A series of professors and historians look at the presidential tape recordings of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon B. Johnson, focusing on what these tapes reveal about the presidents' decisions and roles during the Vietnam War. The panel also discusses the significance of such recordings in general—to memory, to the press, to historians—and what they reveal about the character of individual presidents.

Audio and video options are available.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Halberstam delivers the keynote address to the national conference "'Vietnam and the Presidency," describing his experiences as a reporter during and on the Vietnam War and speaking on the war and its effects from this perspective.

Audio and video options are available.

Christian Appy, associate professor of history at MIT, discusses perceptions and memories of the Vietnam War from all possible sides: American civilians, antiwar protestors, and soldiers, as well as Vietnamese civilians and soldiers.

Hubie Jones, assistant to the Urban Affairs chancellor at the University of Massachusetts, provides an overview of the issue of race, and, in particular, the status of African Americans in Boston over the past 50 years.

A panel discusses the uncovering and content of the Presidential Tapes and what these recordings say about these presidents, their choices, and their personalities. The presentation includes excerpts from the Presidential Tapes.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the Du Bois Institute at Harvard, discusses the African and African-American experience from W.E.B. Du Bois to John Coltrane in a comprehensive study, with an emphasis on Du Bois's concept of the "Encyclopedia Africana"—an encyclopedia of all Black culture and history—as a weapon against racism.

A slideshow gives examples of presidential photography by three White House photographers: Cecil Stoughton, photographer for Kennedy and Johnson; David Hume Kennerly, for Ford; and Diana Walker, for Reagan and Bush, Sr. The presentation also includes photo coverage and commentary on other presidents, including Clinton and a discussion with the photographers which follows the slideshow.

Edmund Morris, biographer of Theodore Roosevelt, discusses Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan's construction of self-imagery and use of imagery in speeches.

Author Robert Dallek examines the relationship between Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, drawing on recently-released documents and tapes.

Theodore Sorensen (speechwriter for President Kennedy) and Ted Widmer (speechwriter for President Clinton) join Nixon and Bush, Senior's presidential speechwriters to discuss the art of capturing the president's voice, communicating his ideas, and inspiring the public. They share memories of the presidents with whom they worked and clips from their favorite speeches.