Highlights of Letter from America

Cooke broadcast from the US for 58 years

In his 58 years reporting US life in his Letter from America, the late Alistair Cooke offered his own view on some of the biggest events of the last half-century, as well as more personal moments, as these highlights from the archives reveal.

How it began
Shortly after Letter from America's 50th anniversary Cooke addressed the Royal Television Society in New York on the history of the programme. As he explains in this extract from the lecture, when initially given the assignment, no one expected the programme to last quite as long as it did.

'My first Indian'
In one of his earliest Letters from America, originally heard in spring 1947, Cooke recalls a trip to the Wild West in his youth, and his first encounter with a native American.

John Glenn orbited the earth three times on February 20, 1962

'God Speed, John Glenn'
Long before Neil Armstrong's small step on the Moon, the US took a giant leap of faith when it sent the first American into orbit. Here Cooke tells how a nation held its breath as astronaut John Glenn orbited the earth for the first time in February 1962.

Witness to Robert Kennedy's death
The assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy in June 1968 sent shock waves through America, coming as it did just five years after the killing of his brother, President John F Kennedy. Alistair Cooke found himself present at the Los Angeles hotel when the shooting took place.

Nixon resigned in 1974 rather than face impeachment hearings

Nixon brought down by Watergate
As President Richard Nixon faced possible impeachment over the Watergate tapes scandal, Cooke summed up the closing episode of the drama that gripped Washington in the early 70s.

Two nations separated by one language
In reporting US life for more than 50 years, Alistair Cooke became more aware than many of George Bernard Shaw's observation that the US and the UK are "two nations divided by a common language". In a classic letter from 1998, he considers the differences between British and American English and the challenges they pose.

More than 3,000 people died in the attacks on New York

In the wake of 9/11
The terror attacks of 11 September 2001, left New York more deeply wounded than any other part of the US. In the days after the World Trade Center collapsed, as the city struggled to recover, Cooke spoke of the inspirational leadership of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

The last letter
Although not widely known at the time, Alistair Cooke's letter on 20 February 2004 was to be the last before his retirement. In this final broadcast, Cooke considers how the war in Iraq as well as domestic issues are key elements in the run-up to the US presidential elections .

Listen to the final letter