The Response to Political Violence in 1968 Was Very Different From Today
Key takeaways
- Americans were once again confronted with political violence when a gunman attempted to breach security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month.
- The ballroom project, which he started unilaterally without following the standard procedures for historic buildings, has been tied up in federal courts.
- In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic Congress responded very differently to a wave of devastating assassinations that shook the nation throughout the decade.
Americans were once again confronted with political violence when a gunman attempted to breach security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month. The dinner is an annual event where politicians, reporters, and celebrities have gathered since 1921 in an uncomfortably cozy environment to temporarily forget their adversarial relations for an evening in black tie. With President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other senior administration officials gathered alongside some of the nation’s top journalists in a packed Washington Hilton ballroom, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen tried to force his way past the security checkpoint in what authorities have described as an assassination plot.
At a press conference that followed, Trump’s solution to the security threat was one he’s brought up before: the White House ballroom he wants to build where the East Wing once stood. “We need the ballroom,” the president said, with his instinctive ability for capitalizing on any situation to promote his own interests. The ballroom project, which he started unilaterally without following the standard procedures for historic buildings, has been tied up in federal courts. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice indicted former FBI Director James Comey on, what most experts agree are baseless, charges of threatening the life of the president through an image of seashells he posted on Instagram.
Americans were once again confronted with political violence when a gunman attempted to breach security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month. The dinner is an annual event where politicians, reporters, and celebrities have gathered since 1921 in an uncomfortably cozy environment to temporarily forget their adversarial relations for an evening in black tie. With President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other senior administration officials gathered alongside some of the nation’s top journalists in a packed Washington Hilton ballroom, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen tried to force his way past the security checkpoint in what authorities have described as an assassination plot.