Best of Enemies Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Documentary HD

Best of Enemies Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Documentary HD

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.

[TheStockwell]

This is an incredibly well-made documentary. It quietly and absolutely makes a case for why the meeting of these two people in 1968 was so important. The documentary also makes it clear how, decades after the fact, both Buckley and Vidal were still nursing grudges and regrets over the outcome of those ten debates.

[nevincaulfield]

This documentary is so good even if you didn’t know both the characters...

[cacampbell]

So important for human beings to understand what an ideology is BEFORE they're old enough to vote!