Nixonland

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Told with urgency and sharp political insight, this account recaptures America's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s, revealing how Richard Nixon rose from political obscurity to seize the presidency. It begins amid the chaos of the 1965 Watts riots, just months after Lyndon Johnson's landslide victory seemed to signal a permanent liberal consensus. However, by the following year, many liberals were ousted from Congress, and Nixon was poised for a stunning comeback. Between 1965 and 1972, America endured a second civil war, birthing the political landscape we recognize today. The era was marked by figures like Nixon, Johnson, Spiro Agnew, and Hubert H. Humphrey, alongside cultural icons such as Abbie Hoffman and Jane Fonda. Key events include the student protests against the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention. Nixon's promise of national unity belied a divisive governance and a criminal conspiracy culminating in the Watergate scandal. In November 1972, Nixon was reelected in a landslide, setting the stage for his 1974 resignation and defining America's ideological divide. Filled with extensive research and a compelling narrative, this account confirms the author's status as a leading historian.