Clashes and Changes - Chapter One
Introduction: From One Tragedy to Another
It has been argued both at the time and in decades since that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 left a tragic scar upon the national psyche, with the event being seen as the beginning of the period of national strife and division that would come to dominate most of the 1960s through Vietnam and only really end when Richard Nixon reached his zenith in the early 1970s. Just a few years later, the Watergate scandal and Nixon's subsequent resignation would plunge America back into a sense of strife, division and now chaos. The new President, Gerald Ford, a former Congressman and Vice President respected across the DC political aisle for fairness, integrity and bipartisanship, struggled to combat the sense that America was in decline during this period. His pardon of Nixon in September 1974, although vindicated now by most historians as sparing the country the embarrassment of dragging a former President through a trial, did little at the time to heal public anger about Watergate and the various other corruption scandals coming out of DC. The faith of their people in the government was at an all time low, that combined with economic malaise and the scars of Vietnam made the situation difficult for any elected official to allay.
Over the course of 1975, public anger began to relent somewhat. The nation got over the controversy about the Nixon pardon, settled into life under the genial President Ford and exhorted revenge upon the Republicans having punished them in the 1974 midterm elections. The great national problems were still ever present and it didn't seem apparent that they would be solved soon but people were slowly adjusting back into a sense of business as usual after the horrors of 1973 & 74 with Watergate and Nixon's resignation. However, akin to how Kennedy's assassination marked the beginning of a series of tragic events over a decade prior, another presidential assassination would signal that America's problems were going to get worse before they could get better.
On September 5th 1975, President Ford avoided an assassination attempt when Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a Charles Manson cult member, tried to shoot him as he walked towards the California State Capitol building. Fromme's gun failed to go off and she was quickly apprehended. Yet on September 22nd 1975, just 17 days later, Sara Jane Moore would succeed where Fromme had failed. Angry at President Ford, Moore had travelled to San Francisco and would stand in the crowd opposite the St. Francis Hotel where Ford was due to appear as he left. Armed with a .44 caliber revolver and having avoided the police as she planned the attempt, Moore would lift her gun as Ford left the hotel and fired once at Ford's head. One shot was all she needed. Ford was struck in the forehead and died instantly from the bullet impact, falling to the ground in an image that became as iconic as a dying Kennedy clutching at his throat in Dallas. Moore was apprehended seconds later by Oliver Sipple, an off duty Marine and subsequently arrested. She would be tried and sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination, her story becoming as iconic as that of Lee Harvey Oswald.
With Ford dead, the nation descended once more into shock as it had done back in November 1963. The man now charged with leading the nation out of such shock and also with solving the critical problems facing it was Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. At 67, Rockefeller had been serving as Ford's Vice President for just nine months before the assassination. From the famed Rockefeller dynasty and an avowed moderate Republican, Nelson Rockefeller was well versed in public life. Prior to this time as Vice President he had served a distinguished career as a four term Governor of New York, a policy official on the National Security Council and at the Department of State, as well as being a renowned businessman and philanthropist.
Despite being a well known national political figure, many in America were unsure as to how President Rockefeller would lead them and if he would even be successful at all.
Introduction: From One Tragedy to Another
It has been argued both at the time and in decades since that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 left a tragic scar upon the national psyche, with the event being seen as the beginning of the period of national strife and division that would come to dominate most of the 1960s through Vietnam and only really end when Richard Nixon reached his zenith in the early 1970s. Just a few years later, the Watergate scandal and Nixon's subsequent resignation would plunge America back into a sense of strife, division and now chaos. The new President, Gerald Ford, a former Congressman and Vice President respected across the DC political aisle for fairness, integrity and bipartisanship, struggled to combat the sense that America was in decline during this period. His pardon of Nixon in September 1974, although vindicated now by most historians as sparing the country the embarrassment of dragging a former President through a trial, did little at the time to heal public anger about Watergate and the various other corruption scandals coming out of DC. The faith of their people in the government was at an all time low, that combined with economic malaise and the scars of Vietnam made the situation difficult for any elected official to allay.
Over the course of 1975, public anger began to relent somewhat. The nation got over the controversy about the Nixon pardon, settled into life under the genial President Ford and exhorted revenge upon the Republicans having punished them in the 1974 midterm elections. The great national problems were still ever present and it didn't seem apparent that they would be solved soon but people were slowly adjusting back into a sense of business as usual after the horrors of 1973 & 74 with Watergate and Nixon's resignation. However, akin to how Kennedy's assassination marked the beginning of a series of tragic events over a decade prior, another presidential assassination would signal that America's problems were going to get worse before they could get better.
On September 5th 1975, President Ford avoided an assassination attempt when Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a Charles Manson cult member, tried to shoot him as he walked towards the California State Capitol building. Fromme's gun failed to go off and she was quickly apprehended. Yet on September 22nd 1975, just 17 days later, Sara Jane Moore would succeed where Fromme had failed. Angry at President Ford, Moore had travelled to San Francisco and would stand in the crowd opposite the St. Francis Hotel where Ford was due to appear as he left. Armed with a .44 caliber revolver and having avoided the police as she planned the attempt, Moore would lift her gun as Ford left the hotel and fired once at Ford's head. One shot was all she needed. Ford was struck in the forehead and died instantly from the bullet impact, falling to the ground in an image that became as iconic as a dying Kennedy clutching at his throat in Dallas. Moore was apprehended seconds later by Oliver Sipple, an off duty Marine and subsequently arrested. She would be tried and sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination, her story becoming as iconic as that of Lee Harvey Oswald.
With Ford dead, the nation descended once more into shock as it had done back in November 1963. The man now charged with leading the nation out of such shock and also with solving the critical problems facing it was Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. At 67, Rockefeller had been serving as Ford's Vice President for just nine months before the assassination. From the famed Rockefeller dynasty and an avowed moderate Republican, Nelson Rockefeller was well versed in public life. Prior to this time as Vice President he had served a distinguished career as a four term Governor of New York, a policy official on the National Security Council and at the Department of State, as well as being a renowned businessman and philanthropist.
Despite being a well known national political figure, many in America were unsure as to how President Rockefeller would lead them and if he would even be successful at all.