>>> 1968 AT THE OLYMPICS IN MEXICO CITY, THIS HAPPENED.
TOMMY SMITH, THE FIRST PLACE WINNER IN THE MEN'S 200 METER
RACE WITH THIRD PLACE WINNER JOHN CARLOS RAISED THEIR FISTS
IN WHAT HAD BECOME THE SYMBOL OF THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT AND THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES LYNDON JOHNSON SAID NOTHING.
THAT CAME AFTER MOHAMMED ALI'S 1966 DEFIANCE OF THE DRAFT WHICH
GOT HIM CONVICTED OF A FEDERAL CRIME AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES LYNDON JOHNSON SAID NOTHING.
AND IN 1971 WHEN ALI WON THE CASE ON APPEAL, THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES RICHARD NIXON SAID NOTHING.
IN 1972, AFTER HIS MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYING DAYS WERE OVER,
BASEBALL'S FIRST BLACK PLAYER JACKIE ROBINSON SAID IN HIS
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, I CANNOT STAND AND SING THE ANTHEM.
I CANNOT SALUTE THE FLAG. I KNOW THAT I AM A BLACK MAN IN
A WHITE WORLD. BILL MOYERS IS AN AWARD WINNING
JOURNALIST, SERVED AS THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY IN THE
JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION FROM 1965 TO 1967 AND WE HAVE THE HONOR OF
BILL JOINING US NOW. >> GOOD TO BE WITH YOU.
>> BILL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND SO
TAKE US BACK TO THIS -- YOU WERE IN THE WHITE HOUSE WHEN MOHAMMED
ALI DEFIED THE DRAFT. VIETNAM WAS THE BIGGEST ISSUE IN
THE COUNTRY AT THE TIME IN TERMS OF THE TENSIONS OF THE COUNTRY
WHICH WAS JUST ALMOST COMING OUT OF BUT NOT QUITE COMING OUT OF
THE TENSIONS IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND STILL VERY ACTIVE.
>> HE WAS -- HE WAS -- LET'S SAY PROTOCOL CONSCIOUS IN TERMS OF
ATTACKING DISSENTERS, PUBLICLY OR PEOPLE WHO DISAGREED WITH
HIM. PRIVATELY HE OFTEN SAID VERY
HARSH THINGS ABOUT THEM, PARTICULARLY AS THE WAR IN
VIETNAM ESCALATED AND AS IT THEN BECAME A QUAGMIRE.
>> YES. >> HE FELT THEY WERE COMMUNISTS
ON THE LEFT. HE SAID PRIVATELY, I DON'T KNOW
IF HE THOUGHT IT AND WOULD SAY PRIVATELY ON TELEPHONE TAPES,
COMMUNISTS STIRRING UP TROUBLE. THEY DON'T WANT US TO WIN IN
VIETNAM AND RARELY DID THE PUBLIC HOSTILITY -- DID THE
HOSTILITY BECOME PUBLICLY. THE VIETNAM SERIES QUOTED AS
BEING VERY HARSH ABOUT PROTESTERS OUTSIDE OF THE WHITE
HOUSE AND DRAFT DODGERS. AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE RARE
TIMES THAT HE SAID IN IT A WAY THAT MORE THAN A FEW PEOPLE IN
THE ROOM COULD HEAR IT. >> AND THIS IS A PRESIDENT WHO
HAD TWO SON-IN-LAWS, SONS-IN-LAW SERVING IN VIETNAM.
>> I THINK THE PRESENCE THERE IS WHAT FINALLY TRIGGERED HIS DEEP
RESIGNATION TO THE FACT THAT HE HAD TO GET OUT.
>> YEAH, YEAH. THAT ACTUAL PART OF HIS MOVE
WHICH WAS REALLY EXECUTED IN 1968 WHERE HE REALLY STARTED
MOVING JOHNSON STARTED MOVING TOWARD TRYING TO GET PEACE TALKS
WAS A MATTER OF WHAT HE WAS HEARING FROM HIS SONS-IN-LAW?
>> I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS WHAT HE WAS HEARING BUT I WASN'T
THERE IN '68. I LEFT IN '65.
HE AND LUCY, HIS YOUNGEST DAUGHTER AFTER THE BOYS WENT TO
VIETNAM THEY WOULD GO TO MIDNIGHT MASS IN THE LOCAL
CATHOLIC CHURCH. SHE WAS A CATHOLIC AND THEY
WOULD FEEL AND SENSE THE DANGER. WHEN THAT DANGER IS THAT CLOSE,
AFFECTS ANY PRESIDENT TO LOSE YOUNG MEN IN WAR AND WHEN IT'S
YOUR OWN AS IT WAS ROOSEVELT AND THE WAR IS MADE VERY PERSONAL.
>> WE HAVE NO RECORD OF ANYONE IN THE TRUMP FAMILY EVER SERVING
IN ONE OF OUR WARS. AND THIS IS A PRESIDENT WHO
TALKS ABOUT THAT THE SOLDIERS HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES FOR THE
FLAG. THESE SOLDIERS -- IT IS FOR OUR
FALLEN SOLDIERS THAT WE ARE STANDING AND BEHAVING AS WE DO
IN THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. >> SOME PRESIDENTS FEEL MORE
DEEPLY THAN OTHERS DO AND SOME PEOPLE -- SOME PRESIDENTS BUILD
A GUARD BETWEEN THEM AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR DECISIONS.
JOHNSON TRIED THAT BUT HE COULD NOT DO IT.
HE DID NOT LIKE WAR. HE DID NOT LIKE GOING TO WAR BUT
AFTER HE WENT TO WAR HE PURSUED IT WITH A PASSION.
AND -- BUT HE NEVER WAS UNCONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT
PEOPLE WERE SUFFERING. I DON'T SAY THAT OUT OF LOYALTY
TO HIM. I JUST SAW HIM.
I JUST KNEW IT WAS WEARING ON HIS SPIRIT THAT HE WAS DOING
WHAT HE DIDN'T WANT TO DO AND DID IT ANYWAY, FIGHTING THIS WAR
AND WITH YOUNG MEN WHOM HE DRAFTED.
WE DRAFTED ABOUT 2.2 MILLION, MAYBE 2.5 MILLION YOUNG MEN IN
THAT PERIOD. AND ONLY 25% OF THEM WOUND UP IN
COMBAT BUT HE WAS AWARE AS HE SAID WHEN HE ESCALATED THE WAR
IN JULY OF 1965, HE WAS KIND OF SPOKE TO MOTHERS ABOUT THE NEED
FOR THEIR SACRIFICE. THE WAS THAT KIND OF
RATIONALIZATION THAT TORE AT HIM.
>> AND WHEN YOU SEE THIS PRESIDENT WHO MANAGED TO GET
HIMSELF A DOCTOR'S NOTE TO KEEP HIMSELF OUT OF THE DRAFT,
TALKING ABOUT LECTURING AS HE WAS THIS WEEKEND ABOUT WHAT THE
NATIONAL ANTHEM IS SUPPOSED TO MEAN TO EVERYONE ELSE, AND DOING
SO AS YOU SAY WITHOUT ANY CONCERN THAT PRESIDENT JOHNSON
AND PREDECESSORS HAD ABOUT MEASURING THEIR WRDS.
>> WELL, THIS -- THIS IS AN ALIEN IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
WE HAVE NEVER HAD THIS KIND OF PRESIDENT.
WE HAVE HAD BAD PRESIDENTS. WE HAVE HAD VULGAR MEN IN THE
PRESIDENCY. WE HAVE NEVER HAD SOMEONE WHO
SUFFERS FROM THE KIND OF MALIGNANT -- ALL ARE
NARCISSISTIC. THE PRESIDENTS DO NOT SPREAD
DOWN INTO THE COUNTRY AND THE CULTURE.
THIS ONE IS HAPPENING VERY FAST. ALMOST A CAMPAIGN TO CHILL FREE
SPEECH. THERE'S -- TO USE IT TO DIVIDE
AND POLARIZE THE COUNTRY. HE'S TURNED THE OVAL OFFICE I'M
SORRY TO SAY INTO A MOSH PIT OF BODILY AND VERBAL RHETORICAL
CONFLICT AND AN ANGRY MEN AND ALL THE WEEKEND HE WAS ANGRY
AT -- IN ALABAMA AND HILLARY CLINTON AGAIN.
HE WAS ANGRY AT THE FOOTBALL PLAYERS.
HE WAS ANGRY AT NORTH KOREA AND HIS ANGER'S GETTING THE BEST OF
HIM. >> JUST QUICKLY BEFORE WE GO.
LYNDON JOHNSON OR ANY PREVIOUS PRESIDENT, I IMAGINE THE
REACTION OF THIS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES JUST CALL THIS
DANGEROUS DICTATOR IN NORTH KOREA ROCKET MAN.
>> THAT'S FAR MORE DANGEROUS THAN WHEN'S HAPPENING WITH THE
NFL. HE'S BROUGHT THE NFL TO ITS
KNEES EFFECTIVELY IN REVERENCE TOWARD THE IDEALS HE'S BETRAYED
BUT THE ISSUE OF KOREA IS THE DEADLIEST OF A