Byline: Evan Thomas
We all know Nixon was nasty. A stunning new book argues that he was also the grandfather of today's politics of hate.
On Aug. 6, 1965, president Lyndon B. Johnson signed the voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African-Americans the right to participate in the political process. Five nights later, Watts, the mostly black neighborhood of Los Angeles, erupted into rioting. For four days, angry young men ran wild, looting and torching buildings, shouting, "Burn, baby, burn!" LBJ was stunned by the hatred of the rioters. "How is it possible after all we accomplished?" the president cried in anguish. "How could it be? Is the world topsy-turvy?" The 1960s ...