Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

Title: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

Author: Hunter S. Thompson

Pages: 14 discs

Genre: Politics

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was the political reporter for Rolling Stone Magazine during the 1972 presidential election.  I believe that this book is a collection of articles about the campaign that were published in the magazine as well as Thompson's other musings on the campaigns. The book starts long before the democratic nomination has been locked up, starting with the primaries in New Hampshire, Iowa and other states, then on through the Democratic National Convention in Miami and onto the general election.  Richard Nixon as the incumbent President had the Republican nomination locked up, but based on what was happening in Viet Nam and back home with Watergate he should have been very beatable if the democrats had been able to settle on a strong candidate who they all supported.

My Review:  Although this election took place nearly a decade before my birth, I really enjoyed this book about it and learned far more than I ever needed to know about George McGovern, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace, Edmund Muskie and others. There were a lot of mistakes made by the candidates and the Democratic Party that essentially gave the election away to Nixon (who ended up winning with more than 60% of the popular vote for a huge victory).

Disclaimer: This book is chock full of foul language on nearly every page.  Thompson is known for his language and glorification of drug use and there is plenty of both.