Most Americans agree that the nation is extremely politically polarized. When and how did this polarization begin and what can be done about it?

Jill Lepore in her book, These Truths: A History of the United States provides the insights in the quotations used below.

Republican President Richard Nixon (1969-1974) was the one who initiated dividing the nation by using hot button issues. Nixon was more interested in foreign policy than domestic issues.

“He was interested, though, in using domestic policy to better divide his opponents…. His commitment to making sure the American people didn’t trust one another really was something distinctive. Nixon delegated responsibility for dividing the nation to his vice-president Spiro Agnew. Agnew stated: “Dividing the American people has been my main contribution to the national political scene” (p. 639).

Nixon’s goal was to win and hold the presidency by creating political divisions within the nation. That strategy to gain and retain power has been imitated by the Democrats.

Understanding the history of our divisions regarding race, abortion and gun control will provide us with an understanding of how to fix our divisions.

Race: The history of racism goes back to the beginnings of our nation and plays a major part in the divisions we see today. But there are more recent reasons for racism as well.

“Nixon’s 1968 campaign with its southern strategy [using dog whistles to stir up racism], had been singularly divisive. Almost as soon as he entered office, Nixon began thinking about his reelection, planning a still more divisive campaign that would determine the direction of his presidency.” Nixon told his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, “Go for Poles, Italians, Irish, must learn to understand the Silent Majority… don’t go for Jews and Blacks [for their votes]…. The GOP was moving to the right, to capitalize on the backlash against civil rights and some in the Democratic Party were planning to move to the left …

Under the banner of New Politics there is talk of forming a new coalition of the left, composed of the young, the black, the poor, the well-educated, the socially alienated, minority groups, and intellectuals—while relegating Middle America and especially white union labor to the ranks of ‘racists’” (pp. 636-7).

Abortion: “Efforts to legalize abortion began in the 1960s, not by women’s rights activists, but by doctors, lawyers, and clergymen who ran Planned Parenthood…. Republican and Democrat, together served as co-chairmen of a Planned Parenthood, signaling an across-the-board commitment to contraception” (p. 649).

In 1970, Nixon favored abortion, stating “No American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition.”

A year later, in 1971, Nixon speech writer Pat Buchanan advised the president to “publicly take his stand against abortion, as offensive to his own moral principles.” A week later Nixon came out with a statement “in which he referred to his personal belief in the sanctity of human life—including the life of the yet unborn…. Exploiting Catholic opposition to abortion was a deliberate attempt to inject doctrinal absolutism into party politics” (p. 654).

Lepore states: “Until the late 1980s, Republicans were more pro-choice than Democrats” (p.668).

Gun rights: California Governor Ronald Reagan “had supported gun safety measures , signing the Mulford Act in 1967…. In the 1960s, the gun debate took place in the shadow of the Black Power movement, in the 1970s it took place in the shadow of a growing White Power movement” (p. 673).

Additionally, “The gun rights movement was tightly bound to anti-immigrant animus. ” The NRA changed in the 1970s from a gun club of hunters “into a powerhouse political interest group during the very years that hostility against immigration was on the rise” (p. 675).

Here we have it. Nixon wanted to win election to the presidency and he wanted to stay in power. He was the president who set the precedent of dividing the nation over issues. Other leaders, both Republican and Democrat have encouraged division by focusing on these hot button issues.

Lepore states: “…Politicians and political strategists needed these issues to remain unresolved: describing rights as vulnerable is what got out the vote” (p. 666).

So, what is the solution? The answer is for the American public to be made aware they have been manipulated for decades. Knowledge is power. It is up to the public to stop being used for political gain. The solution lies with us. We must wake up and stop being led around by the nose by politicians.