Chicago has hosted more presidential conventions than any other US city, stretching back to

1860 when Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln. But perhaps none was as notorious or as

consequential as the 1968 Democratic Convention

when deep divisions over the Vietnam War played out on both the Convention floor

and on the streets of Chicago.

That history and its relevance to today

is the subject of tonight's installment

of Judy Woodruff's ongoing series,

America at a crossroads.

You know, we thought of ourselves as revolutionaries in those days and we were

really irked by the Democratic Party and the war in Vietnam.

Michael James was in Chicago in 1968 when the protests at the Democratic Convention began.

It's not just the war in Vietnam.

I mean it was early women's movement, certainly civil rights movement, people were really aware of what was going on in the world

and were taken it out on the Democratic Party. We were demonstrating because all of the delegates were staying here.

I met him across the street from the Hilton in downtown Chicago

where he took part in some of the most intense clashes, including when he and others began

rocking a police van.

And there's a lot of myths about tipping it over,

but we never did.

We rocked it.

This guy in the passenger seat.

...