THE land was in its summer rhythms. The unrelenting litany of problems remainedthe war, inflation, unemployment, pollution. Ahead loomed a somewhat strange presidential election that might wedge the old divisions wider than ever. Yet for the moment, much of America was suspended in an August pause. Compared with the national mood a year agoa weary funk of economic uncertaintythere was now even a sense of a new summer sweetness, an ease, or apathy, and in some parts of the country a distinct savor of contentment.
Last summer, according to one estimate, Americans...
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