Tag Archives: Richard M. Nixon

Ramifications of Nixon’s Win in 1968 is topic of Clinton School Program today at noon

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The 1968 general election was pivotal in the future of the U.S.  While locally it saw Arkansas voters re-electing GOP Governor Winthrop Rockefeller & Democratic Senator J. William Fulbright while tossing their electoral votes for independent (and segregationist) George Wallace, on the national scale the election of Richard M. Nixon set the tone for a new type of political partisanship.  Though the long-reaching outcomes of that election were not really apparent at the time.  The narrative in 1968 was more about Nixon’s career redemption, but it was also about the rise of the GOP in the formerly solidly Democratic South.

Michael Nelson, author of Resilient America: Electing Nixon in 1968, Channeling Dissent, and Dividing Government, will discuss his book at the Clinton School today at 12 noon.

Nelson is the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College, a Fellow of Southern Methodist University’s Center for Presidential History, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. He is the author of numerous books, including “How the South Joined the Gambling Nation: The Politics of State Policy Innovation,” with John L. Mason, winner of the 2009 V. O. Key Award for Outstanding Book on Southern Politics from the Southern Political Science Association. His new book, “Resilient America,” explores how urban riots and the Tet Offensive, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the politics of outrage and race—all pointed to a reordering of party coalitions, of groups and regions, a hardening and widening of an ideological divide—and to the historical importance of the 1968 election as a watershed event.

With all the talk recently about the 40th anniversary of Nixon’s resignation, this talk will present an interesting take on the set-up to Nixon’s first term.  In addition, as both the GOP and Democrats have their eyes on Arkansas’ political future, Nelson’s book sets the stage for the seeds being sown of the rise of the two party system in the South.

Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling (501) 683-5239.

Little Rock Look Back: Nixon Resigns

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Nixon with Mills

Forty years ago today, Richard M. Nixon resigned as the President of the United States.  Five months earlier, in a press conference in Little Rock, Congressman Wilbur Mills predicted that Nixon would resign.  Mills, still chair of the House Ways & Means Committee, predicted that the resignation might be prompted by errors in his tax returns.  As part of investigations into Nixon resulting from Watergate, the President’s taxes were being reviewed by Congress.

Nixon had been the first Republican President since the Reconstruction era to win Arkansas and gain the state’s electoral votes in 1972.  The 1968 election cycle had seen third-party candidate George Wallace win the state’s votes though Nixon handily won that election too.

Little Rock weighed prominently in Nixon’s earlier career.  He was Vice President when Eisenhower sent the troops into Little Rock to ensure the Little Rock Nine would desegregate Central High School.  In a 1960 Presidential debate, he and Senator Kennedy were asked whether they would have sent in the troops.  Kennedy begrudgingly said that he would have, though he would have wished the situation were different.  Nixon did not really answer the question, but instead used it as an opportunity to point out that Senator Johnson, as Kennedy’s running mate, had actively opposed civil rights legislation at the time.

There are many other connections between Nixon and Little Rock.  During his Presidency he both relied up and clashed with Arkansas’ legislative giants: Mills, Senator J. William Fulbright and Senator John L. McClellan.  Hillary Clinton served on the staff of the House Judiciary Committee as it investigated Nixon.  It would be during Bill Clinton’s presidency that Nixon died.

LRFF 2013 – Day 2

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lrff_mp_hdr_logoDocumentaries about Arkansan Levon Helm and Richard Nixon, films made in Arkansas and features and shorts from all over the world are on the roster for the second day of Little Rock Film Festival.

The second day of the 2013 Little Rock Film Festival kicks off with LRFFYouth! at 9am.  This is a two day workshop sponsored by AETN which is for aspiring filmmakers.

Throughout the day at a variety of venues, shorts and features of both the narrative and documentary variety will be screened in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock.

In contention for the Golden Rock Narrative Award are Wajma-an Afghan Love Story by Barmak Akram, Good Night by Sean Gallagher and Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Patrick Carbone.

Films screening today in contention for the Golden Rock Documentary Award are William and The Windmill by Ben Nabors; Village at the End of the World by Sarah Gavron and David Katznelson; Our Nixon by Penny Lane; Blood Brother by Steve Hoover; Gideon’s Army by Dawn Porter; After Tiller by Lana Wilson and Martha Shane; We Always Lie to Strangers by A.J. Schnack and David Wilson; The Kill Team by Dan Krauss; and Ain’t in It for My Health by Jacob Hatley.  The latter is the documentary about Levon Helm.

Four films shown today are part of the Made in Arkansas competition.  They are Larry Foley’s Up Among the Hills, Pamela Uzzell’s Unearthing the Dream, Juli Jackson’s 45RPM and Mark Thiedeman’s Last Summer.

Arkansas Shorts: “Futures” features “Foot Trackers” by Brandon Bogard, “Lasting the After” by Blake Elder, “Death of a Superhero” by Brandon Bristol and “Bad Water” by Amman Abbasi.  “Heartbeats” includes Joe York’s “Bump,” Zach Turner’s “Mary,” Nolan Dean’s “Last Shot Love,” and Daniel Campbell’s “The Discontentment of Ed Telfair.” “

World Shorts: “The Beginning, The Middle, The End” consists of “Hatch,” “Un mundo para Raul,” “Sahasi Chori,” “Movies Made from Home #6 and #16,” “Divine Rite,” and “Passio.”  “Quirks” includes “The Associate,” “The Audition,” “The Places Where We Lived,” “Die Like an Egyptian,” “Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?” “boy.girl.drum” and “Mousse.”  “American Dreams” includes “The Commitment,” “Sweet, Sweet Country,” “Kalifornija,” “The Acting Lesson,” and “An American Mosque.” “The Edge” consists of “Bo,” “Root,” “Grasshopper!,” “#PostModern,” “The Giant,” and “Organ Grinder.”  “The World Outside,” features “The Children Next Door,” “Eddie Adams: Saigon ’68,” “A Cidade,” and “Another Corner.”