Great read filled with new details from new source
How do you take the story of a major political event that is seemingly known through and through and upend all that we thought we knew and shed new light on the story revealing far greater detail and correcting false assumptions at the same time? Research. Through diligent research, and by reaching out to new sources of information, Luke Nichter has once again shed new light on a topic of political and historical significance, correcting misconceptions, and added new details to a period of time that was not nearly as well known or understood as previously thought. This is what historical research is all about: finding new sources, and adding those new sources to the story we already know to add to the accuracy of the story.
Luke Nichter has done this to the highest degree. Utilizing sources previously unused such as the notebooks of Billy Graham (which in part reveal the unique and complex relationship between LBJ and Nixon), the recorded phone conversations during the 1968 election (including those between LBJ, Nixon, Humphreys, and Wallace as well as those related to the alleged role of Anna Chennault in the prevention of South Vietnam agreeing to a peace arranged through LBJ) and the numerous personal interviews conducted over the years, Luke Nichter has been able to paint the picture of the complex 1968 election with more detail and more depth than previously thought possible.
The inclusion of the notebooks from Billy Graham are quite revealing. The degree to which Reverend Graham relayed messages between Richard Nixon and LBJ was quite interesting and revealing. Through the notebooks of Billy Graham we are able to see how the connection between Nixon and LBJ grew, and how that relationship would continue on beyond 1968. It also shows Graham as a person of influence wanting to help an ailing nation return to a less volatile path. The remarks from Graham on this subject help the reader to see the importance of the election of 1968 from an angle beyond that of mere politics and reveals the importance of making the transition from the LBJ administration to that of his successor as smooth as possible. That smooth transition and the growing relationship between LBJ and Nixon proved to be the most interesting part as it sheds new light on why the events of Nixon�s first term unfolded as they did and suggests LBJ�s role up until his death may have been more critical to the Nixon administration than previously thought.
For those who have not yet studied the politics of the election of 1968, and for those who thought they knew all there was to know, this book is a must read. It adds depth and clarity to a period of U.S. history that was very complex and pivotal, and does so in a way that a researcher and an armchair historian can both use and enjoy. This work will be a key reference on the topic for decades to come.
Michael W. Cotten, M.A.
Historical Research Consultant
