I Read this on the heels of a Hunter S. Thompson book that focused on his writings from the early 1960’s to Nixon’s re-election in 1972. The (very well done) “Freak Kingdom: Hunter S. Thompson’s Manic Ten-Year Crusade Against American Fascism” was an examination of Thompson’s writing and crusade in American politics. The book was a great read but more of a look at Thompson’s view of the American political climate back then.
This books gives a much more nuanced and detail oriented take to the election than Thompson’s with a deep dive into all the players histories and backgrounds. Thompson’s book on the 1968 campaign trail obviously offers a ‘Gonzo’ take and while it’s great reading, you can argue it’s a bit one sided. This book delves much deeper with much more source citing.
To me the most interesting take in the book was on Hubert Humphrey. I was so used to the take that Humphrey was this LBJ stooge who was a career politician who flat out never should have been run in 1968 that I never realized he was a genuine progressive liberal: a guy who fought hard and long for equal rights and even had one of the most famous DNC speeches ever in 1948 that would put the Democratic party on the path of an equal rights platform. The ‘Dixiecrats’ of the South were, needless to say, not thrilled.
But enough about Thompson and Humphrey: the book itself is an incredible look at the election of 1968, one of the biggest turning points in United States politics. The point it posits is that is the year the country had a fight for it’s soul. The country became hugely divided and at a high level it seemed the platforms were divided between social justice and law and order. The Vietnam war was in full swing and the country was truly divided. The look at all the campaigners (with a lot of focus on Humprey due to access to newly discovered missives and letters) really shows how divided we were as a country and how that election was for the soul of our country. And it doesn’t take a great stretch to see that we might just be living in those times again.
Highly recommended for fans of politics and the history of the political process in our country. It shows the huge changes that were occurring at the time and goes into great detail with multiple sited sources.