Today’s political climate feels (and objectively is, in many ways) far more hostile than it was earlier in my lifetime. I’ve often wondered if things would feel as tumultuous to me now if I had lived through the mid and late 60s. The world must have felt heated up with the Cold War in full force. Trouble was brewing in Vietnam. A liberal icon, JFK, gets elected, which must feel like a win for the liberal cause. Then Johnson, sends U.S. combat troops to Vietnam, getting drafted becomes a real thing for people to worry about. Society splits into pro-war (or at least still loyal to the country and our military) and anti-war sides. Anti-war and pro-civil rights seemed to go hand-in-hand, and all were brewing and the fuel for protests. Malcom X is killed in the midst of it, which was likely more meaningful for the civil rights liberals. A few years later, King was killed followed shortly after by the killing of Bobby Kennedy. The 1968 election season was in full swing. Kennedy and McCarthy were vying for the anti-war vote in the democratic primary, and on the heels of meaningful wins, Kennedy was killed. For a liberal, it might have felt like it was all over and the direction of the country was set. Nixon went on to win the White House, twice, and the Democratic Party was in shambles.

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