In The Name of Progress

It’s been an interesting week.

From viewing beautiful photos of women and their children voting, and paying respects to suffragette pioneer Susan B. Anthony in my hometown (Anthony might have been proud to learn that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote); to learning about racist graffiti sprawled across public property, just miles away, following the election.

The divide in America seems greater than many of us thought, yet I’m not entirely surprised.

As someone who campaigned hard for Bernie Sanders, I sympathize with the struggle of the working class (hell, you could say that I am part of that class). I understand that in addition to fighting for equality, we need to work to improve the standard of living for all Americans. Unfortunately, many people have felt left out of the conversation, and perhaps voted to send a message. I just hope those voters took time to consider the more troubling aspects of this past election, and what might lie on the horizon.

During the election season, I found perspective in an unexpected source. Last spring I started gathering materials again for the Google Arts & Culture, centered around the theme of American Democracy. Trying to come up with a suitable online exhibition for Norman Rockwell Museum seemed a no-brainer for me, as we were just preparing to open an exhibition at our Western Massachusetts site on the art of Thomas Nast. The 19^th century political cartoonist was known for his great influence in affecting the outcome of presidential elections, and his biting commentary shined a light on issues that remain important to this day—from political corruption to imperialism, inflation, and civil rights (his political cartooning career began right alongside the presidency of Abraham Lincoln).

My work on the Nast online exhibit was primarily an exercise in graphic design and layout (I did not create the text or, unfortunately, even the video attached), but I also appreciated the increased knowledge it provided me, to better understand the events that shaped our national identity and politics (how fascinating that the platforms of the Republican and Democratic parties were essentially flipped over the course of a century).

Google was generous enough to allow me to create two online exhibitions for their American Democracy forum. The second idea I had was to repurpose materials from the Museum’s 2008 exhibition, Norman Rockwell: Illustrator in Chief. That show, which we presented during another historic election year, looked at the many portraits that Norman Rockwell created of presidential candidates during his lifetime.

Working at the Museum for over a decade, I was already aware of the great number of presidential portraits that Rockwell created—from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to John F. Kennedy to Lyndon B. Johnson to Richard Nixon. We have a great number of reference and candid photos of Rockwell with these presidents, and I included them in this new online exhibition titled Norman Rockwell:Presidential Elections Illustrated (also included: old video clips I conducted with my friend and the Museum's former archivist, Corry Kanzenberg).

Photo of Norman Rockwell, looking a little weary after illustrating
the election of 1968. Photo by Louie Lamone. Norman Rockwell Museum
Collection. ©Norman Rockwell Family Agency.

What I knew less about were many of the candidates who challenged these politicians during their respective presidential primaries: Adlai Stevenson, Barry Goldwater, Nelson Rockefeller, Eugene McCarthy, and Hubert Humphrey; the latter three names, in addition to Robert Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, were all candidates during the election year of 1968—it’s ironic that an artist who strove to illustrate the “best of America,” found himself commissioned to paint one of the most turbulent and tragic elections in modern U.S. history.

I had been hearing a lot about 1968 during this year’s presidential election. They say it was a year that really heightened the divide between Democrats and Republicans. The dissatisfaction that many voters were expressing during this year’s primaries, and surprising rhetoric espoused by Donald Trump, made me curious to learn more.

my "light" summer read

My research lead me to a wonderful new book called American Maelstrom. Author Michael A. Cohen covers the events and each of the candidates (by chapter) that were major players during the ’68 election. At the beginning of the year, if you had told me that a thick tome devoted to national politics would be my “summer read” I would have called you crazy…. but I could not put it down.

What I read surprised me. President Johnson’s Great Society, which sought to eliminate poverty and racial injustice, seemed a noble and humane plan, but many Americans felt we were moving too fast on these platforms, and that their own concerns were being left behind (sound familiar?). Growing up in the Reagan era, I never would have imagined that the south once identified more closely with the Democratic Party. Cohen’s book explained the “southern strategy,” which Nixon utilized that year, preying on some of the fears that white voters had in that region of the country. Nixon preached “law and order,”  and his TV commercials further tapped into those fears and uncertainty. Again, many parallels to 2016.

Beyond that, I learned about such divisive figures as George Wallace, who did nothing to hide his racism while running as a president during both the 1968 ad 1964 elections; what is interesting to learn is that he ran as a Democrat during the 1964 election (and 72 and 76, for that matter!).

Barry Goldwater also ran in 1964. He was another polarizing figure, who planted the seed for a new conservatism, which eventually won out in the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan. But in the early 60s, it appeared that liberalism was favored by most Americans.

Lyndon Johnson is really a tragic figure. He could have been a “great" president. The book explains how his unyielding support of the Vietnam War was really his undoing. As today, many liberals opposed tough military intervention in regards to foreign affairs, and you saw figures like Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy voice opposition and eventually enter the election as candidates.

"A More Perfect Union" exhibit, Tang Museum. Photo: Jeremy Clowe

But nothing is “black and white." Although Kennedy, who along with Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated that year, was a champion of civil rights, he hardly connected with working class voters. McCarthy, one of the most vocal opponents of the Vietnam War, otherwise ran a rather ineffective campaign on domestic issues.

On the other side were Republican candidates like Nelson Rockefeller and George Romney, who the book called “moderate Republicans.” Again, having grown up in a much more conservative era, I was surprised to learn about Republicans who favored some form of government assistance on social issues (are they, essentially, modern Democrats?). I guess you would include President Eisenhower in this camp, who warned, among other things, about the growing military industrial complex.

Artist Steve Brodner illustrated both the Democratic and
Republican convetions this year. This particular cartoon haunted me.
Courtesy and ©Steve Brodner. All rights reserved.

Anyway, this past year has been an incredible learning experience for me. As I have written before, I have a newfound wariness of the mainstream media, seeing how they handled the candidacy of Bernie Sanders (the Associate Press, of all things, went so far as to basically call and influence the Democratic primary, even before all voting had even started in the last couple states). And as troubling as internet hacking is, I was not surprised (and somewhat vindicated) to learn of the content of emails presented by Wikileaks. Fortunately, the two party conventions did not end up like the violent 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, but I must admit that I appreciated some of the delegates' protest within the halls this year (particularly on the first day).

Talking Four Freedoms with scholar Harvey J. Kaye.

It seems obvious we can learn as much from history, as we can from the unfolding present. I have been very interested in the writings of Thomas Frank, author of Listen Liberal. Like Sanders, Frank has presented a critique of the current Democratic Party, which he states has become too comfortable with Wall Street, money in politics, and the idea of meritocracy. People are hurting, and for all the great social good they have done over the last decade, it’s ironic that the Democratic Party has not connected more with the working class. Author/scholar Harvey Kaye, who I helped interview this past year for the Museum, has been pretty vocal about the idea that the United States has, in fact, a proud history as a progressive nation, fighting for equality, that we should embrace—that’s what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was all about and expressed in his "Four Freedoms speech," later painted by Norman Rockwell, which still resonates 75 years later.

Looking for unity."A More Perfect Union" exhibit, Tang Museum.
Photo: Jeremy Clowe

I’d like to think most Americans are tolerant—of race, gender, sexuality, and different beliefs—however, some of the hateful displays since the election really disturb me. Even before the election, I picked up Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild. In this new book, professor Hochschild leaves her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, to venture deep into the Louisiana bayou—a stronghold of the conservative right. The book presents an understanding of the plight of fellow citizens who come from different backgrounds, and some hope in the form of common concerns. I have tried to remain open-minded to my own friends and acquaintances, who hold different beliefs. There have been some tense exchanges over the past week, but I’d like to keep the dialogue open and hopefully realize some common ground.

That being said, I remain committed to fighting back against discrimination. We have come too far as a nation to go backwards (similar resistance, in fact, happened following both Reconstruction and the civil rights era of the 1960s). My plan is to remain vigilant; continue this pledge of solidarity through peaceful demonstration and thoughtful discourse.

On that note, it’s funny how suddenly everyone wants to know what Bernie Sanders thinks; this quote, given during a speech he gave here in the Capital Region this summer, says it all:

“Never lose your sense of outrage… democracy is not a spectator sport… and when we stand together, we can transform this country.”

Explore: Google Arts & Culture online exhibitions - Norman Rockwell Museum

Interview: "Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge partners with Google to share presidential portraits, artifacts," Springfield Republican, July 20, 2016

Recommended Progressive Resources/Thought Leaders:

Senator Bernie Sanders
Senator Elizabeth Warren

Professor Robert Reich

Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader
Harvey J. Kaye
Democracy Now!

Peace Action New York State