How the Vietnam War Broke Our Trust in Government

HISTORY This Week

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History, Education, Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2024

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

December 1, 1969. Millions across America are tuned in to the same TV broadcast. They see a bland stage with some government workers behind desks. But there's also a large, plastic container filled with small blue capsules. In each of these capsules, a birth date. The order in which they're chosen will determine who is eligible to be sent off to fight in the Vietnam War. This is the draft lottery, an attempt by the Nixon administration to make the selective service process seem more fair, and restore some trust between the U.S. government and its people. It does not work. Today, public trust and the Vietnam War. How did this conflict, the first televised war, permanently alter the kind of faith that American citizens put into their leaders? And as a country, have we really ever recovered? Special thanks to Chris Appy, professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the director of the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy; and Wes Abney, author of Random Destiny: How the Vietnam War Draft Lottery Shaped a Generation. To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, it's Sally here. As we head into the holidays, we just want to let you know that
0:04.6	history this week is not going anywhere. Episodes will keep coming every Monday, so when you
0:10.3	meet up with friends and family, you will be stalked with plenty of fun stories to share
0:14.7	from the past. If you don't already, follow History This Week, wherever you listen to your podcasts,
0:19.6	and when you are showing off everything you learned from the show, make sure to tell them you heard it from us.
0:25.1	The History Channel, Original Podcast.
0:30.1	History This Week, December 1, 1969.
0:36.8	I'm Sally Helm.
0:40.0	The scene could be mistaken for the set of a school play, a small stage decorated with beige curtains. Off to the side, an American flag.
0:51.9	But this is the Selective Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.
0:57.3	Tonight will be the first televised draft of the Vietnam War. There is a kind of dark
1:05.4	theater to it. Americans at home are watching to see whether they'll be the ones sent off to war.
1:15.6	The numbers that will determine their fate sit on that little stage.
1:18.6	Off to the left, there's a clear plastic container filled with blue pill-shaped capsules.
1:24.6	In each of these capsules is a slip of paper, one for each calendar date of 1970.
1:32.3	There are 366 of them, 1970 is a leap year. They're birthdays. And the earlier your birthday is chosen, the more likely you'll be called to serve. The camera focuses for a moment on those
1:47.4	capsules. Then cuts to Lieutenant General Louis Hershey.
1:52.2	pursuant to the executive order, the Director Selective Service is going to establish tonight
1:58.5	a random selection sequence for induction for 1970.
2:07.6	Congressman Alexander Pyrene reaches into the container and pulls out the first capsule.
2:14.6	September 14th.
2:18.4	And the draft lottery is officially underway.
	...

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