Post by Logan on Jun 21, 2016 3:26:40 GMT -6
In January 1968, Americans back at home watched in horror as General Westmoreland’s troops in Vietnam engaged in a Tet Offensive that claimed between 10,000 and 15,000 Vietnamese lives along with 205 U.S. soldiers. The civil rights movement had hit its fever pitch, and then in February Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigned from his post after concluding that the United States could not win the war.
It was a disturbing period in American politics magnified by a wide chasm between left and right reflective of today’s divide. Everyone appeared to be on the march to declare their causes: African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, European socialists, feminists, environmentalists and pacifists. Often these diverse groups all coalesced under the Hippie banner, though drug culture did not permeate through all of these causes and organized protests were separate from one another.
One of the most egregious cases of peaceful protest meeting brute force happened in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Leading up to it, Sen. Eugene McCarthy and President Lyndon B. Johnson were early favorites to win the nomination, but after McCarthy stunned LBJ in New Hampshire’s primary, the president bowed out of the contest. That paved the way for Robert F. Kennedy to jump into the race, but he was assassinated on June 5 creating deeper divisions in the party and in the country. Vice President Hubert Humphrey also entered the race, but did not compete in any primaries and instead accrued delegates through questionable caucuses that were controlled by party leaders.
Read more: elections.gatehousemedia.com/1968-chicago/?sitename=sj-r
It was a disturbing period in American politics magnified by a wide chasm between left and right reflective of today’s divide. Everyone appeared to be on the march to declare their causes: African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, European socialists, feminists, environmentalists and pacifists. Often these diverse groups all coalesced under the Hippie banner, though drug culture did not permeate through all of these causes and organized protests were separate from one another.
One of the most egregious cases of peaceful protest meeting brute force happened in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Leading up to it, Sen. Eugene McCarthy and President Lyndon B. Johnson were early favorites to win the nomination, but after McCarthy stunned LBJ in New Hampshire’s primary, the president bowed out of the contest. That paved the way for Robert F. Kennedy to jump into the race, but he was assassinated on June 5 creating deeper divisions in the party and in the country. Vice President Hubert Humphrey also entered the race, but did not compete in any primaries and instead accrued delegates through questionable caucuses that were controlled by party leaders.
Read more: elections.gatehousemedia.com/1968-chicago/?sitename=sj-r