You You You You You You You You This is an artist's look at 1968 one man's portrait of America in this political year Franklin McMahon is an artist reporter whose work has taken him all over the world His paintings of the Vatican were published in Look McCall's and the Saturday Evening Post He went to Japan India and Thailand for Sports Illustrated and World Book yearbook His drawings of the European Common Market were published in Fortune Now he will turn toward the United States following the candidates through the most exciting and pretentious political year of this century These then are McMahon's drawings and his comments.
We begin in New Hampshire George Romney the governor of Michigan Signed into the Republican presidential primary in January of 68 but he had been running this time for the presidency since June of 1967 a puritanical and indefatigable campaigner Romney was up early in the morning greeting voters at factory gates shaking hands in supermarkets and attending coffee clotches I've been halfway around the world and back again.
He said in search for a program for peace He came up with what he called guaranteed neutralization and carried it into the hustings Can't mind a peace offensive unless you've got a peace program.
You can't just be for peace What is a fair and equal and sound basis for peace? It's out there guaranteed neutralization Now I asked the leaders of the nations if they had a better suggestion.
No matter better alternative Nobody else is suggested an alternative President has he said milk talk yet back and forth through New Hampshire Wisconsin and Oregon sounding for a Republican vote We need to straighten out our thinking on Vietnam It's nice to get up and say the jury for peace and Europe for this and that But the nations of the world are increasingly concerned that we're taking them right down the road to World War three But he was talking to people who just didn't want to believe their government was wrong overseas fighting this war in a distant land We need a man today To do let's look at the record And let's look at the record first Dropped out of the presidential race in early March and as we look around the world Let's not just look at Vietnam.
All of us are concerned about that terribly difficult war But did you ever stop to think that as we look around the world today? That the United States is in trouble in every area of the world Never have we been in more trouble in more places in the world that we are today The European Alliance will end up in tatters unless we get new leadership the Mideast It was in the news earlier this year.
You haven't been reading as much about it until just lately Did you know who came out the big winner in that flash war? The Soviet Union Richard M Nixon former vice president of the United States arrives at the Winnebago County Airport Making his second bid for the presidency and an old campaigner for Republican causes Nixon has spoken at over 100 Lincoln Day dinners.
Now he's headed for another in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin This is a Lincoln Day dinner I Appreciate the fact that everybody in this great audience is aware that we're entering one of those Watershed years in the history of the country and in speaking on that point I think it would only be appropriate if I were to give you a feel of the country because I have been around a Good deal in the past few weeks During the past year, but in the past few weeks beginning in the 1st of February I have moved from New Hampshire out to Colorado and I've been down in Texas and Oklahoma I've been out in Oregon and of course in Wisconsin in Florida and in New York And I have news for you Every place we go the crowds are big and they're enthusiastic Every place why go there's a feeling in the air something that you can sense usually that you sent in a campaign Only when you get toward the last of it when the excitement begins to run and everybody is recognizing the decision is soon to be made But here it is eight months before and people are excited and enthusiastic and ready to go and they want to work And you know that sends a message to me and I think you feel it here tonight And the message very simply is this we're going to win this November we're going to win that election Mr.
Nixon prefers the big speech to pack crowds of party faithful a Front -runner in this campaign.
He mostly avoided the kind of hand -to -hand combat that Romney practiced My friends the issue today is not the Johnson personality The issue today is the Johnson policies and putting it quite bluntly I don't think America can afford four more years of Lyndon Johnson in the White House This drawing was made in Conway, New Hampshire Go home tonight Put a map of the world on the wall if you have one stand back from at five feet throw darts at it You're gonna find a very difficult time hitting a place where the United States doesn't have some difficulty Let's start with Europe here where we had the great alliance when President Eisenhower left office in January of 1961 then it was strong and today that alliance is a shell Look at Latin America.
We all know what has happened with Castro But did you know how significant it is that you know that he has become stronger and stronger until today? Castro from tiny Cuba has the strongest Military force in the Western Hemisphere next to the United States with Romney out of the way Nixon now ran to build up his vote and erase his image as a loser and Watch for signs that Rockefeller or Reagan might challenge But the big news as often happens began to be made in the Democratic Party Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota had entered in New Hampshire and Wisconsin and eventually in six other primaries to offer an alternative to an incumbent president of his own party a challenge unheard of in modern times He began in January talking to small knots of voters and mostly to students It was very lonely out there in New Hampshire.
He later remarked This drawing was made during a press conference in a basement traffic court in Rochester, New Hampshire The senator was late that night getting in from Washington and rather perfunctorily fulfilled his commitment to his supporters in Rochester Then on to Dover for supermarket handshakes and Finally to a suburban basketball game.
There was some enthusiasm among the high schoolers But nobody could guess how many votes Judgment within the In the closing weeks that began to happen from all over the Northeast they came and some from as far as the University of Chicago The early speeches to college students had begun to pay off Word of the tall gray senator from Minnesota and his anti -war challenge had spread across the land What had been an insignificant primary now turned into an event an event of worldwide importance? These were the bright young people not copping out but getting in all the way in the American electoral process They assembled in Manchester and Concord and spread out over the state this is the McCarthy headquarters in Peterborough and This drawing was made in Franklin, New Hampshire In any effort such as this there's a lot of wasted motion But What they lacked in political know -how they made up for an enthusiasm and In numbers in the end over five thousand came and spread themselves over the New Hampshire countryside every place I go I'm told that you've all been very well behaved and very influential very nice and that Since no one has ever seen this kind of campaign in America why it's kind of a test of the technique But also a test of all of you who have participated if I win, I'll give you credit if I lose I'll have to blame you.
I suppose These will be to be honest both ways We'll give you full credit and a share of the blame Here Rita Jordan of New York City and Nancy Miller from the University of Pennsylvania Talk with a Goffstown farmer And These two young men are distributing McCarthy leaflets in a Manchester supermarket McCarthy stock began to rise He had begun in January with a predicted 12 % increase in the market 12 % of the vote then it was 18 now there was talk of 25 crowds began to get larger and a kind of charisma Actually filled the air But no one was sure if this translated into votes In The closing days telephoning began getting out the McCarthy vote and offering babysitting service And Even an appeal to the French -speaking Manchester citizens Romero no American voter Exists outside a web of instant communication Into New Hampshire had come the Tet offensive then the Pueblo incident and the gold crisis and now on the day before the primary election Big guns flashed along the Potomac as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard Secretary of State Dean Rusk defend us presence in Vietnam In consultations with the appropriate committee On what that action here.
I just can't say anything more than I was there already on that point It was strange to see Secretary Rusk there on the table of the McCarthy, New Hampshire headquarters Among folks who were busily seeking to eliminate him as a political force otherwise after you have The recommendation Made up your mind what you're gonna do then you'll tell us it was the day before the election and the fact that a majority of the Foreign Relations Committee were now seemingly supporting Senator McCarthy's position on the war Clearly must have had its effect on the New Hampshire voters I Senator McCarthy was given 42 % of the New Hampshire Democratic vote an unprecedented acclaim for an until then Quiet an unknown senator from the Midwest and is a gallant band of political neophytes Later that night I looked in on the New Hampshire Johnson headquarters and Made this painting in the parking lot outside You know the New Hampshire primaries are unique in politics They're the only races where anybody can run And everybody can win On The wings of his 42 % New Hampshire victory McCarthy entered, Wisconsin This is a press conference at the Milwaukee Airport.
I would hope we could get a majority in Wisconsin after New Hampshire I think there's reason to be somewhat optimistic about this state up until now McCarthy had been supported by people with a kind of Existentialist acting for the moment approach to politics They didn't seem necessarily to want to elect a president.
They really only wanted to protest the war But what had begun as an offered Democratic alternative now began to be a real drive for the presidency So this is second consideration this campaign one the judgment on the war itself Secondly a judgment with reference to priorities and since it now appears quite clear that We cannot as President Johnson said a year and a half two years ago fight two wars and win them both We're really fighting only one and not winning either We're called upon to make this very hard choice.
I think in America in the year 1968 30 for the first time in our history And I think in the first time maybe in the history of modern democracy at least But to call upon our nation to pass a judgment upon Its own action not after it's over when you can say well, we're sorry We shouldn't have done it as some people did after the Spanish -American war Not just pass a judgment before we become involved say we'll not get into this but in mid course We must change the policy and change the program this I say a real test intellectual and moral maturity So we must be prepared to say it is a test of America And be prepared to commit ourselves to see who it is in that test.
This nation proves itself right proves itself mature proves itself courageous to Proves itself really capable of providing the leadership Which the world looks to us to provide in this century and in the century beyond and also a greater moral commitment in some cases we're asked today to be Unselfish to put aside prejudices that we may have carried for a long time or particular selfish considerations This is in almost every area of what I I really call the new civil rights of America Not just to create jobs but to see to it that there is job equality and job opportunity for all This puts a burden upon some of us it's a kind of a challenge of the test as to whether or not We really believe what we've been saying about America for 150 to 200 years Most people thought that McCarthy would do better in Wisconsin than he had in New Hampshire Wisconsin is well known as a place with a strange and baffling political climate and Also a place of sudden spring storms This one blew into McCarthy headquarters in Milwaukee blew in from Washington I am announcing today my candidacy for the presidency of the United States.
I Do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man but to propose new policies I Run because I am convinced that This country is on a perilous course and Because I have such strong feelings About what must be done? And I feel that I'm obliged to do all that I can I Run to seek new policies policies to end the bloodshed in Vietnam and in our cities policies to close the gaps that now exist between black and white between rich and poor between young and old in this country and Around the rest of the world Kennedy immediately unleashed a socket to him slashing and many thought too vitriolic attack on the president he moved through the Western states to Los Angeles Denver and Omaha and His words reverberated off Wisconsin rooftops Anymore men how many more lotters how much more destruction will be asked to provide the military victory That is always just around the corner the poor into the bottomless pit of our dreams but this question the administration does not and It cannot answer and the president seemed to answer We don't plan to surrender and we don't plan to pull out either and we don't plan Let people in losses and pressure and force us to divide our nation in a time of national peril And these may say one We are going to decide what this country will stand for and what kind of men we are So I ask for your help in the city and the homes of this state in the town that on its own Contributing your concern and your action warning of the danger of what we are doing and the promise and The promise of what we can do in the future.
I ask for your help But I point out to you the time has come When we ought to unite when we ought to stand up and be counted when we ought to support our leaders our Government our men and our allies until aggression is stopped wherever it is occurring Was too late for Kennedy to enter the Wisconsin primary so nobody knew what effect his entrance into the presidential race would have on the McCarthy chances and Particularly no one knew what effect it might have on McCarthy's young people We came in here last night about Midnight from Detroit after an eight -hour bus drive It was unorganized There wasn't any discernible method and we came in and after watching and he taught for about 15 minutes everything You know, there was a method And just the way the kids playing sergeant pepper and some of the other albums and Everybody's beating on the tables and time to the music and working like mad And it was just really It's really great I was in charge of the high school kids from Detroit it worked all night And they put out they were putting out 16 ,000 Kits an hour they go to the canvases and the canvas is passing out to the houses they can They have several varieties They have a core kit.
That's just basic then they have a tax kit The Republican independent voter kit I think it's really nice to see everyone working like this I Mean, it's a nice at least it's a positive thing to do.
You know, that was one of the reasons I came I mean a lot of times, you know, the whole anti -war movement was just so negative You know, I mean there was nothing you just hear this sense of futility and now it just seems more positive Like maybe you can affect something really you other than just match around no purpose That's that's what's good about it You think then that Kennedy would make a better president If Kennedy can't get elected and McCarty can't But I think that the goal He's against the war I'm for McCarthy But you know, I wouldn't go out and commit suicide if Kennedy were to come out ahead This is a strange campaign.
I think people are more issue oriented At least the people from McCarthy that I've met McCarthy I think is a better man.
I think that the The issue was really the important thing and I really do think that McCarthy displayed more courage initially Displayed more integrity In the whole thing then Kennedy I think Kennedy lost a lot of his youthful Support and if he does have the support won't be nearly as naive as it was before I mean, he was just this charismatic figure.
I think that McCarty is kind of has the Stevenson Stevenson image and I wasn't really around when I was around but I wasn't really involved in politics when Stevenson was around But the feeling that I get is that McCarthy is very very much like Stevenson Meanwhile back in the Republican world Nixon rolled on he'd taken 79 % of the Republican votes in New Hampshire And now Rockefeller decided that he wouldn't run at least for the time being So Nixon for now was the winner and ran to further build his margin of victory As Wisconsin primary day neared the powers of the presidency began to be felt though President Johnson himself Never came to Wisconsin.
He sent members of his cabinet postmaster general O 'Brien Secretary of Agriculture Freeman and even Betty Furnas and the greatest campaigner of them all Hubert Horatio Humphrey vice president of the United States There's no lack of consultation and there is no lack of free speech and there is no lack of ideas I can assure you that they flow in from a thousand newspapers and a thousand editorials and they come in and dozens and dozens and hundreds of letters and Panels do look carefully scrutinized.
For example, your government has a working panel on the whole matter of intelligence Operations that panel was chaired for several years by the present Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford Your government has had a military tactics There isn't any problem of consultation The problem about Vietnam is not quite so much in Washington As it is in Vietnam itself and in Hanoi and may I say that we could well balance the scales of justice If Hanoi itself could hear from every college campus not in America alone, but throughout the world That the desire of humanity is the end of war and we ask ho Chi Minh who is no Asian Santa Claus Or social worker swispers or not despite the administration counterattack McCarthy's irregulars were again about to win Private pollsters began to predict a stunning McCarthy victory.
There was talk of 65 % Then on Sunday night two nights before the primary politics again burned bright on the magic tube President Johnson surprisingly announced a change in American bombing policy in Vietnam and sued for peace But he dropped a bombshell into the American political arena.
I Do not believe That I should devote an hour or day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than The awesome duties of this office the presidency of your country accordingly, I Shall not see And I will not accept The nomination of my party for another term as your president But let men everywhere Know however that he's strong and a confident and A vigilant America Stands ready tonight to seek an honorable peace and Stands ready tonight To defend an honored cause Whatever the price Whatever the burden whatever the sacrifice That duty may require Thank you for listening good night and God bless all of you
