Assassinations In 1968

Assassinations in 1968: A Year of Unthinkable Loss

1968. A year etched in the annals of American history not for its triumphs, but for its tragedies. A year defined by upheaval, social unrest, and the shocking assassinations of three iconic figures that irrevocably altered the course of the nation. This article delves deep into the events surrounding the murders of Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and the less-remembered, yet equally impactful, assassination of Robert F. Kennedy’s potential opponent, Eugene McCarthy. We'll examine the circumstances of each assassination, explore the conspiracy theories that have persisted for decades, and analyze the lasting impact these events had on American society and politics. Prepare to revisit a pivotal year in American history, one that continues to resonate powerfully today.

The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

On April 4th, 1968, the Civil Rights movement suffered an immeasurable loss with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, King’s death ignited widespread riots and protests across the nation. The assassin, James Earl Ray, was apprehended and eventually pleaded guilty, though conspiracy theories surrounding his involvement and potential government complicity persist to this day. King's death, coming just as the movement was gaining momentum, left a gaping void in the fight for racial equality, significantly impacting the trajectory of the Civil Rights movement and leaving an enduring legacy of pain and unfinished business. The investigation itself faced intense scrutiny, fueled by distrust in law enforcement and the government. The speed of Ray's apprehension, the questionable evidence presented, and inconsistencies in the official narrative all contributed to the enduring skepticism surrounding the case. The King assassination remains a stark reminder of the deep-seated racial tensions that plagued America and the ongoing fight for true social justice.

The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

Just two months after King's death, the nation was once again plunged into mourning with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, a leading presidential candidate. On June 5th, 1968, Kennedy was shot while celebrating his victory in the California primary at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant, was arrested and convicted of the assassination. Similar to the King assassination, the Kennedy assassination spurred intense debate and fueled numerous conspiracy theories. Theories surrounding the possibility of multiple shooters, questionable ballistic evidence, and the potential involvement of organized crime or even government agencies have kept the case alive in the public consciousness for decades. Kennedy's assassination, coming at a crucial juncture in the 1968 presidential race, profoundly impacted the political landscape, leaving a profound void in the Democratic Party and contributing to the rise of Richard Nixon. The emotional aftermath of Kennedy's death deeply affected the American psyche, further exacerbating the sense of national turmoil and uncertainty that defined 1968.

The Near-Forgotten Assassination Attempt on Eugene McCarthy

While the assassinations of King and Kennedy dominate the narrative of 1968, the attempted assassination of Eugene McCarthy, another prominent Democratic presidential candidate, often receives far less attention. Though he wasn't fatally wounded, the attack on McCarthy underscored the volatile political climate of the time and the growing sense of danger surrounding the election. This event, while less lethal, highlights the pervasiveness of political violence during this turbulent year and the widespread fear and uncertainty that gripped the nation. The attempted assassination underscored the heightened tensions and polarized political climate of 1968, a year when political violence seemed to be an increasingly common occurrence. McCarthy's near-death experience serves as a sobering reminder that the violence of 1968 extended beyond the deaths of King and Kennedy, impacting a broader spectrum of political figures and exacerbating the national unrest.

The Broader Context: 1968 as a Year of Unrest

The assassinations of 1968 did not occur in a vacuum. They were part of a larger tapestry of social and political upheaval that included the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, and widespread student protests. This period of intense societal unrest created a climate of fear and uncertainty, making the assassinations all the more shocking and destabilizing. Understanding the context of these events is crucial to understanding their lasting impact on American society. The assassinations, coupled with the ongoing Vietnam War and the growing anti-war movement, fueled a deep sense of disillusionment and distrust in government institutions. This fueled the counter-culture movement, with increasing numbers of young Americans questioning authority and embracing alternative lifestyles.

The Enduring Legacy of 1968

The assassinations of 1968 left an indelible mark on American history. They fundamentally altered the political landscape, impacted the course of the Civil Rights movement, and continue to fuel debate and conspiracy theories to this day. These events serve as a sobering reminder of the fragility of democracy and the importance of addressing social and political inequalities. Understanding the events of 1968 is not just about revisiting the past; it's about learning from the mistakes of the past and working towards a more just and equitable future. The legacy of this turbulent year continues to shape American politics and society, reminding us of the importance of peace, equality, and the enduring struggle for social justice.



Ebook Outline: Assassinations in 1968

Name: A Nation in Mourning: Understanding the Assassinations of 1968

Outline:

Introduction: Setting the stage for 1968 and its turbulent political and social climate.
Chapter 1: The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: Detailed account of the assassination, investigation, and lasting impact.
Chapter 2: The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: Detailed account of the assassination, investigation, and lasting impact.
Chapter 3: The Attempted Assassination of Eugene McCarthy: An often overlooked event, highlighting the broader context of political violence.
Chapter 4: Conspiracy Theories and Their Enduring Influence: Examination of persistent conspiracy theories surrounding all three events.
Chapter 5: The Broader Context of 1968: Linking the assassinations to the Vietnam War, Civil Rights movement, and social unrest.
Chapter 6: The Lasting Impact on American Politics and Society: Analyzing the long-term consequences of these events.
Conclusion: Synthesizing the key takeaways and reflecting on the continuing relevance of 1968.


(The detailed content for each chapter is provided above in the main article.)


FAQs:

1. Who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr.? James Earl Ray was convicted of the crime, though conspiracy theories persist.
2. Who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy? Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of the crime, but conspiracy theories also exist.
3. Was Eugene McCarthy actually assassinated? No, he was the target of an attempted assassination but survived.
4. What were the major conspiracy theories surrounding these events? Theories involve government complicity, organized crime, and the existence of multiple shooters.
5. How did these assassinations impact the 1968 election? They deeply affected the political landscape, contributing to Nixon's victory.
6. What role did the Vietnam War play in the events of 1968? The war was a major source of social and political unrest.
7. How did these events impact the Civil Rights Movement? King's assassination dealt a major blow, yet the movement persevered.
8. What is the lasting legacy of these assassinations? They highlight the fragility of democracy and the need for social justice.
9. Where can I find more information on these events? Numerous books, documentaries, and archival materials are available.


Related Articles:

1. The Vietnam War and its Impact on American Society: Explores the war's influence on the political and social climate of 1968.
2. The Civil Rights Movement: A Timeline of Key Events: Provides context for King's assassination and the ongoing fight for equality.
3. The 1968 Presidential Election: A Pivotal Year in American Politics: Analyzes the election and its significance in the context of the assassinations.
4. Conspiracy Theories in American History: A Critical Examination: Explores the prevalence and impact of conspiracy theories, including those surrounding 1968.
5. The Counterculture Movement of the 1960s: Examines the rise of the counterculture in response to the social and political turmoil.
6. The Warren Commission and its Legacy: Discusses the investigation into the Kennedy assassination and its enduring influence.
7. The House Select Committee on Assassinations and its Findings: Examines the committee's investigation and its conclusions regarding the assassinations.
8. James Earl Ray: A Biography: Provides insights into the life and motivations of King's assassin.
9. Sirhan Sirhan: A Biography: Provides insights into the life and motivations of Kennedy's assassin.


  assassinations in 1968: Historical Dictionary of the Nixon-Ford Era Mitchell K. Hall, 2008 The presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford encompassed some of the most turbulent and significant years of the 20th century. Nixon was elected near the end of a decade characterized by struggles for civil rights, years of war in Vietnam, and widespread cultural rebellion. Although he promised during his campaign to bring the country together, Nixon's administration was more confrontational than compromising and ultimately deepened national divisions. Gerald Ford worked to restore integrity to the White House but never fully established a program separate from his predecessor. His pardon of Nixon and the 1975 fall of South Vietnam kept him linked to the past rather than establishing the beginning of a new era. The Nixon-Ford Era witnessed one of the most controversial presidential eras, yet despite all of the turmoil, progress was made. The Vietnam War eventually wound down, the Cold War went through a phase of détente, relations were established with China, civil rights progressed, the situation of African Americans and Native Americans improved, and Women's Liberation altered the status of half of the population. The Historical Dictionary of the Nixon-Ford Era relates these events and provides extensive political, economic, and social background on this era through a detailed chronology, an introduction, appendixes, a bibliography, and several hundred cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, events, institutions, policies, and issues.
  assassinations in 1968: Final Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Assassinations, 1979
  assassinations in 1968: 1968 Mark Kurlansky, 2005-01-11 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “In this highly opinionated and highly readable history, Kurlansky makes a case for why 1968 has lasting relevance in the United States and around the world.”—Dan Rather To some, 1968 was the year of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Yet it was also the year of the Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy assassinations; the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; Prague Spring; the antiwar movement and the Tet Offensive; Black Power; the generation gap; avant-garde theater; the upsurge of the women’s movement; and the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union. In this monumental book, Mark Kurlansky brings to teeming life the cultural and political history of that pivotal year, when television’s influence on global events first became apparent, and spontaneous uprisings occurred simultaneously around the world. Encompassing the diverse realms of youth and music, politics and war, economics and the media, 1968 shows how twelve volatile months transformed who we were as a people—and led us to where we are today.
  assassinations in 1968: A Nation on Fire Clay Risen, 2009 In A Nation on Fire, journalist Clay Risen relies on dozens of interviews and reams of newly declassified documents to offer a sweeping day-by-day, city-by-city account of the riots, from the looting and burning in Washington to explosions of violence in Chicago, Baltimore, Kansas City, and 117 other cities, large and small. Taking readers inside the Oval Office, the Pentagon, and city halls across the country, he introduces them to key players at every level - from the first army soldier to enter Washington to the crack team of Johnson aides who managed the crisis from inside the White House to the civil rights leaders who helped avert violence in Memphis, where King was shot.--BOOK JACKET.
  assassinations in 1968: LBJ's 1968 Kyle Longley, 2018-02-22 Examines President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his response to the year that he characterized as a 'year of a continuous nightmare'.
  assassinations in 1968: The Promise and the Dream David Margolick, 2018-04-03 “A fascinating, elegiac account” of the bond between two of the Civil Rights Era’s most important leaders—from the journalist and author of Strange Fruit (Chicago Tribune). With vision and political savvy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy set the United States on a path toward fulfilling its promise of liberty and justice for all. In The Promise and the Dream, Margolick examines their unique bond, both in life and in their tragic assassinations, just sixty-two days apart in 1968. Through original interviews, oral histories, FBI files, and previously untapped contemporaneous accounts, Margolick offers a revealing portrait of these two men and the mutual assistance, awkwardness, antagonism, and admiration that existed between them. MLK and RFK cut distinct but converging paths toward lasting change. Even when they weren’t interacting directly, they monitored and learned from one another. Their joint story, a story each man took pains to hide during their lives, is not just gripping history but a window into the challenges we continue to face in America. Complemented by award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley’s foreword and more than eighty revealing photos by the foremost photojournalists of the period, The Promise and the Dream offers a compelling look at one of the most consequential but misunderstood relationships in our nation’s history.
  assassinations in 1968: The Year the Dream Died Jules Witcover, 1998-06-01 The assassination of Kennedy & Luther King, the Tet offensive in Vietnam, campus riots & the election of Nixon. The year is 1968 & for millions of Americans the dream of a nation facing up to basic problems at home & abroad were shattered.
  assassinations in 1968: Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Assassinations, 1978
  assassinations in 1968: American Maelstrom Michael A. Cohen, 2016 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 and the ascendancy of conservative populism and the anti-government attitudes that continue to dominate the nation's political discourse, taking us to the source of the politics of division.
  assassinations in 1968: The Kennedy Assassinations Mel Ayton, 2022-07-19 Few events have been the subject of more conspiracy theories than the assassinations of the two Kennedy brothers. Indeed, a great many people consider that there were other individuals than Lee Harvey Oswald and Sirhan Sirhan involved in both murders. Was a shot fired from Dealey Plaza’s grassy knoll? Why did Jack Ruby shoot Oswald? Was it the CIA, the Soviets, Cuban nationalists or the Mafia that arranged John Kennedy’s assassination? Was Robert Kennedy shot from in front and behind, and who had the most to gain from his death? These are just a few of the questions that have been put forward by a myriad of conspiracy theorists and it is those people and their ideas that Mel Ayton has tackled head-on. Over many years, Mel Ayton has examined all the more substantial conspiracy theories and, through careful analysis of documents and eyewitness statements, he has demolished each one. In each case, Mel Ayton presented the results of his detailed investigations in periodicals as he worked through the various theories. These have now been brought together to provide a comprehensive analysis of all the main theories as to who, how and why the two Kennedy brothers met their deaths in such unusual circumstances. Though wild ideas will continue to be proposed and efforts will still be made to demonstrate that Oswald could not have fired off three shots with great accuracy in the few seconds available to him as the presidential cavalcade passed beneath the window where he crouched, or that there were sinister reasons why three CIA men were allegedly present on the night of Robert Kennedy’s assassination, the harsh reality is that the Kennedy brothers were each killed by lone gunmen. This is an absorbing read, brought up to date with the addition of new material as it has been uncovered. Maybe, just maybe, this book will persuade people that the official accounts of both murders, although flawed, are not cover-ups but simply statements of fact.
  assassinations in 1968: The Sixties Todd Gitlin, 2013-07-17 Say “the Sixties” and the images start coming, images of a time when all authority was defied and millions of young Americans thought they could change the world—either through music, drugs, and universal love or by “putting their bodies on the line” against injustice and war. Todd Gitlin, the highly regarded writer, media critic, and professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, has written an authoritative and compelling account of this supercharged decade—a decade he helped shape as an early president of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and an organizer of the first national demonstration against the Vietnam war. Part critical history, part personal memoir, part celebration, and part meditation, this critically acclaimed work resurrects a generation on all its glory and tragedy.
  assassinations in 1968: Killing the Dream Gerald Posner, 2013-04-16 A deep dive into James Earl Ray’s role in the national tragedy: “Superb . . . a model of investigation . . . as gripping as a first-class detective story” (The New York Times). On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, by a single assassin’s bullet. A career criminal named James Earl Ray was seen fleeing from a rooming house that overlooked the hotel balcony from where King was cut down. An international manhunt ended two months later with Ray’s capture. Though Ray initially pled guilty, he quickly recanted and for the rest of his life insisted he was an unwitting pawn in a grand conspiracy. In Killing the Dream, expert investigative reporter Gerald Posner reexamines Ray and the evidence, even tracking down the mystery man Ray claimed was the conspiracy’s mastermind. Beginning with an authoritative biography of Ray’s life, and continuing with a gripping account of the assassination and its aftermath, Posner cuts through phony witnesses, false claims, and a web of misinformation surrounding that tragic spring day in 1968. He puts Ray’s conspiracy theory to rest and ultimately manages to disclose what really happened the day King was murdered.
  assassinations in 1968: Investigation of the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Assassinations, 1979
  assassinations in 1968: Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Conspiracy witnesses in Dealey Plaza. Oswald-Tippit associates. George de Mohrenschildt. Depositions of Marina Oswald Porter. The defector study. Oswald in the Soviet Union: an investigation of Yuri Nosenko. March 1979 United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Assassinations, 1978
  assassinations in 1968: Death of a Generation Howard Jones, 2003-03-06 When John F. Kennedy was shot, millions were left to wonder how America, and the world, would have been different had he lived to fulfill the enormous promise of his presidency. For many historians and political observers, what Kennedy would and would not have done in Vietnam has been a source of enduring controversy. Now, based on convincing new evidence--including a startling revelation about the Kennedy administration's involvement in the assassination of Premier Diem--Howard Jones argues that Kennedy intended to withdraw the great bulk of American soldiers and pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Vietnam. Drawing upon recently declassified hearings by the Church Committee on the U.S. role in assassinations, newly released tapes of Kennedy White House discussions, and interviews with John Kenneth Galbraith, Robert McNamara, Dean Rusk, and others from the president's inner circle, Jones shows that Kennedy firmly believed that the outcome of the war depended on the South Vietnamese. In the spring of 1962, he instructed Secretary of Defense McNamara to draft a withdrawal plan aimed at having all special military forces home by the end of 1965. The Comprehensive Plan for South Vietnam was ready for approval in early May 1963, but then the Buddhist revolt erupted and postponed the program. Convinced that the war was not winnable under Diem's leadership, President Kennedy made his most critical mistake--promoting a coup as a means for facilitating a U.S. withdrawal. In the cruelest of ironies, the coup resulted in Diem's death followed by a state of turmoil in Vietnam that further obstructed disengagement. Still, these events only confirmed Kennedy's view about South Vietnam's inability to win the war and therefore did not lessen his resolve to reduce the U.S. commitment. By the end of November, however, the president was dead and Lyndon Johnson began his campaign of escalation. Jones argues forcefully that if Kennedy had not been assassinated, his withdrawal plan would have spared the lives of 58,000 Americans and countless Vietnamese. Written with vivid immediacy, supported with authoritative research, Death of a Generation answers one of the most profoundly important questions left hanging in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's death. Death of a Generation was a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2003.
  assassinations in 1968: Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Assassinations, 1979
  assassinations in 1968: Hearings, Reports and Prints of the House Select Committee on Assassinations United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Assassinations, 1979
  assassinations in 1968: American Political Assassinations Committee to Investigate Assassinations, 1973
  assassinations in 1968: Killing King Stuart Wexler, Larry Hancock, 2018-04-01 Published in time for the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Killing King uncovers previously unknown FBI files and sources, as well as new forensics to convincingly make the case that King was assassinated by a long–simmering conspiracy orchestrated by the racial terrorists who were responsible for the Mississippi Burning murders. This explosive book details the long–simmering effort by a group of the nation’s most violent racial terrorists to kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Killing King convincingly makes the case that while James Earl Ray was part of the assassination plot to kill King, the preponderance of evidence also demonstrates a clear and well–orchestrated conspiracy. Thoroughly researched and impeccably documented, the book reveals a network of racist militants led by Sam Bowers, head of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi, who were dedicated to the cause of killing King. The White Knights were formed in the cauldron of anti–integrationist resistance that was Mississippi in the early 1960s and were responsible for more than three hundred separate acts of violence, including the infamous Mississippi Burning murders. The authors have located previously unknown FBI files and sources that detail a White Knight bounty offer, information from an individual who carried money for the assassination, and forensics information regarding unmatched fingerprints and an audio recording of an admission that a key suspect obtained a weapon to be used in killing King. For years, Americans have debated issues with this crime. With Killing King, we are ever closer to an accurate understanding of how and why Dr. King was killed.
  assassinations in 1968: Making the Second Ghetto Arnold R. Hirsch, 2009-04-03 In Making the Second Ghetto, Arnold Hirsch argues that in the post-depression years Chicago was a pioneer in developing concepts and devices for housing segregation. Hirsch shows that the legal framework for the national urban renewal effort was forged in the heat generated by the racial struggles waged on Chicago's South Side. His chronicle of the strategies used by ethnic, political, and business interests in reaction to the great migration of southern blacks in the 1940s describes how the violent reaction of an emergent white population combined with public policy to segregate the city. In this excellent, intricate, and meticulously researched study, Hirsch exposes the social engineering of the post-war ghetto.—Roma Barnes, Journal of American Studies According to Arnold Hirsch, Chicago's postwar housing projects were a colossal exercise in moral deception. . . . [An] excellent study of public policy gone astray.—Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune An informative and provocative account of critical aspects of the process in [Chicago]. . . . A good and useful book.—Zane Miller, Reviews in American History A valuable and important book.—Allan Spear, Journal of American History
  assassinations in 1968: 1968 in America Charles Kaiser, 2012-11-27 From assassinations to student riots, this is “a splendidly evocative account of a historic year—a year of tumult, of trauma, and of tragedy” (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.). In the United States, the 1960s were a period of unprecedented change and upheaval—but the year 1968 in particular stands out as a dramatic turning point. Americans witnessed the Tet offensive in Vietnam; the shocking assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy; and the chaos at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. At the same time, a young generation was questioning authority like never before—and popular culture, especially music, was being revolutionized. Largely based on unpublished interviews and documents—including in-depth conversations with Eugene McCarthy and Bob Dylan, among many others, and the late Theodore White’s archives, to which the author had sole access—1968 in America is a fascinating social history, and the definitive study of a year when nothing could be taken for granted. “Kaiser aims to convey not only what happened during the period but what it felt like at the time. Affecting touches bring back powerful memories, including strong accounts of the impact of the Tet offensive and of the frenzy aroused by Bobby Kennedy’s race for the presidency.” —The New York Times Book Review
  assassinations in 1968: Survived by One Robert E. Hanlon, Thomas V Odle, 2013-08-06 On November 8, 1985, 18-year-old Tom Odle brutally murdered his parents and three siblings in the small southern Illinois town of Mount Vernon, sending shockwaves throughout the nation. The murder of the Odle family remains one of the most horrific family mass murders in U.S. history. Odle was sentenced to death and, after seventeen years on death row, expected a lethal injection to end his life. However, Illinois governor George Ryan’s moratorium on the death penalty in 2000, and later commutation of all death sentences in 2003, changed Odle’s sentence to natural life. The commutation of his death sentence was an epiphany for Odle. Prior to the commutation of his death sentence, Odle lived in denial, repressing any feelings about his family and his horrible crime. Following the commutation and the removal of the weight of eventual execution associated with his death sentence, he was confronted with an unfamiliar reality. A future. As a result, he realized that he needed to understand why he murdered his family. He reached out to Dr. Robert Hanlon, a neuropsychologist who had examined him in the past. Dr. Hanlon engaged Odle in a therapeutic process of introspection and self-reflection, which became the basis of their collaboration on this book. Hanlon tells a gripping story of Odle’s life as an abused child, the life experiences that formed his personality, and his tragic homicidal escalation to mass murder, seamlessly weaving into the narrative Odle’s unadorned reflections of his childhood, finding a new family on death row, and his belief in the powers of redemption. As our nation attempts to understand the continual mass murders occurring in the U.S., Survived by One sheds some light on the psychological aspects of why and how such acts of extreme carnage may occur. However, Survived by One offers a never-been-told perspective from the mass murderer himself, as he searches for the answers concurrently being asked by the nation and the world.
  assassinations in 1968: Great American Writers Robert Baird Shuman, 2002 Highlights the lives and works of more than ninety American and Canadian writers of fiction, drama, nonfiction, poetry and song lyrics.
  assassinations in 1968: The Martin Luther King Assassination Philip H. Melanson, 1994-07 New revelations on the conspiracy and cover-up
  assassinations in 1968: Legacy of Secrecy Lamar Waldron, 2010-05 Legacy of Secrecy tells the full story of JFKs murder and the tragic results of the cover-ups that followed, as revealed by two dozen associates of John and Robert Kennedy, backed by thousands of files at the National Archives. The result of twenty years of research, it finally tells the full story long withheld from Congress and the American people.
  assassinations in 1968: The Deadly Bet Walter LaFeber, 2005 Lyndon Johnson made a life or death bet during his Presidential term, and lost. Intent upon fighting an extended war against a determined foe, he gambled that American society could also endure a vast array of domestic reforms. The result was the turmoil of the 1968 presidential election--a crisis more severe than any since the Civil War. With thousands killed in Vietnam, hundreds dead in civil rights riots, televised chaos at the Democratic National Convention, and two major assassinations, Americans responded by voting for the law and order message of Richard Nixon. In The Deadly Bet, distinguished historian Walter LaFeber explores the turbulent election of 1968 and its significance in the larger context of American history. Looking through the eyes of the year's most important players--including Robert F. Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, Martin Luther King, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, George Wallace, Nguyen Van Thieu, and Lyndon Johnson--LaFeber argues that the domestic upheaval had more impact on the election than the war in Vietnam. Clear, concise, and engaging, this work sheds important light on the crucial year of 1968.
  assassinations in 1968: The Making of the President, 1968 Theodore H. White, 2010-10-05 “White unites a novelist's knack of dramatization and a historian's sense of significance with a synthesizing skill that grasps the reader by the lapels.” —Newsweek The third book in Theodore H. White's landmark series, The Making of the President 1968 is the compelling account of the turbulent 1968 presidential campaign, the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and election of Richard Nixon. White made history with his groundbreaking The Making of the President 1960, a narrative that won the Pulitzer Prize for revolutionizing the way that presidential campaigns were reported. Now, The Making of the President 1968—back in print, freshly repackaged, and with a new foreword by Chris Matthews—joins Theodore Sorensen's Kennedy, White's The Making of the President 1960, 1964, and 1972, and other classics in the burgeoning Harper Perennial Political Classics series.
  assassinations in 1968: The Making of The President 1960 , 1961
  assassinations in 1968: Orders to Kill William F. Pepper, 1998-04-01 Argues that James Earl Ray was not King's assassin, and gathers evidence to support a theory that figures in government and organized crime were actually responsible
  assassinations in 1968: Killing Congress Nancy E. Marion, Willard Oliver, 2014-07-22 Since Congress was established in 1789, seven members have been assassinated and several others have been the victims of attempted assassinations or other acts of violence. Additionally, eight members of Congress have died while serving in Congress in other ways. These incidents have taken place throughout the existence of the United States and have a wide variety of interesting causes. In Killing Congress: Assassinations, Attempted Assassinations, and other Violence Enacted on Members of the U.S. Congress, Nancy Marion and Willard Oliver examine the assassinations and attempted assassinations of members of Congress, describing the actions that led up to the violence, the incidents themselves, and the repercussions of the events. Marion and Oliver also look closely at other violent attacks against Congressional members, including beatings and bio-attacks. The book not only describes the assassinations, but discusses the short- and long-term impacts of the violence that takes place on Capitol Hill.
  assassinations in 1968: The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. David J. Garrow, 2015-02-17 The author of Bearing the Cross, the Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Martin Luther King Jr., exposes the government’s massive surveillance campaign against the civil rights leader When US attorney general Robert F. Kennedy authorized a wiretap of Martin Luther King Jr.’s phones by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he set in motion one of the most invasive surveillance operations in American history. Sparked by informant reports of King’s alleged involvement with communists, the FBI amassed a trove of information on the civil rights leader. Their findings failed to turn up any evidence of communist influence, but they did expose sensitive aspects of King’s personal life that the FBI went on to use in its attempts to mar his public image. Based on meticulous research into the agency’s surveillance records, historian David Garrow illustrates how the FBI followed King’s movements throughout the country, bugging his hotel rooms and tapping his phones wherever he went, in an obsessive quest to destroy his growing influence. Garrow uncovers the voyeurism and racism within J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI while unmasking Hoover’s personal desire to destroy King. The spying only intensified once King publicly denounced the Vietnam War, and the FBI continued to surveil him until his death. The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. clearly demonstrates an unprecedented abuse of power by the FBI and the government as a whole.
  assassinations in 1968: Music and Protest in 1968 Beate Kutschke, Barley Norton, 2013-04-25 Music was integral to the profound cultural, social and political changes that swept the globe in 1968. This collection of essays offers new perspectives on the role that music played in the events of that year, which included protests against the ongoing Vietnam War, the May riots in France and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. From underground folk music in Japan to antiauthoritarian music in Scandinavia and Germany, Music and Protest in 1968 explores music's key role as a means of socio-political dissent not just in the US and the UK but in Asia, North and South America, Europe and Africa. Contributors extend the understanding of musical protest far beyond a narrow view of the 'protest song' to explore how politics and social protest played out in many genres, including experimental and avant-garde music, free jazz, rock, popular song, and film and theatre music.
  assassinations in 1968: Assassins’ Deeds John Withington, 2020-11-05 Assassins have been killing the powerful and famous for at least three thousand years. Personal ambition, revenge, and anger have encouraged many to violent deeds, like the Turkish sultan who had nineteen of his brothers strangled or the bodyguards who murdered a dozen Roman emperors. More recently have come new motives like religious and political fanaticism, revolution and liberation, with governments also getting in on the act, while many victims seem to have been surprisingly careless: Abraham Lincoln was killed after letting his bodyguard go for a drink. So, do assassinations work? Drawing on anecdote, historical evidence, and statistical analysis, Assassins’ Deeds delves into some of history’s most notorious acts, unveiling an intriguing cast of characters, ingenious methods of killing, and many unintended consequences.
  assassinations in 1968: Hellhound On His Trail Hampton Sides, 2010-04-27 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • On April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel. The nation was shocked, enraged, and saddened. As chaos erupted across the country and mourners gathered at King's funeral, investigators launched a sixty-five day search for King’s assassin that would lead them across two continents—from the author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers. With a blistering, cross-cutting narrative that draws on a wealth of dramatic unpublished documents, Hampton Sides, bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers, delivers a non-fiction thriller in the tradition of William Manchester's The Death of a President and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. With Hellhound On His Trail, Sides shines a light on the largest manhunt in American history and brings it to life for all to see. With a New Afterword
  assassinations in 1968: The Awful Grace of God Stuart Wexler, Larry Hancock, 2012-03-20 The Awful Grace of God chronicles a multi–year effort to kill Martin Luther King Jr. by a group of the nation's most violent right–wing extremists. Impeccably researched and thoroughly documented, this examines figures like Sam Bowers, head of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi, responsible for more than three hundred separate acts of violence in Mississippi alone; J.B. Stoner, who ran an organization that the California attorney general said was more active and dangerous than any other ultra–right organization; and Reverend Wesley Swift, a religious demagogue who inspired two generations of violent extremists. United in a holy cause to kill King, this network of racist militants were the likely culprits behind James Earl Ray and King's assassination in Memphis on April 4th, 1968. King would be their ultimate prize—a symbolic figure whose assassination could foment an apocalypse that would usher in their Kingdom of God, a racially pure white world. Hancock and Wexler have sifted through thousands of pages of declassified and never–before–released law enforcement files on the King murder, conducted dozens of interviews with figures of the period, and re–examined information from several recent cold case investigations. Their study reveals a terrorist network never before described in contemporary history. They have unearthed data that was unavailable to congressional investigators and used new data–mining techniques to extend the investigation begun by the House Select Committee on Assassinations. The Awful Grace of God offers the most comprehensive and up–to–date study of the King assassination and presents a roadmap for future investigation.
  assassinations in 1968: The Plot to Kill King William F. Pepper, 2016-06-21 Bestselling author, James Earl Ray’s defense attorney, and, later, lawyer for the King family William Pepper reveals who actually killed MLK. William Pepper was James Earl Ray’s lawyer in the trial for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., and even after Ray’s conviction and death, Pepper continues to adamantly argue Ray’s innocence. This myth-shattering exposé is a revised, updated, and heavily expanded volume of Pepper’s original bestselling and critically acclaimed book Orders to Kill, with twenty-six years of additional research included. The result reveals dramatic new details of the night of the murder, the trial, and why Ray was chosen to take the fall for an evil conspiracy—a government-sanctioned assassination of our nation’s greatest leader. The plan, according to Pepper, was for a team of United States Army Special Forces snipers to kill King, but just as they were taking aim, a backup civilian assassin pulled the trigger. In The Plot to Kill King, Pepper shares the evidence and testimonies that prove that Ray was a fall guy chosen by those who viewed King as a dangerous revolutionary. His findings make the book one of the most important of our time—the uncensored story of the murder of an American hero that contains disturbing revelations about the obscure inner-workings of our government and how it continues, even today, to obscure the truth.
  assassinations in 1968: Assassination Willard A. Heaps, 1969 Describes some of history's most famous assassinations including those of Jean-Paul Marat, Nicholas II, Mahatma Gandhi, and Trujillo, and discusses the characteristics and philosophy of this special kind of murder.
  assassinations in 1968: MLK: An American Legacy David J. Garrow, 2016-06-28 Three meticulously researched works—including Pulitzer Prize winner Bearing the Cross—spanning the life of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. This collection from professor and historian David J. Garrow provides a multidimensional and fascinating portrait of Martin Luther King Jr., and his mission to upend deeply entrenched prejudices in society, and enact legal change that would achieve equality for African Americans one hundred years after their emancipation from slavery. Bearing the Cross traces King’s evolution from the young pastor who spearheaded the 1955–56 bus boycott in Montgomery to the inspirational leader of America’s civil rights movement, focusing on King’s crucial role at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Garrow captures King’s charisma, his moral obligation to lead a nonviolent crusade against racism and inequality—and the toll this calling took on his life. Garrow delves deeper into one of the civil rights movement’s most decisive moments in Protest at Selma. These demonstrations led to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 that, along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, remains a key aspect of King’s legacy. Garrow analyzes King’s political strategy and understanding of how media coverage—especially reports of white violence against peaceful African American protestors—elicited sympathy for the cause. King’s fierce determination to overturn the status quo of racial relations antagonized FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. follows Hoover’s personal obsession to destroy the civil rights leader. In an unprecedented abuse of governmental power, Hoover led one of the most invasive surveillance operations in American history, desperately trying to mar King’s image. As a collection, these utterly engrossing books are a key to understanding King’s inner life, his public persona, and his legacy, and are a testament to his impact in forcing America to confront intolerance and bigotry at a critical time in the nation’s history.
  assassinations in 1968: Our Year of War Daniel P. Bolger, 2017-11-07 Two brothers -- Chuck and Tom Hagel -- who went to war in Vietnam, fought in the same unit, and saved each other's life. They disagreed about the war, but they fought it together. 1968. America was divided. Flag-draped caskets came home by the thousands. Riots ravaged our cities. Assassins shot our political leaders. Black fought white, young fought old, fathers fought sons. And it was the year that two brothers from Nebraska went to war. In Vietnam, Chuck and Tom Hagel served side by side in the same rifle platoon. Together they fought in the Mekong Delta, battled snipers in Saigon, chased the enemy through the jungle, and each saved the other's life under fire. But when their one-year tour was over, these two brothers came home side-by-side but no longer in step -- one supporting the war, the other hating it. Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and his brother Tom epitomized the best, and withstood the worst, of the most tumultuous, shocking, and consequential year in the last half-century. Following the brothers' paths from the prairie heartland through a war on the far side of the world and back to a divided America, Our Year of War tells the story of two brothers at war -- a gritty, poignant, and resonant story of a family and a nation divided yet still united.
  assassinations in 1968: Assassinations and Executions Harris M. Lentz, 1988 From Abraham Lincoln (1865) to Russian poet Nikolai S. Gumilev (1920) to Beatle John Lennon (1980): this book provides reference to political assassinations, political executions, and unsuccessful attempts against major figures. Entries detail the manner, the motive, the assailant (when known), brief biographical information on the victims, the immediate effects on the political climate of the day, and in some cases, the final fate of the assassins.