However you prefer to bookend summer—school calendar, Memorial-to-Labor Day, the technical season dictated by earth’s tilt—this one has felt historic as an American citizen.
The approach of Labor Day weekend inspired me to take stock of the political and cultural whirlwind that swept through our lives in only the last two months.
Of course, the presidential election has commanded center stage. I don’t remember another summer in my lifetime where we’ve ping-ponged so quickly among shifting fears and possibilities regarding leadership of the free world.
The pandemic year of 2020 simmered with constant tension, but this has felt like more of a concentrated emotional roller coaster. We’ve heard comparisons with the tumult and tragedy of 1968.
The very framework of current events in our digitally connected, politically polarized world kept interrupting our fiction reading on the beach. It was as if we thought were watching one epic Shakespearean play, only to see the scenery swept aside and replaced by an entirely different backdrop.
I’ll always remember that I was tending to my backyard gas grill when I saw the July 13 news alert of the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
I’ll also remember I was sitting beneath a shade tree with bicycle teammates along the RAGBRAI route when everybody’s phones vibrated and dinged simultaneously with the news that President Joe Biden had dropped his reelection bid.
We’ve been buoyed by the Summer Olympics, distraught over war and conflict in Europe and the Middle East.
To better appreciate all that we’ve absorbed so fast, I wanted to scan a summer 2024 timeline. So I created one.
What else would you highlight from our wild summer, or how would you try to place it into proper perspective?
Maybe it’s somewhat reassuring to keep in mind we don’t always get to feel like we’re living through history as it unfolds in the moment. No fear of that this summer.
A summer 2024 political and cultural timeline
June 27—Biden suffers from a weak performance against Trump in their televised debate in Atlanta. Until then everybody basically assumed we were trudging towards a 2020 rematch and “presidential election no one wants.”
July 1—The U.S. Supreme Court rules Trump has some immunity from prosecution, particularly relating to core powers of the presidency. The ruling effectively delays a trial over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection until after the 2024 election.
July 2—U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas becomes the first Democrat in Congress to publicly call for Biden to drop out of the race.
July 4—The Labour party in the United Kingdom, led by Keir Starmer as prime minister, scores its first general election victory since 2005.
July 5—Biden tells ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he’s determined to remain in the presidential race.
July 26—The Summer Olympics opening ceremony on the Seine River in Paris inspires the wider world to ask, “Who exactly is this heavy metal band, Gojira?”
July 12—The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gives 2024 a 60% chance to become the globe’s warmest year on record (beating a record-setting 2023) and a 100% chance to rank in the top five.
July 13—Trump survives an assassination attempt during his rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. A 20-year-old gunman fired eight rounds, narrowly missing the former president. A bullet grazes Trump’s ear as he turns his head.
July 15—Trump announces Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate. The phrase “childless cat ladies” enters our summer lexicon.
July 15-18—The Republican National Convention is held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan (Terry G. Bollea) rips off his shirt during an impassioned prime-time speech, declaring, “Let Trumpmania run wild, brother!”
July 17—Speaking of running wild, Biden tests positive for COVID-19 in a summer of surging global infection rates. U.S. health officials say the virus has become endemic.
July 21—Biden drops out of the presidential race by posting a letter on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. In the 14th of the letter’s 20 sentences, he writes, “I believe it is in the best interest of the party and my country for me to stand down.” He endorses his vice president, Kamala Harris, who immediately announces her presidential campaign.
Aug. 2—Harris secures enough delegate votes to become the Democratic nominee for president.
Aug. 5—The New Yorker publishes a blistering (yet fair) profile of third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., where an account of him leaving the carcass of a bear cub in New York City’s Central Park is only one of many disturbing details.
Aug. 6—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—or “Coach Walz”—is announced as Harris’ pick for vice president. After nearly a decade of red MAGA ballcaps, Democrats finally find their answer with the Harris-Walz camo hat.
Aug. 6—Ukraine forces pierce the Russian border into the Kursk region in the largest invasion of Russia since World War II.
Aug. 7—Taylor Swift cancels three concerts scheduled in Vienna, Austria, due to the apparent threat of a terror attack.
Aug. 11—The Summer Olympics closing ceremony features a climatic Tom Cruise rappel into the middle of the Stade de France, foreshadowing the games’ return to Los Angeles. Viewers are left with the warm glow of athletic achievement and global cooperation while also marveling at (1) Snoop Dogg’s multimillion dollar payday as Olympic “spokesdogg,” (2) the iconoclastic performance of breakdancer Rachel “Raygun” Gunn, and (3) the cool concentration of Turkish shooter and silver medalist Yusuf Dikec.
Aug. 17—The National Weather Service annual tally of tornadoes in Iowa, 122, makes 2024 the record-setter for number of tornadoes statewide. The widest tornado (1.1 miles) devastated the southwest Iowa town of Minden, while the longest (42.4 miles) carved a furious path through Greenfield. (My Iowa Writers’ Collaborative colleague Chris Gloninger analyzes the climate trend and puts the current count at 131 tornadoes.)
Aug. 19-22—Harris formally accepts her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where Michelle Obama captivates the United Center with an impassioned prime-time speech, saying, “Going small is never the answer. Going small is the opposite of what we teach our children. Going small is petty, it’s unhealthy, and quite frankly, it’s unpresidential.”
Aug. 23—RFK Jr. drops out of the presidential race and endorses Trump.
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