Discussion Questions for Book Clubs and Educators

• Why did Lyndon Johnson choose not to run for re-election in 1968? What forces were fraying apart liberalism?
• What was Richard Nixon's political identity in early 1968? What strategies led him toward the Republican Party's nomination?
• What was the larger political mood of the 1960s? How was it shaped by violence? Who was to blame?
• Why did so many young Americans rally to the candidacy of Eugene McCarthy? Why did McCarthy fail to capture the Democratic nomination?
• What was Nelson Rockefeller's vision for the Republican Party? Why did his bid for the presidency fall short?
• How was Robert F. Kennedy seeking to reorient the Democratic Party? Had he not been assassinated, could he have been elected president?
• What did Ronald Reagan's "underground" campaign reveal about the shifting identity of the Republican Party?
• How did Hubert Humphrey end up as such a pathetic figure by the fall of 1968? What mistakes did he make?
• What explains the relative popularity of the third-party candidate George Wallace? What effect did it have on American politics, going forward?
• How did Richard Nixon's campaign evolve over the course of 1968? Why did he win?
• Did the presidential election of 1968 change the direction of American politics? What are its major lessons for us today?