Chapters

1. NIXON'S CHALLENGE (18 minutes, 43 seconds). Covers Richard Nixon’s dealings with the crisis in Vietnam, the rampant student war protests, the celebration of the Apollo 11 moon mission, the tragedy of the Kent State University riots, the federal treasury’s abandonment of the gold standard, Nixon’s diplomatic journey to China, the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty between the US and Soviet Union, the first stage of American withdrawal from South Vietnam, remaining Apollo moon missions (including the near-tragic Apollo 13 flight), and the conclusion of America’s war in Vietnam.

2. LOSING PUBLIC CONFIDENCE (16 minutes, 37 seconds). Covers the Watergate scandal, the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew (on tax evasion charges), the controversial Supreme Court decision in the Roe v. Wade case, the resignation of Richard Nixon, the Gerald Ford presidency, communist atrocities in southeast Asia, Jimmy Carter's rise to the presidency, the proclamation for eventual US surrender of the Panama Canal, the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt, Carter’s diplomatic abandonment Taiwan in favor of Communist China, White House support for the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua, the federal government’s meddling with domestic fuel production, and the onset of the energy crisis in America.

3. THE CARTER CRISIS AND THE REAGAN REVOLUTION (20 minutes, 23 seconds) Recounts the flight of the “Boat People” from communist Vietnam, the excessive rise in unemployment and inflation, the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, the American hostage crisis in Iran, the failed SALT II negotiations with the Soviet Union, Carter's fatally botched attempt to rescue the American hostages in Iran, the election of Ronald Reagan, the release of the American hostages, the conclusion of the energy crisis, the assassination attempt on President Reagan, the restoration of economic growth in America, Reagan’s firm handling of the air traffic controllers’ strike, the president’s public denouncement of Soviet communism, the American Embassy bombing in Beirut, the Soviet downing of a Korean Airlines passenger jet, the bombing of American and French military housing units in Beirut, the US war victory against communist invaders in Grenada, the onset of a health crisis triggered by rampant sexual depravity, passage of the Deficit Reduction Act, and the political standoff over the crisis in Nicaragua.

4. TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY (22 minutes, 42 seconds). Encompasses Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, the terrorist hijacking of an American airliner in Greece, Reagan’s bombing of Lebanon, the American capture of terrorists who hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, passage of the Tax Reform Act (reducing income tax rates), the increase in wayward congressional spending, American air strikes on Libya (the center of the terrorist cabal), the Iran-Contra controversy, Reagan’s diplomatic trumping of the Soviet Union, the presidency of George Bush (the elder), the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the overthrow of Czechoslovakia’s communist dictatorship, the American capture of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, the fall of Soviet tyranny, the rise of new republics in the former Soviet Union, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and America’s Gulf War with Iraq.

5. POLITICAL GRIDLOCK (22 minutes, 36 seconds). Covers George Bush’s reversal on his “no new taxes” pledge, the geopolitical restructuring of central and eastern Europe, the presidential election victory of Bill Clinton, the first bombing attack on the World Trade Center in New York, the deadly outcome of the federal law enforcement raid on the Branch Davidian religious group, the ambush and killing of American troops in Somalia, US intervention in Haiti, the Clintons’ Whitewater real estate investment scandal, the return of a Republican majority in Congress (after four decades), Clinton’s deployment of American troops to Bosnia, the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, the Welfare Reform Act, the “Chinagate” campaign finance controversy, the deployment of U.S. “peacekeeping” forces in Kosovo, Osama bin Laden's bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the impeachment--but not removal--of President Clinton, and the contested presidential election of 2000.

6. THE WAR ON TERROR (18 minutes, 02 seconds). Covers the 9-11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the US wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the emergence of sectarian violence in Iraq, the political assault on President George W. Bush, and the contentious mid-term congressional election of 2006.

7. END CREDITS (1:20)