1968 is often remembered as a time of revolution, when liberal activists stood up to the powers that be and established progressive movements that endure to this day. However, 1968 was also the year the GOP’s Richard Nixon won the White House – and the start of more than two decades of nearly unbroken Republican power in the executive branch. Arizona State University’s Donald Critchlow explains that this didn’t necessarily occur in spite of the left-wing protest movement – it may have happened directly because of it. As the unrest on campuses and in inner cities was beamed into Americans’ living rooms through television, millions of voters embraced Nixon’s promise to bring back “law and order.”

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Music: “Moonlight Reprise” by Kai Engel, found on FreeMusicArchive.org, licensed under CC0 3

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