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More than half a century has passed since the dramatic decade between 1963 and 1973. At that time, Americans became inured to waking up in the morning to read about the latest political figure to be targeted by assassins. Two Kennedys, Lee Harvey Oswald, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Governor George Wallace, Salvador Allende — to mention only the most newsworthy cases — saw their blood spilled or their lives ended thanks to these operations. Persons and institutions carefully executed their plots, applying the quickest and most definitive solution to an annoying problem. At the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, that decade saw a cultural clash. In August 1968, it reached a climax at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. War protesters, hippies and yippies got together to stage a popular revolt against a sclerotic, bellicose political establishment. The nation was in a state of effervescence over an unjustified war taking place overseas, in Vietnam, presumably to prevent dominoes from falling. Is America living a déjà vu moment? Next month, the Democratic National Convention will once again take place in Chicago. A president committed to supporting wars in Ukraine and Israel has refused to follow Lyndon B Johnson’s example and withdraw from seeking re-election. Another Robert F Kennedy (RFK) who doesn’t believe in dominoes is running. Assassination — which eliminated the first RFK from the race — has reappeared as a fact of political life. Some claim we are experiencing Cold War 2.0. Are we also on the brink of the kind of civil trauma that defined the US of 1968? Following the attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s life, Edward Luce of The Financial Times wrote an article titled, “America is staring into the abyss.” Luce is worried. He writes of “an already existential election” that has now become more “fraught.” “Violence was already implicit in much of the rhetoric,” as he reminds readers of the US gun culture. “But,” he continues, “the conditions in 2024 are unique. A bullet almost killed the man who is vowing retribution if he is returned to the White House. A spirit of vengeance is haunting America. At the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, that decade saw a cultural clash. In August 1968, it reached a climax at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. War protesters, hippies and yippies got together to stage a popular revolt against a sclerotic, bellicose political establishment. The nation was in a state of effervescence over an unjustified war taking place overseas, in Vietnam, presumably to prevent dominoes from falling. Is America living a déjà vu moment? Next month, the Democratic National Convention will once again take place in Chicago. A president committed to supporting wars in Ukraine and Israel has refused to follow Lyndon B Johnson’s example and withdraw from seeking re-election. Another Robert F Kennedy (RFK) who doesn’t believe in dominoes is running. Assassination — which eliminated the first RFK from the race — has reappeared as a fact of political life. Some claim we are experiencing Cold War 2.0. Are we also on the brink of the kind of civil trauma that defined the US of 1968? Following the attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s life, Edward Luce of The Financial Times wrote an article titled, “America is staring into the abyss.” Luce is worried. He writes of “an already existential election” that has now become more “fraught.” “Violence was already implicit in much of the rhetoric,” as he reminds readers of the US gun culture. “But,” he continues, “the conditions in 2024 are unique. A bullet almost killed the man who is vowing retribution if he is returned to the White House. A spirit of vengeance is haunting America.