President Nixon Film Screening: The Movement and the "Madman"
If you are not a member yet, now is the time to join our community and receive the great benefits of membership. We are a group of people seeking truth, insight and wisdom about the issues we face as individuals and as a society. Please join! You can become a monthly sustaining member for just $10 a month.
Join us at our beautiful waterfront headquarters to celebrate the 50th anniversary of August 8, 1974, the day President Richard Nixon resigned, and to remember an era in which there were still stark limits to what presidents could do and keep a straight face.
Stephen Talbot will screen his film, The Movement and the "Madman", which debuted in 2023 on the PBS series "American Experience." Talbot’s 82-minute film tells the story of how two major anti-Vietnam War protests in the fall of 1969 pressured President Nixon to cancel what he privately called his "madman" plans for a major escalation of the war, including the possibility of his threatening to use nuclear weapons.
After Talbot’s film is screened, he will answer questions about both the history of that time and his artistry making documentary films. Those who took part in the 1969 protests in the Bay Area are especially welcome to join the discussion, which will also include Talbot’s perspective on the relevance of Nixon’s resignation to our current international political situations―where threatening to use nuclear weapons no longer seems to cause irreparable shame and dishonor.
This program is in-person only. If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one.
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.
A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.
Photo courtesy the speaker.
All ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.
The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
Stephen Talbot
Producer and Director, The Movement and the "Madman"
In Conversation with George Hammond
Author, Conversations With Socrates
5 p.m. doors open & check-in
5:30–7:15 p.m screening and 20-minute Q&A
(all times Pacific Time)
COST
In-person:
$10 members
$20 nonmembers
Free for Leadership Circle members and students