McGovern returned to his hometown of Mitch.e.l.l, South Dakota, home of the world-famous Corn Palace auditorium, nattering about how he used to see all his favorites perform there: Paul Whiteman, Tommy Dorsey, Guy Lombardo, Lawrence Welk (and they called Richard Nixon Richard Nixon the square one). In between stops he worked the phones, ringing up vice-presidential possibilities: Kennedy declined (again); Ribicoff wasn"t "available"; Muskie didn"t merely decline, he subsequently humiliated his party"s nominee by announcing McGovern"s call and his rebuff in a press conference. McGovern then called Humphrey, breaking a pledge to Shirley MacLaine that he"d never stoop to such a thing; Humphrey, too, wasn"t "available." Even Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate, turned him down. Nixon now had a 60 percent approval rating. n.o.body wanted to be tagged for the rest of his career as a loser. the square one). In between stops he worked the phones, ringing up vice-presidential possibilities: Kennedy declined (again); Ribicoff wasn"t "available"; Muskie didn"t merely decline, he subsequently humiliated his party"s nominee by announcing McGovern"s call and his rebuff in a press conference. McGovern then called Humphrey, breaking a pledge to Shirley MacLaine that he"d never stoop to such a thing; Humphrey, too, wasn"t "available." Even Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate, turned him down. Nixon now had a 60 percent approval rating. n.o.body wanted to be tagged for the rest of his career as a loser.
The candidate of last resort turned out to be Sargent Shriver, the former Peace Corps director, husband of JFK"s sister Eunice-a counterfeit Kennedy. They unveiled him at the DNC meeting in Washington, a slick prime-time fake convention, balloons and bands and all; since their first TV show in Miami had been such as bust, they tried it again. The day before, on August 7, McGovern denied rumors his newly hired campaign manager, Larry O"Brien, had already quit. "Come January," the glad-handing emcee announced at the South Dakota Democratic convention, "I"m going to stop calling this man George and start calling him Mr. President." A New York Times New York Times reporter murmured under his breath, "If you do, people are sure gonna look at you funny." reporter murmured under his breath, "If you do, people are sure gonna look at you funny."
In other news, Arthur Bremer"s lawyers introduced his diary as evidence for his insanity plea, and Americans learned that the new-model madman wasn"t a crazed Communist or Palestinian militant; like everyone else, he just wanted to be famous. Bremer was convicted; his father gave a statement to the press through clenched teeth: "Probably if he was a black or some other Communist agitator he"d be free." In New York, police were thwarted by a judge in their attempt to raid a theater showing the slapstick hard-core p.o.r.nographic film that had become a surprise hit among the fashionable; even Jackie O. had seen Deep Throat. Deep Throat. In Paris, the Vietnam peace talks-revived for maximum political effect during the Democratic convention-bogged down in accusations and denials about dikes; in the White House residence, Pat Nixon staged a rare availability with the ladies" press. She said Jane Fonda should have been in Hanoi on "bended knee"-Pat could barely control her anger-"asking them to stop their aggression," and that her husband"s performance in a cataclysmic moment in the nation"s history was like Abraham Lincoln"s: he is a "steady, steady person." A reporter asked: had her husband ever had psychiatric counseling? "No, no, no," the first lady replied. She offered her read on the economy: "healthy and alive-employment is up, there"s more take-home pay and a bigger gross national product. We"re really making progress." More or less, that was true, thanks to certain strategic short-term interventions: such as the two-year supply of toilet paper bought in one shot by the Defense Department-part of a White Housedirected 11 percent increase in federal discretionary spending for the election year. In Paris, the Vietnam peace talks-revived for maximum political effect during the Democratic convention-bogged down in accusations and denials about dikes; in the White House residence, Pat Nixon staged a rare availability with the ladies" press. She said Jane Fonda should have been in Hanoi on "bended knee"-Pat could barely control her anger-"asking them to stop their aggression," and that her husband"s performance in a cataclysmic moment in the nation"s history was like Abraham Lincoln"s: he is a "steady, steady person." A reporter asked: had her husband ever had psychiatric counseling? "No, no, no," the first lady replied. She offered her read on the economy: "healthy and alive-employment is up, there"s more take-home pay and a bigger gross national product. We"re really making progress." More or less, that was true, thanks to certain strategic short-term interventions: such as the two-year supply of toilet paper bought in one shot by the Defense Department-part of a White Housedirected 11 percent increase in federal discretionary spending for the election year.
The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times reported receiving letters to the editor calling for donations to "the Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark a.s.sa.s.sination fund"; the reported receiving letters to the editor calling for donations to "the Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark a.s.sa.s.sination fund"; the Arizona Republic Arizona Republic editorialized the job should be handled by a treason indictment; and the editorialized the job should be handled by a treason indictment; and the Manchester Union Leader Manchester Union Leader said, "She should be shot if a verdict of guilty comes in." said, "She should be shot if a verdict of guilty comes in."
Two policemen watched her on the news in a bar in Miami Beach: "Bombing the dikes! Ha! The only dike getting bombed is Fonda!"
"Did you see her last picture? The one where she played the hooker? Yeah, that"s no acting job."
Thirteen candidates in primary elections in Michigan"s Eighteenth and Nineteenth congressional districts each charged their opponents had come out too little and too late against busing. And on his first full day as the presidential nominee of the American Independent Party, founded in 1968 by George Wallace, Orange County congressman and John Birch Society leader John G. Schmitz blathered that the nomination of George McGovern had been "set up" by President Nixon, conspiring to run against an unelectable extremist.
On August 15 the House Internal Security Committee, successor to HUAC, said that if Jane Fonda"s Hanoi broadcasts did not violate existing treason or sedition laws, then the Justice Department should recommend new laws. Larry O"Brien made the incredible claim that his offices had already been bugged at the time of the infamous June 17 break-in, citing "undisclosed recent evidence." O"Brien sounded as paranoid as Martha Mitch.e.l.l when she said she had been made a "political prisoner" to keep her from exposing vague, unspecified Nixonian crimes. Would McGovern become the second second presidential candidate, after John G. Schmitz, to campaign on anti-Nixon conspiracy theories? presidential candidate, after John G. Schmitz, to campaign on anti-Nixon conspiracy theories?
McGovern spoke at the headquarters of Local 1112 of the United Automobile Workers Union in Lordstown, Ohio: "We don"t want workers treated like robots or machines," he told the long-haired young men who a.s.sembled Vegas ("Right on!" they shouted back). The UAW"s regional director interrupted McGovern to roar that their polls showed 84 percent in their national rank and file planned to vote for him. McGovern said he"d refuse a briefing on Vietnam from Henry Kissinger, joking that he could learn more from the newspapers. they shouted back). The UAW"s regional director interrupted McGovern to roar that their polls showed 84 percent in their national rank and file planned to vote for him. McGovern said he"d refuse a briefing on Vietnam from Henry Kissinger, joking that he could learn more from the newspapers.
The decorated World War II bomber pilot was asked about the recent photograph published in Life Life magazine of a shrieking naked Vietnamese girl, who"d torn off her flaming clothes fleeing a napalm attack on her school. He responded by noting the recent Pentagon statement that the incident had obviously been accidental because the school was in magazine of a shrieking naked Vietnamese girl, who"d torn off her flaming clothes fleeing a napalm attack on her school. He responded by noting the recent Pentagon statement that the incident had obviously been accidental because the school was in South South Vietnam: "Is there anything braver or more n.o.ble about burning up children who live north of the seventeenth parallel or who live in Cambodia or Laos? They all feel pain. They"re all children of the same G.o.d. Those it seems to me are the kind of conditions we have to recover if we"re going to save the soul of this nation." The hall drew quiet. It was McGovern at his most inspiring. Vietnam: "Is there anything braver or more n.o.ble about burning up children who live north of the seventeenth parallel or who live in Cambodia or Laos? They all feel pain. They"re all children of the same G.o.d. Those it seems to me are the kind of conditions we have to recover if we"re going to save the soul of this nation." The hall drew quiet. It was McGovern at his most inspiring.
He also said Nixon had to be "at least indirectly responsible" for the break-in at Democratic headquarters-"the kind of thing that you expect under a person like Hitler." Former Minnesota Republican congressman Clark MacGregor was quoted in every paper howling in outrage: "McGovern by his own words stands convicted of character a.s.sa.s.sination." MacGregor was the new chairman of the Committee to Re-Elect the President. John Mitch.e.l.l had resigned to "meet the obligation which must come first": "the happiness and welfare of my wife and daughter."
Surely Mitch.e.l.l"s resignation had nothing whatsoever to do with the kind of interviews then unfolding in the Oval Office. Haldeman reported of the seven defendants in the imminent criminal trial of the Watergate burglars, "Everybody"s satisfied.... Hunt"s happy."
"At considerable cost, I guess?" Nixon asked.
"Yes."
"It"s worth it. That"s what the money"-all those campaign slush funds-"is for.... They have to be paid. That"s all there is to that. They have to be paid."
Then Nixon changed the subject. "What are we doing about the financial contributors?...Are we running their income tax returns? Is the Justice Department checking to see whether or not there are any ant.i.trust suits?...We have all this power and we aren"t using it. Now, what the Christ is the matter?"
Then it was off to Camp David to prepare for the Republican convention.
Here"s a riddle: Which is more "undemocratic"? A $1,000-per-person Democratic reception at a social club that de facto excludes any woman offended by vixens in bunny costumes? Or the sabotage of that reception by radicals in the name of those thereby excluded?
Here"s another: Which is more "undemocratic"? A primary where hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans go to the polls like robots to vote in a slate of machine-approved Democratic convention delegates? Or the reformers choosing their delegation after claiming the regulars" election was inherently fixed, in meetings in which the only people who could vote were the losing reform candidates from the primary?
The answer is: all of them and none. Each side in each of these conflicts believed with equal sincerity that its way got closer to the will of "the people"; each side was neither fully right nor fully wrong. The Democrats opened quite a can of worms, once they hastily plunged themselves into an open fight over what truly represents "representation." On the other hand, Richard Nixon"s take on the question-that his own person, clothed in the the garment of the presidency, embodied embodied the will of the people-was, at least, less messy. It surely made for a smoother TV show. the will of the people-was, at least, less messy. It surely made for a smoother TV show.
His convention opened, also in Miami Beach, Monday, August 21. Sometime during the proceedings, a messenger accidentally dropped off the script in the BBC"s in-box. It specified the exact timing for spontaneous applause and "impromptu" remarks, even the gestures speakers were supposed to make. A former football quarterback, for example, was directed to "nod" at the young people congregated in the bleachers.
There were three thousand such Young Voters for the President in Miami Beach, divided into three units, each issued different-colored badges. These three battalions were divided, in turn, into one-hundred-person units identified by letter, like a combat company. "If the president calls and says, "I need five hundred kids at a press conference,"" boasted the staff director of Young Voters for the President, "we can get them there in twenty minutes."
There had been hearings on the Republican platform-about as authentic as Moscow show trials. Don Riegle, an antiwar GOP congressman from Michigan-one of Nixon"s candidates in 1966-complained during his testimony to Subcommittee II on Human Rights and Responsibilities (scheduled too late for coverage on the evening news), "As you know, certain Republicans have been banned from appearing before the full platform committee.... When I raised this issue with platform committee chairman John Rhodes, he said to me, "You"re crazy if you think anyone is going to appear before the full platform committee that would embarra.s.s the president."" Riegle gave a stirring speech about how Richard Nixon, "with the silent acquiescence of the Congress," had dropped two hundred pounds of bombs for every man, woman, and child in North and South Vietnam. A subcommittee member, a Mrs. Sullivan of Alabama, stood up and announced that she was kin to the Fighting Sullivans, the five famous Iowa brothers all killed when their ship went down during World War II. She demanded to know, did Donald Riegle consider those those boys murderers, too? boys murderers, too?
Billboards were everywhere: PRESIDENT NIXON-NOW MORE THAN EVER. PRESIDENT NIXON-NOW MORE THAN EVER. (They afforded quite the contrast to Miami Beach under the Democrats, when Don Segretti had arranged for a plane trailing a banner: (They afforded quite the contrast to Miami Beach under the Democrats, when Don Segretti had arranged for a plane trailing a banner: PEACE POT PROMISCUITY-VOTE MCGOVERN. PEACE POT PROMISCUITY-VOTE MCGOVERN.) The spectacle on the screens told the story. Richard Nixon had brought us together. But not, you know, too too together. He had given Americans something to be exuberant about. But not, you know, the together. He had given Americans something to be exuberant about. But not, you know, the wrong kind wrong kind of exuberant. They shouted their lungs out against the shouters and convinced the nation they were the party of quiet. of exuberant. They shouted their lungs out against the shouters and convinced the nation they were the party of quiet.
There were more protesters than there had been four years earlier in Chicago, but they hardly got any attention. That had been another matter upon which the Nixon team left absolutely nothing to chance. When antiwar activists had begun planning convention-week demonstrations, there had been talk of anchoring it with a ma.s.sive outdoor concert. "Lennon, formerly with the group known as the Beatles," as the FBI reports called him, was to be the emcee, the culmination of a national anti-Nixon rock tour. Nixon had been horrified at the prospect. "The source felt that if Lennon"s visa is terminated it would be a strategic counter-measure," an FBI memo summarized; the source was Strom Thurmond. "The source also noted the caution which must be taken with regard to the possible alienation of the so-called 18-year-old-vote if Lennon is expelled from the country." J. Edgar Hoover had personally cla.s.sified the problem as a "Security Matter," the designation reserved for those considered potentially violently dangerous to the U.S. government. ("ALL EXTREMISTS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED DANGEROUS" read a special agent"s memo on John Lennon, Jerry Rubin, and Yoko Ono"s appearance on Eyewitness News Eyewitness News in New York to encourage young people to register to vote.) CIA agents got to work proving Lennon"s strings were being pulled by Moscow paymasters. ("There are only limited indications thus far of foreign efforts," ran a report filed on February 23, the morning after Lennon, Ono, and Rubin appeared on the Mike Douglas show.) Presidential a.s.sistant Bill Timmons wrote in a "Dear Strom" letter that the singer had been served notice to leave the country by March 15. He was still around on March 16, however, when this FBI communication came forth: "Lennon appears to be radically oriented however he does not give the impression he is a true revolutionist since he is constantly under the influence of narcotics." By summer Lennon was too busy trying to stay in the country to either tour against Nixon or make it to the Republican convention. The threat to national security had been neutralized. in New York to encourage young people to register to vote.) CIA agents got to work proving Lennon"s strings were being pulled by Moscow paymasters. ("There are only limited indications thus far of foreign efforts," ran a report filed on February 23, the morning after Lennon, Ono, and Rubin appeared on the Mike Douglas show.) Presidential a.s.sistant Bill Timmons wrote in a "Dear Strom" letter that the singer had been served notice to leave the country by March 15. He was still around on March 16, however, when this FBI communication came forth: "Lennon appears to be radically oriented however he does not give the impression he is a true revolutionist since he is constantly under the influence of narcotics." By summer Lennon was too busy trying to stay in the country to either tour against Nixon or make it to the Republican convention. The threat to national security had been neutralized.
The Nixon team went after other charismatic protesters. In June the Justice Department announced an investigation of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, subpoenaing twenty-three of its members from six states who were in Florida planning a national convoy to Miami Beach. Then the FBI started arresting them without charges. They were indicted in July for conspiring to attack the Republican National Convention with "lead weights, "fried" marbles, ball bearings, cherry bombs, and smoke bombs...wrist rockets, slingshots, and cross bows," and to "organize numerous "fire teams" to attack with automatic weapons fire and incendiary devices police stations, police cars, and stores." The charges came of tape recordings made by a disturbed but entrepreneurial agent provocateur who had received a psychological discharge from the army.
What VVAW was actually planning was more dangerous: a peaceful march to the convention hall to demand an audience with the president. The VVAW members were each held on $25,000 bail in an attempt to keep them from trying. "My crime is expressing my revulsion concerning the war in Vietnam," one testified upon surrendering to authorites. On August 11 the VVAW announced a lawsuit against Attorney General Kleindienst, Defense Secretary Laird, and the FBI for tapping their phones-newly affirmed as illegal in a recent Supreme Court decision handed down two days after the Watergate break-in. Then, on August 19, VVAW"s two hundred vehicles pulled up thirteen miles shy of Miami Beach. Once more they advanced in stately procession, in ragged fatigues, some clacking along on crutches, others pushed forth in wheelchairs, the rest clomping cadence in combat boots. They called it the Last Patrol.
The veterans lent a badly needed dignity to an antiwar movement that had descended into self-parody. The delegates slipped into tuxedos and evening dress for a convention-eve gala at the Fontainebleau. Their way was strewn with eggs and sixteen-year-olds using their limousine hoods as trampolines. Even Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were embarra.s.sed. They fancied their Yippie spectacles as creative creative-such as the "puke-in" they attempted on the sidewalk outside the reception. ("The problem being," they lamented, "that a group of individuals cannot puke in unison, whatever medicine they might take.") Joe McGinniss-working on a book on the death of "the hero" in American culture-turned to a friend: "This is crazy. Nixon couldn"t have hired people to make him look any better." (Unfortunately for Nixon, the TV producer present for the puke-in turned away in disgust, ordering his cameraman not to film it.) Abbie and Jerry made their way to a welcoming reception for Pat Nixon. Three years earlier they had been indicted for conspiracy to destroy a convention. But now, they were celebrities. celebrities. People had seen them on TV. So they had no trouble getting inside. "I want to f.u.c.k Pat Nixon," Jerry told a reporter. "I want to get close enough so that I can slip it in her. I really want to f.u.c.k that woman." Another faction-the "Zippies"-considered Yippies sellouts for embracing voting at all. Neither were radical enough for the Attica Brigade, who went around Flamingo Park chanting, "Attica means fight back! Attica means fight back!" A Women"s Anti-Rape Squad (W.A.R.S.) patrolled the park with their own chant: "Sisterhood means fight back! Sisterhood means fight back!" "Zippie Free Women" cavorted topless as a gesture against s.e.xism; which perhaps had something to do with all the hippie men-some members of a new "Pot People"s Party"-asking hippie women, "Do ya wanna screw?" and if refused, retorting, "Don"t you like men?" People had seen them on TV. So they had no trouble getting inside. "I want to f.u.c.k Pat Nixon," Jerry told a reporter. "I want to get close enough so that I can slip it in her. I really want to f.u.c.k that woman." Another faction-the "Zippies"-considered Yippies sellouts for embracing voting at all. Neither were radical enough for the Attica Brigade, who went around Flamingo Park chanting, "Attica means fight back! Attica means fight back!" A Women"s Anti-Rape Squad (W.A.R.S.) patrolled the park with their own chant: "Sisterhood means fight back! Sisterhood means fight back!" "Zippie Free Women" cavorted topless as a gesture against s.e.xism; which perhaps had something to do with all the hippie men-some members of a new "Pot People"s Party"-asking hippie women, "Do ya wanna screw?" and if refused, retorting, "Don"t you like men?"
The factions spent much of their time fighting each other over the microphone-at least those who weren"t too stoned on wine and quaaludes to talk. Until, that is, an armada of crew-cutted n.a.z.is snuck onto the stage and blessed all factions with a newfound unity as beating victims. The Vietnam veterans, joined by Jewish retirees, came to the rescue, carrying the n.a.z.is fireman-style out of the park. The vets also discovered a protester with a cache of Molotov c.o.c.ktails, lead-weighted arrows, and sharpened bolts. They turned him over to police and destroyed the weapons with sledgehammers. They tried to ask John Wayne questions during an "open" press conference at Nixon headquarters. Security wouldn"t let them in. So a former West Point instructor ambushed the Duke while he was waiting for a cab and invited him to their encampment: "They just want to shoot the bull. You know, maybe talk about the war-"
Wayne"s fellow western star, Glenn Ford, snapped, "What war?"
"The one in Vietnam. These guys all fought over there. A lot of them are crippled."
The war-movie hero who"d avoided fighting in a war scanned the horizon nervously: no cabs. "So they just want to talk, eh?" Wayne said in that so-famous drawl.
"Why not? It won"t take long."
"Bulls.h.i.t. If they got somethin" to say to me, tell "em to put it in writing," he said, as a cab finally arrived. "Playboy Plaza," he barked at the hack. "Jesus, I need a drink. drink."
On Monday as the conventioneers ma.s.sed for the opening session, a shrieking mob lay down in front of a city bus, then ripped open the gas tank, gushing fuel down the main drag, Collins Avenue. A kid tried to light a rag. Old ladies on the bus started keening and weeping. The mob started vandalizing limousines: "Cars don"t bleed!" "You kill Vietnamese people!" A sixty-year-old food vendor who had the misfortune of wearing a convention tag tried to dash to the safety of the hall. Before he could, he collapsed of a heart attack. A North Carolina delegate observed, "I think next time they should issue every delegate and alternate a submachine gun."
Inside, a train of keynoters, declaiming from an ivory-colored stucco battlement that made the Democrats" twenty-foot-high podium look puny, made as if George McGovern himself had thrown the rocks.
Ronald Reagan, resplendent in an ice creamcolored suit, emceed: "At this this convention elected delegates are allowed inside the hall. You can even eat a lettuce salad here without losing your credentials. We"ll even select our vice-presidential candidate before we go home." convention elected delegates are allowed inside the hall. You can even eat a lettuce salad here without losing your credentials. We"ll even select our vice-presidential candidate before we go home."
"You could imagine the high drama of that moment of decision in Hyannis Port-surrounded by their families, two men watching the flip of a coin. Sargent Shriver lost."
"A man of the common people, Shriver understands their language. He learned it from talking to his butler."
"Their tactics were the old politics of bossism and the smoke-filled rooms-although in some of the rooms it was reported the smoke smelled a little funny."
"A few days ago McGovern announced that his economists would be presenting a program very shortly to which he would be committed. Now, if that means he"ll stand behind it one thousand percent, we will have at least a week to look over it before he dumps it."
Barry Goldwater spoke: "I would like to call attention to what happened last month when the shattered remnants of a once great party met in this city and what I listened to and saw on my television made me question whether I was sitting in the United States or someplace else. I was reminded of the coyotes who live on my hill with me in the desert of Arizona.... They just wait, like the coyote, until they can tear something down or destroy part of America." Goldwater had to stop every once in a while to wait for cheers to die down.
(A motor whirred the platform into position for the next speaker; it was adjusted so no speaker would be taller than the president.) Richard Lugar, mayor of Indianapolis: "A small group of radicals and extremists has a.s.sumed control of the Democratic Party, taking its name but repudiating its principles. The sudden storm of McGovern has devastated the house of Jackson, Wilson, Roosevelt, and Kennedy, and millions of Democrats now stand homeless in its wake.... We say to you millions of Democrats deserted by McGovern and his extremists, "We are the party of the open door! That door is open to everyone!""
l.u.s.tily, the delegates cheered: 84 percent of them were public officeholders (the sort who had once lined up munic.i.p.al-bond deals with John Mitch.e.l.l), many in matching blazers. In Texas, only one wasn"t white, a Mexican-American; only one was under thirty.
On Tuesday evening, when conventioneers traversed the stretch of Collins Avenue from the big hotels to the convention hall, young women in Vietnamese folk costume moaned funeral chants over disemboweled dolls. A "Tower of Shame" float on a borrowed Orange Bowl cha.s.sis displayed posters of napalmed children and torsos shredded by plastic-pellet bombs, and was festooned with RE-ELECT THE PRESIDENT RE-ELECT THE PRESIDENT graphics, a satanic papiermache Nixon, and a complement of death masques. A borrowed elephant pulled a black-shrouded coffin. "The media," Abbie and Jerry lamented, "paid it scant attention." They were "attuned only to explosions and violence." There were, however, thrown eggs, and as Bob Greene of the graphics, a satanic papiermache Nixon, and a complement of death masques. A borrowed elephant pulled a black-shrouded coffin. "The media," Abbie and Jerry lamented, "paid it scant attention." They were "attuned only to explosions and violence." There were, however, thrown eggs, and as Bob Greene of the Chicago Daily News Chicago Daily News observed, "To a Republican lady, one egg on the dress can mop up the guilt of five hundred bombs." observed, "To a Republican lady, one egg on the dress can mop up the guilt of five hundred bombs."
On Wednesday, as delegates arrived, militants pulled the engine wires to disable the buses of the Mississippi and South Carolina delegations. Lunatics lay in front of the Illinois bus, spray-painting its windshield black, slashing its tires, torching an American flag and trying to throw it into the engine. Then came the big VVAW march down Collins Avenue. It was silent but for the drill marshals" commands and the tramp, tramp, tramp tramp, tramp, tramp of combat boots. They ma.s.sed in vigil: silence, for ten minutes. Hunter S. Thompson said he"d never seen so powerful a scene. Then, one of the leaders took up a bullhorn: "We want to come inside!" Thompson said he"d never seen cops so intimidated, wrote that an "almost visible shudder ran through the crowd." A man next to him muttered, "Oh my G.o.d." Thompson forthwith took off his watch. "The first thing to go in a street fight is always your watch, and once you"ve lost a few, you develop a certain instinct." of combat boots. They ma.s.sed in vigil: silence, for ten minutes. Hunter S. Thompson said he"d never seen so powerful a scene. Then, one of the leaders took up a bullhorn: "We want to come inside!" Thompson said he"d never seen cops so intimidated, wrote that an "almost visible shudder ran through the crowd." A man next to him muttered, "Oh my G.o.d." Thompson forthwith took off his watch. "The first thing to go in a street fight is always your watch, and once you"ve lost a few, you develop a certain instinct."
An angry right-wing girl vigilante tried to slash through the protesters on her motorcycle. Two army helicopters swof-swof-swoff swof-swof-swoffed overhead, Vietnam-like, thickening the tension. Pete McCloskey, the Republican presidential-primary candidate who wasn"t going to be allowed to be nominated lest an antiwar speech make it on TV took his revenge: he talked security guards into letting three of the vets inside. Ron Kovic, a veteran confined to a wheelchair, used a press pa.s.s to try to get close to the podium. He intended to approach the president to shake his hand-then refuse to let go until Nixon answered his questions.
A security guard gripped his chair tightly.
"What"s the matter? Can"t a disabled veteran who fought for his country sit up front?"
"I"m afraid not. You"re not allowed up front with the delegates. You"ll have to go back to the back of the convention hall, son. Let"s go."
Kovic swung around to face three guards: "I"m a Vietnam veteran and I fought in the war! Did you fight in the war?"
One of them looked away.
"Yeah, that"s what I thought."
Kovic started confronting delegates with tales of decrepit veterans" hospitals, of lying "in my own s.h.i.t for hours waiting for an aide." Once again his hearers looked away. "Is it too real for you to look at? Is this wheelchair too much for you to take? The man who will accept this nomination tonight is a liar."
Kovic searched for the president. But the president was circling in Air Force One for his theatrical entrance. Three thousand Young Voters waited in the rain at the airport to meet him, crowding the perky actor who played Chip on My Three Sons My Three Sons for autographs. Police had parked city buses b.u.mper to b.u.mper around the convention-center perimeter in preparation of the president"s motorcade later that evening; they sprayed so much Mace around the convention center it got sucked into the air-conditioning ducts, and they had to shut down the cooling system. A sweating Jimmy Stewart introduced a biographical film about Pat Nixon. Spiro Agnew gave an acceptance speech on the need to come together as "one America." John Wayne introduced the president"s biopic. for autographs. Police had parked city buses b.u.mper to b.u.mper around the convention-center perimeter in preparation of the president"s motorcade later that evening; they sprayed so much Mace around the convention center it got sucked into the air-conditioning ducts, and they had to shut down the cooling system. A sweating Jimmy Stewart introduced a biographical film about Pat Nixon. Spiro Agnew gave an acceptance speech on the need to come together as "one America." John Wayne introduced the president"s biopic.
A train of nominators and seconders pledged their undying devotion to Nixon. Some had once been famously anti-Nixon: Nelson Rockefeller, who had said in 1960 that the thought of Richard Nixon as president made him ill; former interior secretary Walter Hickel, forced out for criticizing Nixon for calling protesters "b.u.ms." Others were not Republicans: Senator Buckley of the Conservative Party; the president of a UAW local; an Alabama housewife and former Wallace activist; Mrs. Henry Maier, wife of Milwaukee"s Democratic mayor. A token black person. A token young person. And for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, the greatest humiliation of all: the young navy vet John O"Neill, whom the White House had put on TV to sandbag John Kerry in 1971.
During the nomination roll call-"Florida casts its votes for the greatest American president since Abraham Lincoln!"-the candidate was driven to a youth rally at Marine Stadium, ten miles from the hall. The roll call went over the top. Gerald Ford read his line with feeling: "Will the delegates come to order!" That, according to the script, was at 10:33-"followed by a ten-minute spontaneous demonstration with balloons."
Across town, a communications truck gave the cue. Richard Nixon entered Marine Stadium like a Roman emperor as the scoreboard started flashing with glee NIXON IS NOMINATED! NIXON IS NOMINATED! NIXON IS NOMINATED! NIXON IS NOMINATED!
Nixon"s face, well-practiced, lit up, as if he"d never seen such a spectacle in all his life.
He hugged the master of ceremonies, Sammy Davis Jr.
He gave a speech to the a.s.sembled "good young kids," piped in to the delegates in the convention hall.
He arrived for his acceptance speech. The hall reverberated with Republican jubilation. Some wore b.u.t.tons or carried signs reading NIXON IS LOVE NIXON IS LOVE and and NIXON CARES NIXON CARES and and HAPPINESS IS NIXON. HAPPINESS IS NIXON. Others held on to their gold pennies with Nixon"s face instead of Lincoln"s, and souvenir "McGovern boxes" with a phony $1,000 bill and a white flag of surrender inside. Others held on to their gold pennies with Nixon"s face instead of Lincoln"s, and souvenir "McGovern boxes" with a phony $1,000 bill and a white flag of surrender inside.
Then, to 30 million Americans, Richard Nixon, the peacenik they could trust, introduced the Checkers of 1972: little Tanya, a young Russian girl.
"Speaking on behalf of the American people, I was proud to be able to say in my television address to the Russian people in May, "We covet no one else"s territory. We seek no dominion over any other nation. We seek peace not only for ourselves, but for all the people of the world."...
"On your television screen last night, you saw the cemetery in Leningrad I visited on my trip to the Soviet Union-where three hundred thousand people died in the siege of that city during World War II."
(You want civilian casualties? I"ll tell you about real civilian casualties.) "At the cemetery I saw the picture of a twelve-year-old girl. She was a beautiful child.
"Her name"-his voice broke-"was Tanya.
"I read her diary. It tells the terrible story of war. In the simple words of a child she wrote of the deaths of the members of her family. "Zhenya in December. Grannie in January. Then Leka. Then Uncle Vasya. Then Uncle Lyosha. Then Mama in May." And finally-these are the last words in her diary: "All are dead. Only Tanya is left.""
Pause.
"Let us think of Tanya and the other Tanyas and their brothers and sisters everywhere everywhere"-Nixon"s voice caught-"in Russia, in China, in America, as we proudly meet our responsibilities for leadership in the world in a way worthy of a great people.
"I ask you, my fellow Americans, to join our new majority not just in the cause of winning an election, but in achieving a hope that mankind has had since the beginning of civilization. Let us buillllld buillllld a peace that our children-and a peace that our children-and all all the children of the world!-can enjoy for generations to come." the children of the world!-can enjoy for generations to come."
At 1 a.m. police stood in formation, rhythmically beating their riot clubs. Their liberal chief finally unleashed them to make arrests. With brutal dispatch, they collared two hundred miscreants, cheered on by martini-sipping yachtsmen moored at the marina. Though one was disappointed. He had heard Yippies were going to firebomb boats and was hoping for the insurance money.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR.
Not Half Enough NIXON WAS TWENTY-SIX POINTS AHEAD IN THE G GALLUP POLL BEFORE the convention. He was thirty-four points up in the first poll afterward-with only 6 percent undecided. George McGovern"s boosters had spoken of harvesting the "alienated" voter. But on September 1, Harris dusted off their "alienation index," a scale concocted in 1966 based on responses to five questions: "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer"; "What you think doesn"t count very much"; "The people running the country don"t really care what happens to you"; "People who have the power are out to take advantage of you"; "Left out of the things around you." Nixon was ahead even among the alienated-4643 percent. the convention. He was thirty-four points up in the first poll afterward-with only 6 percent undecided. George McGovern"s boosters had spoken of harvesting the "alienated" voter. But on September 1, Harris dusted off their "alienation index," a scale concocted in 1966 based on responses to five questions: "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer"; "What you think doesn"t count very much"; "The people running the country don"t really care what happens to you"; "People who have the power are out to take advantage of you"; "Left out of the things around you." Nixon was ahead even among the alienated-4643 percent.
George McGovern started out in New England and the Hudson River Valley. He rested in Woodstock, New York. That was what the sign read on the side of his conveyance: MCGOVERN WOODSTOCK BUS. MCGOVERN WOODSTOCK BUS. "Just what McGovern needs to straighten up his image with Middle America," a reporter wrote sardonically. His standing wasn"t so solid with the Woodstock generation either. On September 10, George Gallup reported "a shift to President Nixon among voters under thirty." Nixon used to trail among them 4841. Now he was ahead, 6136. According to Fred Dutton"s "Just what McGovern needs to straighten up his image with Middle America," a reporter wrote sardonically. His standing wasn"t so solid with the Woodstock generation either. On September 10, George Gallup reported "a shift to President Nixon among voters under thirty." Nixon used to trail among them 4841. Now he was ahead, 6136. According to Fred Dutton"s Changing Sources of Power, Changing Sources of Power, politicians said the new young voters were "far and away the most fiercely independent, perceptive, and self-motivated, they have ever seen.... Even before coming to maturity, its vanguard members helped set the pace for the two predominant controversies of the last decade: the civil rights struggle and the Vietnam War protests. These young people have also forced the most searching reappraisals of higher education in the U.S. since the borrowing from the German universities in the last quarter of the last century.... Most of the present young people are considerably more likely than their elders to develop a conscious relationship with other cultures and societies." politicians said the new young voters were "far and away the most fiercely independent, perceptive, and self-motivated, they have ever seen.... Even before coming to maturity, its vanguard members helped set the pace for the two predominant controversies of the last decade: the civil rights struggle and the Vietnam War protests. These young people have also forced the most searching reappraisals of higher education in the U.S. since the borrowing from the German universities in the last quarter of the last century.... Most of the present young people are considerably more likely than their elders to develop a conscious relationship with other cultures and societies."
And, what, they were flocking to...Richard Nixon?
The people moving history, apparently to the left, were so young: young: Stokely Carmichael stole the civil rights movement from Martin Luther King in 1966, the month of his twenty-fifth birthday. Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix were twenty-seven when they died (Jim Morrison made it to twenty-eight). Fred Hampton was twenty-one when he died. McGovern"s campaign manager was a lordly thirty-four years old; his acceptance speech was written by a twenty-eight-year-old; he had top staffers as young as twenty-two-and many had got their start organizing four years earlier with Eugene McCarthy. Stokely Carmichael stole the civil rights movement from Martin Luther King in 1966, the month of his twenty-fifth birthday. Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix were twenty-seven when they died (Jim Morrison made it to twenty-eight). Fred Hampton was twenty-one when he died. McGovern"s campaign manager was a lordly thirty-four years old; his acceptance speech was written by a twenty-eight-year-old; he had top staffers as young as twenty-two-and many had got their start organizing four years earlier with Eugene McCarthy.
But there were always other voices of this generation. When hired by Nixon, Pat Buchanan was twenty-eight, Roger Ailes, twenty-six; Ron Ziegler and Tom Charles Huston, twenty-five. There had always been an active movement of young conservatives in the 1960s, a self-conscious leadership vanguard for millions of young Americans who preferred their campuses free of disruption. Richard Nixon, himself only thirty-three when first elected congressman, had always placed young people in positions of extraordinary responsibility-such as the twenty-six-year-old Bob Haldeman, who had stood a fan"s vigil outside the studio where Nixon made the Checkers Speech in 1952 and was his chief advance man by 1956. "Youth Against McGovern" dogged the Democrat at every stop. The fashionable looked down their noses at them (only a dozen reporters showed up for their opening press conference at the National Press Club).
But then, Richard Nixon was good at speaking to people who felt looked down upon.
On September 5, 1972, in Munich, Israeli athletes sleeping soundly in the Olympic Village were set upon by eight Palestinian militants with guns and grenades. The terrorists killed two in the ensuing struggle and took nine hostages. Threatening athletes at gunpoint live on international TV, they demanded the release not just of comrades in Israeli jails but of two Marxist terrorists in Germany. They negotiated a 727 to take them to Egypt, and safe pa.s.sage to the airport. There, a rescue attempt led to a shoot-out. Four Israelis died in a helicopter explosion; five Israelis and a German policeman were machine-gunned to death. Mark Spitz, the swimmer who won a record seven gold medals, each with a new world record, had to leave before the closing ceremonies for his own safety-he was Jewish. The world"s flags flew at half-staff at Olympic Stadium-all except for ten Arab nations who refused to pay the dead the tribute.
McGovern started tromping through Northern industrial cities. The legendary downtown restaurants where families had been flocking for generations, the magnificent movie palaces, the landmarks a presidential candidate might once have visited-no one was flocking to them anymore. In Youngstown, Ohio, the camera shots of the podium included the marquee of the Uptown Adult Book Store; in Philadelphia, the once-elegant hotel where the campaign party stayed was crawling with street people.
Ted Kennedy was traveling at the candidate"s side, saying the same kind of things George McGovern did, but getting three times the ovations. In Detroit a voice cried out plaintively: "Save us! Save us, Mr. Kennedy!" A young black woman started a chant: "Kennedy in "76! Kennedy in "76!" McGovern"s biggest applause came when he called out the names of dead Kennedys. In Chicago the mayor magnanimously scheduled a good-old-fashioned Democratic parade down State Street. Then again, Daley hosted a parade for the first lady in October, lest anyone doubt his conflicted loyalties. One of his more indiscreet ward bosses was quoted by ABC News: McGovern was "gonna lose because we"re gonna make sure he"s gonna lose."
Sargent Shriver, a Chicagoan and Daley ally, was supposed to be the point man in the bid to win back the regulars. The Democratic leaders of Ess.e.x County, New Jersey, gave him a loyal welcome at a picnic: "Some like to think there are two groups, the regulars and the McGovernites," a county clerk p.r.o.nounced. "But today there is one group, the Democratic group." Off to the side, ward leaders gave blind quotes to reporters: "The Democrats are in trouble. The ethnics aren"t going to vote for the national ticket. The average American is completely turned off by Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, the gay liberation, and they identify McGovern with them.... Maybe we can save the local candidates at best."
That was September 17. It showed the negligible impact of two straight days of Woodward and Bernstein pieces on the Post Post front page. On the sixteenth, under the una.s.suming subhead "Jury Bares New Details of Break-in," beside a photograph of the Cuban Bernard Barker, the front page. On the sixteenth, under the una.s.suming subhead "Jury Bares New Details of Break-in," beside a photograph of the Cuban Bernard Barker, the Post Post reported a grand jury indictment against the burglars and Liddy and Hunt. But the details seemed technical, the amounts penny-ante ("The only money known to be involved in the conspiracy is $1,600 that Liddy gave to suspect James W. McCord Jr."). What might have seemed the most dramatic revelation-"According to the National Archives, the indictment of Liddy and Hunt marks the first time in history that a person who has served as a White House aide has been indicted"-was buried near the bottom, where other, more dramatic stories beckoned: "Rape, Robbery, and Abduction: Gunmen Terrorize 9 Women"; "Audit Raises Tallies on Crime"; "Croats Hijack Jet, Demand 7 Be Freed"; "Israel Strikes into Lebanon." The next morning"s story-"Spy Funds Linked to GOP Aides"-didn"t bury the lead: "Funds for the Watergate espionage operation were controlled by several princ.i.p.al a.s.sistants of John N. Mitch.e.l.l...and were kept in a special account at the Committee for the Re-Election of the President." But the story was b.u.mped from the top of the page by a flattering profile of Maurice Stans and how the "transparently political" attacks on Nixon"s fund-raising successes were causing him to enjoy his job less. reported a grand jury indictment against the burglars and Liddy and Hunt. But the details seemed technical, the amounts penny-ante ("The only money known to be involved in the conspiracy is $1,600 that Liddy gave to suspect James W. McCord Jr."). What might have seemed the most dramatic revelation-"According to the National Archives, the indictment of Liddy and Hunt marks the first time in history that a person who has served as a White House aide has been indicted"-was buried near the bottom, where other, more dramatic stories beckoned: "Rape, Robbery, and Abduction: Gunmen Terrorize 9 Women"; "Audit Raises Tallies on Crime"; "Croats Hijack Jet, Demand 7 Be Freed"; "Israel Strikes into Lebanon." The next morning"s story-"Spy Funds Linked to GOP Aides"-didn"t bury the lead: "Funds for the Watergate espionage operation were controlled by several princ.i.p.al a.s.sistants of John N. Mitch.e.l.l...and were kept in a special account at the Committee for the Re-Election of the President." But the story was b.u.mped from the top of the page by a flattering profile of Maurice Stans and how the "transparently political" attacks on Nixon"s fund-raising successes were causing him to enjoy his job less.
McGovern started using the word Watergate Watergate on the campaign trail, and the number $300,000, the amount the on the campaign trail, and the number $300,000, the amount the Post Post reported the president"s reelection campaign had earmarked "for sensitive political projects." The language was always received boomingly by Nixon-hating Democratic crowds. That was as far as the enthusiasm went. For every newspaper article about the investigation, there seemed to be an equally prominent piece casting aspersions on the Democrats" probity. The Government Accounting Office was supposed to be releasing an audit of Nixon"s donations. On the day of Nixon"s nomination, the bureau postponed its release. Larry O"Brien, reported a two-paragraph item on page 39 of the reported the president"s reelection campaign had earmarked "for sensitive political projects." The language was always received boomingly by Nixon-hating Democratic crowds. That was as far as the enthusiasm went. For every newspaper article about the investigation, there seemed to be an equally prominent piece casting aspersions on the Democrats" probity. The Government Accounting Office was supposed to be releasing an audit of Nixon"s donations. On the day of Nixon"s nomination, the bureau postponed its release. Larry O"Brien, reported a two-paragraph item on page 39 of the Times, Times, charged the White House was using "every ounce of political muscle" to block it. The report found eleven "apparent and possible violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act." Nixon responded that both parties may have committed some "technical violations," and Stans said "the strong and persistent pressures placed on the GAO by the Democratic members of Congress" and "McGovern campaign operatives" were responsible for "inaccuracies in the report." Stans asked for an audit of the Democrats. McGovern said he"d welcome it. charged the White House was using "every ounce of political muscle" to block it. The report found eleven "apparent and possible violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act." Nixon responded that both parties may have committed some "technical violations," and Stans said "the strong and persistent pressures placed on the GAO by the Democratic members of Congress" and "McGovern campaign operatives" were responsible for "inaccuracies in the report." Stans asked for an audit of the Democrats. McGovern said he"d welcome it.
There followed a cavalcade of page 1 headlines: "G.A.O. Is Auditing McGovern"s Books"; "Dole Charges 7 Violations of Election Act"; "Inquiry by GAO: Democratic Funds Probe Finds Technical Violations." One article, "McGovern Mail Lottery Charge Being Studied," followed up the charges of "apparent illegality" after McGovern announced he would pick 250 names at random from his hundreds of thousands of small contributors for an Andrew Jacksonstyle "People"s Dinner Party" in the White House. A Republican congressman called that "a clear-cut case of dangling special favors and privileges in return for a political campaign contribution...a desperate, shabby inducement and the lowest insult yet to the American voter."
Both sides were bad; which was worse? "They think that political parties do this all the time." "They think that political parties do this all the time."
Walter Cronkite got wind of a possible White House scandal and went after it hard. In July, as a fruit of Nixon"s Moscow trip, the United States announced a deal to sell the USSR $750 million in grain on favorable terms over three years, and insiders had allegedly traded on early information. Cronkite"s team found evidence implicating an a.s.sistant secretary of agriculture, who had taken a position at Continental Grain after after negotiating the deal, but negotiating the deal, but before before the deal went public; Continental then closed a sketchy $150 million grain sale three days before the deal was announced. The evidentiary chain was complex. But when Cronkite went on the air September 27, his presentation was a miracle of clarity: he got up from his desk to, of all things, a schoolroom blackboard and ill.u.s.trated the movement of men and money with stick figures. It took two segments on the the deal went public; Continental then closed a sketchy $150 million grain sale three days before the deal was announced. The evidentiary chain was complex. But when Cronkite went on the air September 27, his presentation was a miracle of clarity: he got up from his desk to, of all things, a schoolroom blackboard and ill.u.s.trated the movement of men and money with stick figures. It took two segments on the Evening News Evening News to explain, the first an unprecedented eleven minutes long. It came too late to affect the Gallup poll released the next day: "Which candidate-Mr. Nixon or McGovern-do you think is more sincere, believable?" Nixon won, 5920. to explain, the first an unprecedented eleven minutes long. It came too late to affect the Gallup poll released the next day: "Which candidate-Mr. Nixon or McGovern-do you think is more sincere, believable?" Nixon won, 5920.
Even among self-admitted Democrats, it was Nixon 3837; among those under thirty, 5728. The New Politics was right about one thing: voters, especially young ones, were turning away from a politician they saw as untrustworthy. Only that politician was George McGovern. On September 30, the Post Post"s Woodward and Bernstein reported that when John Mitch.e.l.l had been Nixon"s campaign manager, he had personally controlled the $300,000 "secret fund." Three days later, the same paper ran a poll a.n.a.lysis headlined MCGOVERN LOST CREDIBILITY a.s.sET MCGOVERN LOST CREDIBILITY a.s.sET.
McGovern was incredulous. He decided to turn up the heat. At a speech to a conference of UPI editors in Washington, the first words out his mouth were "Yesterday on Meet the Press, Meet the Press, my wife said that the current administration was the most corrupt administration in recent history. I agree with that-with one modification. I would leave out the word my wife said that the current administration was the most corrupt administration in recent history. I agree with that-with one modification. I would leave out the word recent. recent."
"The Nixon mess in Washington," he said, appropriating Ike"s 1952 campaign promise to clean up the mess in Washington, "includes the corruption of our ideals in an unjust war as well as the corruption of the Justice Department in the ITT case.... It includes the corruption of the Const.i.tution by a.s.saults on freedom of the press as well as the corruption of our tax code by loopholes for the wealthy few."
McGovern looked the editors in the eye: "And every one of you in this room knows it."
Then he launched into a long a.s.sault on Nixon for ducking a discussion of the issues. "I suspect the true reason Richard Nixon will not debate is that he is afraid-not of me, but of the people. He must realize that if he is forced to tell them what he really has in store, there will be little doubt of his defeat in November."
There wasn"t much response. Delivered in McGovern"s flat Midwestern voice, the words sounded less dramatic than they read. "What kind of lead do you put on this speech story?" one of the reporters asked on the press plane. "Something like: "Unlike the rest of the American people, George McGovern has a low opinion of Richard Nixon"?"
Of course Nixon wasn"t going to debate. He wasn"t even campaigning. Persistently, Jules Witcover would ask Ron Ziegler, "Ron, what did the president do today as a candidate for reelection?" Ziegler would respond as if asked when the president had stopped beating his wife: he was the president, president, for G.o.d"s sake; he was busy settling a war and had no time for the low, dirty business of for G.o.d"s sake; he was busy settling a war and had no time for the low, dirty business of politics. politics.
The first bout of recognizable campaign activity began on September 26. The president dropped from the sky in a Chinook helicopter onto Liberty Island in New York Harbor, where several thousand schoolchildren had been shipped to listen to him dedicate the American Museum of Immigration. Most chanted "Four more years!" on cue; one knot of disobedient children shouted, "Stop bombing the dikes!" A small contingent of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, who had somehow made it through the awesome gauntlet of security, cried out from the crowd, "Stop the bombing! Stop the war!"
The president paused.