| Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 1968. |
| United States -- Politics and government -- 1963-1969 |
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|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Holmes Public Library | 973.923 SCH | NONFICTION | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A dramatic, deeply informed account of one of the most consequential elections and periods in American history
1968--rife with riots, assassinations, anti-Vietnam War protests, and realpolitik--was one of the most tumultuous years in the twentieth century, culminating in one of the most consequential presidential elections in American history. The Contest tells the story of that contentious election and that remarkable year. Bringing a fresh perspective to events that still resonate half a century later, this book is especially timely, giving us the long view of a turning point in American culture and politics.
Author Michael Schumacher sets the stage with a deep look at the people with important roles in the unfolding drama: Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, George Wallace, Richard Nixon, and especially Hubert H. Humphrey, whose papers and journals afford surprising new insights. Following these politicians in the lead-up to the primaries, through the chaotic conventions, and down the home stretch to the general election, The Contest combines biographical and historical details to create a narrative as intimate in human detail as it is momentous in scope and significance.
An election year when the competing forces of law and order and social justice were on the ballot, the Vietnam War divided the country, and the liberal regime begun with Franklin D. Roosevelt was on the defensive, 1968 marked a profound shift in the nation's culture and sense of itself. Thorough in its research and spellbinding in the telling, Schumacher's book brings sharp focus to that year and its lessons for our current critical moment in American politics.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Drawing largely from oral histories and papers of the major candidates, Schumacher, author of biographies of Eric Clapton, Francis Ford Coppola, and Allen Ginsberg, delivers a straightforward account of how the candidates in the 1968 American presidential election grappled with events and their own inner demons. Sensing electoral doom given the unpopularity of the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson backed out of a second-term run, leaving the race to three candidates: Democrat Hubert Humphrey, who tried and failed to break with Johnson over the war, dooming his candidacy in the process; Republican Richard Nixon, who, determined not to let the prize slip through his fingers a second time, shed his ignominious 1960 persona and reinvented himself as a vigorous glad-hander; and arch-segregationist Independent George Wallace, who drew Nixon rightward into the embrace of Southern racists. At the July Democratic convention, there was violent confrontation between Chicago police and the Yippies, Students for a Democratic Society, the Black Panthers, and other antiestablishment groups who turned up to protest. Like the election itself, the book is anticlimactic: there's plenty of good storytelling but no new revelations. This durable history underlines all the nuances for readers who lived it and showcases the period's drama for readers new to one of the defining sagas of the '60s. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A thorough examination of one of the most divisive political campaigns in American history.In an April 2018 Wall Street Journal article, Pat Buchanan, looking back on his time as an aide to Richard Nixon, wrote that 1968 was "America's most divisive year since the Civil War had begun."In his latest book, Schumacher (Dharma Lion: A Biography of Allen Ginsberg, 2016, etc.) depicts that year's tumultuous presidential campaign as "the culmination of a mighty struggle lasting for at least a decade, beginning with the early civil rights movement and continuing through the Vietnam protests." The author begins with background information on each of the major players in the campaign: the anti-Vietnam War contender (Eugene McCarthy), the doomed advocate for civil rights (Robert F. Kennedy), the vice president caught between the liberal wing of his party and the administration he loyally served (Hubert H. Humphrey), the wily segregationist with a dying spouse (George Wallace), and the "loser" who successfully rehabilitated his image (Nixon). The yearslong struggle intensified during the campaign, climaxing with the shocking violence in the streets of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. Ultimately, the violence helped catapult the "law and order" Nixon to victory. Schumacher intersperses this narrative with many intriguing anecdotes, including hapless Republican candidate George Romney's needing 34 tries to pick up a spare in a New Hampshire bowling alley, a cash-strapped McCarthy campaign selling the lunch leftovers of actor and supporter Paul Newman, and Wallace's consideration of "Colonel" Harland Sanders (of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame) as his running mate. Overall, the book runs a little long, and some of the candidatesHumphrey and Kennedy in particulardo not come across as well as the author intends. Schumacher also might have provided more context, including Lyndon Johnson's 1968 nomination of the controversial Abe Fortas as chief justice of the United States.Readers seeking an entertaining and informative study of the 1968 campaign would do well to start here. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Choice Review
The year 1968 joins other significant dates, such as 1776, 1789, perhaps even 2001, when powerful forces came together in a way that changed the future. The year itself has generated a great deal of attention from historians with at least three new books detailing the events: Cohen's American Maelstrom (CH, Sep'16, 54-0416), Nelson's Resilient America (Kansas, 2014), and Cottrell and Browne's 1968: The Rise and Fall of the New American Revolution (CH, Nov'18, 56-1275). Schumacher, who has written a number of books, including biographies of Allen Ginsberg and Phil Ochs, turns his critical eye on the events of that tempestuous year. He closely examines the presidential candidates, the primaries, and the events surrounding the nominating conventions as well as the election itself, which ultimately provided Richard Nixon with the electoral victory he believed he richly deserved. Schumacher is correct: this election reflected a dynamic struggle for America's soul, which had been tortured for years by the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. It was indeed a momentous year in US history. Schumacher's study is fine work on a significant era that profoundly influenced the following decades. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through faculty.--Edward A. Goedeken, Iowa State University
Library Journal Review
The 1968 presidential election was one of the most divisive campaigns of American history, and its dark legacy continues to haunts politics. -Schumacher (Torn in Two) offers an in-depth account of the candidates, the primaries, the conventions, and the battles among Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Robert Kennedy, George McGovern, and George Wallace for the presidency of a nation torn over Vietnam, civil rights, and crime. The author is especially good at linking the year's upheavals-the assassinations of Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., Lyndon Johnson's decision not to seek a second term, the student uprising at Columbia University, and the carnage at the Chicago Democratic convention-to the election's outcome. Vivid descriptions of protestors, notably Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and David Dellinger, show the significance of disillusioned youth who were neither hopeful nor inspired by the election's outcome. Schumacher concludes that the 1968 election ushered in the current era of media as entertainment over analysis, bipartisanship's unravelling, and public cynicism of electoral politics. VERDICT A fine choice as an introduction to the election and for those who enjoyed Lawrence O'Donnell's -Playing with Fire or -Michael Cohen's American Maelstrom.-Karl Helicher, -formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Preface | p. ix |
| Introduction: A War, Wise Men, and a Speech That Changed History | p. 1 |
| Book 1 The Candidates | |
| 1 Hubert Humphrey The Long Road to Contention | p. 31 |
| 2 Eugene McCarthy Making of a Grassroots Candidacy | p. 84 |
| 3 Richard Nixon Reboot | p. 99 |
| 4 George Wallace Politics of Race | p. 122 |
| 5 Robert Kennedy Shadows of Indecision | p. 152 |
| Book 2 The Primaries | |
| 6 New Hampshire Victorious Losers | p. 173 |
| 7 Wisconsin A Reward for the Challenger | p. 195 |
| 8 Torrents of Rage and Sorrow | p. 209 |
| 9 Indiana Killing Floor | p. 221 |
| 10 Nebraska Expectations, High and Low | p. 247 |
| 11 Oregon McCarthy's Big Stand | p. 256 |
| 12 California A Time to Be Born, a Time to Die | p. 274 |
| 13 Summer Doldrums | p. 302 |
| Book 3 The Conventions | |
| 14 Miami "Let's Win This One for Ike" | p. 325 |
| 15 Resistance | p. 345 |
| 16 Chicago Preserving Disorder | p. 379 |
| Book 4 The Election | |
| 17 The Final Lap | p. 425 |
| 18 America Votes | p. 450 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 469 |
| Chronology of the Election | p. 474 |
| Notes | p. 477 |
| Bibliography | p. 518 |
| Index | p. 525 |