I don't know how many people attended the Mayday rally of 1971 on the National Mall in which perhaps a couple hundred thousand people gathered to show their solidarity against the war. What I do know is that there was so much more going on than I was aware of, even though I was in the middle of it. How much more? That is where Lawrence Roberts' book, Mayday 1971, comes in, to shed light on this tumultuous period of history, and especially the events surrounding the first days of May 1971.
The full title of Roberts' book is Mayday 1971: A White House at War, a Revolt in the Streets, and the Untold History of America’s Biggest Mass Arrest.
I'm certain that many--if not most--of the young people like myself who travelled to Washington for that weekend demonstration were unaware of all the variables that were at play. Nor were we aware of the amount of tension in high places that preceded our arrival. There's a sense, though, in which I did comprehend that something big was happening, because as I hitchhiked from Ohio to DC I readily got rides the entire way by curious people who wanted to know more about it or wanted to show support. It was almost as if, to some of these people, I were a hero for going.
It wasn't until I read this book that I realized why they were so interested. I mean, I was a college student inside my campus bubble. I did not watch TV or read newspapers. We didn't have Internet. Therefore, I did not know that just weeks before someone blew up a bomb inside the Capitol. Nor did I now about the Vietnam Veterans who marched to the Capitol and threw away their medals, John Kerry being one of their spokespersons. Nor did I know that the Mayday Tribe and others had been planning this weekend's orchestrated events for more than two years. Nor did we know how much Richard Nixon and his top officials had also been actively coordinating a counter-response.
IF YOU WERE THERE you probably wondered why so little was written about this afterwards. It seemed incomprehensible to me that more than 10,000 people could be arrested in this country (7,000 the first day) and hardly anyone even remembers it. If you were there, then you really must read this book.
Each person who had been part of it--whether police, National Guard, students, demonstrators--knows their own story. Roberts' book provides a line of sight to the activities of that week from multiple angles, including the chief of police who had to balance conflicting agendas, and the justice system that Nixon strove to hamstring.
How ironic that the same issues we dealt with then have re-emerged in this most recent year. What are the limits of peaceful assembly? What is due process when it comes to the collision of ideals and the need for preserve law and order? What is the legitimate and illegitimate use of force?
There have been some significant contrasts between last year's protests and Mayday 1971. The book cites a few broken windows but there was no looting, no burning of buildings and, to my knowledge, no shootings.
A similarity, though, is this. When I hitch-hiked back to Ohio U from DC, I was picked up by two students from Antioch and an older guy who said their whole purpose in attending was not to peacefully protest, but to "get pigs." Out of the tens of thousands, I am certain they were not the only persons there who were so inclined to use the opportunity to do violence.
Ever since then, as I observed protests on television and the Internet over the years, I was always aware that there are bad actors mixed in with the masses, and anyone who thinks otherwise is naive, or disingenuous.
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Next, the author devotes several pages to the key organizations, key people and key events leading up to the Mayday event. In so doing he highlights the names of the people whose narratives helped shape the content of this book. These people were Egil "Bud" Krogh, Jr. from inside the White House, Rennie Davis and David Dellinger from the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice, Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo from the Mayday Tribe/Yippies, John O'Conner from the Vietnam Vets Against the War, Chief of Police Jerry V. Wilson from the D.C. Police, and Barbara A. Bowman, a lawyer from the Public Defenders Service.
It was intended as the final act in the orchestrated Spring Offensive. Their aim was to attract a large crowd for the Saturday rally, and hopefully retain (persuade) as many as possible for the subsequent Monday May 3 action, which had as its objective shutting down the government for a day by blocking traffic on all the main arteries into the city. The traffic was to be blocked peacefully by human bodies.
The Mayday rally organizers seemed earnest in trying to produce a peaceful protest. If the people were non-violent and peaceful, then the violence of police would stand out in stark contrast. A public opinion win for the protesters. Unfortunately, there are the rotten apples like the three who picked me up heading back to Ohio. I also witnessed protesters jump on officers' backs and rip their gas masks off, among other things. You can read a more complete account of my experience here.
The objective for the White House, utilizing the police and National Guard, was to not allow the protest to succeed in its objective.
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The book details much that most of us were unaware of. One quote especially stood out for me. After it was over, Richard Nixon heard that a bomb had been placed under one of the bridges. As it turns out there was no bomb, but Nixon's response to the initial intel was, "I wish it had gone off and blown up the bridge. Then public opinion would be more on our side."
In other words, lots of death and destruction would have been good PR for Nixon because it would help them spin the narrative in their favor.
This was precisely the problem with Nixon's approach to the prolonged war in Vietnam. He couldn't afford to lose the war because it would be bad for his image. The U.S. does not lose wars. We have to go out looking like a winner.
Nevertheless, little more than a month after these events took place the Pentagon Papers were published in the New York Times, whereupon the nation learned that as early as 1965 the Washington elite knew that the war was a lost cause. Even so, Johnson and Nixon continued to send young Americans into the bloodshed, unconcerned about casualties, death and destruction. In Nixon's case, he was once again only concerned with the image it would project, that the U.S. was weak. Image was everything.
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Much more can be said and Lawrence Roberts presents a lot of it. You can purchase a copy of his book here.
Related Links
Here is a website dedicated to gathering first hand stories from others who were there during that week. If you were there, you can share your own experience.
Other related stories that I've written:
The Bent Penny Brigade – Another MayDay Story
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