Chicago 68

Entertaining and scrupulously researched, Chicago '68 reconstructs the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago—an epochal moment in American cultural and political history. By drawing on a wide range of sources, Farber tells and retells the story of the protests in three different voices, from the perspectives of the major protagonists—the Yippies, the National Mobilization to End the War, and Mayor Richard J. Daley and his police. He brilliantly recreates all the excitement and drama, the violently charged action and language of this period of crisis, giving life to the whole set of cultural experiences we call "the sixties." "Chicago '68 was a watershed summer. Chicago '68 is a watershed book. Farber succeeds in presenting a sensitive, fairminded composite portrait that is at once a model of fine narrative history and an example of how one can walk the intellectual tightrope between 'reporting one's findings' and offering judgements about them."—Peter I. Rose, Contemporary Sociology

In August 1968, Democrats gather at their National Convention in Chicago to debate a platform for a deeply divided party. Factions are split over issues such as civil rights, infrastructure, and the war on poverty—not to mention the war in Vietnam. Meanwhile, crowds of protesters descend upon the city. Impassioned antiwar demonstrators plan sit-ins and marches, while the absurdist Yippies, determined to make a mockery of the convention, intend to nominate a pig for president. Journalists flood the area to cover the stories of the delegates and protesters. Over the course of this game, players will develop a better understanding of the complexities of the social and cultural tumult that has come to be known as "the Sixties."

The 1968 Democratic Convention, best known for police brutality against demonstrators, has been relegated to a dark place in American historical memory. Battleground Chicago ventures beyond the stereotypical image of rioting protestors and violent cops to reevaluate exactly how—and why—the police attacked antiwar activists at the convention. Working from interviews with eighty former Chicago police officers who were on the scene, Frank Kusch uncovers the other side of the story of ’68, deepening our understanding of a turbulent decade. “Frank Kusch’s compelling account of the clash between Mayor Richard Daley’s men in blue and anti-war rebels reveals why the 1960s was such a painful era for many Americans. . . . to his great credit, [Kusch] allows ‘the pigs’ to speak up for themselves.”—Michael Kazin “Kusch’s history of white Chicago policemen and the 1968 Democratic National Convention is a solid addition to a growing literature on the cultural sensibility and political perspective of the conservative white working class in the last third of the twentieth century.”—David Farber, Journal of American History

In late August, 1968, a teenage Chicago boy rode the el to Lincoln Park for an anti-war music festival, but soon found himself embroiled in massive marches and protests. He was harassed, chased, gassed, struck by billy clubs and even shot at--by the Chicago police--in what was ultimately deemed a "police riot," by the subsequent official investigation, Rights In Conflict. But over the next four days, he remained close to the pivotal events in the city parks, so that he might bear witness to his city gone mad.This is a true chronicle of his experiences during the week of the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. Even some of those who were there have been amazed by this detailed description of events. His account is interwoven with the eyewitness accounts of other participants, taken from previously unpublished interviews. Handbills, posters, newspapers, convention credentials, political buttons, and other paraphernalia--all from the author's collection--provide fascinating visual references and offer graphic evidence of this historic event. Three original maps help the reader pinpoint the events. In addition, more than 150 color and black and white photos appear throughout the narrative--most of them never before published.

Chicago 1968 represents, perhaps as no other moment in American history, the flashpoint of cultural resistance to a militarized world out of control. In the summer of 1968, still reeling from the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy only months earlier, thousands of young people descended on the National Democratic Convention to show their opposition to the Vietnam War and their desire for a Peace platform. The showdown between "the longhairs" and "the pigs" would become one of the most violent and starkly emblematic confrontations ever broadcast on nightly news in the United States. "The whole world was watching," CBS reporter Dan Rather uttered on the floor of the convention center in Chicago, and he was correct: The 1968 Democratic Convention was the first nationally televised political convention. Police and National Guard troops, clashing with protesters, herded tens of thousands of demonstrators into exit-less corridors, and as the mayhem ensued, police indiscriminately cracked heads. Witnessing it all were some of the most attuned minds of the day, including Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Studs Terkel, and the "hard hitting investigative team" Esquire had assembled, which included Terry Southern, William Burroughs, and Jean Genet. Shortly after bumping into Southern at the bar of the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, photographer Michael Cooper decided to tag along, gaining official accreditation as photographer.Editors Nile Southern and Adam Cooper, having dreamt for many years about a print collaboration featuring their fathers' collective work-none more poignant than their accounts of the protests at the National Democratic Convention-here present Chicago 1968: The Whole World is Watching, a kaleidoscopic, on-the-ground account, told primarily through the words of Terry Southern and the photographs of Michael Cooper, a fitting tribute to two great artists of the 20th century.

Introduction Breaking the News, Chicago Style -- The Storm before the Storm -- Day One: "If the Democratic Party can't be democratic, what hope is there for democracy?" -- Day Two: "We filibustered with Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum matters until the American people had gone to bed." -- Day Three: "You do what's right, you don't have to give a worry about the television medium." -- Day Four: "Maybe this is a kiss-and-make-up session, but it's not really intended quite that way, Mayor Daley." -- The Storm after the Storm -- Conclusion From Biased News to Fake News.