so, robert kennedy has to demonstrate how he could be superior, not simply a alternative, to eugene mccarthyand bobby kennedy were not pals. mccarthy had a rather... biting wit. - i had some of the same regrets, i suppose. i didn't know who the other man was, but i hoped there was someone better. i couldn't name him right off hand, at the time, but uh-- - my father didn't like mccarthy, he thought mccarthy was um--a feat. he couldn't picture mccarthy at a cuban missile crisis. - eugene mccarthy was basically a one-issue candidate; he was a peace candidate. but kennedy had a broader vision, in terms of what's happening in the cities, what's happening around race, and the issues of poverty. crowd: we want kennedy! we want kennedy! - we cannot separate ourselves no matter where we live. from the problems, and the troubles, and the difficulties that face the whole of the united states. - ladies and gentlemen, the vice president, and the next president of the united states: hubert h. humphrey. [cheers and applause] - i shall seek the nomination of the democratic party. [cheers and applause] - whe

the party itself was deeply divided between the anti-vietnam war behind eugene mccarthy and the johnson administration, represented by the sitting vice president. inside and outside the arena -- mayor daley over policed. they did not have modern security apparatus. they did not have helicopters telling you where to go. they were not able to use anything to do with modern security apparatus. then the cyber world in general. so it was dominated by the protesters -- the tear gas the beatings. counterculture figures became stars. the poet allen ginsberg, the absurdist writer terry southern. you had abby hoffman, jerry rubin there was a circus, commotion. people are speaking in cafes now, sipping tea, and it is pretty calm, downtown chicago. but i do think in chicago there is security, security, because former president trump was shot in pennsylvania. there is that inexplicable framing. the chicago police department has partnered with illinois, the state, the governor. they have kind of a cordoned off situation like we have not seen at a convention before. i think it was intense in milwaukee

. - eugene mccarthy was this senator from minnesota who entered the new hampshire primary as an anti-vietnamer. they cut their hair off. they put on clean clothes. the saying at the time was that they were "going clean for gene." - it's just crucial you pay very close attention to the appearance you are presenting. - good afternoon, we're representing senator mccarthy, who's seeking the democratic nomination for president. - right. - when mccarthy chose to be a candidate, i dropped out, you know, at the end of the first semester and went to work for the campaign. the issue was vietnam. - you have to say that this war has gone too far. [applause] - what makes 1968 such a pivotal year in american history is that an incumbent president couldn't seem to hold his party together. - will there be some kind of split in the democratic party? they're all getting quite vocal. - yes. - they're saying that if the republicans nominate a moderate or a liberal republican, democrats will come over and support him and the conservatives in the republican party will go over and support lyndon johnson. - yes. -

the name of senator eugene j. mccarthy of minnesota to espouse the cause of one of the greatest of all americans. and it is a great honor to nominate for the presidency of the united states. george mcgovern. and so, ladies and gentlemen, i am proud to present to this current convention the name of hubert horatio humphrey as nominee for the president of the united states. vice president humphrey has 1000 and 761 and three fourths votes. mccarthy. 601 votes. senator jim mcgovern. 146 and a half votes. reverend phillips. 67 and a half votes. senator kennedy. 12 and half votes. and governor down. 17 and a half votes. and the chair declares that vice president hubert outbreak is the democratic president candidate of the united states. my fellow americans. my fellow democrat. i proudly accept the nomination of our party. we have heard hard and sometimes bitter debate, but i submit that this is the debate and this is the work of a free people. the work of an open convention. and the work of a political party. responsive to the ne

. - senator eugene mccarthy has conceded defeat in his bid for the democratic presidential nominationy really, uh-- would have conceded defeat in his heart of hearts a month or two ago. - the nomination was really not in question anymore. - mr. mcgovern? - it was not gonna be mccarthy and it was not gonna be mcgovern. it was gonna be hubert humphrey. that was a done deal before the convention opened. so the focus became on a peace plank in the democratic party platform, which was felt very strongly by those of us who had been in the kennedy campaign, or were in the mccarthy or mcgovern campaign. it was our sort of last hope that we might get something, at least. - this is the moment of truth for the democratic party! [audience applause] it was the issue of vietnam, and its deeply held feelings that the killing had to stop that motivated robert kennedy to become a candidate for president. [quiet cheering] a bullet stilled that voice, but he is here today. and if he were alive today, he would be on that platform, speaking for this minority plank. thank you. - this is still a volatile co

eugene mccarthy often does get no more than a footnote in 1968 but he does deserve credit for being the first among the democrats, and not just a minor political figure no one has heard of, but a sitting u.s. senator to come out openly and challenge johnson for his party's nomination. he came close to beating him in new hampshire, close enough it concerned the johnson people going forward. ultimately, the problem for mccarthy is he was never able to live up to the high expectations set for him for the remainder of the year. frankly, i am not even sure looking at the archival records he really wanted the presidency. if you look at his rhetoric, it seemed almost like he was running against the idea of the presidency and what the united states stood for at that time. i also want to say it is a great point about the moon. when nixon was president, the idea of going to the moon inspired him. when he would do things like go off the gold standard will go to china, he would sometimes reference on his white house tapes it is like going to the moon again. the idea being that something is possible

eugene mccarthy often does get no more than a footnote in 1968 but he does deserve credit for being theirst among the democrats, and not just a minor political figure no one has heard of, but a sitting u.s. senator to come out openly and challenge johnson for his party's nomination. he came close to beating him in new hampshire, close enough it concerned the johnson people going forward. ultimately, the problem for mccarthy is he was never able to live up to the high expectations set for him for the remainder of the year. frankly, i am not even sure looking at the archival records he really wanted the presidency. if you look at his rhetoric, it seemed almost like he was running against the idea of the presidency and what the united states stood for at that time. i also want to say it is a great point about the moon. when nixon was president, the idea of going to the moon inspired him. when he would do things like go off the gold standard will go to china, he would sometimes reference on his white house tapes it is like going to the moon again. the idea being that something is possible t

lbj faces this challenge from a senator from minnesota called eugene mccarthy.ts 42% of the vote. that persuades robert kennedy tojump in the race. by the end of the month, lbj's withdrawn. april, martin luther king is assassinated in memphis. june, robert f kennedy is assassinated in los angeles. we have the chicago convention. all this is played out against the backdrop of the vietnam war. and then, of course, at the end of the year, we get the election of richard nixon. an epic history, and it feels epic right now. it wasn't epic then, though, because they didn't have emergency podcasts, did they? there was no such thing as emergency podcasts, no! that didn't sort of crown it with its true sort of historical magnitude. but, yeah, nonetheless, it was mega history, and i just think we're getting that sort of similar sense now, justin. you just never know what's going to happen next this year. you've written this book, the forever war: america's unending conflict with itself, which i haven't read, i should confess up front. i read and loved your last book, as wi

present at defining moments with all the major characters jfk, jack and kennedy, lbj, senator eugene mccarthy and robert kennedy. for 40 years, -- had been wary opening these boxes because the violence at the end of the decade had cast a dark curtain on the era. he wanted only to look not to go backward, but when he turned 80, he finally realized, he said, coming down the steps one day that if i had any wisdom to dispense, i better start dispensing quickly. so we resolved to spend every weekend together going through the boxes in chronological order, reliving the sixties week by week, year by year, suspending knowledge of what was coming next, knowing only what the people at the time knew something the historian barbara tuchman taught me when i was a young historian. and as we relived the heady days of jfk his 1960 campaign, the inauguration, the birth of the peace corps, the civil rights movement and the march on washington before jfk assassination, and then the explosion of great legislation under lbj, civil rights, voting rights, fair housing, medicare, medicaid, aid to education, npr, pbs

present at defining moments with all the major characters jfk, jack and kennedy, lbj, senator eugene mccarthy and robert kennedy. for 40 years, -- had been wary opening these boxes because the violence at the end of the decade had cast a dark curtain on the era. he wanted only to look not to go backward, but when he turned 80, he finally realized, he said, coming down the steps one day that if i had any wisdom to dispense, i better start dispensing quickly. so we resolved to spend every weekend together going through the boxes in chronological order, reliving the sixties week by week, year by year, suspending knowledge of what was coming next, knowing only what the people at the time knew something the historian barbara tuchman taught me when i was a young historian. and as we relived the heady days of jfk his 1960 campaign, the inauguration, the birth of the peace corps, the civil rights movement and the march on washington before jfk assassination, and then the explosion of great legislation under lbj, civil rights, voting rights, fair housing, medicare, medicaid, aid to education, npr, pbs

seemed to be a figure defining moments with the major characters jfk, jackie candy, lbj, senator eugene mccarthynd robert kennedy. for 40 years is not wary of opening the boxes because the violence had caps on a dark curtain on the era he wanted to look ahead not to go backward when he turned 80 he finally realized he's coming down the steps when deified innate wisdom to dispense a better start dispensing quickly. we resolved to spend every weekend together going to the boxes in chronological order. reliving the 60s week by week, year by year's hispanic knowledge of what was coming next. knowing only with the people at the time knew something historian barbara tuchman taught me when as a young historian and as we live together the heady days of jfk's 1960 campaign, the inauguration, the birth of the peace corps, the civil rights movement and that march on washington before jfk's assassination in an explosion of great society legislation under lbj's civil rights, voting rights, fair housing, medicare, medicaid, aid to education pvr, pbs and much much more before the escalation of the vietnam war,

there were still people there for senator eugene mccarthy who had been in the primaries with bobby mccarthybe hubert humphrey. that is one big difference. the other one is that it was our war, the american war in vietnam. there were hundreds of thousands of soldiers who had been deployed in thousands that were dying every day. it was still an issue in 1968. there are similarities where the similarities are not only that when you get a lot of people together, you can never know what is going to happen. there were a lot of peaceful protesters there and people trying to make mayhem. it was considered eventually as a police riot on them. that split seen dosing hubert humphrey accept the nomination and then at the same time, seeing the buddy confrontation we are seeing right now spell doom for the democratic party. what is the same as that you had a president like president biden who withdrew from the race before this convention who at the beginning of the year, lyndon johnson thought he would be the nominee. on march 31st, he withdrew. but then, i knew what would happen at that convention. i wa

you had eugene mccarthy senator fromom minnesota stunnig entry into the race to challenge lyndon johnson almost winning the new hampshire primary against t lbj and shortly after that the entry of senator robert kennedy the second major challenger from within johnson's own party. so that's the difference for their lot of similarities and 68 but that would be a different. at the senator level of prominentin challenger came forward to challenge johnson. the primaries kennedy's 10000 dy campaign and then the twin assassination that year which i alluded to and i'll talk about more fully. martin lutherss king assassinatd on the balcony outside of his hotel room in memphis at the lorraine hotel which isot now a national park service and a greatt place to visit and historic site. kennedy assassinated in april and it stunned the nation. we talked about king being chosen to pastor a church inur montgomery alabama because he was a moderate. he wasn't a. he did become a little more interested in direct action in the last couple of years of his life but he had been a figure for moderation someone who

you had eugene mccarthy, a senator from minnesota's stunning entry into the race to challenge lyndon johnson, the first to challenge johnson, almost winning the new hampshire primary and shortly after that the entryof senator robert kennedy, second major challenger from within johnson's own party so there are a lot of similarities and 68 . that would be a difference for today. sort of a senator level a prominent challenger other than dean phillips to come forward and challenge johnson. and so the primary is kennedy's hundred day campaign and then you have the twin assassinations which i started to allude to and now i'll talk about itmore fully. martin luther king assassinated on the balcony outside his hotel room of the lorraine hotel which is now our national parks service civil rights site . king is assassinated nin april and it stuns the nation. it's this figure who could be from moderation and not violence and you talked about king being not chosen as a pastor of a church because you wasn't a black panther . he did become a little more interested in direct action but he'd always

in 1968, name was lyndon johnson he was challenged by two democrats eugene mccarthy and robert f. kennedy, attorney general to the martyr john f. kennedy. >> well lbj leaves office and he doesn't anoint a successor. >> and thus the democratic party descends into a very big, struggled which is then sadly shaken by the assassination of robert f. kennedy after winning the california primary the same time the world is shaken by the assassination of martin luther king junior not only an american hero, but the winner of the nobel peace prize. and as symbol of nonpartisan non violent change and his murder and later, rfk's murders send a signal that oh, my gosh, political violence is not only possible, but it's accelerating in this country. and then you go to the summer and that democratic party has. a very difficult time unifying and it's convention is raucous and violent yeah. then we head into an election which becomes closer and closer and is shaped in part by the racist rhetoric of a third party candidate named george wallace, who at one time gets 21% of the vote and isn't tyre campa

and then it looks like it's going to be a debate between robert kennedy and eugene mccarthy than martinuther king has killed robert kennedy has killed. and then you get to that democratic convention and everybody for this year, would there be echoes of that with the protesters? because the democrats lost that election that day and that convention that did not happen. this say history doesn't always come right together, but i lived through that time. it felt head spinning, then it feels head spinning now, does that time and the fact that this country got through it, do you feel hope that no matter how this goes at the country? >> and get through this, because obviously the message that you hear from both sides is if we don't win, it's the end. it's the end of democracy. it's the end of do you really believe that or do you think this country can rise above no matter what, without a question, i do. >> this is why history is so important. that's why i love it so much. if you remember what it was like, an i do because i live with these people over time to go well through those early days of

eugene mccarthy often does get no more than a footnote in 1968 but he does deserve credit for being theemocrats, and not just a minor political figure no one has heard of, but a sitting u.s. senator to come out openly and challenge johnson for his party's nomination. he came close to beating him in new hampshire, close enough it concerned the johnson people going forward. ultimately, the problem for mccarthy is he was never able to live up to the high expectations set for him for the remainder of the year. frankly, i am not even sure looking at the archival records he really wanted the presidency. if you look at his rhetoric, it seemed almost like he was running against the idea of the presidency and what the united states stood for at that time. i also want to say it is a great point about the moon. when nixon was president, the idea of going to the moon inspired him. when he would do things like go off the gold standard will go to china, he would sometimes reference on his white house tapes it is like going to the moon again. the idea being that something is possible that previously y

eugene mccarthy often does get no more than a footnote in 1968 but he does deserve credit for being the democrats, and not just a minor political figure no one has heard of, but a sitting u.s. senator to come out openly and challenge johnson for his party's nomination. he came close to beating him in new hampshire, close enough it concerned the johnson people going forward. ultimately, the problem for mccarthy is he was never able to live up to the high expectations set for him for the remainder of the year. frankly, i am not even sure looking at the archival records he really wanted the presidency. if you look at his rhetoric, it seemed almost like he was running against the idea of the presidency and what the united states stood for at that time. i also want to say it is a great point about the moon. when nixon was president, the idea of going to the moon inspired him. when he would do things like go off the gold standard will go to china, he would sometimes reference on his white house tapes it is like going to the moon again. the idea being that something is possible that previously

you had eugene mccarthy's senator from minnesota. stunning entry into the race to challenge lyndon johnson. the first occurred to challenge johnson almost winning the new hampshire primary against lbj and then shortly after that, the entry of senator kennedy, the second major challenger from within johnson's own party. so that's a difference. six there are a lot of similarities with 68 that that would be a difference for today terms of, you know, one that sort of the senator level, a prominent challenger, you know, other than dean phillips and some lesser candidates have really come forward to challenge johnson. and and so the primary is kennedy's 100 day campaign you have then the twin assassinations of that year which i just started to allude to. and now talk about it more fully. martin luther king assassinated on the balcony outside of his hotel room in memphis at the lorraine hotel, is now a national park service. it's a great to visit, if you like. so civil citing his it's a historic site king is assassinated in april and it stu

following lyndon johnson around in his library and felt guilty because i developed an admiration for eugene mccarthy the giver told lbj-not been able to follow along in his library tours oliver wendell holmes said you need to in your time. i think a lot of us did that. i hadn't people who are the people are books were and i thank you very much irving interested. see when terry st. louis good afternoon to you. >> caller: are you there? statement terry we are listening please go ahead. seth abrutyn are you still there? >> tell you what will come back to calls and just a second period as we get them straightened out in d.c. we will come back to those calls in just a second period one of the things we always do with our authors here a book tv on in-depthn- as we ask them what they are reading here is what jeff guinn told of his currently reading let's rip atkinson world war ii trilogy. an army of dawn, the day of battle the guns that last light. i sat in that sts well to talk in depth about his work. might be picked up that series? >> every time i write a book like a waco, the book that just came out. i

i felt guilty because i developed an admiration for eugene mccarthy. he forced johnson out of office. i think i told lbj that dr. would have if i had been allowed to follow along on his tours. wendell holmes said you need to share in the actions and passions of your time and i think a lot of us did that. people like you are the people i write my books for. and you for being interested. peter: terry, st. louis. good afternoon. we are listening. please go ahead. are you still there? tell you what. we will come back to calls in the second as soon as we get them straightened out. we will come back to those calls in just a second. one of the things we always do with our authors here at book tv on in-depth is we ask them what they are reading. here is what jeff guinn told us he is currently reading. it is rick atkinson were to trilogy, an army at dawn, the day of battle, the guns at last flht rick atkinson has set in that seat as well to talt his work. why have you kept that series? jeff: every time i write a book like waco, i spent maybe three years feeling

lyndon johnson around in his library and i felt guilty because i developed an admiration for eugene mccarthywho in essence had forced johnson not of office. think if i told lbj that i wouldn't have been allowed to follow along on any of his library tours like you i think i was interested that oliver wendell holmes said you need to share in the compassion of your time and i think a lot of us di that. again people like you are people i write my bookstore and i thank you very much for being interested in. >> dorian st. louis, good afternoon to you. >> are you still there? perry we. please goo ahead. >> are you still there? >> welcome back to calls in just a second as soon as we get them straightened out. we will come back to those calls in just a second. one of the things we always do with our authors here at booktv on "in depth" as wetv asked them what they are read is here is what jeff quinn told us he washe currently reading and s written in a world war ii trilogy an army at dawn where atkinson said in that seat as well to talk in depth about l hs work and why have you picked up that serious

happier than he had been during the campaign because it had been tough campaigning against senator eugene mccarthy. and then he leaves a minute later and is killed. -- was devastated. i mean, he thought that was the end of his public life. he went up to maine and became a writer, and he never really fully got back into it after that, although he helped with gore's concession speech and he was always writing books for people about get involved in public. so i think he'd be very happy to see. there's an energized young people out there today. now, two months prior to that march 31st, 1968, lbj makes an announcement and surprised. absolutely i think everybody in the country was surprised, as you know, he had everybody thought he would be the nominee. it would be a tough fought battle. mccarthy and robert against him. but he had all the all the presidency behind him in primaries didn't have the power they have now. and then on march 31st, he comes out there and he gives a speech, not only saying he's going to win the war down, but that he's going to not for the presidency again. so he can concentrate

there were people passionate about eugene mccarthy and his anti-war stance.nk there's those sorts of really deep cleavages in the democratic party right now. do you think that makes a difference in what we should expect? >> yeah, a big difference. because vietnam tore the party apart. and the candidate imposed on the party by party bosses with hubert humphrey who carried the burden of the johnson war policy, no matter what his views were. which meant the kennedy and mccarthy partisans were essentially left out. that's why the scenes on the the floor of the convention were wild. there were fist fights. there were shouting matches. it was almost as turbulent as the streets. and it was that turbulence that forced the party to change its rules right on the second night of the convention. october 27th, 1968, to say from now on, we will not choose our nominee this way. we won't do this again. we'll do it by the people in our primaries and our caucuses. and that happened in '72. that's the system we all know now today. and that system was almost a fluke. it was done

democratic party but the party itself was deeply divided between the dove anti-vietnam war behind eugene mccarthy, senator from minnesota, and lyndon johnson administration represented by hubert humphrey, the sitting vice president, and it was a vision inside the arena and then the outside mayor daley over policed. they did not modern security apparatus. they didn't have the right helicopters telling you where to go. they were not able to use things that we can do with modern security apparatus and the cyber world in general. and so it was just dominated the digitals by the protesters, the tear gas, the beatings, and counterculture figures who became stars, , the poet allen ginsburg or the absurdist writer terry southern. you had that yet these abby hoffman, terry rubin, black panther bobby seale. so there was a commotion in the streets of chicago. that doesn't exist. people are sitting in cafÉs right now sipping tea and is pretty calm in the main downtown of chicago. but i do think security security security because president trump, former president trump was shot in butler, pennsylvania, and th