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Riding the Tiger (1961-1963)

Season 1 Episode 2 | 1hr 26m 27s

President Kennedy inspires idealistic young Americans to serve their country and wrestles with how deeply to get involved in South Vietnam. As the increasingly autocratic Diem regime faces a growing communist insurgency and widespread Buddhist protests, a grave political crisis unfolds.

Aired: 09/17/17
Funding for The Vietnam War is provided by Bank of America; Corporation for Public Broadcasting; David H. Koch; The Blavatnik Family Foundation; Park Foundation; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; National Endowment for the Humanities; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Ford Foundation Just Films; Rockefeller Brothers Fund; and Members of The Better Angels Society: Jonathan & Jeannie Lavine, Diane & Hal Brierley, Amy & David Abrams, John & Catherine Debs, Fullerton Family Charitable Fund, The Montrone Family, Lynda & Stewart Resnick, The Golkin Family Foundation, The Lynch Foundation, The Roger & Rosemary Enrico Foundation, Richard S. & Donna L. Strong Foundation, Bonnie & Tom McCloskey, Barbara K. & Cyrus B. Sweet III, The Lavender Butterfly Fund
After a century of French occupation, Vietnam emerges independent but divided.
US soldiers discover Vietnam is unlike their fathers’ war, as the antiwar movement grows.
With South Vietnam near collapse, LBJ bombs the North and sends US troops to the South.
South Vietnam fights alone as Nixon and Kissinger find a way out for America. POWs return.
Nixon withdraws troops but upon sending forces to Cambodia the antiwar movement reignites.
After chaos roils the Democratic Convention, Nixon, promising peace, wins the presidency.
Shaken by the Tet Offensive, assassinations and unrest, America seems to be coming apart.
President Johnson escalates the war while promising the public that victory is in sight.
Saigon falls and the war ends. Americans & Vietnamese from all sides seek reconciliation.