to the
left Since that time. I believe
that part of the reason is uh
to his assassination which
started a series of uh things
in the country that uh broke
down the trust of the American
people in their own government.
and uh We are now really far
down that road to the point
there is distrust on both the
um both sides of the political
spectrum and it's a major major
problem but Ronald Reagan who
was a Democrat, he was a huge
fan Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Ronald Reagan was a Democrat
for most of his life. Oh, and
what he said in the nineteen
early 1960s. I don't remember
exactly what year that he made
the switch but when people ask
him, why did you switch from
the Democratic Party to
Democratic Party to the
Republican Party? He said, I
didn't leave the Democratic
Party. The Democratic Party
left me and um so today and
even during his presidency,
people called Reagan a far
right conservative uh but
Reagan's policies were not very
different from John F.
Kennedy's policies and they
were only 20 years different
That's what is hard to even
grasp. Uh looking back in
history because it seems like
Kennedy was so far before
Reagan but it was only 20 years
and if you count his
assassination, uh it was only
uh 17 years between uh
Kennedy's assassination and and
uh Reagan's um election uh 2017
and a half but still you know
um you know
it's pretty pretty remarkable.
Uh I take that back. No Exactly
seventeen because Kennedy was
killed in November of 73 or 63
and Reagan was elected in
November, November, 8 eighty.
So, 17 years Exactly. Uh we're
talking a little bit more about
about JFK assassination. So,
what are your thoughts on that?
Was it what was it a conspiracy
theory or um was there a lone
gunman? Well, let me ask you,
what do you think because most
people have an opinion
II. honestly, don't know what
to think II. think kind of like
what we're discussing today
III, think that there was
someone who was definitely
assisted um in the shooting. I
don't know if there was
necessarily more than one
gunman. Um I did read a
fictional retelling of it by
Don Delillo called Libra which
actually um so my my thoughts
on are kind of blurred with the
fictional retelling that Don
Delillo um wrote. It's
great, great novel. Um I read
it in grad school and um so
I've I don't I'm trying to
remember which which of the
facts are that and which of
them is part of the the Libra
book but um II think if there
if there was and I think
there's at least more than one
person involved whether there's
more than one gunman. I'd, I
don't know. Okay. So, my
opinion correct me, what's
that? I said, so, correct me.
Oh, no, no, no. I mean, no one
knows for sure. Right, Right.
Based on, I I've been to the
plaza. I've been to the uh
museum I've seen the snipers
nest there uh in the book
depository, I've stood on the X
uh which Uh pretty much they're
pretty sure that that was the
spot where Kennedy was killed.
I have studied and read about
the Kennedy assassination since
I was in college uh which was a
few years ago now and uh I am
convinced that it was a
conspiracy. I'm convinced that
there were at least two gunmen
and uh there are reasons for
that and I want to I want to
give some of those reasons and
and not just say well this is
my idea. So, First of all, um
there was uh it's pretty clear
that there was a gunman from
the back and most likely it was
Lee Harvey Oswald uh because
the first bullet went through
Kennedy's back and came out his
throat and um it hits uh
Governor Connolly in front of
him and uh they uh I'm sorry
the the the first bullet went
through his throat. The second
one went through his back and
hit Governor Connolly and
and that was considered what
they call the magic bullet but
then the headshot II cannot
believe that the headshot was
from the back and the reason is
that I have heard from almost
and you can can watch this on
YouTube. I've heard from almost
every medical doctor that was
in the emergency room at
Parkland and every single one
of them said the same thing.
They said that it was a fist
sized hole in the back of the
and then down the side of the
head, there was like a valley.
and there's a problem with that
in that the autopsy photos
don't match that and so you
have who's telling the truth Is
it the uh all the medical
doctors who all agreed and have
no reason to lie or is it the
government providing
photographs who possibly have
all kinds of reasons to lie and
There are a lot of things that
don't make sense. Don't add up
and look like conspiracy for
example, no one knows where the
brain of John F Kennedy is. Uh
no one knows. So, why was the
brain removed? Why were we not
able to examine the brain Um
the other major thing and there
are many different uh other
parts to this but without going
on too long, other major thing
that most people uh should
question is why did Jack Ruby
murder Oswald? Because there
was no way that uh Oswald would
be able to testify or give
evidence or led the government
investigators to any kind of
conspiracy. Um uh Ruby was
clearly connected to the Mafia
Uh he was a good old boy that
uh used to kind of uh take care
of the police in his uh very Um
uh there was a lot of
debauchery. Let's say that went
on in Jack Ruby's club uh with
uh dancers and prostitution and
drugs and alcohol and it was a
very seedy place. Why was Jack
Ruby allowed into that basement
of the police station II Don't
buy that. They just didn't have
as tight security back then. I
don't buy that. This was the
the so called murderer of the
president of the United States
and they let this bar owner who
owned a KanCan club just to
walk in to me. I just don't buy
that. It's just too convenient
for this man connected with the
Mafia to shoot and kill uh
Oswald on National TV Live to
shut him up. The other big
question that I have is When
you look the quote unquote
magic bullet which supposedly
some investigator found on one
of the gurney. It is almost
pristine and yet it went
through both Kennedy and
Connolly it hit Connolly Ribs
came out hit went through his
wrist bone and then went down
into his leg. Now, they have
reproduced that again and again
and again and never once have
they been to come up with a
bullet. that wasn't smashed to
hell, right? With all kinds of
bullet fragments all over the
place, right? Um so II think uh
you know, I think that it was a
conspiracy. I do believe that
there were people very high up
in the government who were
involved. I personally believe
that it was a combination of
the CIA and the Mafia because
the CIA Mafia uh in certain
places uh and you know, Whether
it was Italian Mafia, or just
organized crime, they would use
the Mafia to do hit shots to
keep themselves from being
connected to these
assassinations and so this is
something that we know this is
not conjecture. There's
evidence for that and so um
everything that I've heard and
and witnesses that I've heard
say that the plaza is your
classic triangulation that is
used in an assassination. It
was a perfect spot to bring at
least three shooters together.
So, I believe that you probably
had Oswald in the Snipers nest
in the book depository. You
probably had somebody behind
the picket fence on the Grassy
Knoll because immediately and
there's video of this
immediately after the shooting
policemen and a whole crowd of
people went running up that
grassy knoll after something
after someone. Who are they
going after? And you know that
those who believe the um the
Warren Commission report say,
oh, it was just echoes off of
the buildings uh but you know,
you had um they've been running
up the hill to get away from
the shots. Oh no. it was the a
police officer went up on his
motorcycle, laid his motorcycle
down and then kept running up
the the the uh this is all on
Youtube You can watch all these
videos are on Youtube and he
went after somebody and when
they got up there, uh somebody
flashed a badge and said, we're
with Secret Service and the cop
believed him and walked away. I
think they were probably
gunman. They're may very well
have been someone on the
overpass uh and then again,
there's a possibility that they
could have been in one of the
buildings either directly
behind or on the other side but
it was a perfect place to have
multiple shooters and um So,
who knows how that conspiracy
goes but I do believe that it
was a conspiracy and I think
that many people in um in our
country since that time you
know, lost faith. in our
government uh because they
believe that the government
lied that the government killed
the president. the the uh
elected president and that uh
the government has been
covering it up ever since but
the problem is is that in the
1970s a select committee of
congress opened up an
investigation on assassinations
and it didn't just include John
F. Kennedy and also included uh
Martin Luther King and Robert
Kennedy. I think possibly
Malcolm X and some others from
the 1960s but their conclusion
based on uh a recording that
came off of an open mic from
one of the uh motorcycle
officers. They had a sound uh
expert examine that and um
there were four at least four
and maybe five gunshots. Well,
there's no mathematical way
that Oswald could have gotten
off more than three. So if they
are Uh then there is a
conspiracy Now. um missus
Connolly uh she said that she
heard one gunshot then a pause
then another and another one
right on top of it. Well,
that's impossible if it was
just Oswald, he could not have
pumped and got a new uh bullet
into the chamber in that amount
of time and shut it off. So you
know her Her testimony was
ignored. There were dozens of
eyewitnesses in the plaza that
were never interviewed by the
Warren Commission. Now, anybody
with, you know, I have no axe
to grind on this other than I
want the truth and I want to
know that our government is not
lying to us that there wasn't a
you know, with with Lyndon
Johnson waiting in the wings
like like our friend said in
the JFK movie, right? Um I want
to know, I want to know that
our elections have integrity
and that our president isn't
removed by our own government
and so why were those people
who are eyewitnesses in the
plaza? Why did the uh
commission ignore them and
there's no answer that. And uh
and the arrogance that has been
shown not only by the people in
the uh commission but also the
the media. It's almost like the
media wanted to cover it up.
The media never really I'm
talking about the mainstream
media. They never really did in
depth investigations. They kind
of just swallowed the the uh
the Warren Commission hooked
the line and sinker but just
answer the question, why is
there a pic size hole in the
back of his head? You know, one
of the doctors. That's not an
entry word. That's an exit
wound. That's an exit wound,
right? You could not have an
exit wound in the back of the
head. If it was a lone gunman
up in the book deposit deposit,
one of the doctors said that as
he was uh as he came into the
room and was examining him a
large part of the brain fell
out of that hole and onto the
gurney Well, if it's uh an
entry room wound, it's going to
be this size. You can't have a
large part of the brain fall
out of an entry wound. So,
somebody to me is is lying.
Marlene Banks uh says could be
a lone gunman but a
conspiratorial act of more than
just one man. So. Well, that's
what I said. You know, who
knows but to me, there's far
more evidence of a conspiracy
than there is of a single gun
man, right? Um how did the
assassination of JFK? start the
country on the course? The
course of tumult for almost two
decades Well, uh I think it was
uh a series of things. One,
it's a shock. Uh it's a shock
to lose uh a not only your
elected president but also
someone in their 40s who has
two little kids who are running
around the president's knees
and everybody's in love with
this family. and you know, John
F. Kennedy and his wife,
Jacqueline, seemed to be young
and vibrant especially after
you know, you look at several
presidents before them. We're
all doy old men, you know, FDR
Truman to what, you know,
Dwight Eisenhower, they they
were not exactly the jet set,
any of them and all of a sudden
comes this, you know,
Forty-five or how old he was
young man full of Vim and vigor
with a great sense of humor. He
was one of our great
communicators and all of a
sudden like that, he's gone and
not only that but um many
Americans were very grateful
for the way that John Kennedy
handled the the Cuban Missile
crisis and they believe that he
uh most likely kept America
from getting into a war with
the Soviet Union which could
have turned into a nuclear war
could have have turned into
nuclear Holocaust and so Only a
year later, this young man is
gunned down in broad daylight
in front of hundreds of people
and thanks to the it was caught
on the film and so there's a
pretty good uh you know,
everyone pretty much has has
now seen this film or most
people have and so it was a
shock and I think that that
really caused a major shift in
the country but then what
happened is that um while John
F Kennedy was a cold warrior.
He also was a pragmatist and he
had fought in World War two and
he knew how ugly and awful war
can be and so he had allowed
for um for military advisers
from the American military to
be on the ground and to be
helping the South Vietnamese in
their civil war against the
North Viet Cong. the South were
supposedly free. I mean, they
were, they believed in
capitalism whereas the North
Vietnamese were moist
communists who believed in
communism and so, you know,
this was in the middle of the
Cold War when there was the
belief in the domino theory
that one by one, these weaker,
smaller countries would be
taken over. uh first
politically and then militarily
by the communist and I mean
that's what they were doing. So
it's not that it was a theory
of what they were doing but
there was this of containment
that began in Korea and it
actually worked in Korea where
we fought to a stalemate. I
mean, we would have liked to
have won the war and I think
that it had uh someone other
than MacArthur been the
general. We probably would have
won that war but MacArthur
messed it up. Uh so we fought
to a stalemate that is still
there today uh with the North
Korean Communist government,
South Korean capitalist
government and we I think we're
hoping to do the same in
Vietnam but what Is that the
South Vietnamese government was
unbelievably corrupt. and not
only corrupt, they were um they
were blood thirsty and uh they
were not good people and uh so
there was torture that was
going on. There were uh
executions without trial that
were going on. You know, one of
the famous uh famous videos is
of a general and they had just
caught this uh North North
sniper a a fighter and no, they
had just caught him and the
general walks up and with
cameras rolling and you can
again, you can watch this on
YouTube. It's not fun to watch
but you can watch it. He
watched walks up in the broad
daylight in the middle of the
street. Bam shoots this guy and
executes him with no trial or
anything. Wow. John F. Kennedy
was not pleased with how the
South Vietnamese government was
being run and with the
corruption that was happening
and so he actually encouraged a
uh a coup. Uh he thought that
the um that the people who
would take the on the co would
uh just kidnap and remove the
president uh of South Korea or
South Vietnam but
unfortunately, uh they they
killed him and uh Kennedy was
very upset about this but
Kennedy had signaled pretty
strongly that he wanted to get
of Vietnam as soon as he could
and so there was uh there were
a lot of people who believed
that he was not going to send
more troops almost after
Kennedy was assassinated.
Johnson started sending in
troops uh at first uh more
advisers but then very quickly
he started sending in ground
troops and then it was you know
escalation and then they'd get
hit by this the North
Vietnamese and then there was
an escalation they get hit by
the North Vietnamese and it
just accelerating accelerating
until it was a full-fledged
American war. Undeclared war
called a police action to
contain communism but on the
ground, it was a war. Well, if
if Kennedy had stayed alive and
had continued on being our
president, do you think he
would have escalated the
Vietnam War like Johnson did?
No one knows for sure but I
don't believe you based on He
was communicating to his
advisers and to the military.
He was looking for an exit
strategy and now, sometimes
presidents gets pulled into,
you know, uh into things that
uh they don't want to be
involved in but he uh he wanted
to get out and um sadly he was
not able to and we were not
able to. So, the Vietnam War uh
escalated to the point where
the military didn't have enough
men to send because after World
War two, uh the US military
downsized dramatically and so
now, uh Johnson wanted to
increase the number of soldiers
on the ground but he didn't
have enough which then he
turned to the congress and they
passed the conscientious
the Vietnam War there were huge
draft riots and caused a severe
change in our society. Uh where
the combination of Kennedy's
assassination and the possible
cover up and then the
government getting into a an
excuse me, an unpopular war
where a lot of people were
saying, why are we there? I
understand wanting to contain
communism but why does my
eighteen or 19 year old son
need to be drafted and sent to
fight in a war that we really
don't have much skin in and
It's a hard. it was a hard sell
for Johnson to say. Well, we're
trying to fight communism. A
lot of people, mom and pops in
America did not want to send
their their sons uh to to for
that purpose especially in such
a dangerous place. uh because
Vietnam being uh you know very
much covered in jungle. It was
extremely dangerous warfare
with all kinds of booby traps,
all kinds of hidden uh where
the Viet Cong would hide and
then he'd come out in a
surprise attack and they'd mow
down our our uh soldiers and
then they go back into their
tunnels and we never could find
them. It was a very terrible
gorilla gorilla warfare. It was
very much so, I want to read a
comment that Marlene posted.
she um regarding this
Assassination of JFK. She said,
I remember that day like it was
yesterday. I was in school and
my teacher was called out of
the classroom. She came back
and crying school, dismissed
our and we went home to our
shocked parents and all the
television coverage of our
president's Assassination.
School was closed for a few
days. Things were so solemn.
The country was in shock and
mourning even as a child, I
felt a deep sorrow. Yeah, I
can't imagine. Yeah. And um
that I think that reverberate
uh and then when you had the
shock of this unpopular war uh
all of a sudden you started to
have uh society was in a tumult
and there was a of distrust on
all sides and so by 1968, only
4 years after the Kennedy
assassination, uh that was one
of the worst years in American
history. There were riots. uh
there were racial. uh there's a
lot of racial tension. That was
the year that Martin Luther
King Jr. Was shot and killed
and uh that was also the year
in June that John Kennedy's
brother, Bobby Kennedy, was
running for president. He had
promised to deescalate the war
in Vietnam to actually end the
war in Vietnam and uh in Los
Angeles, he was shot and
killed. uh which was another
major shock to America and so
um there was uh uh a lot of
disillusionment and so
ironically, uh the person that
had lost by only a few votes in
1962, John F Kennedy run again
in 1968. uh Richard Nixon. Now,
the interesting thing is he had
run for governor in California
after he lost in the presidency
and he lost in that race for
governor to Governor Brown, the
father of the you know, the
more recent Governor Brown and
um after he that election. He
said in a very bitter way to
the press. He said, well, you
want to have Dick Nixon to kick
around anymore and he went back
to his bunker where he lived in
Whittier, California. and uh
nobody heard from him from him
for a few years but he was
pretty smart and that he could
tell that the country was was
moving in such a direction. uh
that Johnson would probably,
you know, Johnson did win the
election in 1964 against Barry
Goldwater uh but he was He was
riding on the coattails of
Kennedy's popularity and the
sympathy vote for for his
assassination by 1968. Uh it
was clear and John Johnson got
on the air on television said I
will not uh seek and I will not
accept my party's nomination
for presidency. Will that open
the door for Vice president uh
Hubert Humphrey and uh Mcgovern
or not Mcgovern Uh oh. Now, I
can't think of his name. It's
another MM name. Uh he he
surged early but then he uh he
fell back in the polls. It'll
come come to me but then also
Bobby Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy
got into the election actually
quite late. and um but when he
won California uh that was
there were enough delegates
there that it could be a race
that could be uh decided in the
convention and you know the
Kennedy's were so popular at
that point. that Kennedy
thought that he could have been
elected or or nominated because
of that but that night, he was
shot and killed and so Vice
President's um Hubert Humphrey
became the Democratic nominee
and he lost uh to Richard
Nixon. Now, Nixon came in
saying that he was going to win
the war in Vietnam and uh he
came in saying that he was
going to fight communism uh but
then interestingly uh Nixon
probably uh you know Nixon
Richard Nixon had some real
great accomplishments That's
what sadly people forget about
him and one of his greatest
accomplishments was that he uh
he met with uh Mal in China and
he reopened uh diplomatic
relations between the United
States and China. That was an
important thing. you may you
may have an enemy in Communist
China but you still want to be
keeping dialogue open with your
enemies uh to keep it from
escalating out of control and
so That was something that he
did but then his major mistake
was our next question, right?
So, yeah. as most people know,
the thing that Nixon is known
for mostly and II know for me
personally, this is the thing
that immediately when you when
you say Nixon, this is what
pops to mind foremost and I
imagine that's what most people
So, what is Watergate and how
did that or how did Watergate
contribute to the shaking of
the fabric of American society?
Well, the sad about Watergate
is that it was totally
unnecessary. Nixon was way
ahead in the polls and um so
but he was II, believe that
Richard Nixon had a mental
health issues and he was uh he
was a paranoid person. He was a
deep uh deep um introvert and
he would run for president. The
one office where you need to be
a complete extrovert is hard to
understand other than just a
huge ego but also uh a
confidence while Nixon wasn't
was uh an introvert. He was
very confident in his own
skills and so um he was way
ahead in the polls and he was
running against Mcgovern in um
6 years in in Seventy-two and
um he was way the polls and uh
then the uh there was uh a
report that Mcgovern uh vice
presidential pick uh was having
some mental health issues
himself and he ended up having
to fall out, run out, or drop
out of the race and um so there
was no reason other than
Nixon's paranoia uh to do what
they did but he hired these
criminals really. I mean they
were political criminals and
they broke I mean, talk about
dumb. It was just dumb. They
broke into the Watergate Hotel
which is still in Washington
Dc. You can go see it right
down by the Potomac River. It's
a very unique uh really
actually pretty cool modern
design building II. Think it's
a cool looking building kind of
Star Wars is but there's a
little bit of a stretch but
yeah II could see where you get
that. Yeah. so they broke into
uh into the National
Headquarters offices and
started going the files to take
uh information as if they, you
know, aren't going to notice
this somehow and of course, we
know that it was Forrest Gump
that was in the hotel, saw them
and he reported them to
security. One of the great many
accomplishments and
achievements of it was it was
like he was everywhere. All
these important places, right?
But uh yeah so uh the security
guards got wind that something
was going on and they went in
and they arrested them and at
They said, oh, they're just a
bunch of dumb burglars trying
to steal things but it became
pretty clear uh just very
quickly as they as they started
to investigate who these people
were and what their backgrounds
were that these were no petty
thieves. These were political
operatives. Well, um while
Nixon tried to cover it up and
say, oh, isn't that awful? Uh
we cannot have this kind of
thing happening in America and
they should be prosecuted to
the full extent of the law all
the while knowing that he was
the one who ordered it and we
know that now because of the
tapes and then he confessed uh
to Frost. If you ever saw the
movie Frost Nixon. um I
actually have on VHS Cassette.
the actual interviews between
Frost and President Nixon.
Yeah, because I'm I'm nerdy.
So, did you ever notice by the
way these uh drawings behind
me? they're Colonial
Williamsburg I was just going
to ask you what the what those
were because that's that's the
way I roll. I'm a history nerd,
my friend and so um so what
happened is that the White
House tried to cover it up, try
to tamp it down uh but certain
journalists uh started to dig
and especially from the
Washington post uh Woodward and
Bernstein uh from which we we
got the uh book and the present
or in the uh movie all the
president's men uh starring
Robert Redford and Dustin
Hoffman which is an absolutely
excellent uh movie but it was
just, you know, very deliberate
journalism and they were able
to find an informant that had a
very naughty name that we're
not going to mention on the the
uh nickname that they used uh
but this informant would not
tell them exactly but he would
answer yes or no questions and
so as they would dig, he would
say yes and they say, are we
going in the right direction.
No. Should we do this? Yes. And
that was how they kept little
by little pulling the
information not only out of
this informant but in their
investigation, they would go to
different people and finally,
what happened is that so much,
you know, got to uh a tipping
point where there was so much
little pieces of evidence that
it tipped and it freaked people
out and then they started
looking for immunity. They
started testifying, testifying
people were turning each other
in and pretty soon uh they
found out about this uh taping
mechanism that Richard Nixon
had in the White House and the
thing was is that you know,
Johnson had had the same system
and I think Kennedy had the
same system uh but nobody knew
about it back then but someone
testified somehow that Nixon
had these tapes well then it
was fair game and uh Congress
said well we want to hear the
tapes from this day when you
talk to this person and So,
Nixon, you know, said no. it's
executive privilege and there's
national security involved
here. You can't have them. It
went to the Supreme Court. The
Supreme Court said in regular
circumstances, we would say yes
but because you are facing what
could be and we are facing what
could be a constitutional
crisis, then you need to turn
this over and so in the end, uh
he did but there are certain
places that had been erased
again which you know, pointed
to guilt and then And then
finally, it came out that he
was, there was so much evidence
that he had been involved that
uh he reached out to his
friends in in congress to see
if there was still enough to
support to keep him from being
impeached and they finally said
no. Uh you will you will be
impeached and knowing that that
means you will probably go into
AA Criminal Trial and you will
be
convicted. So, uh Richard Nixon
in the midst of all this, uh
ironically his um vice
President Spiro Agnew who had
been governor of Maryland had
been indicted for tax fraud and
he had left uh the the vice
presidency in um you know in
disgrace. So, Nixon in the
midst of Watergate uh appointed
ironically and we were talking
about this earlier. He
appointed Harrison Ford. uh you
know, him from the uh from the
from the movie. uh you Air
Force One Air Force One. Yeah.
The President Ford. Uh well, he
became President Ford. No, not
Harrison Ford. Gerald Ford, the
congressman from Michigan and
Harrison Ford was from Indiana.
That's right, Indiana Jones and
uh and Ironically Ford was a
member of the Warren Commission
and For me, Ford is a little
bit of a slippery figure. Uh he
was a hardworking congressman.
He did work his way up from the
bottom but he was pretty close
to the assassination of Kennedy
and in his connection with the
uh Warren Commission and he was
very close. uh to Watergate
becoming president but um what
happened is that Ford pardoned
Richard Nixon which uh gave
gave him from prosecution for
any crimes during Watergate and
so for the rest of his life,
Nixon was free and um the
American people, I think said
that uh we're not okay with
that. Uh there are many people
who believe that it was
politically or as far as you
know, bringing peace to the
nation. It was a good thing but
as far as earning him his uh
own uh term as president in his
own right. The American people
rejected that and part of that
was that you had a um a it in.
Jimmy Carter, James Earl Carter
who uh was the absolute
antithesis of Richard Nixon.
You know, Nixon was was a was
very glamorous even though he
was awkward. Everything was
very glamorous with limousines
and and all the best of the
best. You know, he used to hang
out with uh the you know king
uh of England who had abdicated
the throne. What I can't
remember his name but they
called him David. Yeah. but you
I'm talking about I'm the king.
the king's speech. Yeah. His
brother abdicated the throne.
Yeah. Nixon used to hang out
with him and they would have
parties and they were glamorous
affairs and Frank Sinatra would
come in and you know, all these
all these uh very glamorous
things. Well, Jimmy Carter came
in and said, you know, let's
get back to we the people and
in many ways, that was a good
thing but I think that Jimmy
Carter took it too far and um
at that time, It's interesting
because my friend Daniel Wilbur
wrote in here uh whip inflation
now uh which was the button
that the Ford campaigners wore
WIN and uh he remembers my
debate uh in fifth grade uh
where I represented Jimmy
Carter in the debate and um
That's right. In and say, oh, I
remember that day. Anyway, um
for you you know, there was a
high inflation. This was when
OPEC was cutting uh crude
production to I gotta show the
whole audience here. He said,
you are great. Actually, I got
some things wrong and was
berated by the teacher but I
did my best for a fifth grader.
So, Daniel, please don't
inflate his ego anymore than it
already is. Well, anyway, um
inflation was going out of
control. The oil prices were
going out of control. Uh we had
lost the Vietnam War there was
that awful terrible scene of
our marines uh leaving from the
rooftop of the American Embassy
and people trying to cram into
the helicopter so they wouldn't
be killed by the communist. It
was, you know, they were
pushing uh Um they were pushing
the helicopters off of the
ships because there wasn't
enough room on the ships to
take all the people and the
helicopters and all the other
things that they were trying to
get out of Vietnam. It was it
was terribly embarrassing for
America and it was a terribly
difficult time and now Ford
pardoned Nixon and people were
like enough and so Carter came
in uh into this uh you know a
really difficult time and uh
while I have respect for him as
a person. I actually think that
Carter was one of the worst
presidents that we've ever had.
He was uh not a visionary
leader. Um he did um have a
great accomplishment with the
camp David Accords in bringing
peace between Israel and Egypt
but there were not many more
accomplishments than that. um
and part of the big problem
with Carter and we talked about
this earlier was unlike people
like John F. Kennedy or uh
Ronald Reagan or later uh Bill
Clinton. these were people a
vision. You know, Bill
Clinton's uh his campaign song
was Don't Stop thinking about
tomorrow and That goes all the
way back to FDR Ronald Reagan
learned it from FDR, he said,
FDR in the darkest days of the
depression in the darkest days
of World War two, He kept
saying happy days are here
again and he kept saying, we
are going to mobilize. We are
going to win. We're going to
protect freedom. We're going to
protect democracy in the world.
So, he projected American
strength. He projected American
Vision. He projected something
that brought about Unity where
Jim Carter. He said, you know,
things are bad and we don't
think that they're going to
really get better and so,
rather than, you know, moving
ahead, we all need to, you
know, just cut corners. That
was Jimmy Carter's answer was
that everybody needed to turn
down the thermostat rather than
saying, let's gather the best
and the brightest and let's
solve the problems and say, you
know, America's best days are
ahead because we are a free
people and when you are a free
uh a Then you are given the
ability to think and to create
and to think outside the box
and that is what Jimmy uh what
Jimmy Carter couldn't grasp and
that's one of the reasons why
he lost Ronald Reagan who's uh
campaign slogan was that it's
morning in America again after
years from the assassination or
17 years from the assassination
of John F. Kennedy through the
horrors of Vietnam and the
social upheavals of You know,
all of the the junk that
happened in the 1960s and in
the early 1970s and then
through the terrible betrayal
of the American people in
Watergate because you know, no
matter what you thought about
Nixon as a president, when he
tried to use the the American
people's vote by uh putting his
thumb on the scales of the
election. That's uh that's just
as much a coup as an assassin
uh when it comes right down to
it. So, it was absolutely
immoral. It was illegal. It was
wrong and sadly, Nixon will go
down throughout history as
someone who broke the trust of
the people and uh would have
deserved everything that came
to him had it not been for
forward. So, after all of that
after then the oil Embargo with
OPEC after uh the uh terrible
inflation you know uh imagine
there were there were banks
that were charging twenty and
twenty-one for uh for home
loans Home loans today are down
to two and three and 4%, they
were charging. Uh can you
imagine? No wonder no wonder
the uh the economy had grown to
a halt and the other thing was
this huge taxes that the
Democrats had passed in the in
the 60s and then through the
70s and you have to blame Nixon
for some of that because he
didn't cut those taxes but
Ronald Reagan came in and said
right now government is our
biggest problem and we need to
cut these taxes and he did and
it opened up an economy that
through the 1980s uh was an
unbelievable roaring economy.
Now, I disagree with some of
the things that Reagan did and
I disagree with some of the
things that other uh Republican
presidents have done especially
uh are massive military
spending. Um it's been out of
control and uh I know for a
fact that there Unbelievable
waste that happens in our
military industrial complex and
uh none other than general and
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
on his way out of the White
House. He said, this is the big
danger that we're facing and
that is the military industrial
complex and that's something
that sadly Reagan didn't
control and other presidents
have not controlled and so we
have to find a way to be able
to have a strong military while
also the costs. at a more
reasonable place. So, okay,
we've, I have one last question
before I get to those
questions. I'll read a couple
of comments that have come in
come in. um recently, Marlene
said, weeping may endure for
the night but joy comes in the
morning which I believe was his
campaign slogan, right? Uh no,
that's a scripture. Oh, but he
had the Reagan had the campaign
slogan that is similar to this
thought. Okay and that was that
it was uh morning in America
again. uh saying there is Uh if
we come together, we can
overcome these problems and he
led America out of the the
malaise of the 1970s and the
1980s were truly a remarkable
uh decade and people on on all
sides of the spectrum if
they're on it Your audio just
went out. Can you hear me now?
I can hear you now. I didn't
catch the last bit of what you
said. Uh people on all sides of
the spectrum, if they're
honest, politically would agree
that uh Reagan's leadership led
us into a dramatic decade and
really more than a decade it
was um you know, probably up to
towards 20 years. There are
couple of dips in there. You
know, the recession during uh
George George H. Walker's
presidency which helped lead to
uh Clinton coming office but
then Clinton had an amazing
time as well. Uh so, it really
wasn't until 911 that uh that
started to slow down. Alright
and the last comment we got
from Daniel Wilbur Reagan had
been learning campaigning
skills for many years working
for GE as a spokesman. Yeah,
that's right and the
interesting thing about that is
that they did not tell Reagan
what he could or couldn't say
Uh Reagan had been the um the
host of a television show
called The GE uh story hour or
something like that where they
did these dramas every week on
television and you know, by
this point, Reagan's film
career had pretty much dried up
well, television gave him a new
lease on life. You know, it
paid well and he only had to do
this small little 10 minute
segments and he got paid like
he was was in the movies uh but
part of that was that a general
electric which was the sponsor
of this television show then
asked him to promote the TV
show by going to all the GE
plants around the country and
then when he did that, you
know, he'd have other
engagements at like the of
commerce in these different
cities and so, Reagan, uh they
said, say whatever you want.
So, he started uh developing
his political views and testing
them in these speeches and that
happened over the course of uh
more than 10 years and it got
to the point where Reagan
became, you know, he was
already a great communicator.
He was an actor and he was a
trained actor and you know, uh
if you ever saw the Bonzo
movies, you know, he was a good
actor Now, there's a there are
a couple of movies where he's
actually quite good and one is
called Where's the Rest of Me?
Uh where he plays a young man
who's legs are amputated and uh
then also of course his
greatest role which was the new
Rocky story where he played the
dipper dipper. Yeah. Yeah. That
was what he was best known for
and you know was called the
Dipper for the rest of his
life. So uh yeah by the time he
was ready to run for political
office running for governor in
California. Uh he was He was
ready to go. Awesome. Well, we
just have a couple more
minutes. So, I'll leave you
with this one. Last question,
Senator. Senator Ted Kennedy,
challenged President Jimmy
Carter and lost in the
Democratic primary of 1980 and
then Carter lost of Ronald
Reagan and then in November of
that year for the presidency
and so how do you see this as a
turning point for the country?
You know, I think that was a
great tragedy there. because um
the Kennedy's were uh you know,
they they have a lot of great
qualities and especially I was
a very big fan and still I'm a
big fan of both John F Kennedy
and Robert Kennedy Now, you
know, there are we all know now
of uh personality things and
some bad behavior that was
going on behind the scenes
especially with regard to John
Kennedy and his adulterous
affairs and that's a tragedy
but politically um he was uh a
pretty excellent president. Uh
he did not have a lot of time
to develop that and who knows
what would have happened. you
know, in a second term the same
thing with Abraham Lincoln. you
can only judge by what they
were able to do but Kennedy was
able to do a lot and then his
brother Bobby really picked up
the um picked up the the torch
of his fallen brother and carry
that forward. and god only
knows what might have happened
in America. Had Bobby Kennedy
become the president because I
think he was a fair minded man
and he could have brought a lot
of stability in the country
that wasn't there. Um but then,
you know, after he was killed
uh Teddy Kennedy um really had
a crisis in his life and
totally understandable. His two
brothers who he looked up to
and he loved were brutally
murdered in public. and all of
that weight of the expectation
combined with his own personal
grief caused. I think him to
have a bit of a meltdown. Uh
Ted Kennedy was a very smart
person. Uh increasingly he
moved with the country to the
left to the point where um
there were many that I did not
agree with and did not like
about his policies. Uh so, he,
you know, was the one Kennedy
that politically I didn't agree
with but I had to um respect
him as a great politician. They
called him the lion of the
senate uh because he had been
in the senate since he was a
very young man and so in his
later years, he had
unbelievable power and
influence but sadly, I don't
think he always used it uh for
the best of the country in my
opinion. The other tragedy was
that in his grief, um Kennedy
really moved strongly into
drinking and um there were
there was a party off of the
Massachusetts coast on a small
island called Chappaqua and um
Kennedy was there with a lot of
his political friends and there
were a lot of women there who
had been uh people who had
volunteered for uh the Robert
Kennedy uh candidacy and also,
you know, for Eddie, uh Teddy
Kennedy's different elections
and they were having a good
time. Uh who knows what exactly
happened? All we know is that a
lot of drinking was taking
place. Mm hmm. And um uh Ted
Kennedy uh invited or was asked
to give a ride uh to uh this
young lady uh to her home and
uh on the way, we don't know
all the details but we know
that he was driving that they
went off the road off of a
bridge. Uh into the bay and uh
he escaped and this young lady
did not and drowned That was
the moment that Ted Kennedy
lost the presidency because had
he not done that. There's a
high likelihood because the
Kennedy's were tremendously
popular that either in 7276 or
eighty or who knows when he
would have been elected as
president but um for him to
have lost to Jimmy Carter who
really was not the greatest
president um show that the
American public said we like
the Kennedy family but we
cannot allow just like they
said to Richard Nixon. we
cannot allow someone who has
done something like this to be
elected president and so it was
a tragedy in that um but then
it also was something where the
American people I think said,
you know, we want to put uh the
60s and 70s behind us and we
want it to be a new morning in
America and they elected AA, an
optimist and a visionary who
turned out to be in my opinion,
one of our great presidents and
I think historians looking back
will look at his
accomplishments and say they
were really truly great. Uh
that includes the cutting of
the taxes that includes strong
defense. Although I think that
is spending was a little too
high but it also the winning of
the cold war and I believe that
you have a combination of
Margaret Thatcher, Pope, John,
Paul, and Ronald Reagan. all
three of them great leaders
bringing tremendous pressure on
communism and that was where it
cracked and that was where it
broke and that's where it fell
in Eastern Europe. It fell in
the Soviet Union and it was
dramatically changed in China
even though it's still a
communist nation. It's not a
mouse or a soviet type system
anymore. Although lately, The
moving back in that scary
direction. So, we need to pray
that um that that wouldn't
happen. So, the good news is is
that Ronald Reagan, I think set
a precedence and set an example
uh that I hope that presidents
continue to follow uh for years
and and decades to come. Well,
that's all the questions I have
for you. Do you have any any
last statements? No, we want to
Thank once again everyone who's
joined us tonight and remind
you that we're here every
weekday on Thursday at 7 PM
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and Myths and if you have a
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upcoming program, please send
us an Email. You can do that by
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Follow the bouncing Fingernail,
right? And uh Von dot com and
send in your question. We'll be
happy to consider those for a
future program and you see
behind me, uh three of my books
uh over here is Victor, the
Final Battle of Ulysses S Grant
and this is this is Nobody
Knows the Harry T Burley story
and this is forward the
leadership principles in US
Grant. If you are interested in
any of those books, you can get
them on Amazon or by going to
Vons.com or you can go to
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sorry, Grant Victor Book.com or
grant forward Book.com uh or
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so for John, the Man of the Sea
Farrell and again, I said,
don't do that. Hey, you you put
a nautical term in there and
I'm going to go ally on you.
Alright. Alright. John the
armor. I will do it again. Hey,
y'all. I'm Craig Vaughn. We
will see you next week. Same
pirate here next week or so.
Oh, where are you going to be
next week? John Farrell? I'll
be at my my youngest son's
vacation bible school
performing. Um so, I don't know
what I'm performing. You're
going to be a pirate of course.
Yeah, man. You gotta get a
parrot for your shoulder.
Actually, the theme is train.
So I'll probably most likely be
a engine, a train conductor.
You'll be John Casey Farrell.
Can you see the train, man?
Right? Alright. So, for John C,
the Sea Farrell, I'm Craig Von.
Have a great week. We'll see
you next week. Same time, same
bat channel.
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