Peter Benchley's Jaws Book Report
Current Events from 1968 to 1974
This is an account of the “current” U.S. events between the years 1968 and 1974. Since the book Jaws was written in 1975, these historical occurrences should serve as a background for what was happening in the years leading up to the book’s publication. These occurrences were no doubt instrumental in Peter Benchley’s writing, as I’m sure they served as a possible inspiration for some of the content in the book, as well as perhaps a metaphor for some of the subject matter.
The year 1968 turned out to be a pretty event-filled year. Assassinations were a major part of the year’s events, as Americans saw Martin Luther King Jr., Andy Warhol and Robert Kennedy murdered. The late sixties were filled with …show more content…
Justice Dept. on grounds of national security. The papers displayed a classified history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Upon hearing of this publication, the Nixon administration utilizes a secret investigative unit known as “The Plumbers”, to burglarize the office of psychiatrist Daniel Ellsberg in an attempt to find evidence to discredit the man responsible for releasing the papers to the press (DigitalHistory). Shortly thereafter, Ellsberg surrenders to police. By now, the Washington Post has also published the Pentagon Papers. Although President Nixon made a valiant effort, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Times and the Post in a ruling of six to three (History Place). Another highly publicized occurrence was the unfortunate incident at New York State’s Attica Prison. After a prison riot broke out, state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and prison guards opened fire into the crowd of inmates resulting in the deaths of thirty-one inmates, and nine guards that were being …show more content…
Next, the Judiciary Committee voted 27 to 11 to recommend President Nixon’s impeachment. On August 8th, Richard M. Nixon became the first president to resign the presidency, resulting in Gerald Ford becoming the first president who had never been elected. President Ford declared it a public victory, but later pardoned Nixon for any crimes he may have committed as President. This proved to be a very costly decision as it undoubtedly led to his defeat in his attempted re-election in 1976 (A Chronology of American History). The Soyuz-Apollo mission became the first cooperative effort in space between the U.S. and the Soviet
This is an account of the “current” U.S. events between the years 1968 and 1974. Since the book Jaws was written in 1975, these historical occurrences should serve as a background for what was happening in the years leading up to the book’s publication. These occurrences were no doubt instrumental in Peter Benchley’s writing, as I’m sure they served as a possible inspiration for some of the content in the book, as well as perhaps a metaphor for some of the subject matter.
The year 1968 turned out to be a pretty event-filled year. Assassinations were a major part of the year’s events, as Americans saw Martin Luther King Jr., Andy Warhol and Robert Kennedy murdered. The late sixties were filled with …show more content…
Justice Dept. on grounds of national security. The papers displayed a classified history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Upon hearing of this publication, the Nixon administration utilizes a secret investigative unit known as “The Plumbers”, to burglarize the office of psychiatrist Daniel Ellsberg in an attempt to find evidence to discredit the man responsible for releasing the papers to the press (DigitalHistory). Shortly thereafter, Ellsberg surrenders to police. By now, the Washington Post has also published the Pentagon Papers. Although President Nixon made a valiant effort, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Times and the Post in a ruling of six to three (History Place). Another highly publicized occurrence was the unfortunate incident at New York State’s Attica Prison. After a prison riot broke out, state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and prison guards opened fire into the crowd of inmates resulting in the deaths of thirty-one inmates, and nine guards that were being …show more content…
Next, the Judiciary Committee voted 27 to 11 to recommend President Nixon’s impeachment. On August 8th, Richard M. Nixon became the first president to resign the presidency, resulting in Gerald Ford becoming the first president who had never been elected. President Ford declared it a public victory, but later pardoned Nixon for any crimes he may have committed as President. This proved to be a very costly decision as it undoubtedly led to his defeat in his attempted re-election in 1976 (A Chronology of American History). The Soyuz-Apollo mission became the first cooperative effort in space between the U.S. and the Soviet