Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72
by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Reviewed by Matthew O’Leary
In the midst of the insanity of the election cycle and the pandemic, I’m reading Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72, by Hunter S. Thompson. It’s about the 1972 elections, focusing first on the Democratic primaries, and then on George McGovern’s ill-fated attempt to unseat Richard Nixon. Thompson is in Washington writing these updates for Rolling Stone, and though it’s certainly not as batshit and drug-fueled as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his voice, and its refusal to pretend to be impartial, keep the narrative going, even when we know it doesn’t have a happy ending.
At the beginning of each month, I read the same section from the book, so I’ll be doing this well into the next year. This is my second time reading it, and my personal favorite part is reading about Thomas Eagleton, who was picked for McGovern’s VP, but was thrown under the bus when his past history of depression was revealed. Personally, I get a little bit of comfort from knowing that while our current circumstances are pretty rough, the process of elections hasn’t really changed all that much, for better or worse. At least George Wallace is dead.
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