Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal Political Debates Between William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal
In the summer of 1968 television news changed forever. Dead last in the ratings, ABC hired two towering public intellectuals to debate each other during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. William F. Buckley Jr. was a leading light of the new conservative movement. A Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, Gore Vidal was a leftist novelist and polemicist.
Armed with deep-seated distrust and enmity, Vidal and Buckley believed each other's political ideologies were dangerous for America. Like rounds in a heavyweight battle, they pummeled out policy and personal insult-their explosive exchanges devolving into vitriolic name-calling. Live and unscripted, they kept viewers riveted. Ratings for ABC News skyrocketed, and a new era in public discourse was born.
Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Winner of Outstanding Historical Documentary at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
"THE BEST OF ENEMIES provides a rich, extraordinarily fascinating account that's sure to have many viewers' minds constantly shuttling between then and now ..." - Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com
Running Time
89 mins
Year
2015
Kanopy ID
2884708
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Comments (2)
WOW, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Never truer. Great, great film history.
Gore Vidal and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis were not cousins or any sort of blood relations. Rather, Hugh Achincloss was at various time the step-father of each of them.