In his presidential inaugural address of January 1965, Lyndon B.
Johnson offered an uplifting vision for America, one that would end
poverty and racial injustice. Elected in a landslide over the
conservative Republican Barry Goldwater and bolstered by the so-called
liberal consensus, economic prosperity, and a strong wave of nostalgia
for his martyred predecessor, John F. Kennedy, Johnson announced the
most ambitious government agenda in decades. Three years later,
everything had changed. Johnson's approval ratings had plummeted; the
liberal consensus was shattered; the war in Vietnam splintered the
nation; and the politics of civil rights had created a fierce white
backlash. A report from the National Committee for an Effective
Congress warned of a "national nervous breakdown."The election of 1968
was immediately caught up in a swirl of powerful forces, and the nine
men who sought the nation's highest office that year attempted to ride
them to victory-or merely survive them. On the Democratic side, Eugene
McCarthy energized the anti-war movement; George Wallace spoke to the
working-class white backlash; Robert Kennedy took on the mantle of his
slain brother. Entangled in Vietnam, Johnson, stunningly, opted not to
run again, scrambling the odds. On the Republican side, 1968 saw the
vindication of Richard Nixon, who outhustled Nelson Rockefeller,
Ronald Reagan, and George Romney by navigating between the
conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party. The
assassinations of the first Martin Luther King, Jr., and then Kennedy,
seemed to push the country to the brink of chaos, a chaos reflected in
the Democratic Convention in Chicago, a televised horror show. Vice
President Hubert Humphrey emerged as the nominee, and, finally
liberating himself from Johnson's grip, nearly overcame the lead long
enjoyed by Nixon, who, by exploiting division and channeling the
national yearning for order, would be the last man standing.In_
American Maelstrom_, Michael A. Cohen captures the full drama of this
watershed election, establishing 1968 as the hinge between the decline
of political liberalism, the ascendancy of conservative populism, and
the rise of anti-governmental attitudes that continue to dominate the
nation's political discourse. In this sweeping and immersive book,
equal parts compelling analysis and thrilling narrative, Cohen takes
us to the very source of our modern politics of division.
Les mer
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780199382125
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter