The Weathermen on Trial

Sound Bite

In this historical novel and legal thriller, a Trump tweet starts an FBI investigation into political bombings and assassinations in the 1970s by the Weathermen, including Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. The narrative alternates between the original crimes and today's attempts to arrive at justice.The characters on all sides act out of patriotism and their convictions about what America stands for, but their clashing definitions of patriotism show how even an appeal to our sense of values causes conflict in American politics and society.

About the Book

The Weathermen On Trial: A Bombshell Story About Bringing the War Home is a gripping historical novel that intertwines a legal thriller with the real-life political unrest of the 1970s anti-Vietnam War movement.

The story begins with a modern-day political storm ignited by a provocative Trump tweet, which triggers an FBI investigation that uncovers the hidden past of a university professor, leading to his arrest for crimes committed during his radical days. In a narrative blending fact with fiction, the novel introduces readers to the violent protests of the Weather Underground, a radical left-wing group that sought to end the Vietnam War through extreme means. The protagonist, now an aging academic, must confront his past involvement in political bombings and fabrications of political assassinations as part of the anti-war effort decades ago.

What ensues is a courtroom drama that brings to light not only the details of the crimes but also the complex motivations behind them, offering a window into the minds of those who once believed violence was a necessary tool to bring about change. The novel doesn’t simply stop at a legal battle; it unravels the history of the Vietnam War protests, portraying the real figures who led the movement.

Rossiter crafts his characters based on the actual backgrounds, motivations, and words of key activists from the time, providing a nuanced perspective on what drove ordinary citizens to commit extraordinary acts of rebellion. Each character is driven by his own sense of patriotism, creating a powerful exploration of the different ways people define love for their country and how those definitions can clash with catastrophic consequences. As the trial unfolds, the novel highlights the divergent beliefs and ideologies that shaped American politics during the Vietnam War era—a time when societal divisions ran as deep as they do today. On one side, there were the establishment forces, government officials, and law enforcement committed to protecting the state and maintaining order. On the other, the radicals, many of them idealistic college students, who saw the American government’s actions in Vietnam as a gross betrayal of democratic values and human rights. These divisions are embodied in the legal battle, as the characters on both sides struggle to reconcile their past actions with their present lives.

In addition to being a historical and political drama, The Weathermen On Trial serves as a reflection on the lasting impact of the Vietnam War protests on modern American society. The novel asks crucial questions: How far is too far when fighting for what you believe in? Can political violence ever be justified? And how should we judge the actions of those who believed they were fighting for a better world, even when their methods were violent and destructive?

Rossiter’s novel also touches on the personal toll of such activism. The protagonist’s personal journey is one of regret, introspection, and the search for redemption. While he once believed he was making a difference, the professor must now come to terms with the fact that his actions had serious consequences—both for himself and for others. The story vividly depicts the emotional weight of living with a dark past and the personal cost of political conviction.

The Weathermen On Trial is more than just a legal thriller—it’s a meditation on patriotism, activism, and the complicated nature of justice. Readers interested in political history, courtroom dramas, and the turbulent era of the 1960s and 1970s will find the book to be a compelling and thought-provoking read. Rossiter masterfully humanizes both the radicals and their adversaries, reminding us that history is never as black-and-white as it seems. This novel is a fast, fun read for serious readers who are curious about the Vietnam War protests, radical activism, and how the echoes of that era still resonate in today’s political landscape.

Introduction

October 1969: The DecisionA chilling crosswind pushed the white teenager across the quad at the University of Chicago as he walked from his calculus class toward his dorm on 55th, shivering inside jeans and a light Army jacket. At five feet, seven inches and so slight that he had to eat heartily rather than cut weight to wrestle at the lowest class, 118 pounds, Val Shaw didn't have much fat for protection from the lake city's vaunted wind. "Christ," he thought, "only October and the Hawk they warned us about is out already!"As Val came out of the quad his eye caught the headline from the bright orange Chicago Tribune box: "Thousands Resist Draft, Overwhelming System." Val stopped short, and peered into the box, his eyes moving quickly past the pro-war, anti-hippie Trib's "Flag of the Day" picture to read the first few paragraphs above the fold. The article concerned the very matter that had been on his mind, day and night, for the two months he had been in college. What was the right thing, the moral thing, the patriotic thing, to do about the draft, when he turned 18 in November?Should he just ignore it, and wait to get caught? Or would the university require him to show registration to stay in school? But even holding a draft card, and not burning it, because he was scared of prison, that would be cowardly anyway, and nothing to be proud of when people asked years from now, "What did you do to oppose the U.S. invasion of Viet Nam?""No," he thought, "I have to stand up. I'm not going to hide. I'm going to throw my body into the gears of the machine, like the people stopping troop trains in Oakland. 'The pump won't work 'cause the vandals took the handles'."Smiling now, and humming the Dylan song that had been revived in anti-war circles a few months before because of another line in it that had been appropriated by SDS's action faction ; "You don;¢t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" ; Val turned the corner and continued on up Ellis, now straight into the nasty wind, finally resolved to resist the draft like the thousands in the newspaper, no matter what came of it.

Information

About the Author In Washington, Dr. Rossiter also served as counselor to the chairman of a subcommittee of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where he was involved in drafting and pursuing legislation, and writing reports and speeches on the impact on US interests of the decline in America's reputation, US undergraduate scholarships for low-income foreign students, US relations with non-democratic countries in Africa, the US-Iraq security agreement, torture and extra-legal rendition, and congressional authority to approve combat.  In 2010, Algora published his book on U.S. policy, The Turkey and the Eagle: The Struggle for America's Global Role.Dr. Rossiter then became a professor in the School of International Affairs at American University, where he taught courses on African history and politics, US policy toward Africa, the US military budget, and the use of statistics in international affairs such as climate and economic modeling. He has also been a professor at Cornell University and an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.Then he decided to find out why so few of Washington's African-American students attended his university. He spent three and a half years as a high school math teacher in the capital's high-poverty public and charter schools ; he resigned when ordered to raise failing grades for students who were six years behind and made little effort to catch up. In 2015, Algora published his book Ain't Nobody be Learnin' Nothin: The Fraud and the Fix for High-Poverty Schools, based on his experiences.