American Maelstrom by Michael A. Cohen
1968 was a year of turmoil. Economic anxiety was on the rise; racial conflicts were increasingly aggressive as the Black Power movement gained visibility; LBJ's massive bombing campaign had escalated the war in Vietnam; and at home, an emerging counter-culture and vocal feminist movement weredeclaring war on traditional values. With the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April and Robert F. Kennedy in June, the nation teetered on the brink of chaos. It all culminated in the dramatic presidential race that year, which brought together a dynamic group of politicians vying forthe nation's confidence - and resulted in an election that palpably and irrevocably transformed American politics.In Vortex, Michael Cohen captures the drama of the events leading up to this watershed moment. The political consensus that existed just four years prior had completely disappeared, replaced by division and acrimony on a scale rarely before seen in the country's history. Despite the impressive arrayof political talent assembled in the presidential election - Johnson, Nixon, Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Ronald Reagan and George Wallace - the candidates struggled to appeal to a nation deeply divided by race, class, and values. Cohen traces the newtactics, rhetoric, and issues that emerged in the campaign, from Nixon's so-called Southern Strategy to win over Democrats to Wallace's third-party run, which caused deep divisions among conservatives and traditional Republicans.Ultimately, Cohen proves 1968 to be a hinge between the high-water period of 1960s political liberalism to the ascendancy of conservative populism and anti-government attitudes that continue to dominate the nation's political discourse. The political battles in Washington today are being waged on abattlefield constructed in 1968, and in unraveling the complex story of that year, Cohen sketches out the broad lines of American politics over the past four decades.
Call Number: E851 .C65 2016
ISBN: 9780199777563
Publication Date: 2016
The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History by 
LBJ's 1968 by
1968 was an unprecedented year in terms of upheaval on numerous scales: political, military, economic, social, cultural. In the United States, perhaps no one was more undone by the events of 1968 than President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Kyle Longley leads his readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of what Johnson characterized as the 'year of a continuous nightmare'. Longley explores how LBJ perceived the most significant events of 1968, including the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy, and the violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago. His responses to the crises were sometimes effective but often tragic, and LBJ's refusal to seek re-election underscores his recognition of the challenges facing the country in 1968. As much a biography of a single year as it is of LBJ, LBJ's 1968 vividly captures the tumult that dominated the headlines on a local and global level.
American Maelstrom by
1968 was a year of turmoil. Economic anxiety was on the rise; racial conflicts were increasingly aggressive as the Black Power movement gained visibility; LBJ's massive bombing campaign had escalated the war in Vietnam; and at home, an emerging counter-culture and vocal feminist movement weredeclaring war on traditional values. With the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April and Robert F. Kennedy in June, the nation teetered on the brink of chaos. It all culminated in the dramatic presidential race that year, which brought together a dynamic group of politicians vying forthe nation's confidence - and resulted in an election that palpably and irrevocably transformed American politics.In Vortex, Michael Cohen captures the drama of the events leading up to this watershed moment. The political consensus that existed just four years prior had completely disappeared, replaced by division and acrimony on a scale rarely before seen in the country's history. Despite the impressive arrayof political talent assembled in the presidential election - Johnson, Nixon, Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Ronald Reagan and George Wallace - the candidates struggled to appeal to a nation deeply divided by race, class, and values. Cohen traces the newtactics, rhetoric, and issues that emerged in the campaign, from Nixon's so-called Southern Strategy to win over Democrats to Wallace's third-party run, which caused deep divisions among conservatives and traditional Republicans.Ultimately, Cohen proves 1968 to be a hinge between the high-water period of 1960s political liberalism to the ascendancy of conservative populism and anti-government attitudes that continue to dominate the nation's political discourse. The political battles in Washington today are being waged on abattlefield constructed in 1968, and in unraveling the complex story of that year, Cohen sketches out the broad lines of American politics over the past four decades.
The Deadly Bet by
Lyndon Johnson made a life or death bet during his Presidential term, and lost. Intent upon fighting an extended war against a determined foe, he gambled that American society could also endure a vast array of domestic reforms. The result was the turmoil of the 1968 presidential election--a crisis more severe than any since the Civil War. With thousands killed in Vietnam, hundreds dead in civil rights riots, televised chaos at the Democratic National Convention, and two major assassinations, Americans responded by voting for the law and order message of Richard Nixon. In The Deadly Bet, distinguished historian Walter LaFeber explores the turbulent election of 1968 and its significance in the larger context of American history. Looking through the eyes of the year's most important players--including Robert F. Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, Martin Luther King, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, George Wallace, Nguyen Van Thieu, and Lyndon Johnson--LaFeber argues that the domestic upheaval had more impact on the election than the war in Vietnam. Clear, concise, and engaging, this work sheds important light on the crucial year of 1968.