Overview

A project of the UVA Center for Politics and Community Idea Stations, "Ball of Confusion" is a one-hour documentary that examines the 1968 presidential contest in the context of a difficult and contentious year in American history. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, racial unrest, nationwide riots, and a continuing war in Vietnam put the nation on edge and produced a historic three-way presidential election. Through archival footage and compelling interviews, the film shows how the election was influenced by the fractures in the United States' social and political foundations, leaving deep scars that would affect generations to come.