Clean for Gene: Eugene McCarthy's 1968 Presidential Campaign

(Hardback)

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Most scholars agree that 1968 was a watershed in U.S. political history. And Senator Eugene McCarthy's anti-Vietnam War presidential campaign was a main catalyst for the year's events. McCarthy's near upset of President Lyndon B. Johnson in the first presidential primary in New Hampshire dramatically illustrated the divisions within the Democratic party, brought Senator Robert F. Kennedy into the race, led to Johnson's withdrawal, and undercut the radical New Left antiwar movement. This work has two main purposes. First, it seeks to delineate Eugene McCarthy's conservative-liberal ideology and, in so doing, contrast it to the ideology of the New Left antiwar movement. And second, it seeks to describe the historical context, causes, important events, and effects of McCarthy's 1968 presidential campaign.

Reviews

[T]he book is worth reading as a synthesis, summary, and reminder of the causes, events, and putative effects of McCarthy's presidential campaign. It effectively compares and contrasts McCarthy's views with those of the New Left and the counterculture and peace movement. Anyone interested in the period will find a cornucopia of sources and references. * Choice *

Author Bio

George Rising is a PhD candidate at the University of Arizona.