WGN Channel 9 - Dwight D. Eisenhower Tribute Special (Complete Broadcast, 3/28/1969) 📺

Here's a tribute aired on WGN Channel 9 to honor Dwight D. Eisenhower upon the 34th President's death which occurred earlier the same day, hosted by John Drury (within the first of two stints with the station). The special is intermixed with vintage film clips (with some speeches) and photos.

(TECHNICAL NOTE: The picture quality when Drury is shown suggests WGN was still using RCA TK-41C cameras at this point, yet to replace them with TK-44A's; also notice how, going from film file footage from the studio, considerable delay in turning back on the chroma [color].)

Includes:

Commercial: Ferrell-Hicks Chevrolet at 5727 South Ashland - "1968 Impalas and Caprices!" (voiceover by Clif Mercer)

Station ID / Hazel preemption notice (voiceover by Clif Mercer)

Picture of Eisenhower shown, then John begins the coverage with notice of flags flying half staff and plans for his funeral and transportation for burial (picture goes black at 1:45 and returns at 1:52), and President Nixon proclaiming Monday a National Day of Mourning, and tributes from Lyndon B. Johnson, Gov. Richard Ogilvie, Mayor Richard Daley, and the station, leading to this tribute and film clips (including Ike's first Presidential inaugural) and show title

Highlights, after John's setup of what's to come, include:

- Ike's role in saving Europe from Nazi clutches during World War II and his role as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, Operation Overlord and how it turned the corner in the war, followed by a ticker-tape parade and City Hall celebration in his honor in New York after World War II

- Going back to Ike's early years, his time in West Point, his foray into football, his meeting of future wife Mamie, his heading a tank training camp during World War I, leading to his World War II accomplishments

- His fame after the war, heading Columbia University (and a speech where he warns against "partisan politics"), his watching the Cold War unfold, his time as Supreme Commander of NATO forces in Europe, and his first run for the Presidency in 1952 (with Nixon as his running mate)

- Ike's landslide election, his pre-inaugural trip to Korea and the end of the war, his hosting world leaders including Winston Churchill, "Atoms for Peace" proposal (15 seconds or so had to be removed to avoid blocking), returning to Europe as a political leader, July 1955 summit, visit to an atomic research center, and return to U.S.

- Problems on "home front" overshadowing his foreign policy successes, especially after Democrats take control of Congress, his first heart attack on September 24th 1955 and slow recovery, his 1956 re-election, the 1957 passage of a compromise civil rights bill, the Little Rock incident, the Soviets' launch of Sputnik leading to a tightening of the space race, 1959 meeting with Khrushchev, a tour of Asia, Africa and Europe, Soviet shootdown of a U2 spy plane and capture of its pilot, Francis Gary Powers, which sets back U.S.-Soviet relations, his last press conference as President and farewell speech (but his "military-industrial complex" quote is not shown), and accompanying his successor John F. Kennedy on Inauguration Day 1961

- Post-Presidency, his role as elder statesman to Kennedy and Johnson, his tending to his farm at Gettysburg, his enthusiasm for golf, fishing, his devotion to his family, his return to Five Star General upon leaving the White House, and his endorsement of Richard Nixon for the Presidency in 1968 (from the hospital)

With that, John ends tribute with how Ike was viewed from all corners of the world including this country

Various stills and film clips of Ike over his life, to an excerpt from "Taps," over which the following super is shown:

Dwight D. Eisenhower
1890-1969

"Dwight David Eisenhower: General, President, Statesman"

This aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, March 28th 1969 during the 7:30pm to 8:00pm timeframe.

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The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help!

Видео WGN Channel 9 - Dwight D. Eisenhower Tribute Special (Complete Broadcast, 3/28/1969) 📺 канала The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV)