The 1968 Democratic National Convention

Hey peeps - Alycia here. The great presidential historian Dr. Lindsay Chervinksy says frequently that historians make the worst fortune tellers. I recorded this episode before President Biden dropped out of the race and there are a few references that prove Dr. Chervinsky is not only a great historian, but very, very wise. I chose to leave the episode intact and insert this little preamble instead since most of what I cover remains factual. So, with that in mind - I hope you enjoy the episode. 

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

INTRO MUSIC

Hey everyone, welcome back. 

The Democratic National Convention is slated to begin on Monday, August 19th in Chicago. It marks the first time the party is hosting their convention in the Windy City since 1968. If you’ve been paying attention to the news, then you’ve likely heard pundits and journalists alike draw parallels between 1968 and what the Democratic party should prepare for in 2024. 

Longtime listener and supporter of the show Jennifer reached out and suggested I dive into the 1968 Democratic National Convention. What happened? Why is it so infamous? And is there reason to think we will see a repeat this year? 

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

Second behind the Gilded Age, the 1960s is my favorite period in American history. I find the entire decade incredibly fascinating; the push for civil rights; Lyndon Johnson’s legislative accomplishments known as the Great Society; the pervasive activism - the decade represents so many shifts in perceptions and attitudes that I can’t help but want to read everything about it. But 1968 is perhaps one of the crazier years in United States history. So before we get into what happened in Chicago, I want to set the stage a bit and provide some context. 

In 1968, Lyndon Johnson - coming to the end of his first full term as President - continued to oversee the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The official position of the administration was that the U.S. forces were making good headway and that an end to the war was imminent. That talking point lost credibility in the aftermath of the Tet offensive in late January when North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched a surprise attack during the Tet holiday. While the U.S. forces managed to recoup the territory lost, but sustained tremendous loss while doing so. The casualties and constant press coverage of the issues in Vietnam led to a significant drop in public support for the war. 

Anti-war activists, including representatives from the Students for a Democratic Society and the Youth International Party, or YIPPIES, as they were known - called for 100,000 protestors to descend upon Chicago in August to push the Democratic Party to adopt a peace platform and demand an end to the hostilities in Vietnam. Members of YIPPIES tried to secure permits for a planned Youth Festival in Chicago during the convention, a request that was ultimately denied. 

It wasn’t just young anti-war activists who were frustrated with the situation in Vietnam. According to polls, President Johnson’ favorability rating hovered around the mid-30’s, with support for his policy in Vietnam sitting at just 23%. Although he was eligible to run for a second term, Johnson shocked the country when he announced on March 31st, 1968 that he would not seek his party’s nomination for re-election. Sitting before the cameras, President Johnson said in his announcement, quote: “With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office--the Presidency of your country,” end quote. 

Johnson’s announcement also threw plans for a peace protest into question. LBJ was seen as a war hawk, but with his exiting the race, there was a chance that the Democrats could nominate a candidate who was on record as being against the war in Vietnam. Activists shifted strategies and began getting involved in the campaigns of those who were opposed to the war. This included candidates Robert F Kennedy, George McGovern, and Eugene McCarthy. Johnson’s Vice President, Hubert Humphrey waited about a month after Johnson’s announcement to enter the race, declaring his candidacy on April 27th. While he stayed silent on his position about Vietnam, many saw Humphrey as Johnson’s man and suspected if elected, he would continue Johnson’s strategy in Vietnam. 

To add to the chaos and tension of the moment, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated while visiting Memphis, Tennessee in April. This was followed just a few months later with the assassination of Robert Kennedy, who was killed in Los Angeles on June 5th after winning the California primary. Thousands were devastated with the loss of King and Kennedy; both men had openly opposed the war and their violent deaths were seen as a blow to the peace movement. Furthermore, Kennedy’s assassination meant that his 200 plus delegates were now uncommitted. 

So it is with all of this that I can dive into the planning for what was to become one of the most volatile and violent Democratic National Conventions in history, which was scheduled to take place in August. Several cities were considered as potential locations to host the convention, including Houston, Texas and Miami, Florida where the Republican Party hosted their convention. There was an ongoing telephone strike happening in Chicago, which could create issues for the press corps covering the event, leading some in the party to suggest choosing an alternative location. In writing about the convention for CNN in 1996, Norman Mailer observed quote, “because of the phone strike in Chicago, television cameras would be limited to the hotels and the convention center - new phone lines were needed to cover outside events,” end quote. 

But Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley promised none of that would be a problem for the convention and lobbied hard for the event to remain in his city. He made promises that no demonstrations disrupting the convention would be permitted on his watch and that he would do everything in his power to maintain the peace. Daley apparently also threatened to withdraw his support for the Vice President, who was seen as the leader heading into the convention, if the DNC decided to move to a different city. Despite not attending himself, President Johnson was heavily involved in the planning of the convention and ultimately permitted Chicago to keep the event, apparently having some very derogatory comments for the city of Miami. 

One of the many issues surrounding the convention was how delegates were chosen and sent to the DNC. Before 1972, primaries had very little impact on who was actually nominated to be a party’s nominee for president. Unlike today, where primaries are held to choose delegates who are largely bound by the results in their district or state, in 1968 primaries were mostly just for show - a way to test out a potential candidate to see how people responded to them. Even in states with primaries, the actual selection of delegates who would attend the Democratic National Convention was not always directly tied to the primary results. In summarizing the nominating process prior to 1972, political scientist Elaine Kamarck writes quote: “for most of this time, getting the nomination meant winning the allegiance of enough major party leaders - who controlled delegates - to accumulate a majority of the delegates at the nominating convention,” end quote. 

Basically before the reforms established after 1968, it was state party leaders and party bosses who held the most influence on selecting delegates and these delegates would vote the way they were told. The general public would have a chance to voice their opinion until the national election in November. As a result, despite the fact that Humphrey did not participate in a primary, he headed into the convention with the most delegates. Most of his delegates were inherited, originally assigned to Johnson while a few came from states who held a caucus. The anti-war wing of the Democratic party, which was significant, wanted to see more of their viewpoint seated at the national convention. Unfortunately for them, they did not know the right people and were largely shut out of the process. Angered about this, fifteen state delegations tried to unseat the delegates committed to Humphrey and replace them with Anti-Vietnam delegates; a move that was unsuccessful. 

The candidates, the press, and protestors all flooded into Chicago ahead of the convention, with most staying at the nearby Conrad Hilton. Violence started almost immediately. Protestors, who fell short of their 100,000 goal, asked to be allowed to sleep in Lincoln park and demonstrate outside of the convention hall - a request that was denied. The only permits that were approved placed the 10,000 protestors far away from the amphitheater. Police officers used billy clubs and tear gar to forcefully remove protestors from Lincoln park after it closed - setting the stage for what was to come over the next few days in the windy city. 

And so, with all of this happening in the background, the Democratic National Convention opened in the International Amphitheater on August 26th, 1968. Anyone wondering whether front runner and current Vice President Hubert Humphrey was secretly against the war got their answer when Humprhey appeared on the news program Face the Nation a week before the convention where he publicly stated his support for Johnson’s policy in Vietnam. This announcement only further angered the anti-war protestors, who had apparently been promised by Humphrey that he would make a speech calling for the end to the war in Vietnam. Not willing to go down without a fight, peace protesters pushed for the party to adopt a peace platform during the convention. Initially, debate for whether to include a peace plank was scheduled for a time when most Americans would not be watching. This was unacceptable to those in support of the measure and attendees successfully lobbied for the debate to be rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon. 

Each side would be given one hour to debate the merits of the issue with California Representative Phil Burton taking the lead on pushing for a peace platform and Maine Representative Edmund Muskie arguing for adopting the language approved by Humphrey; in essence, the language that outgoing president Lyndon Johnson wanted. Given the set up of the convention, it should come as no surprise that the push for a peace platform failed, which prompted immediate protests within the hall, with anti-war activists breaking into a round of the song We Shall Overcome. 

Outside, things were deteriorating rapidly. That Wednesday is also known as the Battle of Michigan Avenue and was the most violent day of the convention. The chaos from outside made its way to inside the amphitheater where fumes from stink bombs wafted on the floor. Tensions spilled into the convention as anti-war protestors did what they could to ensure their message was heard. There were also complaints from individuals who wanted the election of delegates to be more representative of party voters - including more minorities and women. Managing what was displayed at home proved rather difficult given the amount of hot mics throughout the convention center. Any sound or camera guy could pick up the audio of displeased participants and broadcast it over the airwaves. 

The chaos was palpable on screen where reporter Dan Rather got roughed up while trying to report on the events of the day, being mistaken by police as one of the agitators in the crowd. Rather was one of 17 journalists who were attacked by police causing the trusted newsman Walter Cronkite to refer to the Chicago police department as a bunch of quote unquote thugs while on air. Over the course of the convention, hundreds of individuals were arrested; 119 police officers were injured as well 100 protestors. My sources differ on the exact number of arrests, but it was anywhere between 589 and over 650. The individuals arrested included those who would become the Chicago 8. 

On March 20th, 1969 8 police officers and 8 civilians were indicted due to their actions at the convection. The civilians, dubbed the Chicago 8, were the first individuals to be charged under the 1968 Civil Rights Act which made it a federal crime to cross state lines to incite a riot. The eight defendants included YIPPIES leaders Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, Northwestern University research assistant Lee Weiner, and Black Panthers founder Bobby Seale. 

Much like the convention a year prior, the trial for the Chicago 8 was a bit of a circus. Seal, the only black defendant, was ordered to gagged and chained to his chair for his comments aimed at the judge, despite the fact that the other white defendants were also vocal in their displeasure about the process. Seale’s trial was separated from the others on November 5th, where the judge declared a mistrial, but sentenced Seale to 4 years in prison for contempt. 

The defendants were re-tried in February 1970, this time as the Chicago 7. After only a day of trial, the judge - who was the same man who presided over the original trial the year prior, convicted the defendants and two defense attorneys with contempt of court. After only four days, the jury came back with their verdict. Two of the seven were acquitted, with the other five being convicted of crossing state lines to incite a riot and were fined $5,000 and sentenced to five years in prison. 

In the aftermath of the convention, the Democratic Party launched a commission to review their delegate selection process and the federal government funded a study to determine the cause of the violence. The study found that most of the blame could be placed onto police actions - a sentiment that Mayor Daley vehemently disagreed with, issuing a pay raise for police. For the Democrats, the commission led to a significant reform in how delegates were chosen including limiting the power and influence state leaders once had. Again from Kamarck quote, “The reform movement in the Democratic Party that followed did two things, which were to radically change the nomination system—it required delegates to “fairly reflect” the presidential preferences of the voters that chose them—and it began the movement away from state conventions which selected delegates and toward primaries,” end quote. 

The rules hoped to create, at least partially, a more democratic process where larger portions of the party base - like women and people of color - could have a larger say in who got seated at the national convention. These newly adopted rules contributed to an increase in participation between 1968 and 1972 when both black and women delegates doubled in size.

So what's with all the comparisons between 1968 and today? Well, there are some similarities. Although they’ve largely died down, there were protests on college campuses throughout the country over the administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Palestine. And, after Biden’s debate performance in June there were some pundits who said delegates should follow one of the many convention rules approved by the Democratic party in 1980, rule 13(J) which states quote: “Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them,” end quote. But as for calls for a contested convention? That seems highly unlikely as the President has said repeatedly that he has no plans to step down as my recording about a month ahead of the convention.

Whatever happens next week in Chicago, I do not think anyone should expect the kind of turmoil and discord that was seen in 1968. Because ultimately, history does not repeat itself - though it sometimes rhymes. 

A big thank you to listener Jennifer who suggested I dive into this timely, yet fascinating topic. I say it all time, but at the risk of being annoying I will say again - listener topics are always some of my favorite things to dive into. I am humbled and honored to have such an intelligent group of listeners out there. 

And finally, before I sign off today, I want to give a big thank you to mega champion of the podcast, Joann, for her recent donation to the show through Buy Me A Coffee. She has been such a tremendous support since the earliest days of the show and I cannot thank her enough. Donations on Buy Me a Coffee go to things like source material and hosting fees. If you want to learn about how you can help support the show, be sure to head over to the website at www dot civics and coffee dot com. 

Thanks, peeps. I’ll see you next week.

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

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