The year was 1968 when I turned 13 and started Central Junior High School in Rock Island, Ill.

Vietnam had begun the new year with the Tet Offensive. I watched LBJ decide to not seek a second presidential term. I watched Bobby Kennedy step up to finish what his late brother had begun. Martin Luther King was assassinated April 4, 1968, on a Thursday evening before Good Friday that year. Almost two months later, Bobby Kennedy was also felled by an assassin's rifle. Vietnam had escalated into full-scale chaos and we were suffering numerous casualties.

One boy, Jerry Danay, was 18 when he went and was back in four months -- in a coffin. He was the all-American boy who worked at the local drive-in, Henry's, and had also been our paper boy. That summer was full of unrest and then came the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. We came to know about the Chicago 7 and the Illinois National Guard during out-of-control protests.

The nominees were Hubert Humphrey, D-Minnesota, a senator who had won no primaries, and Ed Muskie, a senator from Maine. This set up the November election in which the Republicans, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew were the nominees. How can we forget George Wallace from Alabama and his running mate Curtis LeMay and their racist, segregationist politics?

Nixon won with 301, Humphrey had 191 and Wallace ended up with 46 electoral votes. And the riots; there were numerous race riots all over the country. There were ongoing protests on many of the nation's college campuses.

At 13, I decided that I would learn everything I could about history and government. This chaotic world was upsetting to everyone with the primary reason being Vietnam. Vietnam is what allowed the Republicans to take over the White House.

I was never impressed with Nixon; he didn't shoot straight arrows. Vietnam continued. My brother went, so did a lot of other friends; some came back, some didn't.

I had a government class with a teacher who didn't use textbooks. His name was Jerry Janecke. The first day he handed everyone a piece of paper with 10 questions, we filled them out and then he looked at them and divided us into two sides of the room. One side was for conservatives, the other was for liberals. We were the new Congress for 1973, and we would act like the real Congress in all areas.

I was shocked to find myself on the conservative side. This was total disgrace for me, but Mr. Janecke allayed my fears in a few days. This was the most educational experience for me at the time. I was hooked on helping everyone and anyone who was running for office. I still wasn't old enough to vote at the time.

He taught us about diversity before it became a required subject in the workplace. I remember how he had us write a paper about the politics of the day. John Connally, former Democratic Texas governor, had decided to switch parties and become a Republican. I always felt that Nixon was reaching the end of his road before Watergate surfaced. I watched Nixon give his resignation speech detailing his departure on Aug. 9, 1974.

I look at the year 1968 for shaping my present-day beliefs and 40 years later, I still remember those lessons and the painful memories from that time. I am proud to say that I voted for Barack Obama -- he is representative of the best of what is great to be an American.

J. Diane Richardson, of Springfield, serves on the News-Leader Community Editorial Advisory Board.