The summer of 1970, a year filled with anti-Vietnam War protests across the country, was headed to a climax with the American Legion’s national convention opening in Portland on August 30. The Oregonian newspaper reported that Richard Nixon was to address the gathering. Portland had witnessed its share of demonstrations; this could be the mother of them all. The FBI informed Governor Tom McCall that the so-called Peoples Army Jamboree was organizing to bring 50,000 protestors to disrupt the convention. (Later, evidence showed the FBI had made up the number. Some things don’t change.) Continue reading “American Legion – Then and Now”
