Citizen Stan on AllMovie

Actor Richard Dreyfuss narrates this documentary examining the life and career of Stanley Sheinbaum, an anti-war activist who helped to set up the police force of South Vietnam during the 1950s, and subsequently landed on President Richard M. Nixon's enemies list for his efforts in revealing the truth about America's questionable foreign affairs. A rather poor student in high school, Sheinbaum used the GI bill to earn his doctorate in economics at Stanford, eventually landing a teaching job at Michigan State University in 1954, where he landed a position as co-director of the Vietnam Project, as well. His responsibilities as part of the Vietnam Project included hiring men to travel to South Vietnam and set up a police force, but during a trip to Saigon, Sheinbaum realized that not only had he unknowingly become a puppet for the CIA, but that his own men were using torture techniques to interrogate Vietcong prisoners. Confronted by journalist Robert Scheer about the incident nearly a decade later, Sheinbaum joined his accuser in traveling to Saigon and revealing the truth about his past blunder. In 1967, Sheinbaum proved that Andres Papandreou, future Prime Minister of Greece, has been framed by the junta during a military coup, though it was his efforts in organizing the defense of Daniel Ellsberg that landed the outspoken advocate a coveted spot on President Nixon's Most Wanted list. Two decades later, Sheinbaum made history by convincing Yassir Arafat to denounce terrorism and recognize the state of Israel before he UN, and it was Sheinbaum's efforts in removing Los Angeles Police Chief Darryl Gates from power following the Rodney King incident that finally prompted Californians to conclude that justice was served. Enlisted by President Bill Clinton to serve as a diplomatic back-channel to Syria, Sheinbaum's efforts in supporting the Middle East peace process continue well into the early 21st century.