Editor’s note: CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public policy at Princeton University and author of the upcoming book “The American Politics of Democracy.”A Nation in Crisis: Election Integrity as a National Security Issue” Follow us on Twitter Julian ZelizerThe views expressed in this commentary are his own. Further comments On CNN.
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Speaking from the Oval Office on Sunday evening, President Joe Biden called on Americans to curb their passions. Following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Biden reiterated his message that there is no place for violence in our politics and that everyone needs to take a breather and calm down. The country needs to “de-escalate,” he said. “No matter how strong our beliefs are, we must never descend into violence,” Biden added.
Will the message work? Biden’s speech, coming at a critical moment in his reelection campaign against Trump, is something of a stress test of what the president can achieve when political tensions spin out of control. Biden’s appeal doesn’t come in a vacuum. Many political leaders across the board have condemned the attacks on Trump and called for calm. House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN on Sunday:
“Rhetoric has consequences. When the environment becomes heated and politically divided in this country, as it is in the age of social media, everything is amplified and anyone can turn the volume on or off. So we need to try to tame that so we can have thoughtful debate and policy discussions.”
Biden’s status makes him uniquely positioned to calm America. Unfortunately, even if he were not in such a vulnerable political position, history suggests the odds would remain stacked against the president.
On November 22, 1963, Americans experienced a horrifying moment when gunman Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President John F. Kennedy. Given its fatal outcome, the incident was even more shocking and traumatizing to the nation: a president who embodied the promise of a new generation was killed. Many theories have circulated about what happened in Dallas, but most have to do with divisive issues of the time, such as civil rights, anti-communism, and right-wing extremism.
Lyndon Johnson also appealed to the nation to return to good spirits as soon as he assumed the presidency. He urged Americans to pursue Kennedy’s policies as the best memorial to their fallen leader, and he continued to do so. He said, “American unity does not depend on unanimity. We have differences. But from our differences, as in the past, we can now draw strength not weakness, wisdom not despair. As a people and as a government, we can unite behind a plan — a plan that is wise and just, enlightened and constructive.”
But Johnson quickly learned that the president’s appeals to moderation often failed. Large rifts caused by divisive issues that existed before Kennedy’s assassination only widened. While the civil rights movement intensified efforts to achieve racial justice through legislation, white resentment grew worse and more violent.
As evidenced by the Woodstock concert in 1969, there was growing pressure from America’s youth to abandon traditional social and cultural values on issues such as sexuality and style. At the same time, a culture war was intensifying between college students and what President Richard Nixon called the “silent majority.”
And Johnson made matters worse by accelerating the Vietnam War, which became one of the most divisive issues facing the nation. Americans were bitterly divided over the military conflict, and by the time Johnson stunned the political world by announcing on March 31, 1968, that he would not run for reelection, many people were increasingly divided.
Political violence intensified throughout the 1960s. The tragic death of President Kennedy did not provide a basis for reconciliation; instead, Americans endured further assassinations, creating shock and disappointment. Malcolm X was assassinated in February 1965. Fear intensified in 1968 with the assassinations of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in April and Senator Robert F. Kennedy in June, who had won the California Democratic primary.
The bloody police crackdown on Chicago street protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention symbolized how deeply resentment ran in the political system. During the 1968 campaign, Nixon stoked division by calling for “law and order” and lambasting the protesters who took to the streets.
Of course, the decades that followed were marked by intense division, polarization, and political warfare. After 1963, Americans only grew closer, not further apart.
The history of the 1960s should remind us today as Biden struggles to calm the nation after Saturday’s shocking assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The issues dividing the two parties remain deep-rooted, the political process will continue to foster discord, and many political leaders are likely to revert to the toxic rhetoric that has become the norm in recent years.
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Combating political violence takes more than speeches. It depends on a new generation of leaders willing to set up guardrails about what is acceptable. We need policies that address guns and psychological issues, and we need institutional reforms that create space in our political system to back away from extremist behavior.
Unless the country is willing to take bold steps, the President’s speech will not do much to pull us back from the precipice we stand on in 2024.
