I was “Clean for Gene” in 1968.
Clean for Gene meant I had short hair and no beard.
I attempted to have a general appearance that would not irritate people my parents' age, i.e. voters.
Eugene McCarthy was an anti-war politician running against Lyndon Johnson. I liked him. I did not want my appearance to cost him votes when I said something good about him or bad about the Vietnam War. I was only 18 but I had already figured out that the appearance and body language of political messengers dramatically affected their message. I wanted to look like a "good, normal, clean-cut guy." Some people said I had sold out to the establishment. It was a fair point.
I did not know Tony Farrell during our college years. After college he had big jobs in brand management at The Gap, The Sharper Image, and The Nature Company. His friends remind him that he handled the Trump Steaks account. He finished his career at the most demanding marketing venue, direct-to-consumer sales, i.e. infomercials.
Guest Post by Tony Farrell
When Peter and I were at Harvard College a half-century ago, there was a sullen cadre of classmates who sported Maoist enthusiasms; activist Red Diaper Babies whom later Woody Allen loved to mock. Their signature attribute was a deep humorlessness, and their ilk still walks among us. This is unfortunate because it is humor that may save us.
Today, the extremism of grim wokeness is disheartening (and not only because it gives free ammo to Republicans). Fortunately, Bill Maher’s “Cajones Awards” is so brilliantly funny and true that it may signal a corner has been turned on our way out of the bleak wilderness of correctness. Particularly gratifying is his recognition of Cornell’s no-nonsense president; Cornell the university that suffered an armed student takeover, spring of 1969, when my Harvard leftist classmates also seized an administration building. (Cornell expelled not a single student; in fact, a leader of that armed takeover was put on their board!)
Check out Maher’s show.
Parental Advisory. This is R-rated and may not be suitable for all viewers.
I went Clean for Gene, too. I was 21, a senior at Indiana University, and canvassed in Bloomington.
There was a huge town-gown divide then (as there is now, as I understand). Not every voter was friendly to even a clean-cut canvasser for Gene--and I am afraid I reciprocated some animosity. I was as guilty as anyone in developing the hardhat vs hippie fracture that cost the Democratic Party a couple of generations of its natural allies. Which is a lesson for today, as you point out.
I too was clean for Gene but I wore pants so I didn't have to shave my legs. In those days both genders in my Nebraska crowd tried to "dress up" by ordering the same antelope-colored, corduroy blazer from LL Bean. Our meetings looked hilarious. Since many of the men in my family were construction workers, I was relatively quiet on that cultural divide. But it was fun and great experience and I have never really regretted it. I admit I have more compassion for LBJ now than I did then however.