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This year witnessed some of the most intense upheavals of the 20th century outside of the World War One period (1914-1918), The Great Depression (1930-1937), or World War Two (1939-1945). I’m well aware that 1968 was rocked by numerous inner city riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Twelve days before I was born (on June 6, 1968) Robert Kennedy was also assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles during his presidential campaign. Student protests against the Vietnam War and social injustice raged at college campuses across the nation.
However, these are the terrible and negative things that 1968 is known for. On a more positive note, the year was also known for some memorable entertainment offerings. One of the best movies of the year starring great comedic actor Peter Sellers was The Party which is often considered to be the greatest improvisational comedies of all time. The story featured Sellers as an actor from India who gets invited to a prestigious Hollywood dinner party — where his clumsiness and goofball manner gets him involved in all kinds of ridiculous situations, causing havoc with the other dinner guests. The Party is often considered to be one of the very best films from director Blake Edward’s who was one of the most talented filmmakers of the 1960s through the 1980s.
1968 was also a good year for action films like Bullitt starring Steve McQueen who was a leading box office draw of that era. This action packed crime drama was set mainly in San Francisco and the car chase sequence is still considered one of the best ever recorded on film. TV shows like Martin & Rowan’s Laugh-In was the most popular show of the year and excelled at sketch comedy during a period when this was much needed. Among other popular tv programs was The Dean Martin Show which was highly rated for its musical comedy/variety format featuring many popular guest stars. Martin was also among the most popular movie stars of 1968.
Mission Impossible was the leading program focusing on espionage and spy fiction, setting the stage decades later for the film series starring Tom Cruise. It goes without saying that Star Trek would become one of most celebrated sci-fi programs of all time, being in middle of its tv run during 1968. In music, “The Beatles”, The Doors”, “The Mamas & The Papas” and many other bands topped the rock & roll charts with their heavy influence on the youth counterculture and “Flower Power” movement so prominent during the decade and especially in 1968.
Where literature was concerned, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe topped the non-fiction charts as the defining account of the “hippie” era and counterculture movement of the 1960s. The story is liberally peppered with the psychedelic drug use of the main protagonists who travel through the United States by bus, recounting their groovy experiences under the influence! Another important publication from 1968 was The Johnstown Flood – The Incredible Story Behind One Of The Greatest Disasters America Has Ever Known by David McCullough. This book documents the causes, effects and scandal related to one of the greatest natural disasters in US history well known for the huge loss of life and property damage resulting from it.
About the politics of the year – the less said the better. All I’m going to add here is that this began the highly unfortunate era of President Richard Nixon who may be the worst one of our entire history. His eventual impeachment and resignation in 1974 was an incredible low point in our nation’s history.
