Flashback: January 1973

Last year, I wrote and published several blog topics marking some milestone anniversaries. (Numerous occurred during the year 1972.) It turns out, here in January 2023, there are at least three which spring to mind. I mention these 50-year “Flashback: January 1973” anniversaries—and they include some videos—and this will save me from having to write and publish three separate blog topics.

New Orleans Sniper

The first event took place December 31, 1972 (also the date of death of MLB star Roberto Clemente) and covered the first few days until January 7, 1973. It was a sniper in New Orleans, Louisiana who had nothing to lose. Mark Essex (born August 12, 1949) was enlisted in the Navy. He was part of the New York branch of Black Panthers. He became a black nationalist. He targeted white people. Essex went on a rampage—as a sniper—and, over the course of those seven days, shot 21 people; injured 12; murdered 9; and he was killed. Much of this took place at a Howard Johnson’s motel. (Video coverage remembering the anniversary, which has passed, is included above. A 2020 report: See historical photos of 1973 sniper attack at the Downtown Howard Johnson's in New Orleans.)

 

The Loud Family

On January 11, 1973, PBS debuted An American Family. This was a documentary, played out over several parts and for weeks, which was filmed in 1971. It focused on the daily lives of the Loud family: father Bill (1921–2018); mother Pat (1926–2021); and children Lance (1951–2001), Kevin (1953), Grant (1954), Delilah (1955), and Michele (1957). It was a landmark production which also gave viewers a voyeuristic-like glimpse into the lives of this California family, as what would play out in their lives, was filmed for viewers to see. (Numerous viewers were able to relate.) This included the coming out of first-born Lance, at a time when this was considered shocking and upsetting, as he was not at all feeling ashamed but very free. During the course of this doc series, and with their marriage in trouble, Pat informed Bill she wanted a divorce. (I will mention that I have seen some clips from An American Family. As of this blog topic’s publishing date: I have not seen it in its entirety.) Recommended: 50 Years Ago, ‘An American Family’ Rocked the Culture — and the Business of TV.

The Death of LBJ

On January 22, 1973, 36th president of the United States Lyndon Baines Johnson died, at age 64, four years after having left the presidency. (He was born August 27, 1908. Also on this date: The U.S. Supreme Court voted for Roe v. Wade.) One year after the assassination of 35th U.S. president John Kennedy, with the Republican nominee Barry Goldwater (who was deemed too radical), LBJ carried 44 states plus first-time-voting District of Columbia for a total 486 electoral votes. This was the last time a Democrat carried 40 or more states (which is 80 percent of the nation’s states; in this case, 88 percent). While LBJ made history with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Medicare, he also delivered the nation to the losing war in Vietnam. This divided much of the U.S.’s citizens. This undid his presidency. In March 1968, LBJ announced he would not seek a possible second full term. The Republicans won a pickup of the presidency, with Richard Nixon, and ushered in a realigning period with winning seven of the next ten United States presidential election cycles which ran from 1968 to 2004. In the above video is an interview with Johnson near the end of his life. It is interesting. (Bonus “Flashback”: As described by Wikipedia, on January 27, 1973, “U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords”.) The related video, above, was Lyndon Johnson’s last interview which occurred just days before his death.