ABSTRACT
Americans were becoming "revolted and ashamed" at performing such an "uncivilized, unchivalrous, inhumane role." While John F. Kennedy stood aside, condemning the war but feeling that it was futile to take on Lyndon Johnson directly, Eugene McCarthy plunged into the void and challenged Johnson for the nomination on an antiwar platform. Although Waiter Lippmann, like most people, doubted that the senator had a chance, he praised McCarthy for preserving the "deepest and most cherished values of American political life." Kennedy left still undecided, but after McCarthy's impressive showing in the New Hampshire primary, concluded that the time was ripe. He plunged into the fight, announced his candidacy, and swept a series of early primaries. Lippmann's natural optimism battled with a conviction — inspired by the seemingly interminable Vietnam War, racial and generational conflict, technological and economic upheaval — that there was little to be optimistic about.
