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Español1968 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
The '1968 National Convention' of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968, for the purposes of choosing the Democratic nominee for the 1968 U.S. presidential election.[1]
1968 already had been a tumultuous year for the United States, with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY), and widespread protests of the Vietnam War. The convention achieved notoriety due to clashes between protesters and police, and due to the generally chaotic atmosphere of the event. The turmoil was widely publicized by the mass media on-hand for the convention, resulting in a nationwide debate about the convention and leading to a flood of articles and books about the event.
The keynote speaker was Senator Daniel Inouye.Associated Press (Chicago), ''"Keynoter Knows Sting of Bias, Poverty"''. St. Petersburg Times, August 27, 1968.
The selection of a Presidential nominee was particularly difficult for the Democrats that year, due to the split in the party over the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson's decision not to seek re-election, and Robert Kennedy's assassination. On one side, Senator Eugene McCarthy, D-MN, ran a decidedly anti-war campaign, calling for the immediate withdrawal from the region. On the other side, Vice President Hubert Humphrey called for a policy more in line with President Johnson's, which focused on making any reduction of force contingent on concessions extracted in the Paris Peace Talks.
The Democrats eventually settled on Humphrey, who would lose the election to Richard M. Nixon. The confusion of the convention, and the unhappiness of many liberals with the outcome, led the Democrats to begin reforms of their nominating process, increasing the role of primaries and decreasing the power of party delegates in the selection process.
[Source for roll call votes: Richard C. Bain and Judith H. Parris, ''Convention Decisions and Voting Records'' Washington DC: Brookings Institution, 1973.]
Expecting protests, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley repeatedly announced "Law and order will be maintained" and an 11 p.m. curfew was implemented. [1]
The mob scene was agitated by various speeches and a raucous electric performance from the rock band, the MC5, as well as the "nomination" of Pigasus for president. Though many musicians were scheduled to perform, the MC5 were the only band to play at the convention, and turned in a legendary eight-hour gig.
Anti-war demonstrators protested throughout the convention. Initially the protests were uneventful, but tempers gradually heated, and soon police and protestors were clashing all around the convention center, the Chicago International Amphitheater (in the streets, as well in Lincoln Park and Grant Park).
Daley took a particularly hard line against the protesters, refusing permits for rallies and marches, and calling for whatever use of force necessary to subdue the crowds. A 1968 ''Time'' article noted that "demonstrators constantly taunted the police and in some cases deliberately disobeyed reasonable orders."[2] There was also widespread criticism that the Chicago police and National Guard used excessive force: a 1968 ''Time'' article declared that
In 1968, Jo Freeman wrote, "Over three dozen newsmen were injured in their attempts to cover the action.[4] In trying to explain his decision to quell the protests, Daley uttered one of the most famous quotes of the era: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder."[5]
This hard line was also seen on the convention floor itself. In 1968, Terry Southern described the convention hall as "exactly like approaching a military installation; barbed-wire, checkpoints, the whole bit".[6] Inside the convention, journalists such as Mike Wallace and Dan Rather were roughed up by security; both these events were broadcast live on television. When Senator Abraham Ribicoff (D-Conn) delivered a speech nominating George McGovern for President, he infuriated Daley by saying, "with George McGovern as President of the United States, we wouldn't have Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago."[7] Daley responded by shaking his fist at Ribicoff, and shouting a phrase that was inaudible, and which has generated much speculation. An uncredited author for CNN wrote, "Most reports of the event also say Daley yelled an off-color epithet beginning with an "F," but according to CNN executive producer Jack Smith, others close to Daley insist he shouted 'Faker,' meaning Ribicoff was not a man of his word, the lowest name one can be called in Chicago's Irish politics."[8]
Subsequently, the Walker Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence assigned blame for the mayhem in the streets to the police force, calling the violence a "police riot."
Main articles: Chicago Seven
Eight of the protesters — Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Dave Dellinger, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, and Black Panther Bobby Seale — were charged with conspiracy in connection with the violence at the convention. They were known collectively as the "Chicago Eight"; however, Seale was tried separately after a mistrial was declared in his case, thus the larger group became known as the "Chicago Seven".
On February 18, 1970, all seven defendants were acquitted on the charge of conspiring to incite a riot, but five were convicted of incitement as individuals. However, all of the convictions were eventually overturned by an appellate court.
One person who did not attend the convention was President Lyndon Johnson, who several months earlier had announced that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination for the presidency.
On August 27, the second day of the convention, he turned 60. Delegates at the convention were hoping to see him so that they could celebrate his 60th birthday with him. Instead, he celebrated it privately with his family at his ranch in Texas, possibly to avoid the violence at the convention.
However, at the end, he was advised by the Secret Service not to attend the convention, because of the violence that broke out at the convention.
★ The 1969 film ''Medium Cool'', directed by Haskell Wexler, although centered on a fictional story and employing actors in the principal roles, includes substantial footage of the riots, filmed during the convention.
★ Graham Nash wrote the song "Chicago", recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, which is about both the convention and the Chicago Eight trial that followed a year later.[9]
★ Phil Ochs was present at the demonstrations, and he talks of his experiences during his concert , which includes the songs "Where Were You In Chicago?" and "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed".
★ Bassist Charlie Haden was inspired to write his 1969 song "Circus '68 '69" after watching the convention on television. The piece reflects the incident which happened after the minority plank on Vietnam was defeated. After the vote on the convention floor, the California and New York delegations spontaneously began singing "We Shall Overcome" in protest. In an effort to regain control, the rostrum told the convention orchestra to begin playing to drown out the singing; Haden emulated this by orchestrating his group to play both songs at once; see the notes of Haden's ''Liberation Music Orchestra'' for more information.
★ The band Chicago Transit Authority (later called Chicago) wrote a song on the events of the 1968 Democratic Convention. The 10th track of their debut self-titled album is called "Prologue, August 29, 1968." This song, written by the band's producer, James William Guercio, samples the chant "The Whole World Is Watching," which became famous during the convention riots. The next track was titled "Someday (August 29, 1968)." It is written by James Pankow, the band's trombonist, and Robert Lamm, their keyboardist/vocalist.
★ In November, 1968, Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys released "What I Did Last Summer" on their first album, ''The Street Giveth...And The Street Taketh Away'' (co-produced by Jimi Hendrix). The chorus starts "Did you go to Chicago?/Did you see what they did there?"[2]
★ The line, "Blood on the streets in the town of Chicago" from the Doors song Peace Frog is reportedly about this convention.
★ Gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson recounts his experiences during the riots in his book ''Kingdom of Fear''.
★ Towards the beginning of the film Dazed and Confused, Mrs. Stroud, the history teacher, can be heard recounting that "The '68 democrat convention was probably the most bitchin' time I ever had in my life."
★ The first of ''Niven's Laws'' was inspired by the events of this convention.[10]
Law 1 reads, "Never throw shit at an armed man." Its corollary, law 1a, is "Never stand next to someone who is throwing shit at an armed man."
★ ''Miami and the Siege of Chicago'', by Norman Mailer; New York: New American Library, 1968.
★ Democratic National Convention
1. http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/whouse/convention-ra.html#1968
2.
★ : Film Documentary with lots of footage of both the Democrats' Convention and the protests
★ Video clips of confrontations between demonstrators and police
★ Yippie-produced documentary on the Convention
★ Dementia in the Second City, from ''Time'', Sep 6, 1968
★ The Chicago Convention: A Baptism Called A Burial, by Jo Freeman {1968)
★ Chicago 1968: The Whole World Is Watching by Janet Heetner; includes photos, documents, news clippings
★ Chicago '68 by Alvin Susumu Tokunow (1968)
★ Chicago '68 by James P. Turner
★ Chicago '68: A Chronology
★ Chicago '68: An Introduction, by Dean Blobaum (2000)
★ American Experience: Chicago 1968
★ Retrospective on the 1968 Democratic Convention, from NewsHour.
★ History Files: Parades, Protests and Politics
★ Grooving in Chi, 1968 ''Esquire'' article by ''Terry Southern
★ Photos of the convention, by Paul Sequeira
★ Brief History of Chicago's 1968 Democratic Convention from Allhistory, CNN and ''Time''.
★ 1968, August: Disturbances at the Democratic National Convention from the Chicago Public Library
★ Whole World Watching, by John Calloway
1968 already had been a tumultuous year for the United States, with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY), and widespread protests of the Vietnam War. The convention achieved notoriety due to clashes between protesters and police, and due to the generally chaotic atmosphere of the event. The turmoil was widely publicized by the mass media on-hand for the convention, resulting in a nationwide debate about the convention and leading to a flood of articles and books about the event.
The keynote speaker was Senator Daniel Inouye.Associated Press (Chicago), ''"Keynoter Knows Sting of Bias, Poverty"''. St. Petersburg Times, August 27, 1968.
| Contents |
| Nomination |
| Protests and police response |
| The Chicago Seven |
| Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Convention in popular culture |
| Further reading |
| See also |
| References |
| External links |
Nomination
The selection of a Presidential nominee was particularly difficult for the Democrats that year, due to the split in the party over the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson's decision not to seek re-election, and Robert Kennedy's assassination. On one side, Senator Eugene McCarthy, D-MN, ran a decidedly anti-war campaign, calling for the immediate withdrawal from the region. On the other side, Vice President Hubert Humphrey called for a policy more in line with President Johnson's, which focused on making any reduction of force contingent on concessions extracted in the Paris Peace Talks.
The Democrats eventually settled on Humphrey, who would lose the election to Richard M. Nixon. The confusion of the convention, and the unhappiness of many liberals with the outcome, led the Democrats to begin reforms of their nominating process, increasing the role of primaries and decreasing the power of party delegates in the selection process.
| Presidential tally | Vice Presidential tally: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hubert Humphrey | 1759.25 | Edmund S. Muskie | 1942.5 |
| Eugene McCarthy | 601 | Not Voting | 604.25 |
| George S. McGovern | 146.5 | Julian Bond | 48.5 |
| Channing Phillips | 67.5 | David Hoeh | 4 |
| Daniel K. Moore | 17.5 | Edward M. Kennedy | 3.5 |
| Edward M. Kennedy | 30.25 | Others | 19.25 |
[Source for roll call votes: Richard C. Bain and Judith H. Parris, ''Convention Decisions and Voting Records'' Washington DC: Brookings Institution, 1973.]
Protests and police response
Expecting protests, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley repeatedly announced "Law and order will be maintained" and an 11 p.m. curfew was implemented. [1]
The mob scene was agitated by various speeches and a raucous electric performance from the rock band, the MC5, as well as the "nomination" of Pigasus for president. Though many musicians were scheduled to perform, the MC5 were the only band to play at the convention, and turned in a legendary eight-hour gig.
Anti-war demonstrators protested throughout the convention. Initially the protests were uneventful, but tempers gradually heated, and soon police and protestors were clashing all around the convention center, the Chicago International Amphitheater (in the streets, as well in Lincoln Park and Grant Park).
Daley took a particularly hard line against the protesters, refusing permits for rallies and marches, and calling for whatever use of force necessary to subdue the crowds. A 1968 ''Time'' article noted that "demonstrators constantly taunted the police and in some cases deliberately disobeyed reasonable orders."[2] There was also widespread criticism that the Chicago police and National Guard used excessive force: a 1968 ''Time'' article declared that
With nightsticks, tear gas and Mace, the blue-shirted, blue-helmeted cops violated the civil rights of countless innocent citizens and contravened every accepted code of professional police discipline ... No one could accuse the Chicago cops of discrimination. They savagely attacked hippies, yippies, New Leftists, revolutionaries, dissident Democrats, newsmen, photographers, passers-by, clergymen and at least one cripple. Winston Churchill's journalist grandson got roughed up. Playboy's Hugh Hefner took a whack on the backside. The police even victimized a member of the British Parliament, Mrs. Anne Kerr, a vacationing Labourite who was Maced outside the Conrad Hilton and hustled off to the lockup."[3]
In 1968, Jo Freeman wrote, "Over three dozen newsmen were injured in their attempts to cover the action.[4] In trying to explain his decision to quell the protests, Daley uttered one of the most famous quotes of the era: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder."[5]
This hard line was also seen on the convention floor itself. In 1968, Terry Southern described the convention hall as "exactly like approaching a military installation; barbed-wire, checkpoints, the whole bit".[6] Inside the convention, journalists such as Mike Wallace and Dan Rather were roughed up by security; both these events were broadcast live on television. When Senator Abraham Ribicoff (D-Conn) delivered a speech nominating George McGovern for President, he infuriated Daley by saying, "with George McGovern as President of the United States, we wouldn't have Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago."[7] Daley responded by shaking his fist at Ribicoff, and shouting a phrase that was inaudible, and which has generated much speculation. An uncredited author for CNN wrote, "Most reports of the event also say Daley yelled an off-color epithet beginning with an "F," but according to CNN executive producer Jack Smith, others close to Daley insist he shouted 'Faker,' meaning Ribicoff was not a man of his word, the lowest name one can be called in Chicago's Irish politics."[8]
Subsequently, the Walker Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence assigned blame for the mayhem in the streets to the police force, calling the violence a "police riot."
The Chicago Seven
Main articles: Chicago Seven
Eight of the protesters — Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Dave Dellinger, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, and Black Panther Bobby Seale — were charged with conspiracy in connection with the violence at the convention. They were known collectively as the "Chicago Eight"; however, Seale was tried separately after a mistrial was declared in his case, thus the larger group became known as the "Chicago Seven".
On February 18, 1970, all seven defendants were acquitted on the charge of conspiring to incite a riot, but five were convicted of incitement as individuals. However, all of the convictions were eventually overturned by an appellate court.
Lyndon B. Johnson
One person who did not attend the convention was President Lyndon Johnson, who several months earlier had announced that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination for the presidency.
On August 27, the second day of the convention, he turned 60. Delegates at the convention were hoping to see him so that they could celebrate his 60th birthday with him. Instead, he celebrated it privately with his family at his ranch in Texas, possibly to avoid the violence at the convention.
However, at the end, he was advised by the Secret Service not to attend the convention, because of the violence that broke out at the convention.
Convention in popular culture
★ The 1969 film ''Medium Cool'', directed by Haskell Wexler, although centered on a fictional story and employing actors in the principal roles, includes substantial footage of the riots, filmed during the convention.
★ Graham Nash wrote the song "Chicago", recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, which is about both the convention and the Chicago Eight trial that followed a year later.[9]
★ Phil Ochs was present at the demonstrations, and he talks of his experiences during his concert , which includes the songs "Where Were You In Chicago?" and "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed".
★ Bassist Charlie Haden was inspired to write his 1969 song "Circus '68 '69" after watching the convention on television. The piece reflects the incident which happened after the minority plank on Vietnam was defeated. After the vote on the convention floor, the California and New York delegations spontaneously began singing "We Shall Overcome" in protest. In an effort to regain control, the rostrum told the convention orchestra to begin playing to drown out the singing; Haden emulated this by orchestrating his group to play both songs at once; see the notes of Haden's ''Liberation Music Orchestra'' for more information.
★ The band Chicago Transit Authority (later called Chicago) wrote a song on the events of the 1968 Democratic Convention. The 10th track of their debut self-titled album is called "Prologue, August 29, 1968." This song, written by the band's producer, James William Guercio, samples the chant "The Whole World Is Watching," which became famous during the convention riots. The next track was titled "Someday (August 29, 1968)." It is written by James Pankow, the band's trombonist, and Robert Lamm, their keyboardist/vocalist.
★ In November, 1968, Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys released "What I Did Last Summer" on their first album, ''The Street Giveth...And The Street Taketh Away'' (co-produced by Jimi Hendrix). The chorus starts "Did you go to Chicago?/Did you see what they did there?"[2]
★ The line, "Blood on the streets in the town of Chicago" from the Doors song Peace Frog is reportedly about this convention.
★ Gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson recounts his experiences during the riots in his book ''Kingdom of Fear''.
★ Towards the beginning of the film Dazed and Confused, Mrs. Stroud, the history teacher, can be heard recounting that "The '68 democrat convention was probably the most bitchin' time I ever had in my life."
★ The first of ''Niven's Laws'' was inspired by the events of this convention.[10]
Law 1 reads, "Never throw shit at an armed man." Its corollary, law 1a, is "Never stand next to someone who is throwing shit at an armed man."
Further reading
★ ''Miami and the Siege of Chicago'', by Norman Mailer; New York: New American Library, 1968.
See also
★ Democratic National Convention
References
1. http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/whouse/convention-ra.html#1968
2.
External links
★ : Film Documentary with lots of footage of both the Democrats' Convention and the protests
★ Video clips of confrontations between demonstrators and police
★ Yippie-produced documentary on the Convention
★ Dementia in the Second City, from ''Time'', Sep 6, 1968
★ The Chicago Convention: A Baptism Called A Burial, by Jo Freeman {1968)
★ Chicago 1968: The Whole World Is Watching by Janet Heetner; includes photos, documents, news clippings
★ Chicago '68 by Alvin Susumu Tokunow (1968)
★ Chicago '68 by James P. Turner
★ Chicago '68: A Chronology
★ Chicago '68: An Introduction, by Dean Blobaum (2000)
★ American Experience: Chicago 1968
★ Retrospective on the 1968 Democratic Convention, from NewsHour.
★ History Files: Parades, Protests and Politics
★ Grooving in Chi, 1968 ''Esquire'' article by ''Terry Southern
★ Photos of the convention, by Paul Sequeira
★ Brief History of Chicago's 1968 Democratic Convention from Allhistory, CNN and ''Time''.
★ 1968, August: Disturbances at the Democratic National Convention from the Chicago Public Library
★ Whole World Watching, by John Calloway
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