In the wake of recent protests in the US, Donald Trump has declared himself to be the ‘law and order’ president.

This term comes with many layers of meaning for Americans. Richard Nixon had declared himself to be the same when he ran for office in 1968 — a time of much turmoil in America. There were wide-scale protests against the Vietnam War, and three prominent leaders — John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr and Bobby Kennedy — had all been assassinated. There had been major race riots in several large cities in the aftermath of the King assassination in April 1968 and most white Americans had fled urban areas in fear. The country was in turmoil and Nixon promised to smack down any protests. Read more …