American Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division (Pivotal Moments in World History) - Hardcover

"The election of 1968 was one of the most pivotal in American history. With vivid detail and unfailing political wisdom, Michael Cohen explains how that tumultuous contest occurred and why its tremors have continued to shake the nation." --Michael Kazin, co-editor of Dissent and author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation "Written like a fast-paced, if far-fetched, political thriller, Michael Cohen's American Maelstrom combines scholarly rigor with narrative drive. Vivid portraits of the protagonists highlight this extraordinary saga that seems at once long ago but also as current as today's Web headlines." --Jeffrey Toobin, author of American Hieress, The Oath, and The Nine "The furies unleashed in 1968 are still churning. Michael Cohen does a fine job keeping his head in the maelstrom of the last century, explaining how the meanest impulses of American life found their champions and carried us so far into barbarism." --Todd Gitlin, author of The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage, and The Opposition "A big, important book about a big, important moment in American history. Taking readers on a fascinating journey through 1968, Cohen revels the forces that shaped the country's politics and culture. Some history, even the best written, can sit on the shelf waiting for that perfect moment to be read. American Maelstrom demands to be read now. I can't imagine a better-timed book." --Stuart Stevens, senior strategist for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign "A fluid and penetrating account of that most extraordinary of postwar American election years. Like no one before him, Cohen offers a vivid, powerful collective portrait of the key personalities of 1968, and we see in sharp relief why they acted as they did-and why one result was the "politics of division" we live with today." --Fredrik Logevall, Professor of International Affairs and History, Harvard University "Vivid and compelling... [Cohen] masterfully links the historical antecedents of that momentous election year to the immense and durable political transformation that followed."-- The American Prospect In American Maelstrom, Michael Cohen... provides substantial support for the widely held view that the presidential election was a pivotal moment in American politics... Embedded in Cohen's vivid narrative are smart, sharply-etched portraits of President Lyndon Johnson and the eight men - Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace, Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney and Ronald Reagan - who had caught the presidential virus."-- Tulsa World "Cohen's captivating volume is the new standard."--Choice Reviews "Outstanding... Cohen's telling, in spirited and vigorous prose... is a carefully-researched account of what happened and how it affected future developments."-- The History News Network "In Cohen's hands the story [of 1968] reads like a richly imagined novel."--The Jewish Press "A fast-paced and engaging account... There are countless books declaring that one particular year--or one month, or even one week--changed everything. They're usually a stretch, but they're fun thought experiments, a chance to spitball on the contingencies of history. American Maelstrom offers a better case than most, plus it provides the irresistible opportunity to cast [2016's] candidates in 1968's drama."--Washington Post, Carlos Lozada "[A] sparkling history of the dramatic and violent 1968 election."--The Financial Times "American Maelstrom is an impressively well written, researched, organized, and presented study." --Midwest Book Review "Spot on... [American Maelstrom] makes an important contribution by bringing out the significance of conservative populism in the 1960s... Readers would do well to look back to 1968 as we all try to figure out what the nation is going through today."--The American Prospect, Julian Zelizer "No matter which side of the political divide you sit, American Maelstrom, Michael Cohen's look back at the 1968 election season, is as close to a must-read as there is."--Mike Vaccaro, New York Post "[A] thoughtful and revelatory new book."-- Jeet Heer, New Republic "Michael Cohen's new account of the 1968 elections, American Maelstrom, is a careful, faithful retelling of the story of that year and what it portended... Cohen's take on Wallace is one of the best features of a very good book, and helpful in understanding the otherwise shocking appeal of Donald Trump."-- Ed Kilgore, Washington Monthly "[Michael A. Cohen] argues persuasively that this election ushered in the politics of division that has shaped American culture for the past 40 years and more."--America Magazine "The election of 1968 was one of the most pivotal in American history. With vivid detail and unfailing political wisdom, Michael Cohen explains how that tumultuous contest occurred and why its tremors have continued to shake the nation." --Michael Kazin, co-editor of Dissent and author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation "Written like a fast-paced, if far-fetched, political thriller, Michael Cohen's American Maelstrom combines scholarly rigor with narrative drive. Vivid portraits of the protagonists highlight this extraordinary saga that seems at once long ago but also as current as today's Web headlines." --Jeffrey Toobin, author of American Hieress, The Oath, and The Nine "The furies unleashed in 1968 are still churning. Michael Cohen does a fine job keeping his head in the maelstrom of the last century, explaining how the meanest impulses of American life found their champions and carried us so far into barbarism." --Todd Gitlin, author of The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage, and The Opposition "A big, important book about a big, important moment in American history. Taking readers on a fascinating journey through 1968, Cohen revels the forces that shaped the country's politics and culture. Some history, even the best written, can sit on the shelf waiting for that perfect moment to be read. American Maelstrom demands to be read now. I can't imagine a better-timed book." --Stuart Stevens, senior strategist for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign "A fluid and penetrating account of that most extraordinary of postwar American election years. Like no one before him, Cohen offers a vivid, powerful collective portrait of the key personalities of 1968, and we see in sharp relief why they acted as they did-and why one result was the "politics of division" we live with today." --Fredrik Logevall, Professor of International Affairs and History, Harvard University "Vivid and compelling... [Cohen] masterfully links the historical antecedents of that momentous election year to the immense and durable political transformation that followed."-- The American Prospect In American Maelstrom, Michael Cohen... provides substantial support for the widely held view that the presidential election was a pivotal moment in American politics... Embedded in Cohen's vivid narrative are smart, sharply-etched portraits of President Lyndon Johnson and the eight men - Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace, Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney and Ronald Reagan - who had caught the presidential virus."-- Tulsa World "Cohen's captivating volume is the new standard."--Choice Reviews "Outstanding... Cohen's telling, in spirited and vigorous prose... is a carefully-researched account of what happened and how it affected future developments."-- The History News Network "In Cohen's hands the story [of 1968] reads like a richly imagined novel."--The Jewish Press "A fast-paced and engaging account... There are countless books declaring that one particular year--or one month, or even one week--changed everything. They're usually a stretch, but they're fun thought experiments, a chance to spitball on the contingencies of history. American Maelstrom offers a better case than most, plus it provides the irresistible opportunity to cast [2016's] candidates in 1968's drama."--Washington Post, Carlos Lozada "[A] sparkling history of the dramatic and violent 1968 election."--The Financial Times "American Maelstrom is an impressively well written, researched, organized, and presented study." --Midwest Book Review "Spot on... [American Maelstrom] makes an important contribution by bringing out the significance of conservative populism in the 1960s... Readers would do well to look back to 1968 as we all try to figure out what the nation is going through today."--The American Prospect, Julian Zelizer

1968 was a year of turmoil. Economic anxiety was on the rise; racial conflicts were increasingly aggressive as the Black Power movement gained visibility; LBJ's massive bombing campaign had escalated the war in Vietnam; and at home, an emerging counter-culture and vocal feminist movement were declaring war on traditional values. With the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April and Robert F. Kennedy in June, the nation teetered on the brink of chaos. It all culminated in the dramatic presidential race that year, which brought together a dynamic group of politicians vying for the nation's confidence―and resulted in an election that palpably and irrevocably transformed American politics.

In Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division, Michael Cohen captures the drama of the events leading up to this watershed moment. The political consensus that existed just four years prior had completely disappeared, replaced by division and acrimony on a scale rarely before seen in the country's history. Despite the impressive array of political talent assembled in the presidential election―Johnson, Nixon, Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Ronald Reagan and George Wallace―the candidates struggled to appeal to a nation deeply divided by race, class, and values. Cohen traces the new tactics, rhetoric, and issues that emerged in the campaign, from Nixon's so-called Southern Strategy to win over Democrats to Wallace's third-party run, which caused deep divisions among conservatives and traditional Republicans.

Ultimately, Cohen proves 1968 to be a hinge between the high-water period of 1960s political liberalism to the ascendancy of conservative populism and anti-government attitudes that continue to dominate the nation's political discourse. The political battles in Washington today are being waged on a battlefield constructed in 1968, and in unraveling the complex story of that year, Cohen sketches out the broad lines of American politics over the past four decades.