Richard Nixon in Courage and Consequence

On War & Peace: 1972 convention speech marred by antiwar riots & teargas

On the night of Nixon's big speech, four College Republicans grabbed a cab to the Convention Center.. But the cabbie drove out of the security zone, [and got] swarmed with tens of thousands of protesters. Some began rocking the taxi. The cabbie panicked, ordered us out, and hightailed it to safety. Angry, screaming antiwar hippies began spitting at us and pounding the pavement with long bamboo sticks while chanting "guilty, guilty, guilty."

There was tear gas in the air, fired in response to protesters who had thrown animal blood at those manning the barricades. With help from riot police who ventured out with bayoneted rifles to gather us up, we made it inside the sally port. We took our seats in an arena filled with delegates, many of whom were coughing or suffering watery eyes from tear gas. It was a surreal way to arrive at Nixon's opening speech.

The 1972 campaign's final weeks saw McGovern drawing huge crowds of enthusiastic antiwar supporters. But Nixon swept 49 states on Election Day.

Source: Courage and Consequence, by Karl Rove, p. 31-32 Mar 9, 2010

On War & Peace: 1972: Mobbed by anti-war hippies at Nixon convention speech

On the night of Nixon's speech, four College Republicans grabbed a cab to the Convention Center. But the cabbie got lost, and we were swarmed with thousands of protesters. Some began rocking the taxi. The cabbie panicked, ordered us out, and hightailed i to safety. At first, the angry, screaming antiwar hippies didn't impede out progress toward the Convention Center a few hundred yards away. As we got closer to the gate, however, they grew more aggressive and began spitting at us and pounding the pavemen with long bamboo sticks while chanting "guilty, guilty, guilty."

There was tear gas in the air. With help from riot police, we made it inside the sally port. It was a surreal way to arrive at President Nixon's opening speech.

The 1972 campaign's fina weeks saw McGovern drawing huge crowds of enthusiastic antiwar supporters. But Nixon swept 49 states on Election Day. Even among the young, Nixon fared well. Exit polls showed the 18-to-24-year-old vote went 50% for McGovern and 48% for Nixon.

Source: Courage and Consequence, by Karl Rove, p. 31-32 Mar 9, 2010

The above quotations are from Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight, by Karl Rove. Click here for other excerpts from Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight, by Karl Rove. Click here for other excerpts by Richard Nixon. Click here for a profile of Richard Nixon.
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