The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America by Aram Goudsouzian (review)

In The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America, Aram Goudsouzian provides a detailed, authoritative, well-written, and often gripping account of the tumultuous election year of 1968. Goudsouzian, a professor of history at the University of Memphis, provides an account of the 1968 election structured by those who primarily shaped that election. Most of these men were presidential candidates (Robert F. Kennedy, Eugene J. McCarthy, and Hubert H. Humphrey for the Democrats; Nelson A. Rockefeller, Ronald Reagan, and Richard M. Nixon for the Republicans; and the American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace). However, The Men and the Moment begins with an examination of the incumbent president and (as 1968 began) expected candidate, Lyndon B. Johnson, who on March 31, 1968, stunned the country by announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race.

Goudsouzian organizes the book by personalities. The first eight of the book’s ten chapters paint a portrait of each leader, alternating between political parties. Chapter 9 focuses on the 1968 fall campaign, tracing Humphrey’s declining fortunes into late September and his comeback in October and early November and documenting the common wisdom that, had the election been held one week later than it was, Humphrey might have won. Chapter 10 considers the aftermath of the election, especially its role in ending the fifth party system—the era of Democratic Party national dominance since the 1930s.

Goudsouzian’s writing style is energetic, accessible, and at times laced with verve and wit. For instance, Miami Beach, Florida, the host city for the 1968 National Republican Convention, is described as full of “gaudy replica architecture”; its nightclubs “glittered with fleshy delights”; and the city itself was “a bubble of indulgence . . . a sun-drenched oasis from the crises of race and crime and poverty and Vietnam” (p. 80). Goudsouzian describes the “violent energy” at Wallace’s rallies; the “cool dignity” of McCarthy, matching the “‘[n]o hippie style’” of his “‘Neat and Clean for Gene’” youthful supporters; and Humphrey’s status as “an icon of national malaise” during the summer of 1968 (pp. 117, 36, 95).

Initially, this reviewer was skeptical of Goudsouzian’s organizing the book around the year’s major political personalities. After reading The Men and the Moment, however, this organization was successful. The drawback of this approach is that the book tends to jump forward and backward chronologically. Outweighing this, however, is the intense focus on each political leader and the exhaustive documentation, which is contained in sixty-one pages of endnotes. Also helpful is the 1968 election timeline in the appendix, chronicling events from January 2, when Wallace succeeded in getting his name on the California ballot, to November 6, when Nixon was confirmed as the election winner and president-elect.

Overall, The Men and the Moment is an excellent read. I highly recommend it to both academic audiences, especially in American history and politics, and general readers. Two minor shortcomings stand out. First, notwithstanding the engaging writing and rapt attention to detail, it is not immediately clear what Goudsouzian was setting out to add to existing accounts of the 1968 election. I did not see any mention of where previous studies have fallen short or left questions unanswered. The Men and the Moment seems not well grounded in past works, such as Theodore H. White’s The Making of the President: 1968 (New York, 1969). Second, the coverage of the aftermath of the 1968 election struck this reviewer as extremely brief and cursory. The book’s title ends with “and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America,” but it seems there is little to no discussion of the ramifications of 1968 for rising partisan polarization in the years since. To this reviewer, the book would benefit from an...