Original subtitles

Narrator: This is the story of America...

Seen in color for the first time.

The 1940s.

The battle lines are drawn.

In a world torn apart by war, America remains uncommitted.

It's not our fight, says Charles Lindbergh.

Charles Lindbergh: That we cannot win this war for england

regardless of how much assistance we send.

Narrator: But president Franklin Roosevelt disagrees.

Franklin Roosevelt: We must be the great arsenal of democracy.

Narrator: Japan's attack on Pearl harbor

settles the argument.

Man: Respond by saying "i do."

Men: I do. Clark gable: I do.

Narrator: But the war also unleashes a dark undercurrent

of fear and prejudice.

And as a victorious America assumes its new role

as a military and economic juggernaut,

post-war discontent simmers at home and abroad.

This is the story of the 1940s

as you've never seen it before.

John Kennedy: I want us to recapture that.

New York, April 23, 1941.

At the Manhattan center, hundreds attend a rally.

Tonight's speaker is a famed aviator

and American hero, Charles Lindbergh.

Lindbergh is a Nazi sympathizer

and avid opponent of U.S. involvement

in the overseas conflict.

Lindbergh: France has now been defeated,

and despite the propaganda and confusion of recent months,

it is now obvious that england is losing the war.

I believe...

Narrator: The call is to abandon

America's friend and ally.

Lindbergh: And I have been forced to the conclusion

that we cannot win this war for england,

regardless of how much assistance we send.

That is why the America first committee has been formed.

Narrator: Lindbergh and the national America first committee

rail against any involvement in the war.

Hundreds of thousands of citizens agree,

including future president John f. Kennedy,

who sends a check for $100.

Since the war began in 1939,

Americans have seen and heard about the devastation in Europe.

Reporter: Adolf Hitler's all-out attack on Poland

makes the long-dreaded European war a certainty,

narrator: But many are convinced that stopping Adolf Hitler

is not worth the sacrifice of American lives.

Man: This time America should keep out,

and I know I will.

Woman: I haven't the slightest idea of European affairs.

Man: I think we should stay out of it entirely.

Man: And all our efforts should be made

to keep out of the fight.

Man: Let Europe fight her own battles.

They mean nothing to us.

Narrator: Some Americans publicly admire the Nazis

and envision a fascist America.

In February 1939, some 20,000 American Nazis

rally in Madison square garden.

But on the west coast, the war in Europe seems very far away.

In San Francisco, Japanese American Dave tatsuno

films everyday life in his community.

And as the president

of the local Japanese American citizens league,

Dave films its national convention.

The league encourages the American-born children

of Japanese immigrants, or nisei,

to become politically active.

Dave and his wife Alice work in the family haberdashery store

in the heart of japantown.

It's called nichi bei bussan--

or Japanese-American department store.

But otherwise they lead typical American lives,

like this family visit to yosemite national park...

And Dave's latest purchase, a new Ford coupe.

With Germany already at war

and growing Japanese aggression in Asia,

they carry on, enjoying their prosperity.

In June 1940, France falls to the Nazis.

Britain, now desperate, holds on.

President Roosevelt is convinced

that America must join the effort to stop Hitler.

He begins the daunting task of preparing his nation for war.

On September 2, 1940,

at Tennessee's great smoky mountains national park,

he calls for a huge military buildup.

Roosevelt: We must prepare beforehand

for the simple reason that preparing later

may and probably would be too late.

I've asked this congress...

Narrator: As a first step, Roosevelt urges

the Democratic majority in congress

to enact a military draft...

The first peacetime draft in U.S. history.

All men between ages 21 and 36 receive a number.

Man: ...To the United States of America.

Respond by saying "i do."

Men: I do!

Narrator: All the numbers are put in a glass vessel

and stirred.

Then a blindfolded secretary of war Henry stimson

draws the first number.

Roosevelt: The first number is serial number 158.

Narrator: It's held by 6,175 men across the country.

The draft spurs protests.

And leading the resistance, spokesperson Charles Lindbergh.

Lindbergh: Where is freedom if four fifths of a nation

can be carried to war against its will?

Narrator: But Roosevelt challenges his critics.

He gambles that, despite the draft,

he can win an unprecedented third term as president.

Man: Franklin delano Roosevelt!

Narrator: No other president has ever served longer than 8 years.

But there's nothing in the constitution

that prohibits it.

In elwood, Indiana,

Roosevelt's opponent, Wendell willkie,

accuses fdr of disrespecting American history

before a crowd 150,000 people.

Wendell willkie: And I would also like to debate the question

of the assumption by this president,

in seeking a third term,

of a greater public confidence

than was accorded to our presidential giants,

Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln,

Theodore Roosevelt, and woodrow Wilson.

Narrator: But Roosevelt believes that his experience

is vital to America's safety,

and that it trumps the two-term tradition.

He runs under the slogan

"better a third termer than a third rater."

In November 1940, fdr carries 38 states

to willkie's 10 in a crushing victory.

He immediately escalates military production.

America needs to step up the pace

if britain is to stand a chance against Hitler.

Roosevelt: The people of Europe who are defending themselves

do not ask us to do their fighting.

They ask us for the implements of war,

the planes, the tanks, the guns, and freighters

which will enable them to fight for their Liberty

and our security.

We must be the great arsenal of democracy.

Narrator: The boom in military spending

finally puts an end to the great depression.

Millions can now find jobs.

The Navy nearly doubles in size,

with 200 new ships under construction.

In June 1941, Ford opens Willow run,

an aircraft production facility in bellville, Michigan,

that's a mile long.

At 3.5 million square feet and employing 42,000 workers,

it is the largest factory in the world.

It is designed to manufacture the new b-24 liberator bomber.

In 1941, the U.S. builds 19,000 aircraft,

more than triple the number made in 1940.

While several thousand go the allies,

the vast majority is used to re-equip the U.S. military.

There is little doubt at this point

that America is on the path to war.

On September 11, 1941,

Charles Lindbergh attacks fdr directly.

Only the audio of his speech survives.

Lindbergh: The Roosevelt administration

is the third powerful group

which has been carrying this country toward war.

If any of these groups--

the British, the Jewish, or the administration--

stops agitating for war,

I believe there will be little danger of our involvement.

Narrator: But as American factories

build up to prepare for war,

workers rebel.

In June 1941, a strike breaks out over low wages

at the north American aviation plant in Los Angeles.

The plant produces some 20% of U.S. military aircraft.

The strike turns violent

when the LAPD tries to break through a picket line

manned by some 4,000 workers.

Fdr cannot afford delays.

On June 9th he orders the army to seize the factory

and force it to resume production.

Roosevelt braces the nation for war.

It's coming far sooner than he can imagine.

Thursday, November 27, 1941. Thanksgiving.

The president is enjoying his Turkey in warm Springs, Georgia,

as part of his "march of dimes" polio charity event.

But fdr's anxious about Japan's expansion

in Asia and the pacific.

Envoy saburo kurusu arrives in Washington

to reassure the president.

Saburo kurusu: You all know how difficult my mission is,

but I will do all I can to make it a successful one

for the sake of two countries, Japan and the United States.

Narrator: In Hawaii, fox movietone cameraman al brick

spends his Thanksgiving on special assignment

with the pacific fleet

in what is now its main base, Pearl harbor.

For the past 9 months

he's been filming maneuvers with the u.S.S. Arizona.

On December 7th, al brick is up early, filming,

as 353 Japanese fighters and bombers descend on Pearl harbor.

The Arizona's forward magazine--

filled with 100 tons of gunpowder--

takes a direct hit.

1,177 men are killed.

Brick continues to film from a small boat.

18 American ships are sunk or run aground.

Sailors from the u.S.S. Oklahoma stand on her upturned hull.

429 of her crew are dead.

The U.S. pacific fleet is decimated.

Brick captures the scoop of his career...

But the government seizes his footage

and embargoes it for a year.

Officials fear its release could harm national security.

The day after the attack,

Roosevelt addresses congress and the nation.

Roosevelt: Yesterday, December 7, 1941,

a date which will live in infamy,

the United States of America

was suddenly and deliberately attacked.

Narrator: 30 million homes tune in to the news.

Roosevelt: I ask that the congress declare

a state of war has existed

between the United States and the Japanese empire.

Narrator: In San Francisco Dave tatsuno films the headline

amidst growing fears for the safety of his family.

The nation mobilizes.

This is now America's war.

Pearl harbor has put an end to isolationism.

America first disbands.

Fdr denies Lindbergh's request

for a commission in the air force.

And instead of waiting to be drafted,

hundreds of thousands volunteer.

Dr. Daniel kavadas from Oklahoma

joins the medical corps as a dentist.

His first posting is luzon, the Philippines,

where he films this rare footage.

He's part of America's response

to Japan's dominance in the pacific.

The Japanese occupation of Indonesia

has cut off American access to rubber,

essential to the manufacture of jeeps, trucks and planes.

So on the homefront, Americans launch

a nationwide drive for scrap materials.

Roosevelt calls on his fellow citizens

to dig deep and donate.

Roosevelt: Of one thing you can be sure--

we are going to see to it that there's enough rubber

to build the planes to bomb Tokyo and Berlin...

Enough rubber to win this war.

Narrator: The public responds

by hauling out used car and bicycle tires...

Although some donors seem bewildered by the process.

Walt Disney even donates Bambi,

but can't bring himself to wield the hammer.

Raising money becomes a patriotic duty.

War bonds infuse the government with badly needed cash...

To be paid back later with interest.

Rallies like this one in Washington, D.C.,

are designed to boost bond sales.

Film narrator: Yes, the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue

is a pageant of patriotism.

Bing Crosby in a scout car...

Jimmy cagney...

And how that crowd lines up to buy bonds from their favorites.

They buy knowing that every dollar invested

helps send more planes, tanks and ships to the united nations.

Narrator: Film icon Carole lombard

visits Indiana on January 15, 1942.

She raises $2 million in one night.

Carole lombard: It is the duty of each and all of us

to contribute every ounce of energy and every dollar

that we can possibly spare

for the purchase of defense bonds

which will carry us to victory.

Narrator: But the screen legend never makes it home.

Her flight to Los Angeles crashes into a mountain

30 miles from las Vegas.

The safety beacons that direct night flights

were turned off in fear of Japanese bombers.

Rescue teams film the aftermath.

Of the 22 on board, there are no survivors.

The government declares lombard

the first female casualty of the war.

Man: That you will serve...

Narrator: Her distraught husband Clark gable enlists

in the U.S. army air force.

Man: ...And that you will obey the orders

of the president of the United States

and the orders of the officers appointed over you,

according to law and the articles of war,

so help you god?

Gable: I do.

Narrator: Gable joins the 351st heavy bombardment group.

His primary job, to make films for the military.

He narrates this film that highlights the diversity

of the 200,000 men being drafted every month.

Gable: Sergeant Philip j. Hulse,

top turret gunner from Springfield, Missouri.

Sergeant Kenneth l. Huls,

ball turret gunner from Perkins, Oklahoma.

Related? No.

They think they might have been

several generations ago back in Germany.

Meet their pilot, lieutenant Theodore argiropoulos

of Redding, California.

Arge's brother is in the air corps, too;

their dad was born in Greece.

Sergeant Paul j. Posti, ball turret gunner.

His dad came from Italy.

Here's sergeant Tim touchin,

tail gunner from Mariana lake, new Mexico.

On the reservation they named him ashkii--

that means "boy" in navajo.

Uncle Sam's boy, too.

Narrator: The message is clear--

no matter where your family's from,

you are an American first.

Unless, of course, you are an African American.

The one million blacks in the military

are forced into separate units.

And if you're a Japanese American,

your very freedom may soon be at risk.

In San Francisco, in the summer of 1942,

Japanese American Dave tatsuno, his wife Alice,

their two boys and his father prepare to leave home.

Despite their smiles for the camera,

they are not going of their own free will.

In February president Roosevelt signed executive order 9066.

It allows Japanese Americans to be forced from their homes

and sent to internment camps.

They're suspected of disloyalty to America...

Seen as potential spies and saboteurs.

Some 120,000 are rounded up.

Their homes are seized, their businesses closed.

Allowed to take little with them,

they have to sell their possessions quickly and cheaply.

Government buses and trains

transport them to internment camps.

In September 1942, Dave and Alice arrive

just outside the town of delta, Utah, at camp topaz,

690 miles from their home.

They will share topaz with around 8,000 other internees.

It is one of ten internment centers

scattered across the western U.S.

And as far east as Arkansas.

Officially they can leave...

But with no homes, unable to work

and children banned from schools outside the camp,

they have no choice but to stay.

One-room barracks now house families of up to 7 people.

Dave smuggles his movie camera inside the camp

and records life behind the fence.

He films the internees forced to construct their own prison.

Outside, the nation is busy--

people giving all they've got for the war effort.

Roosevelt's plan is to outproduce the enemy,

and American industry rises to the challenge.

In the first five months of 1943,

America builds more merchant ships

than Japan manages during the entire war.

In the same year, the U.S. builds 86,000 aircraft,

twice the combined output of Germany and Japan.

In April Henry Ford's Willow run factory

is building five b-24 liberators every single day.

The plant runs 24/7.

Production never stops.

This unprecedented industrial expansion

requires an army of new workers,

so families pick up and move to where the jobs are...

To places like mobile, Alabama, a hub of shipbuilding.

In 1943, its population mushrooms

from 80,000 to over 200,000.

Homes are scarce.

Many workers end up living in vast trailer parks and tents.

The war effort breaks down social barriers.

African Americans are reluctantly accepted

on assembly lines.

Older men who've retired are encouraged to return to work.

Women join them.

When it first opened, Willow run employed 28 women.

By 1943 there are over 15,000.

Across the country

6 million women are working for the first time.

They are the face of the war effort,

forever epitomized by this poster

by Pittsburgh artist j. Howard Miller.

She later becomes known as Rosie the riveter.

Celebrities endorse the new image of a working woman.

Hollywood actress Veronica lake's long hair

covering one eye

is a wildly popular style,

but dangerous on the production line.

She takes one for the team and promotes a sensible new look.

Announcer: Miss lake has now decided

to put glamour in its proper wartime place

and face the world with both eyes in the clear.

Narrator: But turning out the tanks, guns and planes

won't be enough to end this war.

In April 1943,

physicist Hugh bradner arrives in los Alamos, new Mexico.

He and 5,000 others will work

on the top-secret Manhattan project.

Leading it is the brilliant physicist Robert Oppenheimer.

He has handpicked some of the world's greatest minds

to gather in the desert.

They're in a desperate race

to build a weapon of unprecedented power--

an atomic bomb-- before the Nazis do.

The project is so secret

that numbers replace names on driver's licenses.

Guard towers with armed patrols protect the camp.

The bomb is codenamed Trinity,

but will later be remembered as the deadliest weapon in history.

But the army allows one exception to the tight security.

Hugh bradner is allowed to shoot home movies.

This is the only footage ever shot of life inside los Alamos.

He captures work in the labs

but is forbidden to film specific details

of the bomb's development,

including his own work on the trigger mechanism.

Instead bradner focuses on the close-knit community.

With only Sundays off,

Saturday nights are party nights.

Bradner marries Marjorie hall,

who works at the base as a secretary.

They spend the first two years of their lives together

working on the world's biggest secret.

For a wartime couple, this is rare--

most end up separated for long periods of time.

Hundreds of miles away, in camp topaz, Utah,

Alice tatsuno is pregnant and celebrating her 31st birthday.

The tatsunos have been incarcerated for two years,

and have no idea when--or if-- they'll be released.

The Nazis are being pushed back across Europe,

but the war against the Japanese still hangs in the balance.

November 1944.

President Roosevelt, now 62, resoundingly wins a fourth term.

On January 20, 1945, friends and family gather

in the Washington snow for his inauguration.

Disabled veterans are among the 7,000 guests

invited to the white house to celebrate.

But Roosevelt is in increasingly poor health.

Roosevelt: ...Do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute

the office of president of the United States

and will, to the best of my ability,

preserve, protect and defend

the constitution of the United States.

Harlan stone: So help you god.

Roosevelt: So help me god.

Narrator: Three months later he succumbs to a stroke.

His body is carried from Georgia

back to Washington, D.C., for the funeral.

He will never see the victory he fought so hard to achieve.

In may, just weeks after fdr's death,

Nazi Germany collapses.

The new president, Harry s. Truman,

vows to crush Japan.

Harry Truman: Our demand has been, and it remains,

unconditional surrender.

Narrator: Truman will soon face the biggest decision ever made

by a U.S. president,

as Japan vows to fight to the death.

July 16, 1945. New Mexico.

Years of top-secret work are about to be put to the test.

Physicist Hugh bradner films scientists

on their way to the very first test of their deadly creation:

The atom bomb.

The explosive core-- made from plutonium--

arrives in a Ford sedan.

An army camera films the core being inserted.

Finally, the bomb, codenamed Trinity,

is winched up a hundred feet ready for the drop.

Some five miles away, Robert Oppenheimer,

leader of the Manhattan project, nervously waits.

He even bets a colleague ten dollars that it won't work.

5:30 A.M.

The moment of truth.

Physicist Joe mckibben detonates Trinity.

In an instant, humanity enters the nuclear age.

Truman orders two atomic bombs to be dropped on Japan

on August 6th and 9th.

The devastation stuns the world...

And brings an end to world war two.

On September 2, 1945,

general Douglas MacArthur boards the battleship u.S.S. Missouri.

Douglas MacArthur: I now invite the representatives

of the emperor of Japan and the Japanese government

and the Japanese imperial general headquarters

to sign the instrument of surrender

at the places indicated.

Narrator: Foreign minister mamoru shigemitsu signs,

marking the total defeat of Japan.

MacArthur: Let us pray that peace

be now restored to the world

and that god will preserve it always.

Narrator: Americans everywhere go wild.

Scenes like these in north platte, Nebraska,

are repeated all over the country.

In just four years, America has shed its isolationist skin

and emerged a global military superpower.

In October 1945, in Utah, camp topaz closes.

Other internment camps soon follow.

120,000 Japanese Americans

return to their homes across the country.

Dave tatsuno films the family's return to San Francisco,

where he reopens their store on the corner of post and Buchanan.

After three years behind barbed wire,

they are eager to live in freedom.

12 million American troops become civilians again,

ready to work and start families.

The g.I. Bill of rights, passed in 1944,

provides veterans with physical rehabilitation,

low-cost mortgages and subsidized education.

America enters a new era.

The veterans see a bright future,

focused on the family.

After the war, the birth rate surges,

creating a generation that would come to be known

as the baby boomers.

But the economy, fueled by war,

now faces a tough transition.

In 1946 military spending falls by half,

from $900 billion to $450 billion.

Factories switch over from military

to peacetime production.

Many people are laid off,

flooding a marketplace already swollen with ex-soldiers.

During the war, American workers pledge not to strike.

But now, squeezed by low wages and high prices,

labor is ready to flex its muscles once again.

In may 1946, 250,000 railway workers strike,

paralyzing transportation across the country.

In a speech to congress,

president Truman threatens to bring in the military.

Truman: As I stated last night,

unless the railroads are manned by returning strikers,

I shall immediately undertake to run them

by the army of the United States.

Narrator: Truman is passed a note.

Truman: Word has just been received

that the rail strike has been settled

on terms proposed by the president.

Narrator: Truman's strategy works on the railways.

But the crisis deepens as other unions take to the picket lines.

In the biggest wave of strikes ever seen,

5 million workers,

from movie crews to coal miners, walk out.

Members of congress demand that something be done

to curb the unions' ability to disrupt the economy.

In 1947, congress passes the taft-hartley act,

which puts limits on when unions can strike.

Truman vetoes the bill, but congress overrides him.

American unions will never be the same.

The strike ends, but it's a political defeat for Truman,

and this battle will not be his last.

He will soon be tested

by a fiery conflict over civil rights.

April 5, 1947.

The mayflower hotel, Washington.

President Truman has an upbeat message to deliver.

Truman: I am happy to be able to say tonight

that for the present fiscal year, 1947,

we shall balance the budget and we shall have a surplus.

Narrator: America has recovered from its post-war slump.

People are earning more and willing to spend more.

And with an end to gas rationing,

highways are buzzing with cars.

Americans are on the move.

In Nevada's mojave desert,

the small town of las Vegas is dreaming big.

It boasts a population of just 20,000,

and it's a long drive from L.A.

But it has irresistible draws,

like speedy weddings and divorces...

And above all, legalized gambling.

Las Vegas becomes a top vacation destination

for a burgeoning middle class.

The last frontier and El rancho

are the first resorts to line the now-famous strip.

But it's the flamingo that comes to define las Vegas

as a mecca for forbidden pleasures.

Mob boss bugsy Siegel opens it on December 26, 1946.

It's the city's first modern hotel and casino.

The 105-room, $6 million property

is inspired by Hollywood glamour,

and it's marketed as a luxury resort

for the rich and famous.

At first, the flamingo flops,

and a $300,000 loss leads the mob

to order a hit on bugsy Siegel.

But the flamingo soon sets the tone

for the glittering Vegas we know today.

In 1948 America is beginning to react to a new threat:

Communism.

The Marshall plan is helping rebuild western Europe

with over $12 billion in aid.

While in the east,

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin is tightening his grip.

An expanding military is one weapon;

propaganda is another.

The Soviets chastise America for its poor treatment of blacks.

Truman confronts the problem head-on,

vowing to dismantle the Jim crow laws

that enforce discrimination.

He becomes the first president to address

the national association for the advancement of colored people.

Truman: There is no justifiable reason for discrimination

because of ancestry or religion or race or color.

Narrator: But the Democratic president's courageous stand

exacts a price.

Southern democrats determined to preserve segregation

quit the party.

The president's popularity plummets.

To keep his job, he must find a way to win the 1948 election.

In June the republican party nominates Truman's opponent,

Thomas e. Dewey,

in the first ever televised convention.

Dewey, a popular New York governor,

is confident of victory.

Truman dives into a campaign that few believe he can win.

In the closing weeks, American movie houses

feature the candidates' campaign films.

Dewey's is slick

with high production values.

Film narrator: Though it was in New York

that Dewey rose to fame,

he is the product of a small town in the middle west.

In the same neighborhood where tom grew up

his mother lives today,

and like all mothers is proud of her son and his achievements.

Woman: You certainly must be proud of tom.

Mother: Well, yes, i think all of owosso

is happy over his success,

and I do know that he will always have the best interests

of our country at heart.

Narrator: Truman's effort

is the complete opposite,

a patchwork of newsreel clips of his achievements in office.

Film narrator: April the 25th, 1945,

Harry s. Truman took the momentous oath of office.

Earlier Mr. Truman succeeded

in pushing through a veterans low-cost housing bill.

Narrator: But its effect is powerful.

He looks like a leader,

a confident president who signs treaties and make decisions.

Film narrator: No president in American history

has ever been faced with the tremendous foreign problems

that confront Harry Truman.

Narrator: On election day, November 2, 1948,

Truman travels to his hometown of independence, Missouri,

to cast his vote.

Man: There it goes.

Narrator: The final tally shocks everyone except Truman.

He wins more than 2 million more votes than Dewey

and carries 28 states.

But the Chicago tribune decides to go to press

before voting polls close.

Its headline gives Truman the last laugh.

In his state of the union address on January 5, 1949,

Truman announces a sweeping program

he calls the fair deal...

To deliver the American dream for all.

Inspired by fdr's new deal, it's an ambitious vision

of government helping people to lead better lives.

Slums are torn down,

to be replaced by public housing projects.

Government planners envision a future

of regenerated modern cities.

Whole new neighborhoods are designed

to deliver the benefits of modern living

to even the neediest families.

Film narrator: Where a man and his family with a small income

can live with comfort and dignity,

where there are playgrounds

and space for the kids to stretch their growing limbs

right outside the front door.

Where shops and stores are a planned part

of the city within the city.

Narrator: Christmas, 1948.

Army dentist Dr. Daniel kavadas films his family at home

on percival road, in Columbia, south Carolina.

The abundance of presents beneath the tree,

a hallmark of American affluence.

During the 1940s, the nation experienced an economic boom

that ushered in a golden age.

It has won the greatest war in history

and transformed itself into a global superpower.

The 1940s are considered by many

to be the decade that defined the American century.