Source: Lawrence O'Donnell. Playing With Fire - The 1968 Election
and the Transformation of American Politics (2017)
and the Transformation of American Politics (2017)
Tuesday night’s convention session on 27 August 1968 again provided unprecedented confrontation on the floor. It took seven more hours to end the conflict over credentials; Connally’s Texas delegation survived the challenge from the McCarthy camp, and the Georgia delegation (half Humphrey, half McCarthy) was seated. CBS television reporter Dan Rather was shoved to the floor while trying to interview an unruly Georgia delegate that was being removed by security. Everyone in the know, including Walter Cronkite, the anchor for the CBS convention coverage, knew that Mayor Richard Daley was in charge of floor security.
The fight over credentials took so long that it wasn’t until 12:35 am that the report from the Platform Committee was given, starting with the majority (LBJ’s) Peace Plank. The chairman of the Platform Committee was forced to stop reading due to the uproar among anti-war delegates. The leader of the Wisconsin delegation moved to adjourn until the next afternoon (it was Wisconsin that started the uproar); the anti-war delegates knew that the party bosses wanted the platform debate to occur in the wee-hours of the morning in order to keep a high number of viewers from seeing the extreme rancor. Following Daley’s orders, the convention chair refused to close the session. John Bailey, the Democratic Party Chairman, realized that he had to get the convention off of television at that point, and he signaled to Daley, who signaled to the convention chair, and the session was gaveled to a close at 1:15 am.
The fight over credentials took so long that it wasn’t until 12:35 am that the report from the Platform Committee was given, starting with the majority (LBJ’s) Peace Plank. The chairman of the Platform Committee was forced to stop reading due to the uproar among anti-war delegates. The leader of the Wisconsin delegation moved to adjourn until the next afternoon (it was Wisconsin that started the uproar); the anti-war delegates knew that the party bosses wanted the platform debate to occur in the wee-hours of the morning in order to keep a high number of viewers from seeing the extreme rancor. Following Daley’s orders, the convention chair refused to close the session. John Bailey, the Democratic Party Chairman, realized that he had to get the convention off of television at that point, and he signaled to Daley, who signaled to the convention chair, and the session was gaveled to a close at 1:15 am.
While Lincoln Park had become a nightly war zone, four miles away in Grant Park, it was calm in that the protesters that gathered there didn’t want any trouble, and the police didn’t enforce the curfew. It was at Grant Park the next day in which the city (reluctantly) granted a permit for a demonstration. Hayden announced that protesters would march from Grant Park to the Amphitheater by any means necessary. As LBJ watched the convention unfold, he finally realized that he couldn’t save his party or his Presidency, and that his 38 years as a politician were over. All that was left as far as LBJ was concerned was his historical legacy, which meant he had to get control over the convention (and at least get peace talks started in Paris before the end of his term).
Americans that watched the Democratic National Convention in Chicago only remembered the third night, Wednesday, 28 August 1968. Mayor Richard Daley and conservative commentator William F. Buckley each had the most hateful public moments of their lives. Daley’s savage verbal attack on Senator Abraham Ribicoff (CT) and Buckley’s infamous attack on liberal commentator Gore Vidal provided fireworks inside the convention for viewers. And, on Michigan Avenue, as Hayden had predicted, “The Whole World” watched on TV (tape-delayed) as Chicago police went after the anti-war protesters. Too much had to still get done in terms of the convention itself on that Wednesday, which was to end with the nominations of President and Vice-President . . . but Tuesday’s business concerning the platform was still unfinished.
Americans that watched the Democratic National Convention in Chicago only remembered the third night, Wednesday, 28 August 1968. Mayor Richard Daley and conservative commentator William F. Buckley each had the most hateful public moments of their lives. Daley’s savage verbal attack on Senator Abraham Ribicoff (CT) and Buckley’s infamous attack on liberal commentator Gore Vidal provided fireworks inside the convention for viewers. And, on Michigan Avenue, as Hayden had predicted, “The Whole World” watched on TV (tape-delayed) as Chicago police went after the anti-war protesters. Too much had to still get done in terms of the convention itself on that Wednesday, which was to end with the nominations of President and Vice-President . . . but Tuesday’s business concerning the platform was still unfinished.
Debate on the platform concerning the Vietnam plank started at 1 pm, and at 4:30 pm votes on both LBJ’s majority plank and the Peace Plank occurred, with 1567 for LBJ’s plank, and 1041 for the minority Peace Plank. LBJ had won, or so he believed. To the anti-war delegates, their dream of ending the Vietnam War had crash-landed on the convention floor, and those delegates drowned out the convention with singing and chanting, which forced a temporary recess.
While that was occurring on the convention floor, the city-permitted demonstration at Grant Park had started with 15,000 protesters present, and the police were ready to stop the march to the Amphitheater. A teenage boy tried to take down the US Flag, and he was arrested by police. Rock-throwing by the protesters intensified, and a phalanx of police careened into the MOBE marshals, focusing on Rennie Davis; five Chicago police officers beat Davis to unconsciousness.
Daley’s response to accusations of excessive force was to increase excessive force, with many Americans seeing doing so as a mirror image of LBJ’s Vietnam policy, which was exactly what Hayden and Davis had wanted to occur. The Illinois National Guard launched tear gas in order to try and keep the protesters from leaving Grant Park. Despite every tactic used by law enforcement, many protesters broke out of the northern part of Grant Park on to Michigan Avenue, and the media followed.
While that was occurring on the convention floor, the city-permitted demonstration at Grant Park had started with 15,000 protesters present, and the police were ready to stop the march to the Amphitheater. A teenage boy tried to take down the US Flag, and he was arrested by police. Rock-throwing by the protesters intensified, and a phalanx of police careened into the MOBE marshals, focusing on Rennie Davis; five Chicago police officers beat Davis to unconsciousness.
Daley’s response to accusations of excessive force was to increase excessive force, with many Americans seeing doing so as a mirror image of LBJ’s Vietnam policy, which was exactly what Hayden and Davis had wanted to occur. The Illinois National Guard launched tear gas in order to try and keep the protesters from leaving Grant Park. Despite every tactic used by law enforcement, many protesters broke out of the northern part of Grant Park on to Michigan Avenue, and the media followed.
At 6:30 pm, three mule-drawn wagons were heading down Michigan Avenue led by Reverend Ralph Abernathy, who had received permission from the city for the march in the name of the Poor People’s Campaign . . . and the protesters moved in behind the wagons. Just before the Hilton Hotel police had the street blocked, and for about thirty minutes, the protesters were stymied. Police then made an opening for Abernathy’s three wagons, and then closed the barricades to keep the protesters at bay. McCarthy, looking out his 23rd story window in the Hilton Hotel, saw that the protesters were surrounded on three sides, and the National Guard was in the process of closing off the fourth side. It was at that point that the Chicago police started to go after the protesters, and the most famous scenes from the Democratic National Convention in 1968 started to play out.
The nominating process had started at the convention at 6 pm, and both McCarthy and Humphrey were placed in nomination early. The plan of the party bosses was to have glowing speeches before and after the nominations to shore up unity and to have a nominee (Humphrey) selected on the first ballot. But the rioting in front of the Hilton Hotel ended that vision and television captured the tensions/divisions on the convention floor. The most famous instance was Senator Ribicoff’s “Gestapo tactics” charge from the podium against Daley, and everyone watching that could read lips saw Daley’s response, which Ribicoff heard. Later, Buckley called Vidal a queer on live television (Vidal was gay) and threatened to punch Vidal. Buckley’s slur offended everybody, and as the Gay Rights Movement gained momentum over the following years, Buckley’s offense became all the more heinous. Buckley never stopped regretting what he said that night, and also never stopped hating Vidal (the feeling was mutual).
The nominating process had started at the convention at 6 pm, and both McCarthy and Humphrey were placed in nomination early. The plan of the party bosses was to have glowing speeches before and after the nominations to shore up unity and to have a nominee (Humphrey) selected on the first ballot. But the rioting in front of the Hilton Hotel ended that vision and television captured the tensions/divisions on the convention floor. The most famous instance was Senator Ribicoff’s “Gestapo tactics” charge from the podium against Daley, and everyone watching that could read lips saw Daley’s response, which Ribicoff heard. Later, Buckley called Vidal a queer on live television (Vidal was gay) and threatened to punch Vidal. Buckley’s slur offended everybody, and as the Gay Rights Movement gained momentum over the following years, Buckley’s offense became all the more heinous. Buckley never stopped regretting what he said that night, and also never stopped hating Vidal (the feeling was mutual).
Humphrey could not believe that the television networks showed the rioting in front of the Hilton instead of the convention; the biggest moment in Humphrey’s political life was shattered. Meanwhile, McCarthy’s hotel room (and surrounding area) was used for triage for injured protesters, and McCarthy made the rounds just like an officer in a military hospital after a battle. McCarthy made a phone call to have his name removed from nomination, but he had been so focused on the rioting that he missed his nomination being made official on television.
At 11:47 pm, Humphrey garnered the nomination on the first ballot: Humphrey 1760.25, McCarthy 601, McGovern 146.5, Channing Phillips (the 1st African-American nominated by either party) 67.5, and Ted Kennedy 12.75. McCarthy soon called Humphrey to congratulate him on the nomination. Then, contrary to all advice, McCarthy went to Grant Park to address the protesters; McCarthy referred to the protesters as “the government of the people in exile”.
The last night of the convention (Thursday, 29 August) was like an extra innings baseball game whose outcome was already decided; Wednesday night was what Americans remembered and cared about. Humphrey’s nomination speech was boring but it was not interrupted; Humphrey made sure to avoid offending LBJ and Daley. The Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, had a huge lead in the polls after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and both parties figured that the Republicans would win big on Election Day.
Addendum: The Poor People's Campaign in early-1968 . . .
At 11:47 pm, Humphrey garnered the nomination on the first ballot: Humphrey 1760.25, McCarthy 601, McGovern 146.5, Channing Phillips (the 1st African-American nominated by either party) 67.5, and Ted Kennedy 12.75. McCarthy soon called Humphrey to congratulate him on the nomination. Then, contrary to all advice, McCarthy went to Grant Park to address the protesters; McCarthy referred to the protesters as “the government of the people in exile”.
The last night of the convention (Thursday, 29 August) was like an extra innings baseball game whose outcome was already decided; Wednesday night was what Americans remembered and cared about. Humphrey’s nomination speech was boring but it was not interrupted; Humphrey made sure to avoid offending LBJ and Daley. The Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, had a huge lead in the polls after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and both parties figured that the Republicans would win big on Election Day.
Addendum: The Poor People's Campaign in early-1968 . . .