this diary was originally published january 10, 2005. given that today marks the 40th anniversary of rfk being gunned down at point-blank range after winning the california democratic party primary, i thought the historical time frame also offers another perspective to the murder of rfk, namely by showing just how chaotic the world was at that time.
in just 143 days, the entire world changed.
at least, for most americans in 1968 it did.
over the course of just 143 days, between january 16, 1968 and june 6, 1968 not only was the nation turned upside down, but it was then turned on its ear, inside-out, and then turned every which way it could be turned.
it begins on january 16th, when the YIPPIES are formed... [snip]... 142 days later, bobby kennedy was declared dead after being gunned down on june 5th in los angeles.
there's more after the fold:
as i was saying...
it begins on january 16th, when the YIPPIES are formed one day before president lyndon baines johnson, in his january 17th televised state of the union address, informs the american public essentially that we were winning the war in vietnam.
a mere 142 days later, bobby kennedy was declared dead after being gunned down on june 5th in los angeles.
the events which transpire between january 16th and june 6th, 1968 are so profound in scope and scale that they deserve a review.
so, with no more delay, here's what happened in the 143-day span between january 16, 1968 and june 6, 1968:
(note: unless otherwise noted, all dates are in 1968)
January 16: abbie hoffman and jerry rubin found the "youth international party," commonly known as the YIPPIES.
January 17: president lyndon baines johnson delivers his televised state of the union address, and notes that we are winning in the struggle in vietnam.
January 23: the USS pueblo is seized in north korean waters.
January 30: RFK offers his first public criticism of lbj's presidency (on issues of race and the war)
January 31: the Tet Offensive is launched.
at the close of January: 498 americans were killed in vietnam conflict.
February 1: photographer eddie adams captures the infamous moment of execution of a young viet cong rebel by a south vietnamese military official shot at point-blank range (the image is also recorded by nbc news) -- the AP runs the photo across papers in the US.
February 1: upon seeing feed from vietnam about the tet offensive, including the erroneous news that the north vietnamese army had secured the american embassy in saigon (which they never did) walter cronkite says on air "what the hell is going on here? i thought we were winning this war?"
February 2: former vice-president richard nixon (who lost his bid for presidency in 1960 to democrat john f kennedy) announces his candidacy for president and enters his name into the new hampshire republican presidential primary.
February 3: yassir arafat is elected leader of the palestinian liberation organization.
February 4: beat generation writer neal cassady dies (he was the subject of allen ginsberg's poem "on neal's ashes").
February 8: thee black college students are shot and killed and many others wounded (some shot in the feet and they crouched on the ground to duck from the one-sided fire of bullets ) by south carolinian police in orangeburg following black student protests over not being able to use the town's only bowling alley. the incident becomes known as "the orangeburg massacre."
February 14: cesar chavez begins a hunger strike in atonement for recent violence that had come about because of their organizing efforts.
February 27: walter cronkite closes his special broadcast (which was catalyzed by his trip to vietnam following the tet offensive) who, what, where, when, and why? raising considerable doubt over the government's credibility regarding what the american people have been told about the efforts in vietnam. his closing remarks specifically question the manner in which the US can and may leave vietnam.
February 28: general westmoreland requests from president johnson an additional 206,000 troops for the involvement in vietnam.
by the close of february 506 more americans had been killed fighting in vietnam (2 month total: 1004 killed)
March 10: RFK flies to california to assist cesar chavez as he ends his now 25-day hunger strike in atonement for the recent violence that erupted because of their organizing efforts.
March 12: senator eugene mcCarthy, vying for the democratic party's nomination for the upcoming election nearly upsets president johnson by garnering 42% of the primary vote in new hampshire to president johnson's 49%. however, technically, mcCarthy is declared winner by some as he managed to secure 20 or the 24 delegates from new hampshire.
March 12: richard nixon wins the republican presidential primary in new hampshire defeating nelson rockefeller with over 77% of the vote. this is he second time nixon has won the new hampshire primary (1960 being the first time).
KNOWN AT THE TIME -- TELEVISED
March 16: RFK announces his candidacy for the presidency.
UNKNOWN AT THE TIME -- NOT MADE PUBLIC UNTIL 1969
March 16: the my lai massacre takes place in vietnam
March 25: the last episode of "the monkees" airs on tv
March 30: celine dion is born
March 31: in a televised address to the nation, president johnson stuns the country when he discloses at the end of his speech focusing on plans to begin to limit america's involvement in vietnam that he is withdrawing his name for the nomination for re-election.
by the close of march, another 515 american military deaths in vietnam (3 month total: 1519 dead )
April 3: in memphis, dr. martin luther king jr delivers his prophetic final sermon/speech "we as a people will get to the promised land."
April 4: on the balcony of his hotel in memphis, dr martin luther king jr is assassinated.
April 4: rioting across the united states erupts as news of mlk's assassination is announced.
April 4: campaigning in indianapolis, RFK tells the crowd he is to speak to of king's murder but exhorts them to not act out in violence. no rioting takes place in indianapolis.
April 6: british rock heart-throb cliff richards takes second place in the eurovision contest, beaten by spain's entry, massiel, who sang the song "la la la," beating out richard's song "congratulations." ireland's entry, pat mcGeegan placed fourth with the john kennedy tune "chance in a lifetime."
April 11: president johnson signs the extension to the 1964 Civil Rights Act
April 23: students at columbia university (NYC) begin a 7-day protest/siege of buildings in protest of the university's involvement with the institute of defense analysis (war-related protest).
April 30: columbia university student protest ends when university direct police to evacuate the students from the 5 occupied buildings. the buildings are evacuated, with hundreds of students injured as police violently carry out the university administration's directive.
by the close of april, 520 more american military personnel killed in vietnam (4 month total: 2039 dead)
May 3: i turned 5
May 7: RFK wins both the DC and indiana democratic primaries
May 7: richard nixon wins indiana republican primary
May 14: RFK rolls on to win the nebraska primary
May 14: nixon takes nebraska primary
May 14: "resurrection city" is established in washington dc as part of the southern christian leadership conference's "poor people's campaign." what was originally the braichild of martin luther king is taken up by his successor, rev ralph abernathy. the goal of the shanty town and on-going teach-in and demonstrations at the site was to transform the black civil rights movement into an economic, inclusive movement to eradicate poverty and class-based discrimination, regardless of race/ethnicity. rain for 28 of the 42 days makes living conditions hard; abernathy's hypocrisy in sponsoring the event but staying in a nice hotel only hurt the venture; the hiring and then firing of bayard rustin to coordinate the day of action made things more difficult; and the inability of the various segments of the civil rights elite (the white, middle- to uppper- class and liberal establishments as well as those in the black and hispanic/latino and native communities) to mature the movement from a race-based to a class-based struggle doom the efforts to failure. following 2 nights of rioting and with the efforts of over 100 police, the site is cleared on june 24, 1968 and razed.
May 28: nixon takes oregon primary
May 28: RFK loses his first election ever as senator eugene mcCarthy wins the oregon democratic primary
at may's close, 536 more americans had died in the vietnam conflict (5 month total: 2565 dead)
June 1: hellen keller dies.
June 3: valerie solanis (author of the SCUM Manifesto -- SCUM= society to cut up men) shoots andy warhol with the hope of killing him. she does not succeed.
June 4: because of the rancor from the 1964 primary in california (between rockefeller and goldwater) california governor ronald reagan enters the california republican primary and places a distant third to nixon (1st) and rockefeller (2nd). in stark contrast to both nixon -- seen as a moderate albeit hawk -- and rockefeller -- seen as the liberal wing of the republican party, reagan is the successor of the hard-core, conservative faction of the party, in part a seat reagan earned following his famous 1964 television speech as to why he was supporting hawk candidate barry goldwater. reagan's speech served to be one of the most successful television political ad pitches, netting the party millions of dollars and defining the man who would next assume the mantle of the conservative leader within the party. nevertheless, nixon won california.
June 4: richard nixon wins the south dakota primary.
June 4: RFK resumes his winning streak and captures the south dakota democratic primary.
June 4: in a close match, RFK beats eugene mcCarthy and goes on to win the california primary, nearly securing the needed votes for the democratic nomination.
June 5: at 12:15 a.m., as RFK is leaving the ambassador hotel in los angeles, he is gunned down at point-blank rage behind his right ear and is rushed to good samaritan hospital where he undergoes emergency surgery to try to save his life.
June 6: at approximately 2 a.m. robert francis kennedy is pronounced dead at good samaritan hospital. kennedy never survived the gun shot wounds to his head.
when june ends, an additional 536 american had been killed in vietnam, bringing the 6-month total number of american military personnel killed in vietnam up to 3101.
at year's close, an additional 3221 additional american soldiers/military personnel lost their lives in vietnam. This brought the year-end total for 1968 to 6322 dead.
what that translated into, roughly, was a staggering 526 deaths on average per month in 1968, or, 17 deaths per day every day in 1968 for american troops in vietnam.
with nixon taking the white house in november, in part by playing to racist, anti-anti-war-protester sentiments in the south, he was able to steal some of the thunder from the 3rd party candidate, alabama govern or george ("segregation now...") wallace. many have suggested this nixon tactic signaled the first foot in the door for what is now the neo-conservative movement within and of the republican party.
just for the record, in 1968, when richard nixon was elected to become the 37th president he did so by the narrowest of margins of about 500,000 votes and with only 7/10th of a percentage separating him from the democratic challenger hubert h humphrey.
just one-hundred, forty-three days. the paradigm shifted, clearly.