Thomas Emmet "Tom" Hayden (born December 11, 1939) is an American social and political activist, author, and politician, who is director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center in Culver City, California. Best known for his leadership role in the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s, Hayden is the former husband of actress Jane Fonda and the father of their son, actor Troy Garity.
Tom Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan, to parents of Irish descent. He graduated from Dondero High School in Royal Oak, Michigan, class of 1956. He later attended the University of Michigan, where he was editor of the Michigan Daily and, disenchanted by the anti-radicalism of existing groups like the National Student Association (later revealed to be a CIA front), was one of the founders of the influential New Left student activist group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Hayden became one of the most prominent figures in the Sixties New Left movement and one of the most visible and outspoken opponents of the War in Vietnam.
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing his undergraduate work at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937, and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife, Pat Nixon, moved to Washington to work for the federal government in 1942. He subsequently served in the United States Navy during World War II. Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His pursuit of the Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president. He waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California in 1962. In 1968, he ran again for the presidency and was elected.
Ralph Nader ( /ˈneɪdər/; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government.
Nader came to prominence in 1965 with the publication of his book Unsafe at Any Speed, a critique of the safety record of American automobile manufacturers in general, and most famously the Chevrolet Corvair. In 1999, an NYU panel of journalists ranked Unsafe at Any Speed 38th among the top 100 pieces of journalism of the 20th century.
Nader is a six-time candidate for President of the United States, having run as a write-in candidate in the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic primary, as the Green Party nominee in 1996 and 2000, and as an independent candidate in 2004 and 2008. Some people claim that Nader acted as a spoiler in the 2000 U.S. presidential election, while others, including Nader, dispute this claim.
Nader was born in Winsted, Connecticut. His parents, Nathra and Rose (née Bouziane) Nader, were immigrants from Lebanon and members of the Maronite Church. His family's native language is Arabic, and he has spoken it along with English since childhood. His sister, Laura Nader, is an anthropologist. His father worked in a textile mill and later owned a bakery and restaurant where he talked politics with his customers.
Plot
Based on actual court transcripts of 8 anti-war protesters on trial for conspiring to cause riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
[repeated line]::Abbie Hoffman: Yippie!
Bill Kunstler: Jail is better than getting your asses shot in Vietnam.
Abbie Hoffman: Sorry dad, I'm ready to go to jail.
Jerry Rubin: [trying to interrupt a huge confusion in the court] Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler. [the fight in the courtroom stops]
Abbie Hoffman: [speaking Yiddish to the judge] You are a disgrace in front of the gentiles.
The convention was drama. The trial was comedy.
Speak Your Peace.
Plot
Five years after Yippie founder Abbie Hoffman goes underground to avoid a drug-related prison sentence, he contacts a reporter to get out the story of the FBI's covert spying, harassment and inciting of violence they then blame on the Left. The skeptical reporter interviews Anita, Hoffman's wife, a single mom on welfare in New York City; Hoffman's attorney, Gerry Lefcourt; and others. As they talk, we see Hoffman's career in flashbacks, from early civil rights organizing through the trial of the Chicago Eight. While underground, as mental illness takes its toll, he meets Johanna Lawrenson, and an odd family develops: Abbie, Anita, their son, and Johanna. Will vindication ever arrive?
Keywords: 1960s, 1968-democratic-convention, 1970s, african-american, airplane, alienation, american, amusement-park, anti-establishment, apartheid
Plot
A strange spoof in the worst taste imaginable, renowned artist Raymond Pettibon studies the interpersonal relationships among a group of urban middle-class terrorists in the early Seventies.
Keywords: apostrophe-in-title, bad-taste, based-on-true-story, digit-in-title, hippie, independent-film, number-in-title, punctuation-in-title, terrorism
Plot
A made-for-cable-TV docudrama about the trial of the men accused of conspiring to cause protesters to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Combines in an innovative manner dramatic recreations (largely faithful to the actual trial transcripts) with documentary footage and interviews with the actual defendants.
Keywords: based-on-true-story