Five Decades of Fear & Loathing: An Authorized Drew Spinoff (Volume I) (2.0)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

This is a spin-off of a timeline written by Drew on AH.com, for which I have been given permission to write by the author himself. As AH.com's future is in limbo, I have decided to post the timeline here again. I stopped it initially because of confusion over this site's image policy, but I have now figured out how to properly attribute images. So as a result, it's back, and it's expanded too!

Jerry.

December 31st-January 1st, 1970.

The Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California.

Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.

[1]

The show had been, all in all, a pretty stand-out gig. The Grateful Dead had roared through a trance inducing version of "China Cat Sunflower" that kicked in the LSD trips of scores of young concert-goers. Afterwards, they sailed effortlessly and seamlessly through a variety of acoustic, bluesy songs before once again roaring through "Mason's Children," "Uncle John's Band," and a particularly psychedelic version of "The Eleven" that left their indisposed audience in awe of the crashing choruses that sounded like chariots thundering out of Valhalla. A few old classics - "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" and "The Race is On" along with the jug-band sounding "Cumberland Blues" before closing out the set with a funky cover of "Dancing in the Streets." Jerry smiled radiantly, his teeth shining among the sea of thick black facial hair. He was in his element - this was what brought the Dead alive.

After the show, the band retreated behind the stage as the audience milled about in an ever present cloud of marijuana. Young women clad in tie-died dresses, their hair adorned with flowers, danced in circles while amateur musicians beat on drums in rhythmic concentration. The acid trips began to plateau, and the crowds began to file out as New Year's Eve evolved well into to the earliest hours of New Years morning. Behind stage, Jerry struck a match to light a cigarette as a local television camera grew circled in. A young female reporter, on assignment to cover the New Year's celebrations across San Francisco, pushed a microphone into his face. "What do you think the 1970s will hold for America?" she asked. "It will be a decade of peace, magic, myth, bliss, celebration, and spirituality" replied Garcia.

Little did he know that night how wrong he'd be. But at the dawn of 1970, the Counter-Culture, though nearly fatally wounded by the incident at Altamont, still limped forwards into an uncertain future. The events of the last decade seemed far away. There was an extremely close presidential election that bared the hint of scandal. Then there was the death of John Kennedy, cut down by an assassins bullet in the prime of his life. There was the ever present threat of nuclear war, most recently illustrated by the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the south, the black population had made itself heard while on the campuses a new generation of activists found their voices. In Vietnam, the best and brightest of a generation died face down in the muck in a quagmire that seemed without end.

In fact, by 1970, it seemed the last bit of hope from the 1960s had died with Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. The unexciting candidacy of Hubert Humphrey and the venomous rhetoric of George Wallace ensured that Richard Nixon would finally achieve his dream of winning the President in 1968, the sad final chapter of the tragedy that was Camelot. For the eternally optimistic like Jerry Garcia, there was an innate cause to hope. But to many of his contemporaries, such as the fractured Beatles or the hibernating Bob Dylan, the onset of the 1970s had little to offer besides more division, violence, and blight.
Thursday, January 1st, 1970: The chaotic 1960s gives way to the uncertain future promised by the 1970s; America is in a state of stagnation at the dawn of this new decade, with the Vietnam War still raging abroad while political polarization and economic decline continues to erodes the public’s hope. President Nixon welcomes the new decade as a chance for a “fresh start,” but truth be told, very few Americans are hopeful.

The President signs the National Environmental Policy Act into law, which formally establishes the Council of Environmental Quality and expands the executive branches ability to implement policy changes in regard to ecological concerns.
Friday, January 2nd, 1970: California becomes the first American state to legalize no-fault divorce after Governor Ronald Reagan had signed legislation passed by the Democratic majority in the legislature. As a result of this decision, “irreconcilable differences” becomes the leading cause for divorces within the state shortly upon the bill going into effect.
Saturday, January 3rd, 1970: At Abbey Roads studio in London, the Beatles record together for the final time. Their final recorded song is “I Me My,” which will appear on the impending album “Let It Be.”
Sunday, January 4th,1970: NASA announces the cancelation of Apollo 20, which was scheduled to be a lunar mission set for 1975. The cancelation of the project comes just days after the initial planning document was released to the press.
Monday, January 5th, 1970: Keith Moon, the troubled drummer from The Who, runs over his bodyguard and driver by accident while attempting to flee a crowd of hostile youth who had surrounded his car in London. Despite the fatality involved, Moon is not charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
Tuesday, January 6th, 1970: Cambodia’s Prince Sihanouk embarks for medical treatment in Paris, leaving his Prime Minister Lon Nol to largely govern the country in his absence. The decision proves to be a fateful mistake, as it allows Lon Nol to strengthen his position within the country and weaken the Prince’s hold on power.
Wednesday, January 7th, 1970: Israeli jets conduct airstrikes on Egyptian military installations east of the Suez Canal, including on a training camp, an airfield, and a nuclear research facility. President Nasser responds to the Israeli attacks by requesting military assistance from the Soviet Union.
Thursday, January 8th, 1970: The American and Chinese Ambassadors to Poland privately meet each other in Warsaw at a meeting organized by the Polish government acting as a backchannel. The American Ambassador conveys to his Chinese counterpart at the behest of National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger that the United States is interested in resuming low level diplomatic talks with the Chinese government.
Friday, January 9th, 1970: About 200 or so protesters outside the White House mark the President’s birthday with persistent loud anti-war chants, forcing the First Family to cancel a private party.
Saturday, January 10th, 1970: Secretary of Labor George P. Schultz tells reporters that a study done by the Department of Labor has found that largescale strikes by employees fail to have serious impacts on economic growth or stability, a theory the labor movement disputes.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) reaffirms their opposition to allowing believers of African descent from entering the priesthood, claiming the decision was made on theological grounds. The Church’s President in a letter announcing the decision reaffirms his belief that black Mormons will “eventually” be allowed to serve in the Priesthood, though he claims this “revelation” has yet been made.
Sunday, January 11th, 1970: Superbowl IV results in the Kansas City Chiefs unexpectedly defeating the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in a widely talked about game.
Monday, January 12th, 1970: The Nigerian breakaway province of Biafra falls to federal troops, ending three years of civil war. Biafra’s self-declared President, C. Odumegwu Ojukwu, flees into exile in the neighboring Ivory Coast as Nigerian federal troops closed in on his remaining separatist forces.
Tuesday, January 13th, 1970: Cemetery workers and gravediggers in the New York City area go on strike; over the next few weeks, bodies will be stored in crypts, vault, and under canvas materials while only the bodies of soldiers killed in Vietnam are offered prompt burial. The strike will last nearly two months and result in the delay of burial for nearly 15,000 corpses.
Wednesday, January 14th, 1970: The Supreme Court orders the last 14 legally segregated school districts to comply with federal law and integrate by February 1st.
Thursday, January 15th, 1970: Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces a plan to cut the number of active duty military personnel by 300,000 men. The Pentagon is the latest federal department to feel the brunt of Nixon’s austerity budget, which sees largescale spending cuts in order to combat rising inflation.
Friday, January 16th, 1970: At the last daily press briefing of the week, President Nixon’s press secretary Ron Ziegler confirms the budget while once again be tightened in order to curb inflation. This sparks anger on Capitol Hill among congressional Democrats who fear the Nixon administration’s austerity budget will leave large-scale federal programs underfunded. All the while, the White House staff is busily engaged in drafting a final version of the President’s planned State of the Union address. Spearheaded by Pat Buchanan, Nixon aides spend much of the weekend perfecting Nixon’s articulation of “New Federalism.”

In Libya, Colonel Qaddafi, the leader of the country’s revolutionary council, names himself the nation’s Prime Minister as well. Since taking office in a coup during September of 1969, the young Libyan officer turned head of state has been making inroads on the global stage as a leading Arab nationalist known for his vocal support for revolutionary and liberation movements across the region.
Monday, January 19th, 1970: President Nixon nominates Florida Judge G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court. A fiercely conservative jurist, Carswell’s nomination generates immediate controversy in Washington. Though Nixon praises Carswell as “highly qualified,” the NAACP forcefully condemns the Carswell nomination as “a spiteful, politically motivated step backwards.”

Judge Harold Carswell.
[2]

Tuesday, January 20th, 1970: As Washington is abuzz over Nixon’s nomination of Harold Carswell to the Supreme Court to replace Abe Fortas, who resigned in May 1969, a Jacksonville television news outlet retrieves text of a speech delivered by Carswell in 1948 in which he unequivocally voices his personal commitment to “preserving the principles of white supremacy.” The comments catch the White House off guard and place the President in an awkward position as he prepares for his State of the Union address.

Attorney General John Mitchell announces a $200 million grant of federal funds to individual municipal and county law enforcement agencies across the country, with the money being earmarked in spite of Nixon’s budget cuts due to the administration’s commitment to supporting law and order policies.
Wednesday, January 21st, 1970: Iraq is rocked by a coup attempt directed against the regime of President Al Bakr; after forces loyal to the government thwarted the efforts of mutinous officers to overthrow the Baathist regime, the government responds by placing the plotters on trial immediately. Within twenty-four hours of the failed uprising, several civilian members of the conspiracy are hanged at a prison in Baghdad while the military officers involved are killed via firing squad.
Thursday, January 22nd, 1970: The President delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. Nixon specifically lays out a plan for reforming welfare and expanding economic opportunity in the address, and also tackles his agenda to combat crime and domestic radicalism as well.
Monday, January 26th, 1970: Student protests in the Philippines against the autocratic regime of President Ferdinand Marcos are brutally suppressed by police. The Nixon administration continues to turn a blind eye to events in the country due to Marco’s continued support for American involvement in South East Asia.
Tuesday, January 27th, 1970: President Nixon hosts British Prime Minister Harold Wilson at the White House; discussions between the two men run cold over disagreements on foreign policy, particularly as Britain pulls back militarily from continued involvement in the Middle East and Asia.
Sunday, February 1st, 1970: On CBS’s Face the Nation, Vice President Spiro Agnew claims the Justice Department will take more aggressive action in pursuing school desegregation.
Monday, February 2nd, 1970: The White House officially submits the proposed budget to Congress; though Nixon appeases Democrats by increasing spending on domestic social welfare programs, he also makes significant cuts to NASA and the Department of Defense.

Philosopher and anti-nuclear activist Bertrand Russell dies at the age of 97.
Tuesday, February 3rd, 1970: In a surprise announcement, Senator George Murphy (R-CA) announces his resignation from the Senate due to health concerns. Murphy, who underwent surgery to remove his larynx after contracting aggressive throat cancer, had lost his ability to speak above a whisper and claimed to be unable to perform his duties in the Senate. Governor Reagan is said to be considering Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Robert Finch, Congressman Barry Goldwater Jr., businessman and conservationist Ike Livermore, and State Education Superintendent Max Rafferty to the seat.
Wednesday, February 4th, 1970: President Nixon and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development George Romney host the mayors of the largest cities in each state at a conference held at the White House. Nixon uses the conference to promote the benefits of his proposed “New Federalist” agenda which would devolve federal resources on the state and municipal levels.
Friday, February 6th, 1970: Treasury Secretary David Kennedy predicts the increase in prices will halt in 1970 in part due to the administrations efforts to tackle inflation. Despite the Secretaries attempt to brighten the mood, the public in general does not believe and ultimate does not see the predicted decrease in the price of consumer goods.
Saturday, February 7th, 1970: A charity golfing event, Vice President Agnew attempt to tee off goes horribly awry when the errant golf ball flies into the crowd and strikes professional golfer Doug Sanders. Agnew had been golfing alongside (now former) Senator George Murphy, entertainer Bob Hope, and Sanders.
Tuesday, February 10th, 1970: As Governor Reagan continues to deliberate on appointing a successor to fill George Murphy’s vacant Senate seat, superintendent Max Rafferty announces his intention to run in the 1970 Republican Senate primary. His announcement effectively takes him out of the running for the appointment.
Wednesday, February 11th, 1970: Japan becomes the fourth nation after the USSR, the United States, and France to successfully launch a satellite into orbit.
Thursday, February 12th, 1970: Israeli jets drop napalm on an Egyptian scrap metal recycling factory, causing a large explosion that kills 68 civilian employees and injures a hundred more. The bomb had been intended to hit a nearby military installation, though the Egyptian government claims the Israelis intentionally targeted the facility.
Friday, February 13th, 1970: Black Sabbath’s debut eponymous album is released, the first ever heavy metal album to enter circulation.
Saturday, February 14th, 1970: North Korea repatriates 39 of the 46 South Koreans taken into the North’s custody following the hijacking of a civilian airliner flight.
Tuesday, February 17th, 1970: The sensational murder of the family of Captain Jeffrey MacDonald at Fort Bragg occurs; though MacDonald insists the murders were committed by a band of Manson family-like hippies, evidence shows that MacDonald himself was the perpetrator. He is later charged and convicted for the murders following a widely publicized trial.
Wednesday, February 18th, 1970: The so called “Chicago Seven” were found not guilty on most major charges in relation to the 1968 riots at the Democratic National Convention. Five of the seven were, however, found guilty on lesser charges in relation to crossing state lines with the intention to riot, which could carry a sentence upwards to five years. All five have signaled their intention to appeal.
Thursday, February 19th, 1970: Eleven children and five women are killed by American Marines in Son Thang, South Vietnam. Four men are court martialed and two are criminally convicted for their role in the killings.
Saturday, February 21st, 1970: Swiss Air Flight 330, bound from Zurich for Tel Aviv, is destroyed mid air by a bomb planted onboard. All 47 are killed in the attack, which the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claim credit for.
Monday, February 23rd, 1970: Guyana replaces the monarchy and declares itself a Co-Operative Republic. The country's leftist Prime Minister Forbes Burnham had pushed for the abolition of the monarchy as part of his efforts to strengthen his grasp on control of the newly independent South American nation. Kissinger warns Nixon that Burnham could bring the country into Havana's orbit, giving the Soviets and Cubans a staging ground in South America.
Tuesday, February 24th, 1970: Secretary of Labor George Schultz in a meeting with labor leaders in an effort to shore up relations with the administration. Though labor union opposition to many of his economic policies has been vocalized throughout his term, Nixon remains relatively popular with blue collar rank and file union members due to his embrace of law and order issues and middle class appeal.
Thursday, February 26th, 1970: National Public Radio (NPR) is incorporated; the federally funded news and information broadcasting agency is slated to go on the air in April.
Sunday, March 1st, 1970: President Nixon greets visiting French President Georges Pompidou in New York City, and later attends a dinner in his honor at the Waldorf Astoria. The French President is scheduled to travel to Washington the following day for talks with Nixon at the White House.
Monday, March 2nd, 1970: Rhodesia declares itself a republic, severing their remaining ceremonial ties with Britain. Since the Universal Declaration of Independence in 1965, Rhodesia’s white minority government has taken increasingly aggressive actions against black African activists seeking majority rule.
Tuesday, March 3rd, 1970: Norma McCorvey, a 22 year old pregnant woman in Texas, files suit in court in order to seek an abortion under the name “Jane Roe.” This lawsuit will become the genesis of the Roe vs. Wade battle before the Supreme Court.
Wednesday, March 4th, 1970: Governor Ronald Reagan announces he will appoint billionaire industrialist Norton Simon to the seat of George Murphy; the businessman had been CEO of Hunt Food and has been an outspoken supporter and financer of conservative causes.
Thursday, March 5th, 1970: The race for California’s Senate seat continues to grow. Joining incumbent Norton Simon and Superintended Max Rafferty in the race for the Republican Senate nomination by liberal Republican congressman Pete McCloskey, while the race for the Democratic nomination is being contested by Congressmen George Brown and John Tunney as well as Las Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect, with 46 nations taking part as signatories. All parties adopting the treaty, including the UK, the USA, and the USSR among others, agree to not share nuclear weapons with other foreign powers as part of the agreement’s stipulations.
Saturday, March 7th, 1970: At 8:17 PM, a massive explosion rips through a dance at Fort Dix in New Jersey. The blast levels the hall and leaves survivors bloodied and confused in the aftermath. As first responders rush to the scene, an anonymous caller to a local radio station claims credit for the bombing on behalf of the Weather Underground, a left-wing guerilla group. A total 56 people are killed and over two injured in the attack. The FBI begins an immediate investigation into the bombing, which President Nixon emotionally condemns as the most “egregious atrocity” of his Presidency.
[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Carl Lender).
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Florida Memory).
More coming today!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The infamous White House Taping System.
[1]

RICHARD NIXON: Good God! They bombed our young men at a dance?

H.R. HALDEMAN: It appears so, Mr. President. The FBI has not found any evidence at this point that the explosion was accidental and Finch has reported to me that the hospitals up there are removing nails and other debris from the patients.

RICHARD NIXON: This what is wrong with this country, Henry, this is what is wrong with America. These radical kooks have no morals, no morals what so ever! Their dogs! I'm tired of this student radical hooey. I want Edgar to take a good hard look into these people. Find out everything, and I mean everything! Find their school records, their employment history, their friends, their radical comrades in arms, their political ties, and file a report. Make sure Buchanan gets a copy!

H.R. HALDEMAN: Yes, Mr. President.

RICHARD NIXON: I want these bastards dead! That's right, I want 'em dead! Make an example of them, force the other radicals and revolutionary bums to fall in line, got it? 'Buncha bratty bastards, all of 'em!

Sunday, March 8th, 1970: In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird rules out foreign involvement in the Fort Dix bombing, which he accredits to domestic radicals.

In Cyprus, the country’s President (and Archbishop) Makarios III is injured when EOKA gunmen open fire on his helicopter as it takes off from the presidential palace’s rooftop. The gunmen are associated with a Greek nationalist group which seeks to return the island to Greek control.
Monday, March 9th, 1970: J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, publicly names Kathy Boudin, Ted Gold, and Diana Oughton as suspects in the Fort Dix bombing. A nationwide manhunt for the trio is launched as their names skyrocket to the top of the FBI’s most wanted list.
Tuesday, March 10th, 1970: Boudin, Gold, and Oughton are tracked down to a hotel near Saratoga, New York. The three heavily armed suspects open fire on police as they move in to make an arrest. During the crossfire, Boudin is killed by a police sniper while he attempts to create cover fire for Oughton and Gold, who flee through a back window into the nearby woods. Gold and Oughton managed to evade a heavy police presence and remain on the run.
Wednesday, March 11th, 1970: Iraq and Kurdish insurgents come to an agreement to end the ongoing insurrection in the region. The fifteen-point autonomy agreement is negotiated by Vice President Saddam Hussein.
Sunday, March 15th, 1970: As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for Harold Carswell’s confirmation hearings, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) speculates on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the Florida jurist will have an uphill climb before the committee due to a number of controversial past statements.
Monday, March 16th, 1970: The confirmation hearings for Carswell before the Judiciary Committee begin; after a tense exchange with Senator Kennedy, Carswell finds himself denying that he is a believer in white supremacy. He has even less luck fending off attacks on his judicial record from other Democrats on the committee, who note that more than half of his rulings have been overturned. Senator Roman Hruska (R-NE) is widely mocked after he claims that Carswell is a “mediocre” judge and then insists that “mediocre people deserve a little representation too.” While the media claims the Carswell nomination is on the rocks, the Nixon administration remain confident that he can be confirmed to the nation’s highest court in the end.
Tuesday, March 17th, 1970: In the first ever use of their veto at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the United States blocks a UN resolution which would prohibit UN member states from having official or unofficial communications with the Rhodesian government.
Wednesday, March 18th, 1970: The Cambodian military removes Prince Sihanouk from power in a military coup and declare the creation of the Khmer Republic. The coup, engineered by General Lon Nol, was motivated by Sihanouk’s political waffling. The toppled Prince, who had in recent years walked a tight rope as he attempted to balance out left and right leaning political factions to maintain control over his country, had run afoul of many of the country’s ruling elites as the war in Vietnam threatens to engulf the entire region
Thursday, March 19th, 1970: West German Chancellor Willy Brandt travels to East Germany for the first time since the country was divided by the Iron Curtain after World War II. He meets with East German Premier Willi Stoph in Erfurt for talks which fail to produce any substantive results. Though they walk away empty handed, the inter-German summit is hailed by both parties as a success.
Sunday, March 22nd, 1970: The Air Force employs a “daisy cutter” bomb against Viet Cong insurgents in South Vietnam, marking the first time the large conventional bomb had been used in a combat setting.
Monday, March 23rd, 1970: Postal workers go on strike across the country, demanding greater benefits and more pay. President Nixon responds by sending in thousands of troops to the now vacant Post Office facilities in order to ensure no disruptions to delivery are caused by the strike. The strike ends two days later after the deployment of troops erodes the strikers bargaining power.

JJ.

Wednesday, March 25th, 1970:

The Napoleon House, New Orleans, LA.

Governor John McKeithen.
[2]

The Napoleon House was a freshly minted historic landmark in New Orleans, and a well beloved restaurant. Its upper floors, mostly offices, many of them vacant, provided the perfect hideaway for the upcoming political conclave. Some of the bigwigs of Louisiana’s steamy politics had gathered, but the guest of honor was running late.

Former First Lady Blanche Long stared at the gumbo in her bowl, waiting for the arrival of the Governor. Across the room, newspaper publisher Sam Hanna smoked a Marlboro, dropping his ashes carelessly on the floor. The young Gus Weill and State Senator Billy Boles engaged in idle conversation, holding off on the topic at hand until the arrival of the last guest. State Senator Sixty Rayburn read the Times-Picayune, glancing out the window to Royal Street below, where a brass band happily played a slow, rickety, and distinctly New Orleans version of “Shine On Harvest Moon” to a crowd of tourists and locals alike.

At last, the lone black Cadillac pulled up to the building, and Rayburn watched as the Governor was whisked inside by three state troopers, almost completely unnoticed by the gathered crowd. As soon as the Governor disappeared from sight, the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs was heard by all present. Blanche gave a sigh of relief, delighted that the meeting of such importance was finally about to occur.

“How are ‘yall?" asked Governor McKeithen as he entered the room while the State Troopers took up posts outside the room. He bent down to greet Blanche with a kiss and moved forward to heartily shake the hand of Gus Weill, his longtime assistant and a former campaign aide. Moving across the room to greet Boles, Rayburn and Hanna, shaking their hands with the same amount of vigor as he did with Weill, before finally taking his seat at the round table in the room, followed quickly by the others.

“So let’s get down to business here” said McKeithen, “what’s this business about me running for President about and how many times will I have to say no to you all?”

“Govanah” Hanna addressed McKeithen, “this ain’t flattery. We frankly don’t need to flatter you, we go back a good ways.”

“Then Sixty, what exactly is this about?” responded McKeithen.

Well connected to the Democratic National Committee and House Minority leader Hale Boggs, Blanche Long spoke up. “The party is fixing on voting for the McGovern proposals and it’s going to be changing everything. The way we pick nominees will never, ever, be the same. You don’t have to win-”

“Well, there we have it, I don’t have to win. I’ll be a favorite son again?” interrupted McKeithen.

“…you don’t have to win them all” Blanche continued. “But if you get a small chunk here, a small chunk here, this is going to correlate to delegates." 

“A lot of delegates” interjected Weil from the other side of the table.

“JJ, you might not outright win the nomination. But you can take enough delegates with you to the convention and stop McGovern. He engineered all of these changes to the party structure to enhance his own ambitions. For the sake of the party, we need you to run” Blanche interjected confidently.

“Well who the hell would fund such an endeavor? Aint nobody know who I am!” McKeithen responded in exasperation and shock that such a proposal was actually truly being debated before him.

“We got friends in the oil fields, running the wells and running the boardrooms” responded Senator Boles.

“And” Weill added, “we got Russell and Congressman Boggs on our side. Big names.”

“Say I run” McKeithen quizzed Weill, “say I actually jump in. Say I pull third or fourth in a few states and beat out Wallace in the south. Say I come in second or third in the delegate count. I can swing it for Muskie, or Humphrey, or Jackson. Alright. But why me?”

“JJ, I’m a newspaper man. I know public opinion, I know what they think and what they want, and they want two things: a president they can trust and a nominee they know can win. And JJ, and no offense, Mrs. Long, I know you don’t mean it that way, but you’re selling JJ short here. He can win-we can win. We can do this.” Sam Hanna’s words sunk into McKeithen, as they did to everyone else in the room.

“He’s right.” Blanche broke the silence. “You can win. And you will win. You ought to do this, Governor. We need you. The party needs you.”

Finally, Rayburn spoke up: “Don’t worry about the money, we’ll get it for you. You won’t be short on funds. If you go ahead with this, we can make it happen.”

Another long pause filled the room. The silence wasn’t haunting, nor deafening. It was the silence of a man making a choice. Not a reasoned choice, but an impulse choice. Finally, McKeithen spoke.

“Well” he declared, “I guess I’m ‘runnin for President. Won’t ‘cha help me?”
Saturday, March 28th, 1970: Two suspected members of the Weather Underground are killed in New York City when a pipe bomb they were constructing explodes. An FBI investigation into the fatal accident widens the federal government’s probe into the underground radial organization.
Sunday, March 29th, 1970: With Cambodia still reeling from the coup against Prince Sihanouk, the North Vietnamese army floods into the country, linking with Khmer Rouge guerillas and taking the Cambodian military by surprise. Within twelve hours, the North Vietnamese are within miles of the capital city of Phnom Penh as the Cambodian military under Lon Nol’s command rallies their forces and attempts to coordinate a counteroffensive.
Tuesday, March 31st, 1970: Japan Airlines Flight 351 is hijacked by the Japanese Red Army and flown to North Korea, where the hijackers are given asylum and the passengers are eventually released after a ransom is paid.
Wednesday, April 1st, 1970: President Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, which prohibits the televised advertisement of tobacco products. At a press conference afterwards, he defends Supreme Court candidate Harrold Carswell’s record and denies allegations of racism directed at the potential Associate Justice.
Friday, April 3rd, 1970: The President and First Lady Pat Nixon host a party at the White House in honor of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor; the former British monarch, who reigned briefly as Edward VIII, remains a controversial figure in British high society due to his abdication. In failing health, the Duke’s attendance is one of his last high-profile public appearances.
Saturday, April 4th, 1970: A pro-war protest in Washington attracts 50,000 people; though dwarfed in size by preceding and future anti-war demonstrations, the protests are the largest gathering of hawks. Ironically, most of the pro-war protesters express their dismay at the Nixon’s administrations attempts to wind down rather than expand the war in Indochina.
Sunday, April 5th, 1970: White House speechwriter Pat Buchanan appears on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” where in a widely watched interview he defends Carswell’s nomination effectively and vigorously.
Monday, April 6th, 1970: The Senate Judiciary Committee votes to reject Harrold Carswell’s nomination to the Supreme Court, but it is referred to the floor for debate and a final vote by Senator Norton Simon (R-CA). During heated debate, Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN) warns that Carswell’s nomination being pushed forward despite the Judiciary Committee’s rejection is a “dangerous game” being played by “a want-to-be strongman President.”
Wednesday, April 8th, 1970: After two days of heated and extensive debate, the Senate ties 50-50 on the nomination of Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court. Vice President Agnew breaks the tie and votes in the affirmative, sending the archconservative Carswell to the nation’s highest court to the horror of liberals.
Thursday, April 9th, 1970: An Israeli airstrike on a school in the Egyptian city of Faqus results in 35 children being killed and 50 more being injured. Israel claims they had mistakenly believed the school was an Egyptian military facility. The attack is condemned across the Arab world.
Friday, April 10th, 1970: Paul McCartney confirms that “The Beatles” are no more; according to McCartney, Lennon privately informed the band he’d be leaving in September to pursue a solo career, planning to collaborate with his companion Yoko Ono instead. The breakup of The Beatles sparks despair among their legions of fans and fellow musicians alike, with George Harrison and Ringo Starr both expressing their shock and disappointment at the sudden dissolution of one of the world’s most innovative musical groups.
Saturday, April 11th, 1970: Apollo 13, the third manned mission to the moon, is launched at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The successful launch marks the beginning of their journey to the lunar surface, which is expected to take around two days.
Sunday, April 12th, 1970: 600 ethnic Vietnamese citizens are massacred by forces loyal to the newly installed regime of Lon Nol; though the government denies the slaughter in the village of Xom Bien took place, witnesses report that the victims – all men and boys – were shot and dumped in the Mekong River as retaliation for the community’s alleged support for a failed North Vietnamese offensive against Phnom Penh earlier in the year.
Monday, April 13th, 1970: Apollo 13’s lunar landing is aborted after a malfunction in the lunar module causes oxygen supplies to rapidly deplete. The team is forced to circumnavigate the lunar orbit in order to position themselves for a successful return to Earth, which they ultimately succeed in doing in the next few days. The near miss is an alarming reminder of the dangers presented by space.
Wednesday, April 15th, 1970: As word spreads about the internal violence against Vietnamese in Cambodia, the President is briefed by National Security Adviser Kissinger, Secretary of Defense Laird, and General William Westmoreland about the presence and activity of both the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese military inside the borders of neutral countries. Nixon orders the Pentagon to draw up plans for a possible expansion of military operations over the borders into Cambodia and Laos.
Friday, April 17th, 1970: President Nixon presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the crew of Apollo 13 at a ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii, following their successful return to earth.
Sunday, April 19th, 1970: With the centennial of Vladimir Lenin’s birth just days away, East German leader Walter Ulbricht unveils a massive statue of the Russian revolutionary and founder of the Soviet Union in East Berlin. The monument is dedicated in the memory of the 300,000 Red Army soldiers who perished during the battle of Berlin in 1945 during World War II’s final hours.
Monday, April 20th, 1970: President Nixon confirms at a speech and press conference at the Pentagon that the United States will remove 150,000 servicemen from active duty in Vietnam over the course of the next twelve months.
Tuesday, April 21st, 1970: At a meeting with his National Security Council to discuss the future of America’s role in Vietnam, the question of Cambodia and Laos comes to a standstill. Both nations are enduring domestic turbulence and communist insurgencies supported by the regime in Hanoi, and the NVA and Viet Cong act freely in the lawless regions along the border of South Vietnam, which they easily and often infiltrate. Though Secretary of State William Rodgers, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, and National Security Adviser Kissinger all urge restraint, the Vice President encourages Nixon to deploy US troops directly. The President rejects a compromise plan offered by Kissinger in which the US would train, fund, equip, and assist in a South Vietnamese ground offensive into Cambodia, and orders Secretary Laird to begin drafting plans for a massive operation to root out enemy activity across the border.
Wednesday, April 22nd, 1970: Earth Day is observed in the United States for the first time.
Thursday, April 23rd, 1970: Prince Sihanouk, in exile in East Germany, announces the formation of the Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea (or GRUNK, the French language acronym) at a press conference. GRUNK, which will compose of several political parties and paramilitary groups that are at odds with General Lon Nol, has received immediate diplomatic recognition from a number of communist and non-aligned nations such as China, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, and the Soviet Union. The alliance of Prince Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge has many in Washington scratching their heads; “politics makes strange bedfellows” quips Henry Kissinger to reporters.
Friday, April 24th, 1970: Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek, is injured after Peter Huang Wen-hsiung shoots him twice in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel. Chiang is treated at a nearby hospital for his injuries and ultimately makes a full recovery. The assailant, a PHD student at Cornell University, is not believed to be connected to the government of the People’s Republic of China and his motivations for the assassination attempt are not immediately known.
Sunday, April 26th, 1970: On a junket paid for by a network of friendly donors, Governor John McKeithen visits New Hampshire to test the waters about a potential presidential campaign. Though Senator Kennedy had practically monopolized the support of nearly every voter the Governor encounters, he remains optimistic about his reception and remains skeptical that the Massachusetts Senator will eventually run.
Thursday, April 30th, 1970: In a televised address from the White House broadcast to the nation on primetime airspace, President Nixon announces the expansion of American and South Vietnamese military operations across the border into Cambodia. This decision also necessitates the negation of the President’s decision to drawdown the number of active duty personnel in the country. Instantly public anger over the announcement erupts, with anti-war activists and students taking to the streets to demonstrate against the decision to expand the scope of the conflict. As hundreds of chanting students surround the White House until sunrise to protest the developments, a political hurricane envelops Washington.

President Nixon announces the invasion of Cambodia.
[3]

[1] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Travis Wise).
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Secretary of State of Louisiana) (Fair Use)
[3] Taken from the Nixon Foundation (Attribution & Reproduction here) (Fair Use)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Friday, May 1st, 1970: Massive anti-war demonstrations take place in cities across the country. The congressional leadership is quick to gather on Capitol Hill to condemn the “illegal and unconstitutional” expansion of the war  Senators Frank Church (D-ID) and Sherman Cooper (R-KY) have announced plans to introduce a bill to Congress that would prohibit the sale of American weaponry to Cambodia as well as defunding any American military operation taking place outside of the borders of South Vietnam in relation to the war in Southeast Asia. Senator Cooper also expresses interest in possibly corralling Congressional allies to engage in an effort to repeal the Gulf of Tonken Resolution, which has given the President a free hand to conduct military operations in Indochina.
Saturday, May 2nd, 1970: Students at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, riot downtown when an anti-war protest turns into an ugly confrontation with local police. As a result, Ohio Governor Jim Rhoades calls up the state’s national guard as a means to restore order.

Primaries are held in Texas; for the 1970 Senate election, Congressman George HW. Bush easily defeats educator Robert Morris for the Republican nomination. Meanwhile, in a stunning upset, incumbent Democratic Senator Ralph Yarborough is defeated by former Congressman Lloyd Bentsen in their primary.

Monday, May 4th, 1970: Slaughter at Kent State.

   

The Kent State Massacre.
[1]

KENT, OH: Protests against the American incursion into Cambodia resulted in carnage and chaos after the Ohio National Guard opened fire on student protesters on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio, killing six and injuring another ten. The shooting came on the tail end of four days of relatively calm student protests, days after Ohio’s Governor Jim Rhodes deployed National Guard troops to the small college town of Kent on Thursday night in relation to President Nixon’s latest announcement on the war.

The incident itself occurred after several protesters began to throw back tear gas canisters towards the advancing soldiers, who with fixed bayonets were attempting to corner the protesting students near a fenced off area by Prentice Hall. As the retreating students continued to chant anti-war slogans and hurl small projectiles at the Guardsmen, a shot was fired off, believed by many to have been from the pistol of an unknown guardsmen. The shot sparked panic among the students and soldiers, the former of whom began to disperse rapidly in multiple directions. Immediately afterwards, at least twenty of the soldiers opened fire into the crowd, resulting in the deaths of six students in a matter of seconds. A further nine students were severely injured.

The shooting drew a larger number of curious students out once the brief barrage of gunfire ended. Geology professor Glenn Frank and another of faculty members who witnessed the shooting quickly were able to deescalate situation as many angry students began to taunt and threaten the Guardsmen. Other students laid hovered over the bodies of dead friends and acquaintances. President Nixon has called the shootings “an unfortunate accident” in a brief statement, further writing that “when dissent and violence come hand in hand, it only invites tragedy.” Several student protests have broken out at campuses across the nation, with counter-culture protester and agitator Abbie Hoffman calling for “days of rage” in an impassioned speech to students who gathered spontaneously in New York.
Wednesday, May 6th, 1970: 27 American GI’s in the 101st Airborne are killed after their base in Quang Tri province near the DMZ is overrun by North Vietnamese forces. The attack is the single deadliest day of the war in over two years.
Friday, May 8th, 1970: Pro-war, unionized construction workers and anti-war demonstrators violently clash on the streets of New York City. The “Hard Hat Riot” as it becomes known begins when youthful demonstrators marched on City Hall. Incited after a protester raised the Viet Cong flag after gaining access to the building’s roof and politically provocative banners (including one which read “Kathy Boudin is a hero!”), a mob of construction workers find themselves locked in a large scale street brawl with the anti-war protesters that leaves several people injured and results in scores of arrests.

The Beatles final studio album, Let It Be, is released.

Saturday, May 9th, 1970: 100,000 Protesters in Washington.

Anti-war protesters converge on Washington.
[2]

WASHINGTON, DC: Over 100,000 student protesters have taken to the streets of the capital to demonstrate against the war in Vietnam. The protesters, almost entirely comprised of young students, have been marching repeatedly back and forth between the Capitol building and the White House as they loudly chanted anti-war and anti-Nixon slogans. Police have been careful and cautious in their response to the protesters, fearing that riots could break out in the wake of the Kent State shooting and the so called “Hard Hat riot” that occurred previously in New York. The tension in the air between the police and the demonstrators was palpable, and the lingering fear of even more violence was on the minds of all involved in the protests.

Security at the White House was slightly increased, though President Nixon has made it a point in the face of the demonstrations to show that the business of governance would go on undeterred by the large groups of protesters. Among the most noticeable precautions used by police and secret service personnel was the White House being blocked off with several buses, designed to make it impossible for the large throngs of student demonstrators from coming too close to the executive mansion.

Several student groups, primarily Students for a Democratic Society, have called for a nationwide student strike designed to shut down campuses and overwhelm local law enforcement agencies in a move to put even more public pressure on the administration. Several student leaders in Washington have also issued a list of demands, which is topped by their request to speak with President Nixon personally on the matter. The demonstrators will continue on Sunday with their protests and have issued a wide array of demands.

Nixon.

Saturday, May 9th, 1970:

The White House, Washington, DC.

[2]

RICHARD NIXON: God damn it Haldeman! Haven’t these punks every heard of Sunday? I can hear the damn music all the way over here. And what the hell are those blimp things their flying?

H.R. HALDEMAN: They're flying balloons to keep the helicopters at bay, Mr. President.

RICHARD NIXON: Balloons? Where the hell did they get balloons from?

H.R. HALDEMAN:We’re gonna have to bring in the boots to finish this job.

RICHARD NIXON: Good. Make sure Walter Washington gets the police on the job. Arrest all of them.

H.R. HALDEMAN: We’re unsure the District has room in it’s jails for them. We’re gonna have to make….other accommodations.

RICHARD NIXON: Where do you have in mind?

H.R. HALDEMAN: We can have a stockade set up in RFK.

RICHARD NIXON: Good. I expect this problem to be cleared up by this time tomorrow. You think Washington will comply?

H.R. HALDEMAN: If he wants to be reappointed by you, he ought too.

RICHARD NIXON: Then things are set. Get this cancer out of my backyard….and Henry, try and keep the cameras off all this.

H.R. HALDEMAN: I’ll do my best, Mr. President.

RICHARD NIXON: One last thing.

H.R. HALDEMAN: Yes, Mr. President?

RICHARD NIXON: I want to be sure that nothing is done to the veterans. I want the word out-not on the street, but among the blues-that if any of them even claim to be a veteran, they’re to be released immediately, understood? I want the word out that they don’t get touched. Not at all. Don’t do a damn thing to them. Just let ‘em raise hell. The punk kids, those who aren’t claiming to be veterans, and you know, their…their uh, easy to pick out. Those are the types I don’t give a damn about and neither does the rest of the country. But the veterans among them are not to be touched.

H.R. HALDEMAN: I’ll put the word out.
[Tape Ends]

Saturday, May 9th, 1970: A day after tensions boiled over in New York City, 100,000 anti-war protesters flood into Washington, DC, to display the growing opposition to the expanding war in Indochina. At 4:30 AM, President Nixon awakens his valet Manolo Sanchez and alarms his Secret Service agents when he requests to be driven to the Lincoln Memorial. There, at a pre-dawn impromptu visit to the monument, Nixon mingles with students who had camped over night on the grounds of the Memorial. After a brief and polite back and forth with those present about sports and politics, the President returns to the White House.

As the sun rises over Washington hours later, the city is inundated with the largest crowds of protesters the city had ever seen. The crowds around the White House swell to such size that buses are driven in to form a wall around the grounds of the executive mansion. In one of the earlier taped conversations within the Oval Office, Nixon orders his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman to arrange for measures designed to quell the largescale protests. Among potential actions discussed are temporarily detaining the more unruly protesters at RFK Stadium, though ultimately only a few hundred or so find themselves spending the night there. The massive protest is peacefully wound down as the day ends as students trickle back out of the capital.
Sunday, May 10th, 1970: Labor leader Walter Reuther is killed along with his wife and two others in a small plane crash in Michigan. Aged 62, Reuther was a leading figure within American politics and used his role as head of the United Auto Workers to project the trade union’s influence on domestic policies.
Monday, May 11th, 1970: 26 people are killed after a tornado tears through Lubbock, Texas.
Thursday, May 14th, 1970: Andreas Baader, a leftist German terrorist, escapes from a West German custody after being ambushed and rescued by two followers during a visit to a library under police supervision. Two police minders are shot and killed during the incident, and three bystanders are injured as bullets fly through the library as terrified witnesses scatter and shelter behind shelves . The escape results in Baader becoming the most wanted man in Western Europe.
Friday, May 15th, 1970: Four students are killed and ten injured when police open fire on a crowd of protesters on campus, claiming to have mistakenly believed the crowd of demonstrators were hostile and possibly armed. The shooting is the second such incident in two weeks to take place on a college campus, further enflaming tensions in an already polarized and divided environment. The victims of the shooting, the majority of whom are African-American, were all students in their early twenties.
Saturday, May 16th, 1970: After two of the most raucous weeks in political history, President Nixon delivers a speech at a trade convention in Oklahoma City, where he lambasts the left for “pitting American against American” and “sacrificing national unity at the alter of power.”
Monday, May 18th, 1970: Prime Minister Harold Wilson travels to Buckingham Palace to ask Queen Elizabeth II to dissolve parliament, setting Britain on the course for a general election on Thursday, June 18th. The one-month campaign will pit the Labor Party leader against his Conservative challenger Edward Heath.

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Michael McConnell and Jack Baker (both in their late twenties) apply for a marriage license at the County Clerk’s office. The clerk consults the legal statutes and ultimately denies the couple their license on the grounds that a marriage license must be issued in the women’s county of residence, and that as a same-sex couple, this was impossible. Though they fail to be legally wed, the couple gains notoriety as one of the earliest gay couples to attempt to seek legal validation of their union.
Wednesday, May 20th, 1970: In a speech delivered on national radio, China’s paramount leader Mao Zedong addresses the masses for the first time in five years. In his remarks, Mao defends the virtues of the Cultural Revolution and expresses solidarity with the “socialist liberation movements” in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
Friday, May 22nd, 1970: An Israeli bus traveling from a settlement near the Lebanese border for Tel Aviv is destroyed by an RPG, resulting in 12 passengers being killed. Palestinian militants take responsibility for the attack.
Wednesday, May 27th, 1970: The National League of POW/MIA Families in founded; the organization is formed as an advocacy and awareness group highlighting the plight of American POWs held in captivity in North Vietnam as well as the struggles of their families.
Thursday, May 28th, 1970: Pedro Aramburu, who had served as President of Argentina from 1955 through 1958, is kidnapped from his Buenos Aires apartment by members of a legist guerilla outfit disguised as police officers. Aramburu’s body is recovered three days later, with an autopsy revealing the former President was killed by gunshot to the head not long after his abduction.
Sunday, May 31st, 1970: A 7.9 magnitude earthquake rocks Peru, reducing whole cities in the northern Andes mountain region to rubble and killing over 75,000 people in one of the deadliest natural disasters in memory.
Wednesday, June 3rd, 1970: After announcing the expansion of military operations into Cambodia weeks earlier, President Nixon bows to growing pressure and announces that all military objectives across the border from South Vietnam have been achieved. Though Nixon confirms that all US troops active in the country will be returning to duty in South Vietnam, he does not rule out a possible reintroduction of ground forces into Cambodia in the future either. This gives anti-war activists little peace of mind, and anti-war sentiments continue to flare.
Friday, June 5th, 1970: President Nixon privately meets with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, CIA Director Richard Helms, National Security Agency Director Noel Gayler, and Defense Intelligence Agency head Donald Bennett to discuss the proposed “Huston Plan.” The elaborate plan is a proposed effort by the intelligence services to infiltrate and observe the leadership of the anti-war and civil rights movements. The President expresses his interest in putting the plan in motion and promptly authorizes the massive surveillance operation on the spot after lengthy conversations in the Oval Office.
Monday, June 8th, 1970: A military coup in Argentina results in President Juan Carlos Ongania resigning from office to be replaced by a military junta for a short period of time. Ongania was overthrown after he sacked the army’s chief of staff, resulting in the army taking action to preserve their interest and their political autonomy.
Wednesday, June 10th, 1970: Portugal deploys 35,000 men to Mozambique to suppress the leftist liberation insurgency in the colony. Like in Angola, the Portuguese are facing stiff guerilla tactics and fierce resistance from locals seeking majority rule and independence.
Thursday, June 11th, 1970: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth Hoisington are promoted to the rank of Brigadier Generals, making them the first two women in American history to hold the rank. Representing the Army Nurse Corps and the Women’s Army Corp, the two women’s roles in the military are not combat related but praised by President Nixon as “incalculably valuable.”
Friday, June 12th, 1970: Alexander Kerensky dies in New York City aged 89; the Russian politician had briefly held power in 1917 between the downfall of the Tsar and the Bolshevik revolution which ended the Russian Empire’s existence and replaced it with the Soviet Union. Kerensky had been in exile for over fifty years at the time of his demise.
Saturday, June 13th, 1970: Former Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton is named Chair of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, which will investigate political upheaval amongst the students at America’s colleges. The announcement is made on the day Kent State University reopens after the National Guard opened fire on student protesters.
Sunday, June 14th, 1970: Show elections in the USSR see the Communist Party hold every seat within the Supreme Soviet. The election, which supposedly had 99.9% voter turnout, results in absolutely no changes to the USSR’s leadership as expected.
Monday, June 15th, 1970: In a bizarre and brazen escape attempt, twelve Jewish residents in the Soviet Union hijack a domestic flight and demand to be flown to Sweden. Angered about having been denied the right to emigrate to Israel and eager to highlight the plight of Soviet Jews, the hijackers ultimately fail when the pilot lies to them and tells them they’re low on fuel. Forced to land, the twelve unarmed hijackers are taken into custody and jailed.
Wednesday, June 17th, 1970: The House of Representatives votes 272-132 to adopt an amendment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which would lower the voting age from 21 to 18. The President, who has voiced support for the bill, is unsure whether to sign it due to the risk of it being challenged in court. Knowing that the bill wouldn’t hold water, the White House and the Congressional leadership’s top staffers begin collaborating together on an effort to amend the constitution to allow 18 year olds the right to vote ahead of the 1972 presidential election.
Thursday, June 18th, 1970: Edward Heath’s Conservative Party wins the 1970 British General Election, winning a narrow majority of 330 seats in the House of Commons. Labor loses 76 seats and are reduced to 288 seats while the Liberal Party’s parliamentary party is halved down to merely six seats. Harold Wilson resigns as Prime Minister in the wake of the election but remains leader of the Labor Party.
Tuesday, June 23rd, 1970: Robert Finch resigns as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to take a job as a White House counselor to President Nixon. The President nominates Deputy Secretary of State Elliot Richardson to fill Finch’s slot as head of HEW in Finch’s place, while the outgoing Secretary will take on a more broad advisory role within the White House.
Friday, June 26th, 1970: Alexander Dubcek is expelled from the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia two years after Soviet forces invaded the nation and expelled the reform minded leader from office. The new regime which had replaced him remains enduring committed to Moscow and Leonid Brezhnev’s neo-Stalinist ambitions.
Monday, June 29th, 1970: Military operations in Cambodia ends after a month and a half and 339 fatalities. Despite the casualties inflicted on American forces in fierce jungle fighting by communist guerrilla fighters, President Nixon and Secretary Laird hail the operation as a success.
[1] Kent State Shootings Site by National Register of Historic Places, on Flickr (Public Domain).
[2] Taken from Wikipedia Commons (Travis Wise).