{"id":4301,"date":"2026-07-05T07:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T07:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4301"},"modified":"2026-07-05T07:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T07:37:10","slug":"in-his-book-summer-of-71-veteran-washington-journalist-john-a-jenkins-says-weve-been-here-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4301","title":{"rendered":"In his book \u2018Summer of \u201871,\u2019 veteran Washington journalist John A. Jenkins says we\u2019ve been here before"},"content":{"rendered":"
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John A. Jenkins was freshly graduated from college and not yet 21 when he arrived in Washington, D.C., to begin work as a reporter in May, 1971. It was the beginning of an eventful season in American history. As he chronicles in his new book, \u201cSummer of \u201871: Five Months That Changed America\u201d (Citadel), Americans 55 years ago were arguing about an ill-defined war on the other side of the world, inflation, abortion rights, and a United States president who seemed to be dragging the nation into authoritarianism. Sound familiar? <\/span><\/p>\n

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When Jenkins arrived at his first job, he says, \u201ceverybody else in the newsroom was on vacation and the entire city was probably either on Nantucket or in Martha\u2019s Vineyard. I\u2019m in the throes of this amazing political maelstrom every day, beginning in late May of 1971.\u201d It was an exhilarating time to be a political journalist, but, Jenkins says, \u201cat the same time, it\u2019s almost like I\u2019m covering a crime scene.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One of the most consequential stories of the summer was the New York Times\u2019 publication of the Pentagon Papers, the government\u2019s secret history of American involvement in Vietnam, which had been leaked by economist and analyst Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg was among the \u201creally compelling characters\u201d Jenkins profiles in the book, including reporter Neil Sheehan, activist Angela Davis, Roe v. Wade attorney Sarah Weddington, Attica prisoner George Jackson, and then-national security advisor Henry Kissinger. <\/span><\/p>\n

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