The 1968 Democratic Convention

the country seemed to be tearing itself apart opposing forces were converging on the Democratic Convention in Chicago uh I was planning to organize and help lead demonstrations in Chicago uh which were to be anti-war as the convention approached Chicago's powerful mayor Richard Daly took a tough stand against violence in his City he should have had instructions to shoot arsonist and to shoot looters shoot arsonist to kill and shoot looters in order that they be detained and in my opinion also there should have been M used on these looters when this was being conducted and as the violence in our society and the tension deepened uh I just felt uh that I was heading into a whirlwind in Chicago outside the convention hall there were confrontations an official report later said it was a police Riot the police claimed that the demonstrators were provocative hurling objects even human waste George McGovern was in Chicago as a candidate having inherited Kennedy delegates did you see the demonstrations and what did you think of them I did I watched them from a fourth floor window in the Blackstone Hotel it was a it was a sickening thing to see there's no question that some of the uh protesters got out of line but uh one can't argue that the Chicago Police didn't get out of line they did there was brutality there was uh overkill on the part of the police and uh that's probably where we lost the 1968 convention the clash between those two Americas that you could see on the street young uh policemen on one hand young protesters on the other they were from two different worlds and that became clear to the country and that division went right through the Democratic party and with George McGovern as president of the United States we wouldn't have to have gapo tactics in the streets of Chicago Chicago mayor Daly shouted an epithet that da supporters later maintained was Faker the violence raging outside the convention spread inside and political differences turned venomous Colorado down Mr chairman Colorado Rises to a point of information is there any rule under which mayor Dy can be compelled to suspend the police state Terror perpetrated this minute on kids in front of the conr hilon the 68 convention in Chicago was one of the landmarks of political conflict you know in modern American history really looking back on it you say Jean Kirkpatrick professor of political science today an Republican was then a Democrat were you still for Humphrey at that time oh yes absolutely I was in I was in Chicago with the Humphrey campaign I mean it was mean and it was bitter and the it was a kind of deeply divided party yeah I we were abused no candidates ever been abused the way I was or my my workers were at any convention probably in the history of democrat countries I don't know how how have you well they're physically beaten up with no cause on the floor on the streets and in the hotel uncalled for you know invasions of privacy and physical beatings by Chicago Police primarily chaos the young Blue Collar policemen probably Democrats and the young protesters probably Democrats the protesters chanted the whole world is watching people watching on TV saw a political party that couldn't even control its own convention it was not an auspicious moment to begin a presidential campaign I proudly accept the nomination of our party there was a second issue Humphrey had entered the race too late to run in most of the few primaries that existed in 1968 he won the nomination without competing in the primaries there was a bitter argument about this H humy was picked perfectly fairly but Hubert Humphrey was picked by a convention which consisted largely of elected officials and party regulars but he didn't run in primaries he did not run in primaries that's right but the rules of the democratic party didn't require that a nominee run in the primaries stole it purely well he stole it according to the extent rules at the time let's put it that way he well I mean you know that that's the Democratic process you follow the rules it was not a democratic process it was a totally rigged rubber stamp convention uh designed to ignore the will of the voters in the primaries who had rejected the president rejected Humphrey and that's what caused the rage it was absolutely fair in terms of the ground rules we were then operating on Hubert didn't violate any of the rules he took advantage of what was then the accepted established way of uh nominating a president in response to this argument and seeking to calm the convention Humphrey endorsed a commission to change the nominating rules for the next election Humphrey called for Unity he got some but he also got the dump the hump movement I personally believe that there's not a problem that we have that we can't talk out I don't think we can shout it out you know to get elected president you have to look like a president among other things and uh they wouldn't give him his dignity every place he went he would try to speak and they'd boo him they'd have the bullhorns and the eggs and worse we have not come to talk with you Mr Humphrey we have come to arrest you in Vietnam there's a wound that does not cease its bleeding all of my life I have stood guard against those forces of reaction and bigotry and discrimination that would weaken and poison the atmosphere of this land and now what is the end result the end result is that a handful of militant anarchists and nihilists who believe in nothing have determined that they're going to destroy a man a party and weaken a country but ladies and gentlemen they're not going to do it we're going to succeed we're going to [Applause] win to think that pursuing a policy that let Richard Nixon get elected was our Salvation which a lot of them would told me that they said well I I'd rather have Nixon I said you can't mean that I guess they did [Applause] having lost a close one eight years ago and having won a close one this year I can say this winning is a lot more fun the election was indeed close but in a normal two-party race without Wallace Nixon would have won by a bigger margin why 59 million people watch the convention on television many associate Creed its images with the Democratic party they didn't like what they saw what they did like watching looked quite different the most popular television show of the 60s was Bonanza talk about American cultural values it glorified families hard work order and Morality In the public mind Democrats ended up on the wrong side of the screen