Luke Nichter reshapes ‘60s political history in new book
The Chapman University associate professor and James H. Cavanaugh Endowed Chair in Presidential Studies recently celebrated his new book, ‘The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968,’ with a signing and Q&A at The Richard Nixon Library and Museum. Photos courtesy of Luke Nichter
It was almost too quiet as historian Luke Nichter sat in a Minneapolis conference room inside the law firm of 42nd Vice President Walter Mondale in 2017. Neck deep into research on the 1968 presidential election — the one where Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey to become the successor of Lyndon Johnson — Nichter waited for an interview with Mondale.
Nichter recalled the nearly 90-year-old Mondale shuffling into the room, aided by his cane, and taking a seat at the far end of a long conference table. Mondale, who was a friend of Humphrey, proposed something to Nichter that would alter his entire perception of political history: Democrat Johnson preferred Republican Nixon as his successor over his own Vice President Humphrey.
“I felt like I was almost knocked off my chair when he said that because that went against so much of the conventional wisdom,” said Nichter, who serves as a history professor and James H. Cavanaugh Endowed Chair in Presidential Studies at Chapman University. “I felt like it was a challenge to figure out what Lyndon Johnson's mindset was during this time period. Is it possible that what he's suggesting would have been true?”
This question led to five years of scavenging archives, scanning diaries and listening to secret White House recordings. On Sept. 7, The Richard Nixon Library and Museum hosted Nichter for a signing and Q&A for his latest book, “The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968,” which explores the theory that Mondale proposed back in 2017.
The book focuses on the theory that Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson preferred Republic Richard Nixon over his own Vice President Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 election and how that alters out perception of history.
The event was held at The Nixon Library’s East Room — an exact replica of the East Room in the White House. In attendance was Nichter’s friends, colleagues and even his student, sophomore history major Landon Matson, who also interns at The Nixon Library. Matson was enrolled in Nichter’s class, “The Age of Nixon,” and he recalls Nichter discussing bits of the book.
“During class, he would explain how he was in the process of writing it,” Matson said. “I made connections where I remembered what he quoted in class and saw it in the book. That was amazing. We got a first glimpse of it. I really admire how Dr. Nichter goes deep into primary sources. He opened my eyes to history.”
The book utilizes unexplored materials in order to analyze the Johnson-Nixon relationship and delve into the tumultuous election set against the backdrop of assassinations, Vietnam and Civil Rights. Nichter cites a connection between the turbulent election of 1968 with today’s political landscape and hopes that readers can derive important takeaways about how to approach modern politics and challenge preconceived beliefs.
“Every day, our newsfeeds tell us what we want to see,” Nichter said. “Well, how do we force ourselves to see beyond our newsfeeds and to see different perspectives? I try to challenge other readers, students, as well as myself, to really boldly think about history in creative ways.”
Nichter’s area of expertise is set in the presidential political history of 1960. After needing to settle on a thesis project while earning his Ph.D. in history at Bowling Green State University, Nichter began exploring the “archival frontier” — meaning a mass surge of documents from the 1960s that the government had recently declassified in the early 2000s — featuring recordings that presidents, ranging from Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, secretly took through hidden microphones sprinkled throughout the White House.
In the past two decades, Nichter has worked to declassify, transcribe and organize these recordings, some of which challenge the common understanding of history found in textbooks. Out of the approximately 4,000 hours of recordings, Nichter has transcribed an estimated 20% of them on his own and teaches a spring course titled “White House Tapes.”
“What was old to everyone else was brand new to historians,” Nichter said. “That whole period — Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon — is especially rich in terms of historical research, because of these kinds of sources. It's not just dusty memos in archives. You can be a fly on the wall of the Oval Office and sort of hear what was happening in real time. It's powerful for the listener because it allows you to sort of bypass the traditional American history textbook and experience the content on your individual terms.”
“What was old to everyone else was brand new to historians. That whole period — Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon — is especially rich in terms of historical research, because of these kinds of sources. It’s not just dusty memos in archives. You can be a fly on the wall of the Oval Office and sort of hear what was happening in real time. It’s powerful for the listener because it allows you to sort of bypass the traditional American history textbook and experience the content on your individual terms.”
Nichter has utilized these tapes in order to author seven other books delving into different aspects of presidential politics of the same period. He hopes to create a database where users can efficiently search through the content of these tapes.
“These tapes belong to you and me and every other American,” Nichter said. “The National Archives has cared for these historically fragile recordings… but while the National Archives specializes in preservation and access, what we don't have is really good accessibility to these (tapes) because many of them have not been transcribed. They haven't been systematically indexed or cataloged. One of my goals during my career is really just to make all this available to the American people so that we can finally search these things and learn from these presidents.”
Apart from his time as a professor at Chapman and Texas A&M University-Central Texas, the latter of which he taught at from 2008 to 2021, Nichter is a former executive producer for C-SPAN’s “American History TV” and an appointee to The White House’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, where he served for three years. No matter where Nichter is diving into history, he wants to challenge both colleagues and students to question beliefs and conduct proper research.
“This does not make me popular at academic conferences to say this, but so much of what passes for history these days… while it looks deeply researched, it's not,” Nichter said. “They tell the same stories over and over again. They cite the same sources. So many readers don't go back and check the source, because if they all cited it, it must be true, and I find, oftentimes, it’s a mistake to assume that.”
“This does not make me popular at academic conferences to say this, but so much of what passes for history these days… while it looks deeply researched, it’s not. They tell the same stories over and over again. They cite the same sources. So many readers don’t go back and check the source, because if they all cited it, it must be true, and I find, oftentimes, it’s a mistake to assume that.”
When he’s not scouring through national archives, Nichter can be found taking his 9-year-old daughter, who is in “peak princess mode,” to Disneyland, watching Detriot Tiger games and driving down the coast on hot days. These days, Nichter has been occupied with nearly 50 interviews promoting and discussing his book, although it’s not his favorite thing to do.
“I think historians tend to be a little bit more like introverts,” Nichter said. “We can disappear into a dark cabin in Montana or a dark archive and eventually come out with our manuscript or our ideas. It’s a little odd all of a sudden to be on this side of a camera and to be kind of peppered with questions. But it's all part of the process. The idea is historians use the tool of writing to communicate new ideas. Whether it's a book, it’s teaching a class or it's talking on a camera or a podcast, it's all part of communicating these new ideas.”
“The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968” was published on Aug 1. The book is available for purchase through Yale University Press, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Bookshop.
“These tapes belong to you and me and every other American. The National Archives has cared for these historically fragile recordings… but while the National Archives specializes in preservation and access, what we don’t have is really good accessibility to these (tapes) because many of them have not been transcribed. They haven’t been systematically indexed or cataloged.”
