1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced that he would not seek re-election, the convention was to select a new presidential nominee to run as the party's candidate for the office.[1] The keynote speaker was Hawaii Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye.[2]
Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Maine Senator Edmund S. Muskie were nominated for president and vice president.
The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence, and civil unrest, particularly riots in more than 100 cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4.[3] The convention also followed the June 5 assassination of the Democratic presidential hopeful New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York. Both Kennedy and Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota had been running against the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, Humphrey. Another candidate was South Dakota Senator George McGovern.[4]
Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley intended to showcase his and the city's achievements to national Democrats and the news media. Instead, the proceedings became notorious for the large number of demonstrators and the use of force by the Chicago Police Departtment during what was supposed to be, in the words of the Yippie activist organizers, “A Festival of Life.” Riots and protests took place between demonstrators and the police, who were assisted by the Illinois National Guard. The disturbances were well publicized by the mass media, with some journalists and reporters being caught up in the violence. The network newsmen Mike Wallace and Dan Rather were roughed up by the police inside the halls of the convention.
1968 Democratic National Convention Media
- DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION 1968 REEL 1 306-1424-r1.webm
Film from inside the convention by the United States Information Agency
- Photograph of Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie at the 1968 Democratic National Convention a.jpg
Humphrey and Muskie together at the Democratic National Convention
- Error missing media source
Anti-war demonstrators in Lincoln Park, Chicago, attending a Yippie organized event approximately five miles (8.0 km) north of the convention center. The band MC5 can be seen playing.
- 1968 LINCOLN PARK DEMONSTRATIONS DURING DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION 111-lc-53312.webm
Film shot by DASPO of the protests and Chicago police and military response to the protests
- Chicago Police helmet & billy-club b.jpg
Chicago Police helmet and billy club circa 1968 (photographed 2012)
- LBJ and Richard Daley, 8-29-68 7.31P..webm
Phone call between President Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Daley, August 29, 1968
- 1964 Portrait Eugene McCarthy (cropped2).jpg
SenatorEugene McCarthyof Minnesota(1959-1971) - Robert F Kennedy cropped.jpg
SenatorRobert F. Kennedyof New York(1965-1968) (posthumous) - George McGovern (D-SD) (3x4-1).jpg
SenatorGeorge McGovernof South Dakota(1963-1981)
References
- ↑ "Past Convention Coverage". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/whouse/convention-ra.html#1968. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
- ↑ Keynoter Knows Sting of Bias, Poverty. August 27, 1968.
- ↑ "1968: Martin Luther King shot dead". On this Day (BBC). 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/4/newsid_2453000/2453987.stm. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
- ↑ Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. (1968). Robert Kennedy and His Times. New York: Ballantine Books. p. xi.
Other websites
- 1968 Democratic National Convention Archived 2012-06-16 at the Wayback Machine at Smithsonian Magazine
- Chicago '68: A Chronology
- Chicago '68: An Introduction, by Dean Blobaum (2000)
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