--- title: Charles Manson and the 1970s: What Set the Criminal Mastermind Apart description: As seen in this clip from an upcoming episode of CNN's 'The Seventies' canonical: https://time.com/3946995/manson-seventies-crime/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-06T21:30:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:59:49.071Z article:section: History og:title: Charles Manson and the 1970s: What Set the Criminal Mastermind Apart og:description: See exclusive footage from CNN's The Seventies og:url: https://time.com/3946995/manson-seventies-crime/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd7de0bbff007c5b/698859b50b72e3c7ee6e4ceb/manson.png?branch=production&width=1175&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1175 og:image:height: 661 og:image:alt: Manson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Charles Manson and the 1970s: What Set the Criminal Mastermind Apart twitter:description: See exclusive footage from CNN's The Seventies twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd7de0bbff007c5b/698859b50b72e3c7ee6e4ceb/manson.png?branch=production&width=1175&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Remembering When Charles Manson Terrified America  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 6, 2015 9:30 PM UTC  CNN's 'The Seventies'  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 6, 2015 9:30 PM UTC There was no shortage of violence in America in the 1970s. But few criminals captivated attention like Charles Manson, as shown in this clip from the upcoming episode of CNN’s _The Seventies,_ which airs on Thursday evening at 9:00 Eastern. Manson’s hold on the popular imagination has endured long past the end of the 1970s. In 1994, for example, TIME [noted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1994-03-21/page/25/) that “America’s romance with real-life mass murder was going mainstream.” The proof? “Charles Manson has earned some $600 in royalties from a line of caps, surfer pants and T shirts adorned with his image and such studiously ironic slogans as _support family values_ and _charlie don’t surf_,” the article continued. “Sales took off after Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose began wearing the T shirts in concert and covered a Manson song on a recent album.” And, just this summer, Lifetime [greenlit](http://time.com/3944312/movies-charles-manson-gals/) a movie about Manson followers and NBC launched [_Aquarius_](http://time.com/3898254/aquarius-review-nbc-duchovny-charles-manson/), a Manson-adjacent thriller series. **_Read more:_** [Who Is Charles Manson?](http://time.com/3591949/charles-manson-history/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3946995/manson-seventies-crime/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3946995/manson-seventies-crime/"},"headline":"Remembering When Charles Manson Terrified America","datePublished":"2015-07-06T21:30:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:59:49.071Z","description":"The '70s were a frightening time in many ways, but Manson's story still stands out from the crowd","url":"https://time.com/3946995/manson-seventies-crime/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd7de0bbff007c5b/698859b50b72e3c7ee6e4ceb/manson.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd7de0bbff007c5b/698859b50b72e3c7ee6e4ceb/manson.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Manson","caption":"","creditText":"CNN's 'The Seventies'","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3946995/manson-seventies-crime/","name":"Remembering When Charles Manson Terrified America"}}]}] ```