
The clash over Vietnam that swung blue collar voters to the right.
Watch Companion
Spoiler-safe reference guide to pull up while you watch.
On May 8, 1970, construction workers violently clashed with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War in lower Manhattan. The workmen, who came to be known as “hardhats,” were at the cutting edge of a new kind of class war. With the war in Vietnam raging on, it was the sons of the working class who were doing most of the fighting. Workmen saw the protesting students as privileged “draft dodgers” disparaging the country and those who fought for it. On the other side, many student activists saw the workers as pawns, unwilling to see the changes that America needed. Hard Hat Riot tells the story of a struggling metropolis, a flailing president, a divided people, and a bloody juncture when the nation violently diverged ― culminating in a new political and cultural landscape that radically redefined American politics and foreshadowed the future.

The Fog of War
2003

The Untold History Of The United States
2012

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
2019

Hearts and Minds
1974

Why We Fight: Prelude to War
1942

Why We Fight
2005

Go Tell the Spartans
1978

Visions of Light
1992

The War on Democracy
2007

Capitalism: A Love Story
2009