US political history of the last fifty years or so, is fascinating. And a thoughtful, balanced, contextualised, factual based view of past events (even if unpalatable by today’s standards), can lead to interesting and important reflections on current affairs.
The 1972 US Presidential election process is a good place to just ‘dive in’ and start looking around. I started from a list of four key books, that have given me a flavour of the times, the issues, the role and influence of the media in politics and gave a ‘wide lens’ view of events from differing standpoints. In no particular order, these are:
- Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 – Hunter S. Thompson.
- The Pentagon Papers – Katharine Graham.
- All the President’s Men – Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
- The Making of the President 1972 – Theodore H. White.
White and Thompson cover the same events, but from diametrically opposed stand points: Thompson reports on a ‘fully immersive’ basis – he’s emotionally invested in McGovern and reports events and happenings, conversations and gossip as he slogs around the primaries. White is writing to complete a series of works on presidential campaigns, the first of which won the Pulitzer Prize. He’s a measured, fact checker, with a sneaking regard for Nixon.
Many of the issues reported on, still dominate headlines today: issues around race, America’s position on the world stage (economically and militarily), it’s relationship with China and inevitably, Vietnam.
The US administration’s actions and efforts to end the war are documented in White’s work, which highlights Nixon’s desire for ‘Peace with Honour’ (a young Joe Biden even gets a mention). The war is a major issue in the election.
For us in 2021, viewing the US led withdrawal from Afghanistan, there are interesting parallels with the American prosecution of the Vietnam War. Both required a huge investment from the US tax payer, saw significant loss of life and we’re ideologically driven.
To understand the American’s next move, we should reflect, honestly, on the past.
Dystonia Girl 