Reviews for A case of third party activism

The average rating for A case of third party activism based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-07-22 00:00:00 bob gellert This account of Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign and death in 1968 is far more detailed than any others I have read. It is also a very informative analysis of the social turmoil and the Democratic political landscape during that election. The chronology begins in January of that year, as the Senator began to be prodded by the media about a potential challenge to incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson. Much of author Jules Witcover's material comes from his personal observations from when he traveled in the press corps on the campaign trail with Kennedy. That is supplemented by well-researched details he obtained from meeting notes, public records, and interviews of those close to Kennedy. He has blended both types of information to form a fast-paced, cohesive, and captivating narrative. For nearly three months - and the first 80 pages of this book - Kennedy is tormented by indecision regarding the possibility of challenging Johnson as he became increasing dismayed by decisions Johnson was making regarding Vietnam and domestic policy. But once the decision is made on March 14th, the pace quickens and stays that way until the somber contemplation and what-if speculation in the final chapters. I read the 20th-anniversary edition printed in 1988, with a new epilogue by Witcover that further discussed what might have been had Kennedy become President. Witcover described many of the campaign events in a way that made me feel as though we were inside Kennedy's head. As the candidate struggled to develop himself as an outgoing candidate that could relate to crowds, he was always trying to analyze why he could connect with certain crowds and not others. One interesting observation he made was that people with problems tended to identify readily with him, while ones that were two comfortable tended to find his message threatening. I was especially struck by one incident during the early days of the campaign. The crowds to see him had been growing and getting more excited. On one occasion he got more cutting in his criticism of Johnson and he and the crowd started feeding off each others sarcastic intensity. Right after the event, Kennedy and his staff were all alarmed by this off-message slide into "demagoguery", and became determined to not let it happen again. This concern might seem quaint today, in a time where the success of many politicians and media celebrities (i.e., pundits and talk show hosts) is based totally on demagoguery. I enjoyed Witcover's style and respect his analytical abilities. I plan to read more of his many books.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-04-01 00:00:00 Elishia Brooks The story of Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign is one that, with the benefit of a half-century's worth of hindsight, has a lot of built-in tension. We see him campaigning across the country, marching towards the inevitability of becoming the second Kennedy brother to fall victim to an assassin's bullet in four-and-a-half years. While any retelling of that story has that inevitable built-in tension, it's the really good ones that still grab you by the throat and pull you into the hectic, fast-paced whirlwind through Kentucky, Indiana, Oregon, and California. It's the really good ones that still feel like a punch in the gut when Sirhan Sirhan fires the trigger, when Ethel Kennedy kneels at her husband's side, when supporters walk around the Ambassador dazed after Bobby's been transported to the hospital, when, after more than a day of increasingly dire reports, Frank Mankiewicz announced Bobby's death to a stunned traveling press corps. Witcover was one of the boys on the bus covering the campaign, and his familiarity with the man and the events are apparent. And boy, does he know how to tell this story in a powerful way.