U.S. Political Transformations since 1945: From Liberal Dominance to Conservative Ascendancy
Economical, political and social breakdown, confusion, and violence were the central and decisive themes of 1968. Based on history, extreme radicalism and severe transformation has typically caused the public to move in the absolute opposite direction. The revolutionary movements in central and western Europe, and in Germany, Hungary and Italy, as well as the fall of the Berlin Wall and European Communism can be cited here (Isserman and Kazin 210). Today is no exception, considering the recent history with President Bush and the election of America’s first ‘black’ president Barack Obama.
The current state of affairs of the United States seems to be mirroring that of the boisterous and tumultuous 1960s. Considering the government’s inability to adjust to new realities, challenge the counterattack from the get-go in the 1970s and the change in the economic system, the breaking down of the New Deal order was not surprising. (Greider). The change in America’s current structure of economic can again by acknowledged, but government and political parties mostly have no clue how to deal with it. After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the presidential candidate at the time pleaded for our divided nation to unite because he knew American would not survive and that something would ultimately give.
The American dream really did die in 1968 (Witcover), and not just in America. The political era in 1968 began with violent events in Vietnam. The year 1968 had a rather grim time line. In January, the Tet Offensive was launched by the Vietcong. In March, students of the New York University protested against Dow Chemical, the primary manufacturer of napalm that was being used in Vietnam. In April, Dr. King was assassinated, which lead to riots and a strike by the students of Columbia University. May marked the riots and strikes by students in Franch. In June 1968, the beloved Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. August marked the historic protests against the Chicago Democratic National Convention. Finally, November marked Richard Nixon’s victory in the election.
Ultimately, as Kennedy had suspected, many things gave. The insurrectional ‘Movement’ may have seemed to have a lot of hope and promise a few years back, but these series of serendipitous events eventually led to its downfall. (Isserman and Kazin 211). So it is not surprising but rather apparent why 1968 is regarded as the pivotal year in which liberal dominance transformed to conservative ascendancy.
Works Cited
Greider, William. "The End of New Deal Liberalism." The Nation. The Nation, 5 Jan 2011. Web. 14 Sep 2013. <http://www.thenation.com/article/157511/end-new-deal-liberalism#axzz2erh2Sbc5>
Isserman, Maurice, and Michael Kazin. America Divided, The Civil War Of The 1960s. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Witcover, Jules. The Year the Dream Died: Revisiting 1968 in America. 1st ed. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1998. Print.
