Shawyer dissertation May 2008 final version - The University of ...

night of the Battle of Michigan Avenue, muses that “I am not a demonstrator . . . but Imay have to be soon” (Box 66). Meredith Burke of New York writes that he passed outblack crepe headbands at Grand Central Terminal to demonstrate solidarity with thebattered demonstrators in the streets of Chicago and condemnation of police actions (Box66). All the letters in the Johnson archive demonstrate that Yippie actions in the streets ofChicago which resulted in the Battle of Michigan Avenue successfully persuaded theAmerican public into some kind of political action.The archive of letters and telegrams suggest that the Yippie performances inChicago were successful, but the true measure of the performances cannot be preciselyquantified. Nevertheless, national Gallup and Harris polls from a few weeks afterChicago suggest some efficacy for the demonstrations. The Harris poll from 9 September,1968, states that 81% of those interviewed felt that “law and order has broken down inthis country,” with 29% of those pointing to “hippies and student protesters” as the mainculprits, and 39% blaming anti-Vietnam war demonstrators (EX PR16, WHCF, Box350). The Yippies and their fellow demonstrators certainly inserted themselves into thenational consciousness.Moreover they helped spread doubt about the Democratic Party’s ability to handlethe difficulties facing the nation. The Gallup poll from 8 September, 1968, notes that37% of those polled believed that the Republican Party would do a better job at solvingthe nation’s problems, compared to only 25% who felt that the Democratic Party had anedge (EX PR16, WHCF, Box 350). President Johnson’s own approval rating slipped to anew low of 35% approving and 52% disapproving, according to the Gallup poll for 4199