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“History doesn’t repeat itself. But it does rhyme.” That witticism is often (and erroneously) attributed to Mark Twain. Regardless of who said it, it has much bearing on where we find ourselves at this moment in American history.
As folks come to terms with the reality of Saturday’s attempt to assassinate former U.S. president Donald Trump – and kill the MAGA movement in the process – it’s interesting to see how reactions vary among different generations.
For the 20-somethings of Gen Z, this is a first. They’ve never witnessed a crime of this magnitude. In fact, many of their Gen Xer parents were toddlers the last time a gunman tried to take a chief executive’s life (when John Hinckley came dangerously close to killing Ronald Reagan in 1981). So, this is a new experience for a substantial portion of the citizenry.
Yet it’s a far different story for Baby Boomers, the now-seniors who were born and came of age in the years immediately after World War II. Given South Carolina’s large population of them, this demographic is worthy of consideration. Saturday’s event has an all too eerily familiar “Been there, done that” quality for them.
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In fact, many people ages 60 and up are now asking, “Is this 1968 all over again?”
It’s a fair question. Because in many important ways, 2024 is just like 1968. And in many equally important ways, it isn’t. Consider the evidence and then decide for yourself.
In 1968, a widely unpopular Democrat was in the White House. Lyndon Johnson had sailed into the presidency on a wave of sympathy following John F. Kennedy’s murder in 1963. He parlayed that into a landslide reelection in 1964, whereupon he launched into two-pronged initiatives of mammoth proportions: The grossly excessive spending spree that was billed as the Great Society, the biggest creation and expansion of federal programs since the New Deal 30 years earlier; and the equally costly (both in dollars and human lives) deepening U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
With the body bags and the federal red ink growing bigger as Johnson’s approval rating dwindled ever smaller, LBJ read the handwriting on the wall and opted for retirement on his Texas ranch.
In 2024, unpopular incumbent president Joe Biden stubbornly plows ahead with his attempt to stay in office, an effort that looks less likely to succeed with each passing week.
In 1968, there was the aforementioned Vietnam War. Words like “quagmire” and “morass” were routinely used to describe the situation. The generation that had stopped Hitler and Tojo and halted Communist expansion at the 38th parallel in Korea couldn’t come up with a way to get out of the jungles of Southeast Asia. Public opinion was deeply split over what the U.S. should do.
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In 2024, another controversial war rages. This time, it’s Israel’s retaliatory strikes against against Hamas and its terrorists – who unleashed a tidal wave of atrocities against the Jewish State on Oct. 7, 2023 and who still hold dozens of Israeli citizens hostage. Again, popular opinion is divided. Conservatives stand with Israel, while progressives and the Woke movement side with the Palestinians – leaving Joe Biden to walk the tightrope between them.
In 1968, a prominent Republican was making another attempt to win the Oval Office. After having served as vice president throughout much of the 1950s under Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon lost the 1960 contest to Kennedy in the closest presidential contest ever. After wisely sitting out the 1964 debacle, he was back in 1968 branded as a “New Nixon,” a hybrid of nostalgia for the good old days under Ike and the know-how to turn things around heading into the 1970s.
In 2024, former president Donald Trump is running for the third time. There’s nothing new about Trump ’24. In fact, he’s promising more of the very same the next time around. Like Nixon, he also is running on his ability to clean up the mess his successor made of things.
In 1968, race was a top issue. The country was going through desegregation, the process of ending century-old “separate but equal” practices.
In 2024, after having a black president for two terms and the first black woman vice president, race is still an important factor, but in different ways. However, many black women are drawing a line in the sand, letting it be known there will be political hell to pay if VP Kamala Harris is squeezed off the Democratic ticket. So race remains a potent factor in public life, and a truly color-blind society seems as elusive today as ever.
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In 1968, college campuses were racked with waves of protests as students marched, sat in, and demonstrated — often peacefully, sometimes not — against the Vietnam War.
In 2024, college campuses were again disrupted by students protesting the Hamas War in Israel. Though there was less overt violence this time, the learning environment was severely impacted at many colleges and universities, and in some cases, police had to be called into breakup encampments.
In 1968, with the county still reeling from Kennedy’s murder less than five years earlier, a wave of political assassinations followed. There was Malcolm X’s slaying in 1965, followed by the killings of Martin Luther King Jr. and senator and Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy (the late president’s younger brother) in the spring of 1968. The shooting string finally ended with an attempt to assassinate Alabama governor and Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972.
In 2024, we witnessed the attempt to assassinate Trump. Which, had he not turned his head at precisely the right moment, might have had a drastically different ending.
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In 1968 the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago. Tens of thousands of anti-war and Far Left protestors demonstrated in Grant Park, not far from the convention venue. Mayor Richard J. Daley, whose machine ran the city with ruthless efficiency, ultimately ordered his police to drive out the protestors. They moved in with nightsticks and tear gas, clubbing and beating the anti-war activists on live TV as the protestors chanted, “The whole world is watching!” The images so horrified Americans around the country that the riot was considered a major reason why Democrat Hubert Humphrey narrowly lost to Nixon that November.
In 2024, Democrats will again gather in Chicago for next month’s national convention, and pro-Palestinian protestors promise to be there in force. Some $750 million federal tax dollars have already been spent on security arrangements, a figure likely to be pushed even higher by Saturday’s events in Butler, Pa.
Finally, by the summer of 1968, many Americans were resigned to a feeling of “What’s going to happen next?”
In 2024, we’re rapidly getting there.
So there you have it. History may not be repeating itself right now, but its district rhymes are growing harder to miss.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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