Summary of Rachel Maddow & Michael Yarvitz's Bag Man

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 On the evening of April 4, 1968, NBC broke into its regular programming to report the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The following morning, parts of America were convulsed by shock and outrage, and in a handful of cities, riots broke out.

#2 Eventually, Agnew called a meeting with black leaders in Baltimore, where he publicly berated them for not condemning the violence. However, letters and calls in support of Agnew flooded into the governor’s office.

#3 Nixon was counting on overwhelming support from conservative whites in the Deep South to defeat the Democrat Hubert Humphrey in November, but if George Wallace managed to peel off enough votes, he might cost Nixon the election.

#4 Agnew was like Nixon’s id, without the burden of much actual knowledge or curiosity or responsibility to the country at large. He was a heat-seeking political missile who embraced the power of television and the value of a well-landed attack, low blow or not.