1968: The Year That Changed America

It's a four-part 2018 documentary series by CNN produced by Tom Hanks and others. It takes a chronological approach to that pivotal year in American history. Each episode covers one "season," beginning with Winter 1968 (January-March). Each episode starts with a popular song from that era, though not necessarily from 1968.

Each episode then goes chronologically through the months, particularly emphasizing the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement in the United States. Secondarily, especially in the first six months, is the Civil Rights Movement. Spring 1968 is especially poignant with two assassinations. The Apollo space program arrives later in the year, along with the presidential election races, with full coverage of the Republican convention, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the ultimate three-way race between Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and George Wallace. There are slight asides to the early women's movement and Elvis Presley for some reason. It attempts to end on a positive note.

"1968: The Year That Changed America" is a successful documentary that is necessarily restricted to available visuals, with limited analysis by a wide variety of historians and news commentators, especially Dan Rather. Television documentaries' analysis tends to be limited and somewhat superficial. But it's an emotionally draining watch if you lived in urban America, especially on college campuses, in 1968, as was my case, living in Chicago as a draft resister most of that year. While it's powerful watching, I agree with one reviewer who said it should have been titled "1968: The Year That Didn't Change America Nearly Enough."