Watergate: The Hidden History: Nixon, the Mafia, and the CIA by Waldron Lamar

Author:Waldron, Lamar [Waldron, Lamar]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Non-Fiction, HIS036060, Politics, BIO010000, History
Publisher: Counterpoint
Published: 2012-06-05T06:00:00+00:00

With the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the riots that followed Dr. King’s murder, and the increasingly large demonstrations across the country protesting a deadly and seemingly futile war, in 1968 America seemed to be falling apart. That was especially true of the Democratic Party after the disaster of its convention in Chicago, accompanied by a televised police riot. Vice President Hubert Humphrey emerged as the party’s nominee, but many McCarthy and RFK supporters were angry and frustrated at his choice, and they picketed or heckled Humphrey’s appearances. By almost all accounts Humphrey was an honest and decent man, but he loyally supported President Johnson and his war, angering many Democrats. 36

For Richard Nixon, the disarray of the Democrats presented both an opportunity and a challenge. After the Democratic National Convention, Nixon had “a twelve-point lead (Nixon 43 percent, Humphrey 31 percent, Wallace 19 percent).” Old tactics like hiring people to heckle and demonstrate against Humphrey weren’t needed because disgruntled Democrats and liberals were already doing that. Still, the seasoned Nixon knew his boost was temporary, and the more Humphrey got his message across—and the more time independents had to think about what a Nixon Presidency might mean—the gap would begin to close. The polls continued to narrow until, just before the election, Humphrey held a slight lead, though the race was essentially a dead heat. 37

In addition, if LBJ’s secret negotiations—using Cyrus Vance—to end the war produced any breakthrough before the election, Nixon knew that could be a game changer. If Hubert Humphrey no longer had to support an increasingly unpopular war and could benefit from the announcement of a cease-fire or a peace plan, that alone could give Humphrey the election. That made Nixon work not just as hard, but even harder than he had on any past election.

The strategy Nixon used in the summer and fall of 1968 was more nuanced and evolved than his old Red Scare tactics of “fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear,” though it included some of those elements. There was plenty of fear in the country already, but Nixon would be careful to stoke it in subtle ways for his own ends. He would sometimes mix fear with soft-pedaled bigotry in his Southern Strategy. Smears were not especially egregious for Nixon in 1968, though some would consider his remarks about Humphrey over the top. As for ignorance, Nixon and his advisors spent much of their time devising and using the first effective television strategy to wage a truly national media campaign for the first time. (It was summed up the following year in Joe McGinniss’s The Selling of the President.)

Ambrose called Richard Nixon’s 1968 approach “the politics of resentment and outrage,” as Nixon seemed to be willing to say anything to appeal to those who were dissatisfied. However, Nixon refused to debate Humphrey, so he could stick with platitudes and not be pinned down to specifics. Nixon also restricted his access to the press, barring journalists he believed would not be favorable to him.

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