1968: A Time for Change?

“Medical evacuation of United States wounded troops” Image Copyright The Art Archive, Dept Defence Washington

I was able to locate this image through the Art Museum Image Gallery database. The photograph was taken 15 miles south west of Da Nang, Vietnam, on March 17, 1968, by an anonymous source. During this year the conflict in Vietnam seemed to reach a boiling point, with the highest casualty rate seen yet, sky-rocketing defense budgets, and the launch of the Tet Offensive by the Vietcong. The Vietnam War was undoubtedly on the minds of every voter in 1968.

“The All-Purpose Political Speech, 1968” – Copyright New York Times Company Jun 9, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2008)

The All-Purpose Political Speech shows how the game of politics was played in the 1968 election. Not much has changed since this time in our own modern political system, however, the article provides much meaningful insight into the minds of political analysts during the 1968 election.

“Planet Of The Apes [1968]” – Copyright 20th CENTURY FOX/The Kobal Collection

This screenshot from the 1968 film Planet of the Apes was located within the Cinema Image Gallery database. Now while you may be wondering, and rightfully so, how this film could possibly tie in to the 1968 Presidential Elections, it may help to take a more examined view of the plot of the film. In a society where humans are helpless against the tyrannical bureaucracy of a ruling elite, apes to be exact, the lower caste must rise above and assert their right to a meaningful existence. Given the context of the 1960’s in America, the role of the humans in the film certainly reflects many of the sentiments echoed through the emerging “anti-establishment” viewpoints of the youth in America.