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.

References

  1. ↑ "Past Convention Coverage". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Keynoter Knows Sting of Bias, Poverty". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. August 27, 1968.
  3. ↑ "1968: Martin Luther King shot dead". On this Day. BBC. 2008. Archived from the original on March 11, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  4. ↑ Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. (1968). Robert Kennedy and His Times. New York: Ballantine Books. p. xi.

Other websites


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.