Charles P Pierce: "1968 Is No Longer the Worst Year I've Experienced"

[PJMcK]

2. 1968 was a terrible year

RFK was assassinated.

MLK was assassinated.

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago devolved into massive riots.

Nixon was elected president.

The Vietnam war was raging and the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive. It was the deadliest year for American soldiers with 16,592 killed. 1968 was the most expensive year in the Vietnam War with the U.S. spending the 2020 equivalent of $569 billion.

There was even a pandemic, the Hong Kong Flu, also known as the 1968 flu pandemic (it continued into 1969), which killed an estimated 1–4 million people globally.

One bright spot emerged during the Christmas season when Apollo 8 took astronauts into orbit around the Moon for the first time. They captured the famous "Earthrise" photo. An American sent a telegram to NASA thanking the astronauts for "saving 1968."

Nothing saved 2020 except that Trump lost the election. Good luck, President-Elect Biden. You've got your work cut out for you!