Notes

THE TRAUMAS OF 1968 By the end of 1967, the twin crises of the war in Vietnam and the deteriorating racial situation at home–crises that fed upon and inflamed each other–had produced profound social and political tensions. In the course of 1968, those tensions seemed suddenly to burst to the surface and to threaten the nation with genuine chaos. In the midst of this bitter political battle, in which the war had been the dominant issue
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Eugene McCarthy - dissident Democrats (led by the activist Allard Lowenstein) tried to mobilize support behind an antiwar candidate who would challenge Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 primaries
>Robert Kennedy - Democratic
>VP Hubert Humphrey, with the support of President Johnson, front-runner in the race. - democratic !
>main issue is vietnam war
>nixon - republican !
>wallace - indep!
>reagan - rep
(1986) MLK Jr. - assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while lending support to striking black sanitation workers in the city; standing on motel balcony of
>produced anger/grief --> riots: major riots broke out in more than sixty American cities. Forty-three people died; more than 3,000 suffered injuries; as many as 27,000 people were arrested.
(1986) Kennedy dies - Sirhan Sirhan, a young Palestinian enraged by pro-Israeli remarks Kennedy had recently made; shot him
The “Kennedy Legacy” Robert Kennedy–identified his hopes with the American “underclass”–with blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, the poor.
>legacy = American liberalism: the fervent commitment to using government to help the powerless
Hubert Humphre faced only minor opposition.
>Democratic National Convention-appearance of an exercise in futility; antiwar activists, despairing of winning any victories within the convention, began to plan major demonstrations outside it.
Democratic National Convention (1986) - antiwar plank in the party platform that both Kennedy and McCarthy supporters favored; demonstrators and police clashed in a bloody riot in the streets of Chicago. Hundreds of protesters were injured as police attempted to disperse them with tear gas and billy clubs. “The whole world is watching!” And Hubert Humphrey, who had spent years dreaming of becoming his party's candidate for president, received a nomination that appeared at the time to be almost worthless.
THE CONSERVATIVE RESPONSE - segregationist George Wallace & surprising success of the campaign - 3rd party candidate 1968
>denounced the forced busing of students, the proliferation of government regulations and social programs, and the permissiveness of authorities toward race riots and antiwar demonstrations
>never any serious chance that Wallace would win the election; but his standing in the polls at times rose to over 20 percent.
A more effective effort to mobilize the “silent majority” in favor of order and stability was under way within the Republican Party.
Richard Nixon - spokesman for “Middle America.”
>many Americans were tired of hearing about their obligations to the poor, tired of hearing about the sacrifices necessary to achieve racial justice, tired of judicial reforms that seemed designed to help criminals. By offering a vision of stability, law and order, government retrenchment, and “peace with honor” in Vietnam, he easily captured the Republican presidential nomination. And after the spectacle of the Democratic National Convention, he enjoyed a commanding lead in the polls as the November election approached.
Nixon Victorious -election made clear that a majority of the American electorate was more interested in restoring stability than in promoting social change.