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Retro 50s 60s See other Retro 50s 60s Articles Title: We Were There: The 1968 Democratic Convention We Were There: The 1968 Democratic Convention Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin shares intimate—and harrowing—memories of the turmoil she and her husband witnessed that summer in Chicago. BY: DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN UPDATED: AUGUST 15, 2024 | ORIGINAL: AUGUST 16, 2024 A crowd of delegates in the 1968 Democratic Convention holding up the signs that say Stop the War “It was a dismal time,” my husband Dick recalled one morning in 2016, after opening an overflowing box of materials he had saved from the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Inside, we found delegate guides, memos, newspaper clippings, voter surveys and a splintered police club—a gruesome symbol of the violent encounters between police and anti-Vietnam war protesters that would doom Democratic election hopes and ultimately help to christen the successful “Law and Order” campaign of Richard Nixon. On a personal level, that box brought back vivid memories of our experiences at the convention: on my side, a surprise phone call from then-President Lyndon Johnson—and on Dick’s, a moving candlelit procession and a harrowing police encounter. 1968 Riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago The ’68 convention boxes were among some 300 boxes of letters, diaries, documents and memorabilia that Dick had carted around for 50 years. Once he turned 80, he had finally decided to examine these boxes, which turned out to be a veritable time capsule of the Sixties. Over the course of that tumultuous decade, he had worked as senior adviser and speechwriter to two presidents—John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson—as well as to two influential hopefuls: Senator Eugene McCarthy and former attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy. After Bobby died, McCarthy had asked Dick to take charge of the process of drafting a peace plank for the convention platform, to codify the party's political will to end the Vietnam War. I was also in Chicago for that convention. Unlike Dick—who I hadn’t yet met—I had no official role. The convention corresponded to my week’s vacation from my work as a White House Fellow assigned to Lyndon Johnson, and I was there with a group of Washington friends. As a White House staffer, I had spent hours with the president, both working on inner city and youth projects and listening to him tell stories of his early life and career while visiting his Texas ranch. Despite being firmly against the war, as were my friends and colleagues, I had developed a loyalty to—and an empathy for—Johnson himself, who had withdrawn his own reelection bid earlier that year under a barrage of antiwar disapproval. In addition to the delegates and media, tens of thousands of war protesters had descended upon Chicago, stoking widespread fear—even expectation—of violence. More than 11,000 police officers were deployed. National Guard and army troops were on alert. McCarthy had appealed to his own followers to stay away and avoid escalating the discord. Nonetheless, McCarthy’s volunteers came in droves, hopeful that his candidacy still had a chance. By the convention’s second day, however, Vice President Hubert Humphrey had clearly amassed enough delegates to win the nomination. So, the real fight centered on what kind of Vietnam plank would emerge to establish the platform on which the nominee was pledged to run. A strong plank surfaced from the antiwar delegates, calling for “an unconditional cessation of all bombings” and the “mutual withdrawal of United States forces and North Vietnamese forces from South Vietnam.” The Johnson Administration’s plank, on the other hand, stipulated that bombing sorties to protect our troops must continue, despite North Vietnam’s refusal to engage in serious talks until all bombing had halted. For a brief time, it appeared Humphrey might break with LBJ and support the peace plank. But in the end, he capitulated and backed the establishment plank. Dick still hoped that, when the vote was taken, a powerful show of force for the peace initiative might change the country’s direction. (Original Caption) Chicago, IL: An unidentified bystander points accusingly at Illinois National Guardsmen as they stand guard of Grant Park early 8/28 following a large scale confrontation with hippies. Seven hundred troops, all members of the 33rd MP battalion, were ordered into the park, across the street from Democratic National Convention Headquarters at the Conrad Hotel. 8/28/1968 The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, Illinois, was marked by violent protests and party upheaval as Hubert Humphrey clinched the presidential nomination. How the Yippies ‘Stuck It to the Man’ at the 1968 DNC The Yippies found their voice by organizing an absurdist counter- convention—including nominating a pig for president. Portrait of the Chicago Seven and their lawyers as they raise their fists in unison outside the courthouse where they were on trial for conspiracy and inciting a riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, October 8, 1969. The Chicago Seven (originally eight) were political radicals accused of conspiring to incite the riots that occurred at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. During the five-month trial, the prosecution stressed the defendants’ provocative rhetoric and subversive intentions, while the defense attributed the violence to official overreaction. The case drew national attention for the […] 'It’s the President' The hotel suite I shared with my friends was several miles from the two candidates’ Hilton hotel headquarters. During the days, we ventured downtown. We walked to Grant Park, where thousands of demonstrators and protesters had gathered. Hour by hour, the sounds of their belligerent chants filled the air. With each passing day, police response grew increasingly violent. At night, we hunkered in our hotel, engrossed in TV coverage of the proceedings from the Amphitheatre where the convention was held. On Tuesday night, our telephone rang. A wide-eyed friend called my name, mouthing, “It’s the president of the United States.” At first, I thought she was joking, but when she handed me the receiver, the operator announced the president was coming on the line. “I have a favor to ask,” Johnson said in a soft voice. What followed was the last thing I could have imagined. “When you were last down here at the ranch, you borrowed my flashlight. Do you know where it is? I’ve looked everywhere.” After telling him where he might look for it, I asked him simply, “How are you?” “How do you think I am? I never felt lower in my life. I can’t go up to Chicago in front of my own people, my own party, on my own birthday.” Johnson had hoped to attend the convention to celebrate his 60th birthday. Plans had been made for his helicopter to land on the Amphitheatre’s roof. A five-foot-high cake had been baked, and the Hilton’s Imperial Suite had been reserved. But these hopes had been dashed by the contentious atmosphere within the convention hall and the violent clashes outside. Friends had warned him that “a personal appearance would throw the convention into turmoil.” I remember how confused and upset I was after that call with the president. I felt a deep personal sadness for the man who, on his 56th birthday four years earlier, had been feted by thousands of cheering Democratic convention supporters, thrilled to see his portrait emblazoned in fireworks over the Atlantic City night sky. Now, he was denied even an appearance at his party’s convention without risking widespread uproar from the enraged masses outside—and the contempt of many inside. If Johnson blamed North Vietnam for the continuing stalemate, the antiwar movement put the blame solely and squarely upon LBJ. Poster Comment: It wasn't just the Yippies that were the problem. The SDS were throwing baseballs with nails in them at police. And they did not have protective gear like police do now, only helmets. The protest chant was, "Dump the hump." Videos at source. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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