The political lessons Biden should take from 1968

Published May 3, 2024 at 8:40 AM EDT

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Anti-Vietnam war protesters march down Fifth Avenue near to 81st Street in New York City on April 27, 1968, in protest against U.S. involvement in the Vietnamese war. The demonstrators are en route to nearby Central Park for mass "Stop the war" rally. (AP)

This week we saw police in riot gear on college campuses arresting students protesting the war in Gaza.

For many, it evokes the events of 1968 — also an election year — when anti-Vietnam War protests caused upheaval on campuses across the country. That turmoil was one of the reasons that Democrat Hubert Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon.

Here & Now‘s Anthony Brooks speaks James Traub about the parallels between today and 1968, and how they could influence politics now as they did then. Traub wrote about this topic in the Wall Street Journal this week’ in the article “Biden needs to learn from the Democrats’ disaster in ’68.” He’s also an author of a number of books. His latest is “True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.