Hunter S. Thompson - Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72

The BEST STUFF ON THE CAMPAIGN Ive read any where.

The Washington Post

AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL. He hit the high notes out on the ragged edge, and thousands of us heard him above the canned din of the safe center.

Los Angeles Times

F orty years after its original publication, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72 remains a cornerstone of American political journalism and one of the bestselling campaign books of all time. Hunter S. Thompsons searing account of the battle for the 1972 presidencyfrom the Democratic primaries to the eventual showdown between George McGovern and Richard Nixonis infused with the characteristic wit, intensity, and emotional engagement that made Thompson the flamboyant apostle and avatar of gonzo journalism ( The New York Times ). Hilarious, terrifying, insightful, and compulsively readable, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72 is an epic political adventure that captures the feel of the American democratic process better than any other book ever written.

Thompson should be recognized for contributing some of the clearest, MOST BRACING AND FEARLESS ANALYSIS of the possibilities and failures of American democracy in the past century.

Chicago Tribune

Some of the FINEST POLITICAL AND SOCIAL WRITING of our times. The Seattle Times

OBSCENE, HORRID, REPELLENT Driving, urgent, candid, searing A fascinating, compelling book. New York Post

WILLIAN J. DIBBLE

HUNTER S. THOMPSON was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. His books include Hells Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone . He died in 2005.

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COVER DESIGN BY TOM McKEVENY COVER ART BY TOM W. BENTON

It is Nixon himself who represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character almost every other country in the world has learned to fear and despise.

H UNTER S. T HOMPSON

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72

Unnerving.

N EWSWEEK

The best reportage in years gives politics some flesh.

S ATURDAY R EVIEW

Shocks you into laughter.

D ETROIT F REE P RESS

The best, the fastest, the hippest, the most unorthodox account youll read.

S AN F RANCISCO E XAMINER & C HRONICLE

From this moment on, let all those who feel that Americans can be as easily led to truth as to public relations be said to be suffering from Hunter Thompsons disease.

K URT V ONNEGUT J R .

Also by Hunter S. Thompson

The Rum Diary

Hells Angels

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The Great Shark Hunt

The Curse of Lono

Generation of Swine

Songs of the Doomed

Screwjack

Better Than Sex

The Proud Highway

Fear and Loathing in America

Kingdom of Fear

Hey Rube

Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone

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To Sandy, who endured almost a year of grim exile in Washington, D.C., while this book was being written.

HST

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Copyright 1973 by Hunter S. Thompson Introduction 2012 by Matt Taibbi Originally published by Straight Arrow Press

The author gratefully acknowledges permission to print the following: Lines from Taxi by Harry F. Chapin, 1972 Story Songs Ltd, used by permission, all rights reserved. Eagleton Reveals Illness, Vacation Ordeal and The McGovern Course, by William Greider, copyright 1972 Washington Post Company, by permission of the Washington Post . Be Angry at the Sun, copyright 1941, renewed 1969 by Donnan Jeffers and Garth Jeffers, reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. The McGovern Image, by James Naughton 1972 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Paperbacks Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition June 2012

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ISBN 978-1-4516-9157-3

ISBN 978-1-4516-9158-0 (ebook)

Between the Idea and the Reality. Falls the Shadow.

T. S. Eliot

Is This Trip Necessary? Strategic Retreat into National Politics Two Minutes & One Gram Before Midnight on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Setting Up the National Affairs Desk Can Georgetown Survive the Black Menace? Fear and Loathing in Washington

The Million Pound Shithammer Pros Scorn the Youth Vote Fresh Meat for the Boys in the Back Room The Death of Hope & A Withering of Expectation Another McCarthy Crusade? John Lindsay? The Rancid Resurrection of Hubert Humphrey Violence in the Press Box & Mano a Mano on TWA Who Is Big Ed & Why Is Everybody Sucking Up to Him?

Fear & Loathing in New Hampshire Back on the Campaign Trail in Manchester, Keene & the Booth Fish Hatcheries Harold Hughes Is Your Friend Weird Memories of 68: A Private Conversation with Richard Nixon Will Dope Doom the Cowboys? A First, Massive & Reluctantly Final Judgment on the Reality of George McGovern Small Hope for the Hammer & No Hope at All for the Press Wizards

The View from Key Biscayne Enter the Savage Boohoo; Madness & Violence on the Sunshine Special Lindsay Runs Amok, Muskie Runs Scared First Flexing of the Big Wallace Muscle; First Signs of Doom for the Democrats Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here Except Maybe Ted Kennedy

The Banshee Screams in Florida The Emergence of Mankiewicz Hard Times for the Man from Maine Redneck Power & Hell on Wheels for George Wallace Hube Slithers out of Obscurity Fear and Loathing on the Democratic Left

Stunning Upset in Wisconsin McGovern Juggernaut Croaks Muskie Humphrey Falters; Wallace Rolls On Big Ed Exposed as Ibogaine Addict McGovern Accosts the Sheriff Bad News from Bleak House: Mojo Madness in Milwaukee; or How Nazis Broke My Spirit on Election Night Mankiewicz Predicts First Ballot Victory in Miami