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Staying in the early 20th Century today. Here is an address by the legendary William Jennings Bryan, who may probably be best known for his role in the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925; teaching Evolution in public Schools. Bryan died within hours of the trials end. Although Bryan came to epitomize the Liberal Wing of the Democratic Party, he was a staunch prohibitionist and staunchly anti-Darwin, whose theory of Evolution was the basis for the famous trial. He unsuccessfully ran for President in 1896, 1900 and 1908 and was appointed Secretary of State in the Wilson Administration in 1913.

Here is the last portion of his address to the 1908 Democratic Convention, recorded several days later, on July 21, 1908 for posterity and also to be used for the Bryan campaign.

Later known as the "Ideal Republic" Address, here is the transcript of that speech since, being recorded in 1908, is a little hard to decipher in places:

Continue reading »

In July 1967, with all the recent developments in the Middle East, the riots throughout America and escalating dissent towards the Vietnam War, Secretary of State Dean Rusk still maintained the eroding position that the majority of Americans supported the War and it was only a small "marginal" segment of the population trying to end it and get us out of there.

This interview from Face The Nation on July 30, 1967, features a trio of reporters - Marvin Kalb, Murray Marder and Martin Agronsky. They tried for some clarification from Rusk that our Foreign Policy was indeed going in the right direction and that the seemingly rampant violence hitting our cities was only a minor blemish on the bigger picture.

Dean Rusk: “I think they know enough about us to know that these riots have nothing to do with the situation that they face in Vietnam and their ambitions to take over South Vietnam by force. We’ve had some indication that they are becoming a little more sophisticated about the American political system and that they know that these marginal dissents and these minority views do not represent the United States or its policy or its determination. I think it would be a great mistake for them to think they get any comfort out of what has happened here recently in some of our cities. Obviously in their propaganda they are trying to use it to our disadvantage and this is happening also in Peking and Havana and Moscow.”

The only problem was, it was far from true and the level of dissent towards the war was escalating at a rapid rate. It was easy in 1964 to label dissent towards the war in Vietnam as marginal - only a comparatively few people actually knew there was war going on before the Gulf of Tonkin incident. But as the war dragged on and as casualty reports kept coming in (even though they were shaded in number so as to appear not so bad), it was hard to justify being there by 1967. The notion that billions of dollars were being spent on a War in Southeast Asia while our own cities languished in depressed times seemed wildly inexcusable. Despite the fact that a bastion of hawks and supporters of the war insisted it wasn't, the war was quickly becoming lost to the vast majority of American people. Particularly those who had sons fighting, or who were becoming of draft age and were facing the daunting prospects of being another number on the casualty lists.

But they tried to paint a rosy picture and they tried to say it was not what the majority really wanted. And Dean Rusk was somehow stuck propping up a rapidly weakening position.

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This day in 1941 was staring at the 600th since that ominous overture to Poland in 1939. And in that time, Europe was engulfed in a series of invasions, surrenders and daily desperation.

From London came word that German bombing raids over Britain the previous night were mostly confined to the Southeast and Northeast of England, but casualties were reported to be small. It was also the second successive night London went without a raid alarm.

The RAF retaliated with attacks on targets throughout occupied Europe.

The Free French Island of Tahiti declared itself on the side of DeGaulle.

There were unconfirmed yet persistent reports that Athens had fallen to the Germans and that Greece was in danger of being a lost Allied cause.

From Berlin came news that the previous nights address by Charles Lindbergh of the America First Committee at Madison Square Garden in New York drew praise in the German press, fueling speculation that maybe America would not get involved in the War after all.

Hitler concluded talks with Hungarian leaders in the wake of preparing German plans for the occupied Balkan region. Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka returned to Tokyo, armed with assurances and a renewed alliance with Berlin. Rumors that Germany was planning a move to Spain and Portugal were shrugged off as British propaganda, despite credible reports that some 2,500 German operatives posing as "tourists" were roaming the streets of Madrid.

It was also learned that German brewers were considering the idea of "light beer" to go with calls from the government to curb alcohol use, even though they hadn't even entered the experimental stage yet. And shortages were turning into rationing of cigarettes and cigars, in the wake of government calls to ban tobacco, which was deemed not such a good thing from a morale point of view.

And back in the U.S. - Secretary of State Cordell Hull called for renewed support of Britain in their fight against the axis and to support Lend-Lease.

All on this day in April, 1941 as reported by NBC and it's News Of The World.

On January 4th 1968 Secretary of State Dean Rusk held a Press Conference where he reviewed Foreign Policy accomplishments of the previous year, and laid out goals for 1968. As always during the Vietnam Era, the goings on in Hanoi were first and foremost and, among other subjects, the offer of a ceasefire for January was talked about. It is ironic that less than three weeks later North Vietnam would launch the bloody and opinion-changing Tet Offensive. The event which was said to have turned many Americans against our involvement in Vietnam and, for all intents and purposes, was influential in Lyndon Johnson's decision not to seek re-election for the 1968 Presidential election.

But on January 4th neither Rusk, nor anyone in the State Department or on the ground in Vietnam, have a clue as to what was coming within a matter of days. The Offensive was said to have surprised everyone. There were skirmishes in the weeks leading up to Tet. But nothing to give any indication as to the scale of what was to come.

So with that in mind, here is the Dean Rusk Press Conference of January 4th, 1968 as heard over NBC Radio.

Pretend you have no idea how it all turned out.

This weekend, twenty-five years ago, it was all about The Persian Gulf and the U.S. decision to re-flag Kuwaiti Oil Tankers within the next ten days. Amid reports that Iran was mining the Gulf and the U.S. was inching closer to a shooting war. With the Iraqi bombing of the USS Stark, which claimed 37 crewmen, it would seem a showdown was inevitable.

Despite all that, there was no concrete Policy in place, with reference to our position on The Persian Gulf. This episode of Face The Nation was titled "Persian Gulf Policy: A Sea Of Confusion", and it reflected just how off the charts we were in handling crises overseas.

Joining Moderator Leslie Stahl were Under-Secretary of State Michael Armacost and Chairman of The House Armed Services Committe, Les Aspin, discussing what was becoming a fractured and and confusing policy and whether or not the re-flagging of Kuwaiti ships should be postponed.

Here is that broadcast. You get to decide.

A particularly grim day in 1940. Starting with news reports that France had appointed delegates to receive the German surrender terms. From the relocated French government in Bordeaux, Marshall Petain appealed to the French people, and the remaining French troops, to give up the War, that France had been defeated.

And while the appeals were going out and the envoys were readying to receive terms, the German Army were quickly advancing on all fronts, taking the important French Port city of Brest and the rumored capture of numerous French warships. What was left of the French Army had been separated into four areas and cut off from communication with each other. The German Army was also poised to take Paris.

All this had an uneasy affect on London, as it was reported that emergency cabinet meetings had taken place and plans for the defense of Britain were underway. Among those plans was the initial evacuation of some 20,000 children to Canada and the Dominions for the duration. The first ships were scheduled to convoy out in 2 weeks and offices handing the evacuation requests were flooded with applicants. It was widely believed that, now with the fall of France, Britain was facing Germany's Final Objective. German Bomber raids overnight hit the industrial cities of Billingham and Hull. The fires from Billingham could be seen for 30 miles. Reports from Berlin claimed they were reprisal bombings for British raids on German cities.

News from Washington initially came in the form of a bulletin that stated FDR made a surprising motion to form a Coalition Cabinet and the unprecedented move of appointing two high-ranking Republicans, Col. Frank Knox and Henry L. Stimson to the posts of Secretary of The Navy and Secretary of War, respectively. Knox was vice-Presidential Candidate for the Republicans in 1936 and Stimson was Secretary of State in the Hoover Administration and Secretary of War in the Taft Administration. The dismay came from the Republicans who felt it created damage to their 1940 Platform and it was purely a political move on FDR's part.

Another nail-biting day in history, this June 20, 1940, as reported on the NBC News Of The World.

Buried in the news on this June 4th in 1954 were several stories that would come back to haunt.

Starting with the tragic news of the explosion and fire aboard the USS Bennington, due to a hydraulic spark igniting explosive fuel, with the result of 102 crewmen dead.

The Secretary of Commerce admitted "we're in a Recession" with the disclosure of 16 more cities added to the list of 123 major cities with substantial unemployment. The figures come in at well above 5 million unemployed, although the government claimed its figures to be around 4 million. The numbers didn't take into account the unemployed whose benefits had run out in recent weeks.

Another harbinger of things to come - General James van Fleet was reported to have said he didn't think U.S. ground forces were needed in South East Asia. That sending military aid would be enough. This came hot on the heels of Secretary of State Dulles, joining a growing list of officials predicting U.S. involvement in a shooting war in Indo-China (i.e. Vietnam) was imminent.

There was a report on a preview of the upcoming 1955 cars, with a lot more V-8 engines available as standard equipment. The irony was an accompanying report that the major Oil companies were purposely keeping gas prices up by making claims that extra additives for improving performance of these V-8 engines was a way of jacking up gas prices, while marketing claims that these new fuel formulas were better for car performance. A claim not substantiated.

It was also reported that some Army engineers had developed a Solar Panel that, when installed on the roof of a family home, would provide enough heat and electricity to fuel the average house completely from the sun. In 1954, no less.

From Capitol Hill - much anticipated wrangling over President Eisenhower's Farm Bill. An FCC Commissioner, favored by Sen. McCarthy was re-appointed by President Eisenhower and the Army-McCarthy Hearings were droning on, with more noise than progress.

And that's what happened on this June 4, 1954 as reported by Frank Edwards And The News.

With a Guilty verdict for Voluntary Manslaughter, rather than the hoped for Guilty of Murder, convicted killer of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, Dan White, triggered a night of violence that saw scores of arrests and some 60 Policeman injured as San Francisco's Gay community vented its outrage at what was considered almost an acquittal. The fallout from the verdicts and the damage done, primarily to relations between the City and the Gay Community, would have long term and lasting affects.

Another set of protests went on in the wake of executions of convicted killers John Spenkelink and Willie Darden in Florida - the first to be held in that state since 1964. At the time of this broadcast, appeals were still pending.

Also pending was the outcome of elections in Canada which, according to polls, was a neck-and-neck race between incumbent Pierre Elliot Trudeau and challenger Joe Clark.

Secretary of State Vance went on a meet-and-greet with members of newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government while on a visit to London.

On Capitol Hill - Ethics hearings were continuing for Herman Talmadge and a Grand Jury were meeting to determine what would happen next in the brewing scandal of Bert Lance.

And California may become the first state to relax it's odd-even Gas rationing since it was being better-than-good about reduced driving and consumption, resulting in more plentiful gas supplies. Like the oil companies really cared.

And so went this particular May 22 in 1979 - an Even Day, if you were sitting at a gas station on Empty. All reported on The CBS World News Roundup.

May 14, 1978 saw the world in a state of threatened discontent. There were grumblings of a war developing between Ethiopia and Somalia. Border clashes between China and Russia brought a call from Beijing for intense training of its armed forces, citing a war between the two Communist powers was inevitable. Three Cambodian soldiers were killed in a clash with Thai Border police. And Yassar Arafat let everyone know Cuba offered to send troops to Lebanon if the PLO asked.

Meanwhile, a group of military experts was slated to accompany National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski on his upcoming trip to China. It was viewed as a slap in the face to Taiwan and further evidence the Taipei government was losing favor with the White House.

Speaking of Capitol Hill; the big push was on to win over votes in the Senate for Jimmy Carter's F-15 Fighter jet sales package to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The bill was in threat of being vetoed and Carter pledged to override the veto if push came to shove.

A Russian language newspaper published in Manhattan was bombed by a Pro-Israeli group calling themselves The Jewish Resistance. No injuries, but a lot of damage, and phone calls claiming credit also demanded Russian Jews be allowed to emigrate to Israel.

In Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Abel Muzorewa threatened to pull out of the bi-racial transitional government of Ian Smith over the recent dismissal of a Black judge.

And American companies operating in Iran were told to restrict the movements of their employees because of intensified anti-government violence against the Shah.

Supposedly a quiet news day, since May 14th in 1978 was a Sunday.

All that, as reported by Neil Strawser on the 7:00 am (PDT) CBS Hourly News.

The grumblings from Argentina over a disputed series of Islands under British possession boiled over on this day in 1982.

But that wasn't all that was going on, as was reported on this wrapup of the week. No, far from it. News from the elections in El Salvador gave the U.S. and most of Central America pause, since it was the largest turnout for an election in El Salvador's history. The counting was underway.

But news of the Falklands crisis was swift and plentiful. With Britain immediately sending a Naval taskforce, bringing promises of a shooting war within weeks. Calls for the Military government of Argentina to withdraw were rejected and diplomatic missions were running off the hook.

Meanwhile, it was noted that the Iran-Iraq War was lumbering into its 18th month with reports of an Iranian victory in the latest battle and some 8,000 Iraqi dead as the result

Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev was admitted to the hospital amidst rumors and speculation his health was deteriorating. Moscow's lips were sealed.

Back in the States - latest fears of Social Security running out of money by July of 1983 were echoing all over Capitol Hill. And we were still up to our eyeballs in Recession with a reported 9% unemployment rate looming. Closer inspection revealed the unemployment rate for Blacks was 18% with unemployed Black Youth up to 42%. No rosy picture anywhere for the Shining City On The Hill.

The big Oscar winners during the Academy Awards earlier in the week were Chariots of Fire and On Golden Pond.

And Irish extremist Ian Paisley was barred from coming to the U.S. to deliver an address to Bob Jones University. The move prompted Bob Jones Jr. to publicly call for Divine intervention and life-termination for Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who rejected the visa. East of the Suez they call 'em Fatwahs but here they call 'em Goofy Evangelists. Take your choice.

And that was our little slice of Paradise, this 2nd day of April 1982 as presented by CBS Radio and The World This Week.