“It’s a
revolt,” declares Pete Campbell regarding the internecine machinations at
Sterling Cooper as antiwar protestors battle with police in Chicago during the
infamous 1968 Democratic convention. In
a strong episode, the divisions between the old and new members of the firm mirror
the schism in the country over the Vietnam War.
Early in “A
Tale of Two Cities,” the Democrats are delaying the debate over Vietnam at
their convention. Megan tells Don there
is no way Humphrey can win if the Democrats don’t come out against the war. “Against Nixon,” responds Don
quizzically. Indeed, Nixon had been left
for dead by many after his close loss to JFK in the 1960 presidential election,
which was followed by a defeat at the hands of Pat Brown (father of Jerry) in
the 1962 California gubernatorial race.
“You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore,” snarled the former vice
president to the press afterward. Most pundits
presumed his political career was over, but Nixon campaigned hard for the GOP
in the 1966 midterms, receiving a great deal of credit for the Republicans’
success that year, which was much needed after the Goldwater debacle in 1964. Still, Megan was partially correct, as the
failure to adopt a stronger position against the war alienated the antiwar left
from the Democrats, with many of them staying at home rather than voting for
LBJ’s vice president.
The convention
plays on television throughout the episode, reminding us of a time when there
were only three networks and the quadrennial rituals revealed major national
debates as opposed to the stage-managed infomercials the country watches
today. The antiwar movement descended on
the proceedings and marched toward the convention hall, only to be met with
harsh resistance from the Chicago police of Mayor Richard J. Daley. Of course, public opinion was divided over
the police beatings of antiwar protesters and that is reflected in the
episode. Megan and Joan are horrified
while Don seems sympathetic to the police.
In the end, a majority of Americans seemed to side with the cops,
despite their brutality, a sign of how the only thing more unpopular than the Vietnam
War was the antiwar movement. In the
end, the disorder surrounding the convention doomed Humphrey, paving the way
for Nixon’s victory in the fall.
The next day,
Roger and Don meet with some executives from Carnation. One official believes that the Democrats are
not only done for 1968 because of Chicago, but could be finished for good. While that was a slight exaggeration, the
legacy of the divisions surrounding the battles of 1968 and 1972 weakened the
party for years, leaving them with a reputation that liberals were outside the
national mainstream. Between 1968 and
1988, the Democrats only won one presidential election, Jimmy Carter’s narrow
post-Watergate win in 1976.
The CEO of
Carnation arrives at the meeting and express his anger at the “long haired
fools,” but is also unhappy that the Republicans will likely nominate Nixon the
next month, calling him an “opportunist.”
He prefers “Dutch Reagan,” a reference to then California Governor
Ronald Reagan, who had been elected in 1966.
The “Gipper” would make his first attempt to win the presidential
nomination at the GOP convention in Miami Beach, falling short in part because
the party bosses believed he was too conservative for the country. Nixon adroitly bridged the divide between the
Rockefeller and Goldwater wings of the party in ‘68, but Reagan’s emergence
reflected the rise of the New Right that grew out of the reaction to the 1960s.
By the
conclusion of “A Tale of Two Cities,” Pete is frustrated that the business is
changing and seems to give into the cultural changes of the time, borrowing a
marijuana cigarette from Stan.
Meanwhile, the divide between those from Ted Chaough’s firm and the old
guard from Sterling Cooper seems as profound as the divide in the country as a
whole in 1968.
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