Jeffrey Bernhardt

The Indian: America's Waking Dream, Berkeley Radicals, War, Riots, Drugs and Revolution Jeffrey Bernhardt

This book takes place during the period 1969 to 1972. This was the period when America reached its peak of power, wealth, and influence. It is emblematic of this time that all the manned moon landings humankind has made, as of the publication of this book, took place then. They were all American missions. The Vietnam War damaged the country, and the internal strife over the war wounded it further. Events set in motion during this time ultimately resulted in the first and only resignation of a sitting president of the United States. That resignation was triggered by secret leaks to the press carried out by the assistant director of the FBI. The country was at war with itself, inside and outside of the government.

The 1960s were a time of spiritual and cultural awakening, experimentation, and the resultant strife. The 1960s ended with that idealism slamming against the cold realism of a world with very different priorities and little time or patience for dreamers. California in general and Berkeley in particular, provided an excellent vantage point to watch the unfolding events of this time. Two presidents of the United States serving before the turn of the twentieth century would hail from California, and a third would spend a summer in Berkeley during the time spanned in this book. More chemical elements were discovered at the University of California at Berkeley than any other institution in the world. The country looked to the University for knowledge and guidance in some areas of human endeavor and detested it in others. Berkeley was also a national center of unrest and protest.

As in all periods of upheaval, individuals do no better than bobbing corks in the tidal wave. Our tour guides on this journey are some of these bobbing corks.