We should remember 1967 not as the time the nation turned on and tuned in but as the moment the United States began hurtling toward a nervous breakdown, riven by conflict that would change the country and the world forever. It was the beginning of an era of intense polarization – one in which, arguably, we are still living. More than a momentous year, 1967 was a seedbed for our own times.
So says Princeton historian Sean Wilentz in assessing The Legacy of 1967. While Country Joe and Janis Joplin opened the year in San Francisco, Ronald Reagan was taking the oath of office in Sacramento. It was a time of cultural revolution, but equally one of political counter-revolution.
An interesting look at the year and its legacy.