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Title details for The Year That Broke Politics by Luke A. Nichter - Available

The Year That Broke Politics

by Luke A. Nichter
ebook
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The unknown story of the election that set the tone for todayâs fractured politics
 
âA fresh, authoritative analysis of a pivotal election year.ââKirkus Reviews
 
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 presidentâs attempt to reenter the race was stymied by his own party, and offered him a deal: Nixon, if elected, would continue Johnsonâs 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 Humphreyâs resurgence in October had nothing to do with his changing his position on the war; that Nixonâs âSouthern Strategyâ has been misunderstood, since he hardly even campaigned there; and that Wallaceâs appeal went far beyond the South and anticipated todayâs 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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subjects

Languages

  • English