Democratic National Convention of 1968
The Democratic National Convention of 1968, held in Chicago from August 26-29, marked a significant and tumultuous event in U.S. political history, reflecting deep divisions within the Democratic Party. The convention occurred against the backdrop of widespread protests against the Vietnam War, which had become increasingly unpopular, particularly among young Americans and liberal Democrats. The assassination of prominent antiwar candidate Senator Robert F. Kennedy just weeks before the convention heightened tensions and uncertainty within the party.
As delegates gathered, they faced contentious debates, especially concerning the party's stance on the Vietnam War, which ultimately resulted in a moderate platform that did not satisfy many antiwar supporters. The protests outside the convention, led by groups like the Yippies and Students for a Democratic Society, escalated into violent confrontations with the police, leading to national outrage as these events were televised. Despite the chaos, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey secured the presidential nomination, but his candidacy faced significant opposition from factions within the party, such as those supporting Senator Eugene McCarthy.
The legacy of the 1968 convention contributed to long-term changes in the Democratic Party's delegate selection processes and highlighted ongoing cultural and political divides that continued to resonate in American politics, influencing future elections and party dynamics.
Democratic National Convention of 1968
Date: August 26-29, 1968
A national political meeting of the Democratic Party that seriously divided the party and weakened it for years. The widespread violence and political conflict that occurred in Chicago during this convention symbolized generational and cultural differences and policy conflicts over the Vietnam War.
Origins and History
From 1932 through 1968, six Democratic national conventions were held in Chicago. Democratic Party leaders favored Chicago because of its geographically central location and the ability of the local Democratic machine to maintain security within and outside the convention halls. For example, during the 1940 Democratic National Convention, Chicago mayor Edward Kelly ordered convention officials to promote the controversial third-term candidacy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and discourage delegates who opposed a third term. In 1968, Chicago mayor Richard Daley was faced with the more complex, contentious issues of the unpopularity of the Vietnam War and the presumed selection of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, who was vigorously opposed by antiwar demonstrators and some delegates, as the Democratic nominee for president.
The Convention
After 1964, the expanding U.S. military role in Vietnam became more controversial among Americans, particularly college students, some leading media figures, and certain members of Congress, including liberal Democrats such as Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota and Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York. McCarthy, promising a prompt end to the Vietnam War through diplomacy, declared his presidential candidacy on November 30, 1967. With the help of thousands of college students and other antiwar activists, McCarthy almost defeated President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a write-in candidate, in the March 11 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary. Shortly thereafter, Kennedy, also emphasizing an antiwar theme, announced his candidacy. On March 31, 1968, Johnson announced that he would not seek his party’s nomination for another term as president.
McCarthy and Kennedy competed for the support of antiwar activists and organizations and college students in several major presidential primaries. Kennedy had better name recognition, more campaign funds, a charismatic speaking style and personality, and a broader, more diverse coalition of supporters. In addition to attracting antiwar activists and college students, Kennedy appealed to African Americans, Latinos, and white blue-collar workers.
Kennedy defeated McCarthy in most of the primaries that both entered. On June 4, in California’s presidential primary, he defeated the senator from Minnesota by a margin of 4 percent and appeared to be on the verge of becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. However, he was shot shortly after giving his victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and died on June 6.
Much of the anger, division, protest, and chaos that occurred within and near the Democratic National Convention that year can be attributed to the uncertainty, disillusionment, and frustration that many of the more moderate antiwar activists and convention delegates experienced after Kennedy’s assassination. Despite the absence of his toughest competitor, McCarthy’s campaign stagnated. Moderate former Kennedy supporters began to commit delegates to Humphrey rather than to McCarthy. In addition, militant antiwar organizations and leaders planned to conduct demonstrations in Chicago shortly before and during the August 26-29 convention.
The most prominent of these militant antiwar activists were the Yippies (short for the Youth International Party), led by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. They demanded an immediate U.S. military withdrawal from Vietnam. The Yippies were part of the counterculture, sharing its appearance and beliefs and practices, which included sexual freedom, recreational drug use, and alienation from the establishment. For the Yippies and other members of the counterculture, the establishment included corporations, the media, and political traditions such as the two major parties and their nomination and platform-making processes at national conventions. The Yippies were joined in Chicago by other youth-oriented antiwar organizations, particularly the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the Black Panthers.
The violent, antagonistic relationship between antiwar demonstrators and the Chicago police and other security forces resulted in a major incident in Lincoln Park on August 26. After the Yippies conducted a mock convention in which they nominated a live pig, Pigasus, for president, they refused to obey an 11 p.m. curfew and did not leave the park. The police physically ejected them from the park.
The police, National Guard, and other security forces surrounded the International Amphitheater and hotels used by the Democratic National Convention in order to protect participants. Outside the convention, violent clashes continued to take place between security forces and demonstrators, many of whom were college students. On August 28, a large group of protesters who were marching toward the convention site were met by Chicago police officers wielding billy clubs. The officers attacked protesters, bystanders, and reporters alike, and their actions were televised throughout the nation. The officers were widely criticized for using excessive and indiscriminate physical force. During a dramatic, tense moment of the convention, Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut addressed the convention to nominate Senator George McGovern of South Dakota as an antiwar candidate for president. In his speech, he accused the Chicago police of “Gestapo tactics,” a reference to the secret police of Nazi Germany. Television cameras showed Mayor Daley and several Illinois delegates angrily jeering Ribicoff.
Although McCarthy did not have enough delegate support to be nominated for president at the convention, he and his delegates challenged Humphrey and his more numerous supporters on several issues. For example, the McCarthy forces were more likely than the pro-Humphrey delegates to challenge the credentials of delegations from southern states, citing racial imbalance in the makeup of these delegations as evidence of probable racial discrimination in the selection of delegates.
Despite the disorder and conflict that occurred outside of and, to a lesser extent, within the convention, Humphrey received the Democratic nomination for president by a wide margin on the first ballot. Humphrey chose Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine for his running mate. The delegates nominated Muskie for vice president by an even wider margin.
In contrast to the relative ease with which Humphrey and Muskie were nominated, the wording and adoption of a foreign policy plank on the Vietnam War for the party’s platform was a highly divisive, contentious issue for the delegates and convention officials. Heavily influenced by the pro-Humphrey convention officials, the party’s plank on the Vietnam War was moderate and vaguely worded, generally supported the Johnson administration’s policy, and did not include unconditional support of an end to U.S. bombing. For the most part, antiwar delegates who had previously supported Kennedy, McCarthy, or McGovern were dissatisfied with this plank and felt alienated from Humphrey.
Impact
The heckling and other forms of vocal opposition that Humphrey first experienced during the Democratic National Convention continued throughout his fall presidential campaign. Unlike McCarthy or McGovern, Humphrey held a position on the Vietnam War that resembled that of Richard M. Nixon, the Republican nominee for president. Both candidates basically promised to combine diplomatic negotiations with reduced military force to end the war. Neither promised an unconditional end to U.S. bombing or an immediate, complete U.S. military withdrawal from Vietnam.
The televised violence and chaos that occurred in Chicago helped both Nixon and Alabama governor George Wallace, presidential nominee of the American Independent Party, attract the support of socially conservative white voters by emphasizing law and order. Wallace drew some votes away from Nixon, making Humphrey more competitive against the Republican candidate. In the 1968 presidential election, Nixon defeated Humphrey by a popular vote margin of less than 1 percent.
Antiwar activists Hoffman, Rubin, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, Lee Weiner, John Froines, and Bobby Seale were prosecuted for their roles in the Chicago protests. They were known as the Chicago Eight, then as the Chicago Seven when Seale’s case was tried separately. Their theatrical trial further polarized the nation, deepening the rift between conservatives and liberals.
After the 1968 election, the Democratic Party significantly changed its rules for choosing delegates to national conventions in order to promote a more participatory process. The commission that oversaw these reforms was cochaired by McGovern and Representative Donald Fraser of Minnesota. McGovern’s prominence as an antiwar presidential candidate at the 1968 Democratic National Convention and his role in reforming his party’s presidential nomination and convention processes helped him win the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972.
The legacy of the 1968 convention was frequently discussed in subsequent decades as a key moment in which party infighting complicated the Democrats' attempt to win a presidential election. For example, many observers cited the 1968 convention during conversations ahead of the 2024 election, which saw incumbent Democratic president Joe Biden enter a rematch with Republican former president Donald Trump. Throughout the spring of 2024, ahead of the Democratic National Convention scheduled to take place in Chicago in August of that year, a series of campus protests at many US colleges and universities, including Columbia University in New York, arose in response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian group Hamas, which controlled Gaza at that time. These protests highlighted a division among Democrats and other US voters on the left, with some protesters criticizing the Biden administration's support for Israel and other Democrats placing themselves in opposition to the protests and affirming their support for Israel.
Bibliography
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Peters, Jeremy M. "How the Israel-Gaza Protests Could Hurt the Democratic Party." The New York Times, 21 Apr. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/04/21/us/israel-gaza-democrats.html. Accessed 27 Jun. 2024.
Treisman, Rachel. "Anti-War Protests, a Chicago DNC: Is It 1968 All Over Again? Some Historians Say No." NPR, 14 May 2024, www.npr.org/2024/05/14/1250917132/1968-anti-war-protests-dnc-chicago. Accessed 27 Jun. 2024.
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