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The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election

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Book Title : Year That Broke Politics : Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968
EAN : 9780300254396
gtin13 : 9780300254396
Topic : Political Process / Campaigns & Elections, Modern / 20th Century, Civics & Citizenship
Publisher : Yale University Press
Language : English
Genre : Political Science, History
Illustrator : Yes
ISBN : 9780300254396
Author : Luke A. Nichter
Item Weight : 25.5 Oz
MPN : N/A
Format : Hardcover
Publication Year : 2023
Item Width : 6.5 in
Number of Pages : 396 Pages
Item Height : 1.1 in
UPC : 9780300254396
Item Length : 9.3 in

The unknown story of the election that set the tone for today’s fractured politics The 1968 presidential race was a contentious battle between vice president Hubert Humphrey, Republican Richard Nixon, and former Alabama governor George Wallace. The United States was reeling from the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy and was bitterly divided on the Vietnam War and domestic issues, including civil rights and rising crime. Drawing on previously unexamined archives and numerous interviews, Luke A. Nichter upends the conventional understanding of the campaign. Nichter chronicles how the evangelist Billy Graham met with Johnson after the president’s attempt to reenter the race was stymied by his own party, and offered him a deal: Nixon, if elected, would continue Johnson’s Vietnam War policy and also not oppose his Great Society, if Johnson would soften his support for Humphrey. Johnson agreed. Nichter also shows that Johnson was far more active in the campaign than has previously been described; that Humphrey’s resurgence in October had nothing to do with his changing his position on the war; that Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” has been misunderstood, since he hardly even campaigned there; and that Wallace’s appeal went far beyond the South and anticipated today’s Republican populism. This eye-opening account of the political calculations and maneuvering that decided this fiercely fought election reshapes our understanding of a key moment in twentieth-century American history.

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