The reader is told about the Tet Offensive as if he was in the “E” ring of the Pentagon with those who were gathered together on the Monday in January. We see the room with the low ceilings that is filled with the most important members in the National Military Command Center. “Here enshrined like a myth, in January, 1968 was the visible symbol of American faith: that the power of the United States can be curbed by no one, that the instruments of American government need but th

As White continues to take us through the campaign we see Johnson’s rating drop until he decides to drop out with them. We see Humphrey take the reigns all the way to the Election. White gives a very detailed portrait of “Kennedy the man” as we follow his campaign until the day of his assassination. The Author carries us through the race riots and the rampant inflation and helps us relive the crucial year of 1968. He takes us through the Election Day and night until he wakes us up with Nixon in his pajamas as we all see on the TV that ABC and NBC have conceded the election to him. Then we sit next to Nixon when he gets the call from Hubert Humphrey late that morning. Finally we go down to the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria where we here Nixon say, “One final thought…about this new administration. I saw many signs in this campaign. Some of them were not friendly and some were very friendly. But the one that touched me the most was one that I saw in Deshler, Ohio, at the end of a long day of whistle-stopping. A little town, I suppose five times the population was there in the dusk, almost impossible to see, but a teenager held up a sign, ‘Bring Us Together’. And that will be the great objective of this administration at the outset, to bring the American People together.”5

The author takes as non-biased a look as possible when dealing with a topic such as a Presidential Election. He reports most of the events as seen because he traveled with many of them on the campaign trail. He does give a great deal of personal stories, but he does it in a way that gives the reader greater insight. Very seldom does he give biased views without reporting the other side of the argument. Because he has personal relationships with most of the candidates he can present them as regular men with great drive and determination. Many put these men on altars because of their ability to make these extremely difficult decisions and handle pressures that one could not comprehend. White however, lets the reader understand that these men are human, but they are men with great discipline and the desire to achieve greatness. Theodore White does however let his opinion be known that he does not support the war, and because of that he does not support Lyndon Johnson. Johnson’s deception of the Vietnam War to the public lost him a great deal of respect and White portrays this by giving the reader hard evidence of the fall in ratings and the moral of the public. The author often reiterates the fact that Johnson won “the greatest electoral victory any man ever won in an election of free peoples.” And then th

Some topics in this essay:
Vietnam War, Robert Kennedy, Theodore White, Presidency Shakespeare, President Republicans, Presidential Election, Command Center, America’s War, Democratic Party, Tet Offensive, vietnam war, robert kennedy, theodore white, american people, lyndon johnson, democratic party, civil rights, civil rights laws, information events, rights laws, tet offensive,