History Is Our Guide To Ending Hatreds

The Vietnam War led to massive violent uprisings.  The hatred was enormous.  Private businesses, college campuses, government buildings were shut down by protesters.  Like today, activists wanted a complete overall of our government and way of life.  There would be no comprising.  It was their way or the highway.  They made every effort to circumvent the democratic process by attempting to thwart the 1968 Democratic Convention.  The awful ugliness on the streets of Chicago that was captured and witnessed by millions of Americans on television, will never be forgotten.

This resulted in the trial of the Chicago Eight.  What we witnessed there was a total lack of respect and adherence to our judicial system.  One of the defendants, Bobby Seale, had to be gagged and tied to a chair in the courtroom to prevent him from disrupting the legal process and proceedings.  Seale was so rebellious that his prosecution had to be severed during the trial, reducing the ugliness of the Chicago Eight to the Chicago Seven.  Others, on occasion, had to watch the court proceeding on closed circuit television from their jail cells. 

This led to strengthening the Black Panther Party.  Their very public callings for the killing of “pigs” (police officers) propelled heavy government scrutiny of the organization.  As arrests were made, the Panthers charged law enforcement officials with racism and oppression.  Police officers were targeted for death.  Some thirty-five police officers were gunned down by the Panthers.

Many young people decided to “turn off and drop out” of mainstream American culture.  Some just wandered the streets aimlessly, while others created and joined communes.  Everything they had and everything they could acquire, by any means, became the property of the commune.  “Free love” (licentious sexual behavior) and securing illicit drugs was their stated lifestyle. 

One such commune was started and controlled by Charles Manson.  He preached love and inner beauty while intoxicating his members with LSD and directing their sexual activities.  Some cult members believed he was the second coming of Jesus. 

Manson, a lifelong criminal, had one objective in mind.  He wanted to start a race war.  He believed if wealthy high-profile individuals were brutally slaughtered by what appeared to be the Black Panthers, “whitey” would rise up and attack the black community.  During the war, Mansion and his followers would remain hidden.  It was Manson’s premise that “whitey” would never defeat the superior physical traits of “blackie.”  But the blacks would not be able to govern themselves, at which point, Charlie would emerge to rule the world.  To get the war started, Charlie and his followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations over a period of five weeks in August of 1969.  This preceded the Chicago Eight trial by just one month.

Then on June 17, 1972 came the Watergate break in.  The prowlers had been caught attempting to bug the telephones of, and steal documents from, the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office plaza in Washington D.C.   There is no evidence that President Nixon knew anything about the break in plot before it happened.  However, the combination of the national uproar over his handling of Vietnam and evidence of his involvement to cover up and forcefully silence the Watergate investigations led to his resigning from office on August 8, 1974.  Nixon was the only president to ever resign from the office.  Just six years earlier President Johnson announced (March 31, 1968) he would not seek another term as President.  The Vietnam War had forced him into early retirement.  

Enter President Gerald Ford.   He knew he had to stop the bleeding.  His first act was to pardon Richard Nixon for any and all involvement in Watergate.  This ended the scandal and the awful hatred it generated.  Just nine months into his presidency Ford also ended all United States involvement in Vietnam successfully slamming the door shut on that ugliness.   By 1975 all draft and military conscription requirements were ended.

Gerald Ford had to know that he was committing political suicide.  It didn’t stop him from doing what needed to be done to heal our nation. 

While so very many of events from the late 60’s and early 70’s parallel today’s events, the one missing element is whether we have a leader with the courage to lead – the courage to end the hatred and bitterness that plagues us today.  For it would appear that political suicide is necessary once again.