This book tells the fascinating story of the year 1983, when the Soviets became convinced the US was about to launch a first strike. For most of the two decades after the Cuban Missile Crisis, both sides knew that they had time to assess an incoming strike and adopt the appropriate response. Mutually assured destruction allowed for an uneasy peace. However, the introduction of short range and submarine launched missiles reduced the time from launch to landing to 6 minutes. Both countries became painfully aware that they really did not have ample time to measure a retaliatory strike. Reagan made bellicose speeches labeling the Soviet Union an 'evil empire' and Yuri Andropov, a particularly paranoid and new General Secretary, was unable to distinguish between policy and bombast in America. The year opened with Andropov demanding of the KGB extensive efforts to observe and report steps toward a nuclear attack. He asked for agents to report the number of lights on in government buildings, to ascertain if leaders were out of town or away from their standard posts, to see if hospitals were preparing for a surge in casualties -- an endless list of absurd idiosyncratic items from which he, as a former KGB Chairman, could determine if America was about to attack. Most of the stations around the world were bemused by the request, concluded it was absurd but fed back doggerel to keep Moscow off their backs. The Strategic Defense Initiative shook the Soviet leadership to their core. They knew they did not have the technology to match whatever the US came up with. The US aggressively pursued psychology operations (PSYOPS) whereby they would send a swarm of planes toward a Soviet border and then pull away at the last minute. We were spending money on rearming, and trying to put the USSR on edge. For all of the noise Reagan made though, he sincerely was frightened by the thought of a nuclear war and dreamed of disarmament. "False alarms were frighteningly common throughout the Cold War. There were accidents, technical failures, computer malfunctions and human errors galore." In August, a Korean Airline plane went 365 miles off course, entered Soviet airspace and was shot down. The Kremlin first denied it had happened and then labeled it a spy flight. Reagan called it a terrorist activity. A month later, a Soviet major who had helped design and install a new computer warning system and happened to be on duty on a night when the computers asserted that the US was attacking, realized it was a false alarm, and literally saved the world by not fighting back. October saw 241 US marines killed in their barracks in Lebanon by a suicide bomber, and the US went on a heightened security level. Both sides were anxiously looking at the other. Complicating matters was that the 69-year-old Yuri Andropov was dying of kidney failure.
That fall, matters came to a head. NATO began its annual war games and one of the first steps was airlifting 19,000 US combat soldiers to West Germany. It was followed by a communications exercise, called Able Archer, which in essence was a rehearsal for the release of nuclear weapons. The Soviets knew that their invasion plans were cloaked under the cover of war games and assumed the west was up to the real thing. As realistic war game communications were heard by the Soviets, they concluded an attack was imminent. On Nov. 6, Moscow Centre advised all posts that an attack would transpire in 7-10 days. The NATO planners then changed their communication codes and the whole exercise went 'black' to the Soviets. They were rattled. Responding to the crisis was a man no longer capable of going to the office. Andropov, growing frailer by the day, was not at the Kremlin, but was ensconced in the Kuntsevo Clinic just outside of Moscow. The military was mobilizing and, for the first time in a generation, did not help with the autumnal harvest. The day the NATO codes changed, Nov. 8, saw the Soviet nuclear missile system on the highest alert level possible. Fighter planes in East Germany and Czechoslovakia were on strip alert: i.e., on the runway, fueled, motors running and ready to take off. Fortunately a Soviet source, Topaz, deep inside NATO headquarters reported that nothing was going on. The Soviets stepped back, Able Archer was over and the normal procedures of the Cold War prevailed.
Only afterwards did the west realize how close it had been to all out war. No one in the west believed that the Soviets could think them capable of such egregious behavior as a first strike. A well placed British spy in London convinced his handlers that the Soviets were petrified of Reagan. Thatcher grasped the issue and eventually Reagan did too. He was concerned about nuclear war and began to tone things down. The year 1984 saw the brief rule of Konstantin Chernenko, another doddering, ill and old Bolshevik, who was succeeded in early 1985 by Mikhail Gorbachev.
Over the next few years, Reagan and Gorbachev were able to overcome Reagan's commitment to SDI and sign the INF Treaty, which removed intermediate range missiles from Europe. It was a high-water mark in US-USSR relations. Gorbachev fully realized that the USSR could no longer afford the Cold War and its ongoing occupation of Eastern Europe. He continued to reform, reduce armaments, decrease military expenditures and saw the Berlin Wall fall in November, 1989. The remains of Stalin's monolithic communism were gone. Two years later, the Soviet Union was dissolved.
This is a superbly written, eye-opener of a book. Many believe that November 1983, not October 1962, was when the Cold War came the closest to mutual destruction.
10.29.2018
The Order Of The Day, Vuillard - B-
This is a whimsical, speculative novel that won the 2017 Prix Goncourt, which I can only assume is awarded for beautiful, fanciful writing and not coherent storytelling. There are two vignettes about Nazi Germany that are not to my eye connected in any way.
The first is the story of the complicity of 24 of Germany's industrial leaders in the rise to absolute power of the Nazi's. The names are familiar: Krupp, Siemens, Opel, Schacht, Quandt and Reuter are the more famous of the group. They met with Herman Goering and Adolf Hitler on February 20, 1933, just weeks after Hitler had became Chancellor. The upcoming March elections for the Reichstag were the opportunity to overcome communism and end the wishy-washy ideas of the Weimar Republic. To obtain a majority though, the Nazis needed money, and money they received. In the penultimate chapter of the book, we see Gustav Krupp as an addled old man haunted by the ghosts of the workers who have died in his factories.
The scene shifts to the Anschluss in March, 1938. The right-wing, fascist-sympathetic Arthur von Schuschnigg was Chancellor of Austria for years until summoned to Berchtesgaden by the former Austrian corporal from Braunau. There he was berated and verbally beaten into submission. Arthur Seyss-Inquart replaced him and 'asked' for German help. The Reich's occupation of Austria ensued, but was an exercise in folly, as most of the tanks were in such bad shape that they had to be put on trains to get them to Vienna. The inability of Germany to project power only next door did not stymie the enthusiasm of the local Nazis, nor preclude their immediate abuse of the local Jews. Hitler addressed the enthusiastic crowds from the Schoenbrunn Palace.
"And there stands History, a reasonable goddess, a frozen statue in the middle of the town square. Dried bunches of peonies are her annual tribute; her daily gratuity, bread crumbs for the birds."
The first is the story of the complicity of 24 of Germany's industrial leaders in the rise to absolute power of the Nazi's. The names are familiar: Krupp, Siemens, Opel, Schacht, Quandt and Reuter are the more famous of the group. They met with Herman Goering and Adolf Hitler on February 20, 1933, just weeks after Hitler had became Chancellor. The upcoming March elections for the Reichstag were the opportunity to overcome communism and end the wishy-washy ideas of the Weimar Republic. To obtain a majority though, the Nazis needed money, and money they received. In the penultimate chapter of the book, we see Gustav Krupp as an addled old man haunted by the ghosts of the workers who have died in his factories.
The scene shifts to the Anschluss in March, 1938. The right-wing, fascist-sympathetic Arthur von Schuschnigg was Chancellor of Austria for years until summoned to Berchtesgaden by the former Austrian corporal from Braunau. There he was berated and verbally beaten into submission. Arthur Seyss-Inquart replaced him and 'asked' for German help. The Reich's occupation of Austria ensued, but was an exercise in folly, as most of the tanks were in such bad shape that they had to be put on trains to get them to Vienna. The inability of Germany to project power only next door did not stymie the enthusiasm of the local Nazis, nor preclude their immediate abuse of the local Jews. Hitler addressed the enthusiastic crowds from the Schoenbrunn Palace.
"And there stands History, a reasonable goddess, a frozen statue in the middle of the town square. Dried bunches of peonies are her annual tribute; her daily gratuity, bread crumbs for the birds."
The Swede, Karjel - B -
This is the first book in a developing series involving Ernst Grip, a Security Agent in Sweden. The FBI asks for assistance in interviewing a terrorism suspect, whom they believe may be Swedish. Grip spends a considerable time at a CIA rendition site in the Indian Ocean. As he has some matters in his recent past that might be of some interest to US authorities, he is very careful and ultimately concerned when two disparate inquiries are about to find some commonalities.
10.16.2018
Dominion: The History Of England From The Battle Of Waterloo To Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, Ackroyd- C
The defeat of Napoleon brought seventeen new colonies, but not prosperity; a general depression of six years ensued. The population grew from 11 to 21 million in the forty years after the war. To survive or succeed, pluck, discipline, "determination, hardness, energy, persistency, thoroughness and inflexibility", the virtues of the coming Victorian era, were required. The year 1815 saw riots over the price of corn and the following year over unemployment. "The spirit of French revolt was abroad." George III was on the throne, but the country was ruled by the Prince of Wales, whom Wellington described "as the worst man I ever fell in with..." A Cotton Factory Act in 1819 prohibited children under 9 from working, thus marking the first time the government "had turned its face against unchecked laissez-faire in the workings of the economy." The 1820's saw reform in the air. The government supported freedom in South America and began to consider legalizing trade unions. April, 1829 saw the extension of the vote to Roman Catholics, and a few years later, a Reform Bill was enacted. It was a far cry from universal male suffrage (the nation still had but 652,000 voters), but it did afford representation for the great cities of the nation. It empowered the middle class and enhanced the structures of the political parties. Commons may have been improved, but Lords still reigned supreme. 1833 saw the abolition of slavery throughout the empire. The first decades of the century had seen the introduction of the steam engine, the laying of rail lines and the rapid industrialization of the country. The entire century, though, would be dominated by the 'Irish Question', which was on one hand forever undefinable and yet, capable of felling government after government. Another defining aspect of the kingdom was unparalleled urban poverty and filth, along with the depravity of conditions in the factories, but, to a much greater degree, the horror in the coal mines. To the west lay an island of paupers, two million of whom starved to death in the 1840's. That government should act to mitigate starvation had not occurred to anyone. As the politics of the country struggled with the ongoing conflicts between the rich and poor, the economy continued to grow and grow, year over year. The factories were now closed on Saturday afternoons, thus affording their workers leisure time.
The war in the Crimean Peninsula intervened in the peace of the era and, although mostly remembered for Tennyson's poetry and Florence Nightingale's ministrations, it saw the first examples of the impact of industrialization on the ancient art of war. Too many Britons died in an inconsequential effort that lacked finality and the management of the army was condemned as incompetent. Three years later, in 1857, the Indians erupted in violence against their occupiers, leading to the end of the rule of the East India Company and the establishment of the sub-continent as a crown colony.
Gladstone became PM in 1868 after another expansion of the electorate and began to undertake meaningful change. The colonies became part of the confederation that would ultimately be known as the Commonwealth. He disestablished the Church of Ireland. Public education blossomed throughout the country. The secret ballot was confirmed. Religious tests for universities were abolished. Mines were regulated. Imprisonment for debt was reduced. Government, courts and the civil service were reformed. Gladstone, however, continued to butt heads with the monarch, who had withdrawn unto herself for so long after Albert's death that there was concern for the well-being of the institution. When her son survived typhoid, ten years after her consort had succumbed to it, and she avoided another Fenian assassination attempt, she was so happy that she rejoined public life and once again became the mother of the nation. Gladstone was succeeded in 1874 by Disraeli, who had Victoria crowned Empress of India and who finessed the acquisition of the Suez Canal. Gladstone was back in 1880. Starting in that decade, and for the next thirty-years, the issue Irish Home Rule would dominate British domestic politics. Trade unionism finally gained ground in the waning decades of the century, which closed with the country engaged in a trying slog of a war in South Africa in which England was humiliated. As for the eponymous Victoria, she and the era ended on January 22, 1901. She had been queen for over sixty-three years.
I have enjoyed every book in this series. So it has been a disappointment to labor through the focus here on domestic politics. This was an era that saw Britain dominate the world, create the wealthiest country in history; indeed, achieve a national apogee of unparalleled success, and this volume is bogged down in the endless intricacies of political gamesmanship.
The war in the Crimean Peninsula intervened in the peace of the era and, although mostly remembered for Tennyson's poetry and Florence Nightingale's ministrations, it saw the first examples of the impact of industrialization on the ancient art of war. Too many Britons died in an inconsequential effort that lacked finality and the management of the army was condemned as incompetent. Three years later, in 1857, the Indians erupted in violence against their occupiers, leading to the end of the rule of the East India Company and the establishment of the sub-continent as a crown colony.
Gladstone became PM in 1868 after another expansion of the electorate and began to undertake meaningful change. The colonies became part of the confederation that would ultimately be known as the Commonwealth. He disestablished the Church of Ireland. Public education blossomed throughout the country. The secret ballot was confirmed. Religious tests for universities were abolished. Mines were regulated. Imprisonment for debt was reduced. Government, courts and the civil service were reformed. Gladstone, however, continued to butt heads with the monarch, who had withdrawn unto herself for so long after Albert's death that there was concern for the well-being of the institution. When her son survived typhoid, ten years after her consort had succumbed to it, and she avoided another Fenian assassination attempt, she was so happy that she rejoined public life and once again became the mother of the nation. Gladstone was succeeded in 1874 by Disraeli, who had Victoria crowned Empress of India and who finessed the acquisition of the Suez Canal. Gladstone was back in 1880. Starting in that decade, and for the next thirty-years, the issue Irish Home Rule would dominate British domestic politics. Trade unionism finally gained ground in the waning decades of the century, which closed with the country engaged in a trying slog of a war in South Africa in which England was humiliated. As for the eponymous Victoria, she and the era ended on January 22, 1901. She had been queen for over sixty-three years.
I have enjoyed every book in this series. So it has been a disappointment to labor through the focus here on domestic politics. This was an era that saw Britain dominate the world, create the wealthiest country in history; indeed, achieve a national apogee of unparalleled success, and this volume is bogged down in the endless intricacies of political gamesmanship.
10.09.2018
The Nightmare, Kepler - B
This is the second superb book in the Linna series. Joona, along with a team from the security services, tracks down a merciless killer for hire. The evildoer behind all of this is an international arms merchant with a penchant for Paganini. The author observes that there are 29 million bullets manufactured every day on this planet. I've always known that the five permanent member of the UN Security Council are the largest merchants of weapons in the world. Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden round out he nefarious nine.
10.07.2018
Chasing Hillary; Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling, Chozick - B
Amy Chozick was the NYT reporter assigned to the 2016 Clinton campaign. She and the Travelers "made it through 577 days of the most noxious, soul-crushing presidential campaign in modern history." They thought they had covered the election of the FWP (first woman president). The author had covered Hillary's 2008 campaign for the Journal and was assigned by the Times to Hillary full-time in the summer of 2013. Unknown to the author, "Bill and Hillary both believed the paper was out to get them" because a Times reporter was the first to unearth the White River project that eventually led to Bill's travails with Ken Starr. The author's personal opponents were 'The Guys' (Hired Gun Guy, '08 Guy, Original Guy, Policy Guy, Brown Loafers Guy, Outsider Guy), the HRC media/pr team, who didn't particularly like her, reporters or the NYT. Chozick quickly ran afoul of The Guys after a few stories slighted the Clinton's. Even before HRC announced for the presidency, the paper of record was severely on the outs, and Chozick was persona non grata with the family. When Hillary's email debacle was unearthed, the Times ran very thorough coverage, further displeasing the Clinton's. The author's relentless witticisms are exemplified by her referring to the matter as Emailghazi. The email debacle haunted the campaign until the end and was an endless source of contention between the campaign and the journalists. The author also reminds us that HRC never quite articulated why she was running and Brooklyn (campaign HQ) never found a compelling theme or slogan. Neither I'm With Her nor Fighting For Us ever resonated like Feel The Bern, Make America Great Again, or for that matter, All The Way With LBJ. Iowa meant that the Travelers, most of whom were women finally got a campaign bus. "But by the time women reporters dominated Hillary's press corps, Twitter and live streaming and a female candidate who had zero interest in having a relationship with the press vastly diminished the campaign bus's place in the media ecosystem." An ongoing bone of contention between Hillary and the press was her refusal to have a plane that she would share with the Travelers. She broke with tradition by having a small plane and leaving the press to find its own way. HRC won Iowa by less than a point, and quite frankly, won by a coin toss in a handful of caucuses; the Guys and the family went nuts when the author referred to it as a psychological setback. Crushed in New Hampshire, Hillary moved on to the south where she won in SC and eventually locked up the nomination, vanquishing Bernie and his Boys. The general would prove to be a new ballgame. After Trump called Bill Clinton a rapist, HRC responded by saying Trump was unfit. "Hillary was still following the Romney playbook, not realizing she was the Romney in the race." A few New York pols told the campaign that they came out with boxing gloves on and Trump had a knife and a broken Coca-Cola bottle. In September, the Travelers finally achieved their primary goal - assigned seats on the campaign plane, which had an H on the tail and the phrase Stronger Together on the body. Hillary won all three debates, but it didn't really matter "because people just wanted to blow shit up." Thirteen days before the election, the FBI re-opened the email investigation because of the contemptible conduct of Anthony Weiner on a computer shared with his wife. Reading the last pages of this book is a shocking reminder of how everyone considered the matter a foregone conclusion in Clinton's behalf right up until the fateful night. First, Florida; then, Pennsylvania. "The most beautiful party I'd ever been to, a multicultural bouquet featuring the FWP, was starting to feel like a mass funeral." Chozick, like millions, was crushed by the outcome and cried the next day sitting in her cubicle at the Times.
The author is funny as hell and intersperses the story with her personal tale, replete with being broke in NYC, having no idea what she was doing, her iPhone app reminding her monthly"your fertile window is closing", and the endless goings-on, the drinking, the affairs, the egos, and the games on the campaign trail. This is a must read for anyone who voted Democratic, has a sense of humor and accepts that the Clinton campaign was one of the worst managed and least inspired in history. As a life long Times reader, I just totally loved learning what the vitamin pages are.
The author is funny as hell and intersperses the story with her personal tale, replete with being broke in NYC, having no idea what she was doing, her iPhone app reminding her monthly"your fertile window is closing", and the endless goings-on, the drinking, the affairs, the egos, and the games on the campaign trail. This is a must read for anyone who voted Democratic, has a sense of humor and accepts that the Clinton campaign was one of the worst managed and least inspired in history. As a life long Times reader, I just totally loved learning what the vitamin pages are.
10.02.2018
Nixonland: The Rise Of A President And The Fracturing Of America, Perlstein - B +
This tome, weighing in at 748 pages, is the second in the author's tetralogy on the ascension of the right and the end of the liberal democratic consensus in America. He tells the "story in four sections, corresponding to four elections: 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1972. Nixon's story is the engine of the narrative. His character-his own overwhelming angers, anxieties, and resentments in the face of the 1960's chaos-sparks the combustion." In 1964, voters voted Democratic to avoid "civilizational chaos." In 1972, and for the same reason, they voted Republican. The term 'Nixonland' was coined by John Kenneth Galbraith and Adlai Stevenson in 1956. It "is the America where two separate and irreconcilable sets of apocalyptic fears coexist in the minds of two separate and irreconcilable groups of Americans."
The story begins with the Watts riots in LA in August, 1965. America watched a major city go up in flames. The violence associated with the south had spread north in a country where two-thirds of Republicans proclaimed themselves conservative. Johnson's brief presidency had already seen a civil rights act, a voting rights act, immigration reform, health care for the elderly, a war on poverty and a crushing Congressional majority to accompany the president's electoral triumph. LBJ seemed unassailable, yet unashamedly plying the Republican circuit pining for a comeback was Richard Nixon. He had won his first election in 1946 by viciously attacking a sitting congressman and smeared his way into the senate four years later. After Ike chose him, he became V-P at thirty-nine. His years as Ike's number two had some ups and downs, but he lost elections in 1960 and 1962. His famous 1962 "you won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore" press conference was the supposed end of the line. But he never gave up and never stopped campaigning. In 1966, the former actor turned politico, Ronald Reagan, ran for governor in California by stoking right-wing fears and anxieties. He struck the same chords as Goldwater, but in a more affable style. Throughout that year, America's apparent peaceful consensus continued to collapse as the war in Vietnam generated increasing opposition and racial antagonisms flared. Racial tensions in the north caused some of the Great Society's traditional supporters to begin to have doubts. The author pegs August 1966 as the point in time when the party of Lincoln turned from a century of support for the negro to the party that offered white people safety in their homes and schools from the Democratic forces of integration. On election day, there was a Republican rout across the nation at every level of government.
In December, LBJ began the saturation bombing of North Vietnam. "By the beginning of 1967, the war in Vietnam had ended America's consensus for good." Johnson began cutting back his domestic programs and sought a tax surcharge to pay for the war. Society splintered over the war. Students on the coasts marched against the war. Students in the heartland founded 'Up With People.' The Federal Reserve chairman and 300 business leaders published an open letter opposing the war in the Wall Street Journal. Martin Luther King began to actively oppose the war. While not running, Nixon organized the team that would put him in the White House, took international trips, sniped at LBJ and stayed above the fray. Once again, the summer brought full-scale riots in Newark, Harlem and Detroit. Johnson raged at the hundreds of thousands marching on Washington as the fissures in the party grew to the point that replacing LBJ became the objective of the left. Westmoreland came to Washington and declared "there was light at the end of the tunnel" and Gene McCarthy filed in four primaries. The opening calamity of 1968, a year of endless misfortune, was the Tet Offensive. Walter Cronkite closed his report on Tet with "It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could." For all intents and purposes, it was over - it just would take almost five more painful years. McCarthy stunned Johnson in New Hampshire, leading the President to announce two weeks later that he would not seek re-election. A Gallup poll showed that the majority of citizens thought crime and lawlessness the most important domestic issue. Bobby joined the fray in March. One symbol of how divided America was was Martin Luther King. He was adored by millions and simultaneously the most hated man in the country. His murder in April led to nationwide rioting, bringing America to its knees. The campaign went on with Humphrey now the Democratic establishment candidate, George Wallace joining the fray as an independent and Rockefeller, encouraged by LBJ, attempting to stop Nixon. June saw RFK murdered after winning the California primary and it seemed as if the world had spun out of control. Nixon held off the challengers at the convention in Miami Beach and the Democrats self-immolated in Chicago. Humphrey was nominated while Richard Daley's police participated in what was later called "a police riot" by "preserving disorder" while the "whole world" watched. Juan Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their hands in the black power salute in Mexico City and Nixon began his smooth and slick Roger Ailes television production campaign for law and order on behalf of the silent majority. In addition, he garnered anti-war votes with his "secret plan to end the war". On November 8 with a plurality in the popular vote of .7%, Nixon was elected and became the first president since 1849 to enter the White House without a majority in either house.
Nonetheless, he promised to be conciliatory and the first few months of 1969 were quiet, almost tranquil. Below the surface, the seeds of Nixon's downfall were being sown. Leaks led to the wiretapping of NSC staff members, Secretary of Defense Laird and a handful of reporters. By the fall, the "secret plan" appeared to be escalation and opposition to the war continued to grow. Casualties were down from 1968, but almost a thousand Americans per month were being killed. White House detectives fruitlessly sought out the communist backers of the Vietnam Moratorium on Oct. 15. Nixon introduced 'Vietnamization' to the public in a November speech, stated his opposition to the war, said we would "win the peace" and finished the year with excellent approval numbers. In May of the new year, Nixon increased the tempo of the bombing and announced an invasion of Cambodia. All hell broke loose. After days of rioting at Kent State, Ohio National guardsmen shot into a crowd of students and killed four on May 4th. ROTC buildings were aflame across the country. A total of 488 colleges were shut down. Over a hundred thousand marched on Washington. On Wall Street, hard-hat construction workers broke up an anti-war demonstration and the White House saw an opportunity. Blue collar workers, the backbone of the Democratic party, were angry and felt disenfranchised and disrespected. Perhaps, cultural issues would move them to vote Republican. The person who would lead the charge in the 1970 elections with endless alliterations and mean-spirited anger would be V. P. Spiro Agnew. Clandestine and under the counter fund raising was ratcheted up. Pointing out that these were perilous times and that we needed to find out who was behind the youth of America's desire to destroy our society, Nixon authorized black bag ops, illegal surveillance and wire taps, IRS inquiries and endless harassment of one of his most visible enemies, Jane Fonda. By "campaigning against hippies", Nixon went after conservative Democrats and hoped to expand the Republican vote in the south. It did not work; they still were the minority in both houses. Now anxious about 1972, Nixon convinced himself he had to save America from complete collapse and concluded he would do anything to be re-elected.
In the new year, "The American army was collapsing in the field." Soldiers were refusing to fight, protesting and ignoring their officers. Vietnam returnees "were the fastest growing segment of the antiwar movement." The Vietnam Veterans Against The War staged dramatic and effective public protests in April in Washington, while Nixon released Calley out on his own recognizance after his murder conviction. Navy Lt. John Kerry testified before Sen. Fulbright's committee and asked "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake". Polls showed that two-thirds of the nation thought Vietnam a mistake and that Muskie had a slight lead for the presidency. The June 13 front page of the Times juxtaposed a picture of Tricia Nixon's wedding and the explosive first publication of the Pentagon Papers. Decades of lies and hypocrisy were exposed. Nixon proposed searching the archives to find the information that showed FDR knew of Pearl Harbor beforehand; Haldeman suggested they sort out if JFK knew the specifics of the Bay of Pigs in advance when Nixon remembered that he believed there were files at the Brookings Institute that showed that the Kennedy's had ordered the assassination of the Diems. "Get in and get those files" led to the hiring of Howard Hunt and the birth of the Plumbers. In early 1972, Nixon took a step on the world stage that cemented his presidency as historic and virtually assured his re-election: he went to Peking and met with Chou-En Lai and Chairman Mao. Meanwhile, back home, his ratfucker crew sabotaged Sen. Muskie's campaign and the White House worked to help George Wallace run as a Democrat, not on a third party ticket. In Florida, Donald Segretti continued the sabotage and used dirty tricks against Humphrey, McCarthy, Lindsay and continued to ratfuck Muskie. Nixon's dream was the Democrats "scratching each others' eyes out" and he realized it when George Wallace crushed all comers. Primary season rolled on and soon it became apparent that they would get the opponent they wanted - McGovern. On the night of June 16-17, five men, including someone on the staff of CREEP were arrested at the Watergate. John Mitchell issued a denial that held the truth back, but did not stop the young Woodward and Bernstein from pursuing it. When the Democrats met in Miami, they obliged the President by continuing to scratch each others' eyes out in one of the messiest conventions in US history. The AFL-CIO did not endorse a candidate after George Meany announced that "the party had been taken over by people named Jack who looked like Jills and smelled like johns." Vietnamization had meaningfully reduced the American foot soldiers in the war, but the air war continued unabated. Nixon and Kissinger's strategy was to bomb and keep bombing in order to keep the South Vietnamese government alive until after the election. All they cared for was the proverbial decent interval. In October, Kissinger falsely announced that "peace was at hand." Nixon absolutely crushed McGovern, but once again lacked coattails as the opposition held both houses of Congress.
This an extraordinary book, amazingly thorough in its detail and painfully adept at reminding us just how hate-filled the times were. And as we know, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." "Americans are not trying to kill one another anymore.......this war has ratcheted down considerably. But it still simmers on." Nixon left behind two Americas. On one side, you have those who call themselves patriots, values voters and people of faith who feel looked down upon by the condescending liberals. On the other side you have the cosmopolitan professionals who see the first group as the "unwitting dupes of the feckless elites who exploit sentimental pieties to aggrandize their wealth, start wars, ruin lives." "How did Nixonland end? It did not end yet."
The story begins with the Watts riots in LA in August, 1965. America watched a major city go up in flames. The violence associated with the south had spread north in a country where two-thirds of Republicans proclaimed themselves conservative. Johnson's brief presidency had already seen a civil rights act, a voting rights act, immigration reform, health care for the elderly, a war on poverty and a crushing Congressional majority to accompany the president's electoral triumph. LBJ seemed unassailable, yet unashamedly plying the Republican circuit pining for a comeback was Richard Nixon. He had won his first election in 1946 by viciously attacking a sitting congressman and smeared his way into the senate four years later. After Ike chose him, he became V-P at thirty-nine. His years as Ike's number two had some ups and downs, but he lost elections in 1960 and 1962. His famous 1962 "you won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore" press conference was the supposed end of the line. But he never gave up and never stopped campaigning. In 1966, the former actor turned politico, Ronald Reagan, ran for governor in California by stoking right-wing fears and anxieties. He struck the same chords as Goldwater, but in a more affable style. Throughout that year, America's apparent peaceful consensus continued to collapse as the war in Vietnam generated increasing opposition and racial antagonisms flared. Racial tensions in the north caused some of the Great Society's traditional supporters to begin to have doubts. The author pegs August 1966 as the point in time when the party of Lincoln turned from a century of support for the negro to the party that offered white people safety in their homes and schools from the Democratic forces of integration. On election day, there was a Republican rout across the nation at every level of government.
In December, LBJ began the saturation bombing of North Vietnam. "By the beginning of 1967, the war in Vietnam had ended America's consensus for good." Johnson began cutting back his domestic programs and sought a tax surcharge to pay for the war. Society splintered over the war. Students on the coasts marched against the war. Students in the heartland founded 'Up With People.' The Federal Reserve chairman and 300 business leaders published an open letter opposing the war in the Wall Street Journal. Martin Luther King began to actively oppose the war. While not running, Nixon organized the team that would put him in the White House, took international trips, sniped at LBJ and stayed above the fray. Once again, the summer brought full-scale riots in Newark, Harlem and Detroit. Johnson raged at the hundreds of thousands marching on Washington as the fissures in the party grew to the point that replacing LBJ became the objective of the left. Westmoreland came to Washington and declared "there was light at the end of the tunnel" and Gene McCarthy filed in four primaries. The opening calamity of 1968, a year of endless misfortune, was the Tet Offensive. Walter Cronkite closed his report on Tet with "It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could." For all intents and purposes, it was over - it just would take almost five more painful years. McCarthy stunned Johnson in New Hampshire, leading the President to announce two weeks later that he would not seek re-election. A Gallup poll showed that the majority of citizens thought crime and lawlessness the most important domestic issue. Bobby joined the fray in March. One symbol of how divided America was was Martin Luther King. He was adored by millions and simultaneously the most hated man in the country. His murder in April led to nationwide rioting, bringing America to its knees. The campaign went on with Humphrey now the Democratic establishment candidate, George Wallace joining the fray as an independent and Rockefeller, encouraged by LBJ, attempting to stop Nixon. June saw RFK murdered after winning the California primary and it seemed as if the world had spun out of control. Nixon held off the challengers at the convention in Miami Beach and the Democrats self-immolated in Chicago. Humphrey was nominated while Richard Daley's police participated in what was later called "a police riot" by "preserving disorder" while the "whole world" watched. Juan Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their hands in the black power salute in Mexico City and Nixon began his smooth and slick Roger Ailes television production campaign for law and order on behalf of the silent majority. In addition, he garnered anti-war votes with his "secret plan to end the war". On November 8 with a plurality in the popular vote of .7%, Nixon was elected and became the first president since 1849 to enter the White House without a majority in either house.
Nonetheless, he promised to be conciliatory and the first few months of 1969 were quiet, almost tranquil. Below the surface, the seeds of Nixon's downfall were being sown. Leaks led to the wiretapping of NSC staff members, Secretary of Defense Laird and a handful of reporters. By the fall, the "secret plan" appeared to be escalation and opposition to the war continued to grow. Casualties were down from 1968, but almost a thousand Americans per month were being killed. White House detectives fruitlessly sought out the communist backers of the Vietnam Moratorium on Oct. 15. Nixon introduced 'Vietnamization' to the public in a November speech, stated his opposition to the war, said we would "win the peace" and finished the year with excellent approval numbers. In May of the new year, Nixon increased the tempo of the bombing and announced an invasion of Cambodia. All hell broke loose. After days of rioting at Kent State, Ohio National guardsmen shot into a crowd of students and killed four on May 4th. ROTC buildings were aflame across the country. A total of 488 colleges were shut down. Over a hundred thousand marched on Washington. On Wall Street, hard-hat construction workers broke up an anti-war demonstration and the White House saw an opportunity. Blue collar workers, the backbone of the Democratic party, were angry and felt disenfranchised and disrespected. Perhaps, cultural issues would move them to vote Republican. The person who would lead the charge in the 1970 elections with endless alliterations and mean-spirited anger would be V. P. Spiro Agnew. Clandestine and under the counter fund raising was ratcheted up. Pointing out that these were perilous times and that we needed to find out who was behind the youth of America's desire to destroy our society, Nixon authorized black bag ops, illegal surveillance and wire taps, IRS inquiries and endless harassment of one of his most visible enemies, Jane Fonda. By "campaigning against hippies", Nixon went after conservative Democrats and hoped to expand the Republican vote in the south. It did not work; they still were the minority in both houses. Now anxious about 1972, Nixon convinced himself he had to save America from complete collapse and concluded he would do anything to be re-elected.
In the new year, "The American army was collapsing in the field." Soldiers were refusing to fight, protesting and ignoring their officers. Vietnam returnees "were the fastest growing segment of the antiwar movement." The Vietnam Veterans Against The War staged dramatic and effective public protests in April in Washington, while Nixon released Calley out on his own recognizance after his murder conviction. Navy Lt. John Kerry testified before Sen. Fulbright's committee and asked "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake". Polls showed that two-thirds of the nation thought Vietnam a mistake and that Muskie had a slight lead for the presidency. The June 13 front page of the Times juxtaposed a picture of Tricia Nixon's wedding and the explosive first publication of the Pentagon Papers. Decades of lies and hypocrisy were exposed. Nixon proposed searching the archives to find the information that showed FDR knew of Pearl Harbor beforehand; Haldeman suggested they sort out if JFK knew the specifics of the Bay of Pigs in advance when Nixon remembered that he believed there were files at the Brookings Institute that showed that the Kennedy's had ordered the assassination of the Diems. "Get in and get those files" led to the hiring of Howard Hunt and the birth of the Plumbers. In early 1972, Nixon took a step on the world stage that cemented his presidency as historic and virtually assured his re-election: he went to Peking and met with Chou-En Lai and Chairman Mao. Meanwhile, back home, his ratfucker crew sabotaged Sen. Muskie's campaign and the White House worked to help George Wallace run as a Democrat, not on a third party ticket. In Florida, Donald Segretti continued the sabotage and used dirty tricks against Humphrey, McCarthy, Lindsay and continued to ratfuck Muskie. Nixon's dream was the Democrats "scratching each others' eyes out" and he realized it when George Wallace crushed all comers. Primary season rolled on and soon it became apparent that they would get the opponent they wanted - McGovern. On the night of June 16-17, five men, including someone on the staff of CREEP were arrested at the Watergate. John Mitchell issued a denial that held the truth back, but did not stop the young Woodward and Bernstein from pursuing it. When the Democrats met in Miami, they obliged the President by continuing to scratch each others' eyes out in one of the messiest conventions in US history. The AFL-CIO did not endorse a candidate after George Meany announced that "the party had been taken over by people named Jack who looked like Jills and smelled like johns." Vietnamization had meaningfully reduced the American foot soldiers in the war, but the air war continued unabated. Nixon and Kissinger's strategy was to bomb and keep bombing in order to keep the South Vietnamese government alive until after the election. All they cared for was the proverbial decent interval. In October, Kissinger falsely announced that "peace was at hand." Nixon absolutely crushed McGovern, but once again lacked coattails as the opposition held both houses of Congress.
This an extraordinary book, amazingly thorough in its detail and painfully adept at reminding us just how hate-filled the times were. And as we know, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." "Americans are not trying to kill one another anymore.......this war has ratcheted down considerably. But it still simmers on." Nixon left behind two Americas. On one side, you have those who call themselves patriots, values voters and people of faith who feel looked down upon by the condescending liberals. On the other side you have the cosmopolitan professionals who see the first group as the "unwitting dupes of the feckless elites who exploit sentimental pieties to aggrandize their wealth, start wars, ruin lives." "How did Nixonland end? It did not end yet."
After The Monsoon, Karjel - B
This is an intriguing novel about a Swedish inspector sent to Djibouti to investigate the accidental death of a lieutenant and who is then asked to assist in the investigation of the kidnapping a wealthy Swedish family by Somali pirates. As you would expect from the central character in a burgeoning series, Ernst Grip handles both issues with aplomb and is successful. The important take away for me is the significant role of Sweden and other nations we do not associate with overseas military action. An earlier series outlined Denmark's activities in Afghanistan. Apparently, under NATO's umbrella, Nordic and other European nations have sent a meaningful number of combatants to Asia and Africa and have their own histories of deployment and the effect that has had on their countries. Part of this story, as it is part of almost every novel from Europe in the last twenty-five years, is the ongoing impact of immigration on what, in the post-war era, had been relatively homogenous societies.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)