On the campaign trail, he reported that a rumor was circulating that frontrunner Ed Muskie had been treated with a powerful psychoactive drug called Ibogaine. By this reasoning, Thompson publicly declared his support for McGovern early in the primaries.Īt times, Thompson’s irreverent style (which he termed “Gonzo journalism”) also blurs the line between fiction and reality. Besides, Thompson reasoned, artificial objectivity blinded most journalists to the dishonesty of politicians like Richard Nixon, his main antagonist. Objective journalism, he argued, is a “pompous contradiction in terms.” After all, selecting sources and choosing verbs are subjective activities. (Image courtesy of bpx/Flickr Creative Commons)Īs a sort of embedded journalist with the McGovern campaign, Thompson shunned the idea of impartial reporting. McGovern, a former history professor and decorated World War II bomber pilot, passionately protested the Vietnam War on the Senate floor, lamenting: “I am sick and tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.” McGovern’s fledgling campaign picked up steam through the primaries of 1972 and Hunter S. As a rare liberal spokesman from a conservative state, McGovern championed the anti-war movement in the U. McGovern, who died last weekend at the age of 90, emerged in 1972 as the unlikely presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. In the midst of this drab battle for the soul of the Democratic Party, Thompson spots an honest man in a pack of party hacks: Sen.

George Wallace of Alabama – proved familiar but uninspiring. Henry “Scoop” Jackson of Washington, and Gov. For the first time, the Democrats would choose their nominee exclusively through state primaries, rather than a combination of elections and back-room deals. Thompson powerfully sets the stage for the 1972 Democratic primary contest – a party divided, old coalitions fragmenting, and the chaos of the 1968 election looming over the process. In his landmark work of Gonzo journalism, Thompson chronicles the Democratic Party’s struggle to mount a viable challenge to Richard Nixon as the Vietnam War raged on with no end in sight. Thompson, author of Hell’s Angels and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has the right kind of eyes to see the corruption, the lunacy, and the sheer depravity of choosing a chief executive in modern America. First appearing as a series of articles in Rolling Stone magazine, Thompson’s coverage of the 1972 presidential election shines light on the darker side of the democratic process. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 like the ghost of Boss Tweed. “How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President?”įorty years on, that question still haunts the pages of Hunter S.

Fear and loathing on the campaign