Were your parents or grandparents politically active? What is your first political memory?
4th grade was an election year. Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace each hoped to be the 37th President of the United States.
Our class held mock elections, following the campaign on TV and in the newspapers. Most of my classmates were Nixon fans, presumably because their parents were followers of the Republican candidate.
My parents wouldn’t tell me who they wanted to see in the White House. I parroted the idea of a secret ballot at school despite Mrs. X’s preference for me to publicly choose a candidate and campaign for him. You probably already know how the 1968 presidential election turned out. 
Despite several decades and many political discussions, I don’t know how my dad voted in any election. And I still keep my votes to myself.
Have a political experience in your family history? Leave a comment below and/or post on your blog with the tag 52 Memory Prompts.
Memory prompt #4 will be posted January 27th. Stay tuned!
My experience is the direct opposite of yours. I can remember the 1960 election, only because my father was upset about the result. He was mad that Nixon lost, so I was too, even though I had no idea who Nixon was — or Kennedy, for that matter. Different names in ’64, but pretty much the same reaction.
By: bronxboy55 on January 25, 2013
at 10:55 am
Funny how those memories stick with us, only to be retrieved by the right sequence of words. I wonder how many of our political opinions were formed during those “formative” years?
By: Laura Aanenson on January 25, 2013
at 8:07 pm
Happy blogiversary!!
By: yship on January 20, 2013
at 7:53 pm
Happy blogiversary! I’ve been a member for about four months.
Regards, Grant
http://thestephensherwoodletters.blogspot.com
By: yship on January 20, 2013
at 7:54 pm
Grant, thank you so much for following and for the kind words on the anniversary of my blog. Hope you enjoy the posts coming up!
By: Laura Aanenson on January 21, 2013
at 7:22 pm
Thanks so much!
By: Laura Aanenson on January 21, 2013
at 7:23 pm