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Matthew Dallek

Matthew Dallek is a professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and author of Defenseless Under the Night: The Roosevelt Years and the Origins of Homeland Security.

Latest from this author

President Johnson’s exit from the 1968 presidential race rocked politics.

It took 20 months for the war crime to come to light.

Police and demonstrators clash near the Conrad Hilton Hotel during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

War. Assassinations. Riots. Violent protest clashes. America was certainly no stranger to political violence, but 1968 appeared to bring the bloodletting to new heights.

Kennedy drew support from lower-income whites and communities of color, from hopeful youth and disenchanted elders. Historians ponder, if he were elected, whether America might be less divided.