California Primaries: Disarray Before the Assassination

The San Francisco Chronicle story two days after the Oregon primary was entitled “How McCarthy `Caught Fire’ in Oregon” (through his sharp attacks on Bobby Kennedy, it conjectured). Next to this report, another headline read, “Humphrey Enjoys Oregon—and Counts Delegates.”

As a charter member of the Dump-Johnson movement, a principal organizer of the Michigan McCarthy for President Committee, I had understandably mixed feelings as I continued to turn the pages. I came to a full-page McCarthy ad. It was all about Vietnam; how the slaughter must cease; that there had been reports that top military brass had ordered the war to be won “within three months.” Very good, I thought. At l...