Interview with John T. McGarvey, September 15, 2020

Interview Summary

John McGarvey graduated from Henry Clay High School in Lexington, KY. in 1965 and enrolled at the University of Kentucky in the fall of that year. He transferred to the University of Missouri for his sophomore year, but returned to Lexington and U.K. for his junior and senior years. He graduated from U.K. with a Bachelor's degree in 1970. He then enrolled in U.K.'s Law School and graduated in 1973. During his high school and college years, John McGarvey began a career in broadcast journalism, first in radio in 1964 and 1965 at WPDE in Paris, Kentucky, and then at WVLK in Lexington in 1965 and 1966. From 1967 to 1973, he worked at WKYT-TV in Lexington as an anchor and as a reporter. In this interview he discusses the aftermath of the May, 1970 demonstrations on campus and the burning of the Air Force ROTC Building, the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, the fall of Saigon in 1975, and the role anti-war activists on college campuses played in ending the U.S. involvement in South Vietnam. He also talks about the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, and the Watergate hearings.

Interview Keyword

2020 pandemic President Donald Trump Bob Woodward 2020 presidential election Kent State shootings 1970 fall semester 1973 Paris Peace Accords National Guard troops on U.K. campus Lyndon B. Johnson's death 1975 fall of Saigon legacy of anti-war protesters psychological effects of the Vietnam War Roe v. Wade Watergate hearings Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein resignation of President Richard M. Nixon

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