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>> mr. chairman. my fellow americans. my fellow democrats, i proudly accept the nomination of our party. [cheers and applause] >> this moment, this moment is one of personal pride and

gratification, yet one cannot help but reflect the deep sadness we feel over the troubles and the violence which have erupted, regrettably and tragically, in the streets of this great city and for the personal injuries which have occurred. [applause] >> that is neubert humphrey accepting the democratic nomination for president at chicago's conrad hilton hotel, or democrats have gathered for their convention in the midst of the vietnam war while thousands of protesters demonstrated outside. hubert humphrey, longtime senator and unsuccessful candidate for president, is the focus of this week's "contenders" program. we are live from minnesota's

history center. the documentarian of hubert humphrey's life just finished the documentary last year. we are standing in the center of an exhibit about 1968. to start our discussion, i want you to set the stage. this country was in an uproar about the vietnam war. >> the vietnam war have been running a long time at that point. probably 15 years. january set the stage for the year. it was obvious to everyone the war was not being one. the north vietnamese reached the embassy in saigon. president johnson's approval ratings plummeted. bobby kennedy was joining the race. it was utter chaos at that point. after president johnson resigned on the 29th of march, martin

luther king was assassinated. the beginning of the first part of the year was terrible chaos. susan: it was a year when people who were alive were turning on their radios every morning and there seemed to be a huge story every day. we will be here for two hours. we will learn more about the history of the time and the biography of senator humphrey. our way in, we will begin taking your call so you can be part of our discussion. what is important for young people to understand, is that what is different from wars today and the vietnam war is the draft. this was real for american families in a different way from the professional army we have today. mick: the draft was really the point at which the protests started, when the draft was instituted. now people have a choice, if people want to enter the military, if they are against the war, they can stay away.

you went to canada in those days are you did something to not be drafted. people were not even able to vote until they were 21 but they were being drafted at 18. they could not even vote people out of office. that is the biggest difference. susan: is it fair to say every american family had a personal connection to this war one way or another? mick: i would say. some of them had two. someone who went to war and somebody against it in the same family. robert mcnamara, his kids were against the war. susan: defense secretary. mick: families were broken over it. susan: the other thing people should understand, television. television was bringing it into people's living rooms every night. will you talk about the effect of that? mick: nobody had done any kind

of -- television was not restricted. it was all brand-new. nobody in the admin's ration or anybody else had any control. journalists were going out and getting whatever they found. we don't have that now. it is more controlled on the battlefield. they were seeing things in the living room you would not see. it had a profound effect on the country. another reason people came out against the war, they started to see it all the time on tv. 300 body bags were coming back every week at one point. they were showing the body bags coming back and the caskets. it had a profound effect, it changed the average person's mind. susan: the war started before lyndon johnson's term. he said it had been going 15 years. lyndon johnson's attitude was what?

mick: he was confused for a long time, but he did not want to lose it. it was important to him to win the war. it colored everything he did. people tried to talk about any kind of settlement and he would not do it. once he got into it, he did not have a lot of options. that was the only one he wanted. it affected him when he left office, too. he wanted somebody who would continue his war policy and would not end the war. susan: so lyndon johnson and hubert humphrey became teammates in 1964 following the assassination of kennedy. what was the relationship like? how was this period for senator humphrey? mick: the intensity of vietnam started around the time he became vice president.

the summer of 1964 was -- there was a resolution in congress that lbj asked for and was passed. humphrey signed on to that. he was not yet vice president. mccarthy and others. the convention came in the summer and humphrey became vice president. he walked into the beginning of johnson's real involvement with the war. he never really talked about vietnam on the campaign. they were about very goldwater being trigger-happy and johnson being the peace candidate. goldwater was the war candidate. vietnam was not talked about. they were talking about nuclear annihilation. they won by a landslide. in the spring, the early part of the year, there was another incident in vietnam.

johnson called a cabinet and advisor meeting and decided to bomb north vietnam in retaliation. he asked people what they thought of it. everyone pretty much agreed. humphrey said it was not a good idea. we should not get involved. this is not a good idea. he spoke up at this meeting, johnson got angry. at that point he was frozen out of any discussion on vietnam. susan: remember, lyndon johnson had been operating without a vice president. he came into office after the kennedy association. there is speculation going into the convention about who his choice would be to run in 1964.

here is the 19 624 convention as lyndon johnson announces his choice for vice president. >> the next vice president of the united states, my colleague hubert humphrey. [cheers and applause] >> democrats and most republicans in the senate voted for education legislation, but not senator goldwater. [cheers and applause]

>> most democrats and most republicans voted to help the united nations get into peacekeeping functions when it was in financial difficulty, but not very goldwater -- barry goldwater. [cheers and applause] >> i could not help but think at that particular moment, how for we had come. this was a great moment in my life. ♪ >> johnson said in his judgment, humphrey was the best man to be president in case anything happened to him. no longer is the vice presidency just another job. susan: that video, much of the video we are going to see tonight, is from the documentary.

thank you for letting us show it to our audience tonight. a lot of follow-up. first, the scenes of the energetic hubert humphrey, having the crowd eating out of his hands, then the cutaway to lyndon johnson, who did not seem to share the moment. what is happening? mick: the spotlight had been taken from him. humphrey was believed to be a better public speaker. he was upset about humphrey taking the show away. but he was that way. lyndon johnson. by the way, the not senator goldwater part was written by a number of people, that speech. there was a call and response kind of thing that caught on. that was an early one, that kind of speech. it worked really well. susan: the call and response? mick: yes, not senator goldwater, the call and response. susan: senator humphrey had

ambitions for the presidency for quite a while. he made a real bid in 1960. here he was at the convention accepting the vice presidential nomination. you could see how excited he was. he earned the nickname the happy warrior. mick: he loved politics and he got in trouble for calling it the politics of joy, which is what he was about. he believed it was a way to change the country. he believed in a very innocent and we might think naive way. he believed in the american people. one at a time and all american people at once. that was a way for him to change the country. susan: another clip, and this is later on in 1974 when hubert humphrey was gathering material for his memoir. he talks a bit, and this is one example of the relationship and

how it really became very testy between lyndon johnson and hubert humphrey as the administration more on, over vietnam. he reflects on some of the ways lyndon johnson used the perks of the office to keep his vice president under control. >> there was not a time i ever got a plane i did not have to ask for. if anyone told you johnson was extravagant, it was not for his vice president. he would say it was better to take a smaller plane. if it is too big you will be encumbered with too many people who see there is an extra seat that has not been used. from time to time on short trips , particularly up and down the atlantic seaboard, i would take king air, beechcraft king air or queen air, one of the smaller planes available. or a two engine military plane.

we used the jet star. never within the continental limits of the united states did we use air force one or two. those were to be used by me only for overseas trips. at no time was i ever permitted to bring a newspaperman or a person of the media. on any trip within the united states. the president forbid it. i respected his command and his wish. i gather he felt that the vice president should be heard and seen, but not reported upon too much. susan: lyndon johnson had been majority leader in the senate. these men had a long relationship and served in leadership together.

could you talk about how johnson used the levers of power to control the country? mick: he had this argument with johnson about vietnam. johnson shut him out at that point for at least a year of any foreign policy. he cut off his privileges. he trimmed his staff. he did a number of things basically to control humphrey. he did not want him speaking out against vietnam, did not want him speaking out against anything johnson did not want to speak about. wanted to keep him quiet. he had a way of calling them, my planes, my boats, johnson had this sort of possessive kind of attitude as if they were his and not the american people's. he was in control of that. he had to call and give permission for each plan that

week. he lasted about a year end johnson sent him to vietnam. susan: he had to of been unhappy. mick: he was miserable. johnson was shutting him out of the inner circle so he was kind of on the outside. he was not happy. he wanted to be involved in what was going on. this was a bad time for him. he was sent to vietnam a year later and things changed in 1966. susan: you're going to walk around this exhibit and give a sense of what has been put together here showing the year, with a focus on politics. i wanted to remind you about your per dissipation. we are going to be taking phone calls.

we really look forward to your comments on 1968, a tumult she was here in american history and the year in which hubert humphrey was a contender for president of the united states. how did you get interested in hubert humphrey? mick: i grew up here. he was always in the air. i spent some time working here in the archive and the archive was just fabulous. freud documentary filmmaker, that is a gold mine. susan: humphrey had four children. are they still here? mick: his grandson is more involved in politics than the others. the sons are in sales. skip hubert the third, his son, works in advertising. susan: we are at the exhibit

about the political life of hubert humphrey. he was not born in minnesota. mick: he was born about 90 miles from the minnesota border in illinois. one of those towns that went along the prairie. he was born in 1911. it was a remarkable town. a lot of intellectualism going on. his mother was a methodist social gospel person. he got the politics of his father's drugstore and had her social methodist social gospel kind of feel. he got it from both sides. the great combination of the preacher and the politician. susan: he went to pharmacy school himself. how did he end up in politics? mick: he always really wanted to be in politics. he spends a year to help his father with a drugstore but i

don't think he ever wanted to be a pharmacist for life. susan: he ended up getting a doctorate, i understand? mick: a masters degree at lsu. susan: why was he studying politics? mick: he was going to get a doctorate and teach. that was his first idea. he was so good at communicating a lot of people convinced him to run. he probably really did want to run. he ended up back in minnesota and becoming mayor. susan: when did he serve as mayor? mick: he came back from grad school in 1930. minnesota had never elected a democrat to the senate. the reason why, the non-republicans were divided between democrats and the former labour party. he helped unite those and built himself his own political base. the city was corrupt and bigoted

and all kinds of problems with segregation and things. mission magazine called it the capital of anti-semitism in the united states. susan: talk about the dsl. is it still active? hubert humphrey was its founding. mick: he was one of two or three people. he was probably the greatest negotiator. susan: what does it stand for? mick: democrat former labour party -- susan: how does it distinguish itself? mick: it was a group of farmers and laborers who had differences -- it is a complicated story, but they had differences with the more professional democrats, fdr democrats. they just did not like each other.

humphrey was one of the people who convinced them to get together. the democrat former labour party -- farmer labour party. susan: when did he run? mick: 1948 after the speech. susan: we have a clip from 1960 when he first seriously thought about running for president. this is the joy of being a politician for hubert humphrey. >> it been an uphill fight. i think we have been doing quite well. >> what has been the most exciting part of the campaign? >> i just had to check. thank you, senator. >> this is good fun. politics ought to be fun. hubert humphrey, the president for you and me ♪ ♪ susan: there we see hubert

humphrey just enjoying life. did he bring this to his politics also? mick: that was the way he ran. he would light up a room. people say it would be 11:00 at night, he would get off the plane, everyone was asleep, and he would still be like that. he could just run like that constantly. susan: what were his other characteristics? i have read he was known for talking a lot. mick: absolutely, but he was also a good listener. he did talk a lot. he would come with a prepared speech and just talk for an hour. he knew a lot about a lot of subjects. an astounding memory. he may be new 5000 to 10,000 people. he would meet somebody ago back five years later, remember their name, what they did for a living, remarkable memory. susan: we are going to start

taking calls and learn more about his political philosophy. first from copley, ohio, kurt, welcome to our conversation. >> thank you and good evening. it is a wonderful program to be participating in. susan: thank you. >> you are welcome. you mentioned 1948. i have watched some of the clips on the internet of an actor named ronald reagan who endorsed hubert humphrey in 1948 for the u.s. senate. when you think about it, where they kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum even though they were both democrats at that time? also i wanted to find out what hubert humphrey's relationship was with very goldwater in the u.s. senate -- barry goldwater in the u.s. senate versus their private life. did hubert humphrey and jack kennedy get along when they were running against each other in

1960 and 1956 when they actually vied for the vice presidential nomination to run with governor stevenson who ultimately they lost to the senator from tennessee? susan: thank you so much. first, his relationship with ronald reagan. mick: he was a lifetime friend of ragan's. -- reagan's. he was the head of the actors guild. he was a democrat. he was of the same philosophy as humphrey. reagan changed, humphrey stayed the same. they remained friends. very goldwater and hubert humphrey -- barry goldwater and hubert humphrey were even better friends. they were giving speeches in iowa on the back of a hay wagon on a farm. they just ripped each other

apart. someone drove through town and saw them having dinner together. susan: before we talk about kennedy, could you talk about the senate? this is a time of very big names. was there by buyer -- bipartisanship? mick: absolutely. there was a lot of camaraderie. humphrey was friends with a lot of republicans. it was more cordial and there was more camaraderie then there is now. i can tell you they were pretty close. susan: jfk and their relationship? mick: they worked together on many of the same bills. their relationship changed in

1960 during the election and the primaries. susan: in what way? mick: they had these debates in the primaries. wisconsin and west virginia. they got to know each other that way. when kennedy became president, humphrey gave him many of his ideas. the washington post had called humphrey the idea factory. the peace corps, for instance. susan: was hubert humphrey's idea? mick: oh, yeah. susan: you are on the air, jerry. >> i have a question for the man. 1968, in 1948, was humphrey spending more time with the civil rights movement, dr. martin luther king and kennedy and lyndon b. johnson? susan: yes, we are going to

spend quite a bit of time talking about civil rights. why don't we get into that part of his worldview? this is from the art of the possible. early in his career, hubert humphrey talks about his view of the world. alright, we don't have that clip. why don't you help us understand what informed his politics? mick: to answer the question, the civil rights was long -- it was in him from the time he was born. lyndon johnson was in the southern states, had to deal more with the issue of race getting elected. humphrey felt believed deeply

what he was up against. what he actually did in that speech, lyndon johnson called the most courageous political act of the 20th century. he really believed in civil human rights. susan: that caller was asking about humphrey's commitment compared to the other two. lyndon johnson and john kennedy? can you make a value judgment about how much they cared about the issue compared to humphrey? mick: johnson probably was more in line with humphrey. kennedy was a reluctant civil rights person. he came to it later. bobby even more. but it was an issue for humphrey from the beginning and for johnson for many years. humphrey was much more passionate about it. much more involved with the african-american community. he spoke at naacp meetings. he did not know martin luther king in 48.

but he did know a lot of the labor leaders. people who were around at that time. susan: let us listen to cynthia in sioux city, iowa. >> i was a member of the television news team in sioux city, iowa. i was in d.c. reporting the day we withdrew from vietnam and i had the privilege of interviewing hubert humphrey on that very day. i asked how he felt about losing the vietnam war. he said he was a casualty of the vietnam war. he was quite emotional. i wonder if you could talk more about his vietnam policy. mick: the trips he made to vietnam while he was vice president -- the first trip was scheduled for him. he took a prescribed trip with all the stops plan. he was watched closely.

he saw only the good side of the war, spoke to the good generals, all heard all the good news. he decided to go on his own a year later. he went to hospitals, talk to people. at that point he quit cheerleading the war. the corruption in the south vietnamese government and all the other things that were going on, he realized. he came back from the second trip knowing the war needed to be over. he had been speaking out for the war for the past year previous. lyndon johnson was not going to let him speak against the war. so he had himself in a bad situation. that conflict laughed with him through -- lasted with him through 1968. susan: the issues of his career were civil rights and the vietnam war. the 1948 speech really launched hubert humphrey onto the national stage. we are going to listen to a clip from that speech in 1948. when we come back another guest

will be with us for the program. the author of a number of books that deal with the civil rights era in american history. >> mr. chairman, fellow democrats, fellow americans. i realize that in speaking on behalf of the minority report on civil rights what i am dealing with a charged issue. an issue which has been confused by emotionalism on all sides of the fence. i feel i must rise at this time to support the minority report, a report that spells out our democracy. a report that the people of this country can and will understand and a report that they will enthusiastically a claim on the great issue of civil rights. to those who say that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, i say to them, we are

172 years late. >> after all, i had been the enemy of the south. hubert humphrey, the quote unquote -- but i never felt so lonesome, so unwanted in all my life as i did in those first few weeks as united states senator. susan: that second clip was hubert humphrey reflecting on what it was like coming to washington in 1949 after his speech in the 1948 convention. welcome to our conversation. how important in the history of civil rights was hubert humphrey? >> the 1948 speech was a landmark. that is the moment at which you see organized politics get behind what we think of the modern 20th-century civil rights movement. the moment in which the democratic party shed so much of

the paralysis engendered by the southern democrats who dominated the south. it is at that point you see someone rise up in the democratic party in this very public convention, heard nationwide, the mayor of minneapolis, at the convention. here he is saying to people across the land, via the medium of the day, this is an abomination. it is not with the american people should be standing for. he is speaking in terms of national morality. he does it at a cost. you have the segregationists, the dixiecrats, many of whom who are leaders, walk out of the convention. it has a tremendous consequence that will fall like dominoes throughout american history. susan: give me some of the names of the dixiecrats.

strom thurmond? juan: thurmond would be the big one. you had some of the others, and members of the senate who are right there. susan: how risky was it for hubert humphrey the senate candidate to put his neck on the line for civil rights? was it controversial at home? mick: after he has become senator? susan: when he was running. he was a candidate wasn't he? mick: he was still mayor but he was a candidate. susan: so among voters in minnesota, to speak out for civil rights -- mick: it resonated here fine. other places it was a problem. susan: did he offer any risks for harry truman? how did truman feel about it? mick: truman called him a pipsqueak and was really upset. he thought he had ruined the election for him. he was upset humphrey was

speaking. truman was watching on tv. he condemned him for it. but he learned later on it actually helped him and he turned around and use the speech to get the african-american vote in the north. that helped him win. susan: what inflamed his commitment to civil rights? where did that come from? mick: nobody knows. the question is where did his father get it in the middle of south dakota? his father raised him to believe people were people. it was quite remarkable. there were no african-americans in the small town he was in. there was one catholic family, one jewish family, who both had crosses burned on their lawns. it was innate. no one can really come up with a reason, but it was there. susan: this call is from andrew in new york. you are on. >> good evening. how are you doing?

susan: great, thanks. >> i was hoping you could comment a little on the relationship between senator robert kennedy and hubert humphrey and how it developed from being 1960 to 1968 when they were vying for the democratic presidential nomination. susan: ok. rfk relationship? mick: it started in 1960. it did not start off well because of the way humphrey was tweeted in -- treated in the primaries by the kennedys. he campaigned for kennedy in 1966 when he ran for senate. in 1968 they had a meeting in may, the kennedy and humphrey people. they agreed if humphrey got the

nomination, kennedy would support him, and if kennedy got the nomination, humphrey would support him. he was a party person, bobby kennedy. so was humphrey. susan: next, ron in washington. >> i would like to look forward to the 1968 campaign again. can you elaborate? my recollection that president johnson tried to scuttle humphrey's effort, that was one of the most popular elections in history. it is my regulation -- recollection that if the bombing had been started a bit earlier, it might have made a crucial difference. could you elaborate on that? susan: did lyndon johnson try to scuttle his bid? mick: he did not help until the very end. he had nixon at the ranch and

the next day he had humphrey. he put the press out for nixon and he would tell humphrey know press could be there. part of the belief is that johnson believed humphrey might end the war and make him look bad. nixon he thought might continue the war. nixon played a few dirty tricks and he came out for humphrey at that point. he was really late in the campaign when he started working for humphrey. pretty much during the whole campaign he was out of the picture. handheld vietnam over him the whole time. susan: from the 1948 entry of hubert humphrey, he built his campaign on this, the denouement came in 1963 and 1964 with civil rights legislation put forward. tell that story if you would. juan: humphrey's involvement is as the democratic whip in the senate. you have lbj, the inheritor of

kennedy's efforts to get civil rights legislation passed. kennedy, there was doubt about his commitment to this. was he willing to pay the price in terms of the senators who would oppose it? after the kennedy assassination, johnson expresses the need to get this done in honor to president kennedy. susan: does he make humphrey the point man? juan: humphrey becomes the point man in the senate. mike mansfield is the majority leader. hubert humphrey, the man who gave the 1948 speech, who has been persistent in terms of calling for civil rights and justice as part of the democratic agenda, he really takes up the cause in the senate. he is up against it because the rules were different than. you could filibuster to no end. the numbers are something like

if you look through history, there are few points at which you get enough votes to end a filibuster. it is almost unheard of. it takes a great deal of effort by hubert humphrey to hold off a republican effort to prolong the filibuster. he was finally able to do it. what is interesting is the legislation cannot even be put through the normal channels. it is kind of extra judicial process been put in place. >> what were the opponents to civil rights constitutional arguments? >> we have a right to run our business. constitutional arguments? >> we have a right to run our

business. we have a right to allow whoever we want and. the constitution allows us to do that. that was one of the main arguments. there were a number of them. the southern democrats were the biggest obstacle for him. he had a number of republicans that were on his side. there were a coalition of republicans and democrats that made it happen. those people -- there was no way you're going to change any of their minds. it was an interesting group. the opposition was conservative republicans. barry goldwater was against the civil rights bill. >> the drop of this filibuster

coming down to the wire -- a drama of this filibuster coming down to the wire. we have another clip. this is hubert humphrey and strom thurmond debating the civil-rights bill. let's watch the debate on 1964. >> we know that fellow americans who happen to be a negro have been denied equal access. the night in their travels a chance for a place to rest and to eat. it is not -- this will lead to integration of private life. and the city of birmingham, alabama, there was an ordinance that said if you're going to have a restaurant and you were going to permit a negro to comment, you have a seven-foot wall down the middle of the restaurant. how foolish this is.

isn't that an invasion of private property? >> we live in a country of freedom. under our constitution, a man has a right to use his own public property. >> this bill creates new jobs. therefore, whose jobs are it these -- >> we must as individual citizens speak out against prejudice and discrimination. we must be willing to accept the fact that every american is entitled to equal rights under the constitution and under the law. no less than that. >> the most difficult task that i have as the floor leader of the civil-rights bill is just being there. having to watch every move and make sure that we have 51

senators. one of the tactics of the opposition is to call for repeated quorums. it means we have to produce 51 senators to enter the role. >> that story, always to have 51 supporters of the legislation on the floor. how did you organize people? >> he had teens. quorum, the't get a senate would be shut down. they were able to bring only two or three people. they had this rotating basis. they did things like drive to baseball games and play center out of a baseball game. they did all kinds of things. they had a list and they had a schedule for centers that had to be -- it was well done. they had some moments. they had to get people from outside the senate.

>> was the opposition largely regional? was it the southern college and that opposed civil rights? >> you had goldwater, for example. he is a westerner. he was from arizona. his opposition was libertarian. this is a free country, a matter of private property. you should not be telling a man what to do. you see much of this gets reflected in strom thurmond of language. he is not speaking in terms of racism. he is saying this is a violation of my rights as a maid greek -- as american to make personal choices and freedom. humphrey is saying, this is ridiculous. this is not a genuine argument. what you are doing is perpetrating the worst kind of racism. that becomes the argument. it is interesting to go back and

listen to that clip. we have such arguments today about the jobs in our country. you can hear strom thurmond saying, this legislation does not produce jobs. clearly, he was comfortable saying this. it had some effect in that era. it is not as if he was speaking into a void. it was generating a political response and strong opposition to the civil rights legislation. >> let's take a call from west virginia. >> i am so glad you called me. this is wonderful. i have not spoken, but one of the sons of senator humphrey. i think i spoke with skip. i am the fellow who saying at the shimmered -- the hubert

humphrey songs. i of such a wonderful love for him. over the years, he took me everywhere. i saying everything. he taught me politics. he had great respect for me because i came from a family -- my father worked railroad, my grandfather worked the coal mines. hubert humphrey heard me sing on a radio station in 1960. he gave me $25 a day to travel with them. teddy white became one of my best friends. teddy taught me a lot and everyone in minnesota that i have maps and throughout america -- and i have matched and throughout america, the people all over this country. i am 77 years old.

i still record -- i did record for capitol records for years. hubert humphrey was, to me, like my father. >> thank you so much for that personal story. >> i will not sing them, but i know them. he was with them very closely. he is one person i had lost in this whole search for interviews. i am glad he is alive and well. >> 77 years old. we have to get one more relationship established. the developed a friendship with martin luther king? >> he had a relationship with king are around legislation.

if you look inside the reaction of the black community, there were lots of people who were militants who do not to the value of this legislation. king is saying, this is a necessary step. if you go back to the great march on washington in 1963, in large measure, it is to say to the congress, passed the civil rights act. humphrey if one of the great supporters of this. he is at the march on washington. he is someone who is in fact in his support. even as you get people saying, we should not have a march on washington. they're just trying to pressure us politically. humphrey thought it was a good and necessary step. >> at the early stages of the filibuster, he met with martin luther king. he said to him, i want you to

know that we are on the same page. his policy was to treat them with respect. use the humphrey weight rather than the johnson way. i am just saying this because we are -- we want this bill to get past. >> we can hardly do justice to his career before he ran for president. at least to get some sense of this work on the national stage in 1968, he decided to run for president. we did not establish this, but lyndon johnson made the decision early in 1968 that he would not seek the office. that is setting the stage. at that point, how many democratic contenders are thinking about challenging lyndon johnson? >> bobby kennedy.

april 27 -- >> was that a surprise to the nation? >> it was a shock to humphrey. he showed up at humphrey's department. -- apartment. you should listen to the speech. he had not decided yet. humphrey was in mexico. he was called out to watch this broadcast. he announced that he was leaving the office. they thought they heard that he was immediately leaving office. there was all this commotion. they realized he was leaving at the end of his term. it was a complete shock to him, and the country. >> citizen, as you asked about who was running against him, it really was mccarthy.

he is the one that was in new hampshire. he was taking on johnson. johnson is not actively campaigning, but he had people all around. mccarthy is the anti- establishment, anti-johnson candidate. he has support from people who were superstars. they were people who were anti the vietnam war. all of the college students are emphatic about mccarthy. mccarthy does surprisingly well in new hampshire. that is after mccarthy's success is when you start to see robert kennedy willing to jump and. -- jump in. that sets the table. even as hubert humphrey is

thinking that he is trying to pull back on the war, he is pressured by the fact that he is loyal to the man who gave him the vice presidency, lyndon johnson. it is one of those wonderful political stories. hubert humphrey is a good guy. he is not going to put lyndon johnson in a position where it johnson feels that he is being undercut by his number t2. johnson is a totally dismissive of humphrey. especially his contribution or desire -- this war is not the right war. >> let's get to another call. this is larry in sherman oaks, california. >> i am a big fan of humphrey. for many years, it took me quite a while to accept the fact that he was never going to be president. even after his passing.

in 1998, i visited the humphrey institute. we looked and the catalogs and did not see any items surrounding middle east war. i would have thought humphrey would have made some speeches or interviews or something. did not see anything. that surprised me. " was he involved in middle east policy? >> i do not think that was at the forefront. there was too much else on his plate. i do not remember seeing anything either. >> the early primaries and lyndon johnson's announcement sent things into warp speed. what happened in the country with the king assassination? >> it is hard to summarize it.

you have riots in cities like washington, d.c., chicago, kansas city. it becomes a national moment of crisis. you had people fearful that they're going to be large-scale racial war in the country. the unrest that surrounded the vietnam war is still present, but now it becomes a background. king was an opponent of the vietnam war. he said it was an unjust war. there were people who were trying to join the civil rights movement would be anti war movement. king, who would not been political, it is becoming more

political. there are people inside the civil rights movement who recognize that johnson has been supportive in terms of civil rights. why are you, dr. king, challenging this administration ? king says he feels safe moral imperative to say that this is part of an injustice that is being perpetrated by america. america is on the bronx side of world history in pursuing -- is on the wrong side of world history in pursuing the war effort. he is out there speaking against it. a year before he is assassinated, he is at the riverside church in new york making a speech that gets a lot of attention. he is at the national cathedral in washington, d.c., speaking

against the war. it becomes part of the energy that surrounds him. it puts them in a position of being an opponent of the johnson administration. >> syracuse, n.y., this is ralph. >> thank you for "the contenders." i have a quick comment and a quick question. i had a big deal at home -- i have the video at home. it was about to hubert humphrey and do you speaking at a gathering. it was towards the end of his life and he is still smiling. he had a great coach at the end of this speech. i would rather live 50 years like a tiger than a hundred years like a chicken. i want to move up to 1968. i met a guy about 20 years ago is that he worked on the humphrey campaign in 1968. he said he came on after working

on the campaign and he was at the hotel. he was looking out at this park. the news came on and said there was a humphrey protest in the park. he called hundred the next day when he had a meeting and on 3 said, -- he called home for the next day and he said there is nothing we can do about it. nixon was doing it to try to link humphrey to anti-war protesters. i was wondering if you've ever heard a story like this? >> people were paid to cause trouble. it is hard to document. it probably happened. there is no way to know for sure. >> on the civil rights front,

they were slow to come along. they were trying to get the labor union in this country to understand the importance of racial equity. by the time of the 1960's, democraticand here they are nowg hands with at only randolph but also dr. king to support the march on washington. the famous picture of dr. king speaking at the march on washington. he has several others right behind him. you can see the union involvement and the head of the afl-cio with them. it becomes not just a matter of a support mechanism but a controlling mechanism for the people in the kennedy administration who wanted to be

able to have some levels of control over the march and the civil rights effort. >> we are going to take a call here and then shortly after the king assassination, robert kennedy assassinated. let's listen to a call. >> hello. i am a killer brother of the construction trade. i do not want to turn this into a union rally, but my first ever political involvement in politics was with hubert humphrey. i was 18 years old. i live in an inner ring that suburb of the city of brooklyn, ohio. he had came to berkeley. he was the vice president. you could ever imagine what was happening in 1968 and 1969 -- and all of the 1960's for that matter. he sat down with our major who

turned out to be a mayor for 51 years. they were both mayors. it talked things over. i got drafted the following year. it is a pleasure, the series you are running. thank you for having it. >> hubert humphrey, the happy warrior. the navy was given throughout his career. we are live from the history museum in st. paul read by the capital. a beautiful building if you are here come and visit. we are using it as our backdrop to talk about the presidential campaign of 1968 -- hubert humphrey. one of his many bids for president and the what he actually got the democratic not. he made a major contribution to american history. in june, the california primary

and the next presidential figure to be gunned down was robert kennedy. >> it set him way back. that is really the beginning of his numbers and sliding. earlier in the year, in the early primary season he was ahead of 10 points by over every candidate. after robert kennedy was shot, it looked like the democratic party was falling apart. when he got back on his feet in july, he was already behind him? in. -- nixon. >> what stands out to my mind is we were talking a moment ago about the king assassination. robert kennedy gives an amazing speech that so many people still remember in indianapolis on the night of the king assassination. there was writing all over the

country. there is racial anger and an ease. he talks about the king assassination in terms of his own brother's assassination. he drops the pain and all we can do to try to ease the pain. the patients that is required. just a few months later, here he is laying dead in los angeles. i think the sense is that america's leaders are being killed. people who are in the idealists. people who are to carry on the grand traditions of liberalism, people establishing -- challenging the establishment are being eliminated. there is a sadness and despair in the american body politic at the moment. it is hard to capture the extent of it. sometimes we have arguments today about polarization that people always said, if he were here in 1968 you will understand how bad things could have been treated felt like the country was coming apart.

we do not know the forces of evil at work and why so many great american leaders are being killed at this moment. don't forget president johnson's approval numbers are in the low 30's. he can't even come out at major event. he will not be able to go to the democratic convention. it really is an incredible moment in 1968. hubert humphrey was there. you talk about the happy warrior. he wants to stand up with people and said, there is reason to hope america can do it. he is seen as an establishment figure because of his association with the incumbent lyndon johnson. >> our cities are burning, kids are rioting, leaders are being burned out. people are trying to bring america to the next states. we're going to go to the next stage as well. we will listen to a call. our next stop will be about the opposition that's gathering with george wallace and also the

republicans. listen to jim from new york. >> hello. how are you? >> we are great. what is your question? >> let me first say how much i am enjoying the program. i appreciate it. my question really deals with the first draft lottery, which i believe was either in 1967 or 1968. i do have great recollection of being eligible for that. i had a very low number which set everyone in my family. what was hubert humphrey's position relative to the whole concept of the lottery? what did he do in that issue? >> i do not know if i ever heard hubert humphrey say anything about the lottery. i do know later on he worked --

and that when he worked to raise the voting age because he thought it was unfair people were being drafted at 18 and could not vote until they were 21. later on his life he had different ideas. he probably felt the draft itself was probably not such a good idea. at the time i do not know if he said anything in doubt it. >> the summer of 1968 and the country is in disarray. the assassination of both quinta and kennedy. on the republican side, richard nixon who had also been in the senate and former vice president wanted to be president as well. what was his campaign's reaction to all of the turmoil? how are they positioning their man? >> the principal response from richard nixon was law and order. he wanted to report -- restore law and order in the streets and get the counterculture -- all of

the young people and their antiwar efforts and protesting on campus -- he wanted to get that under control. he appealed to a group of the silent majority in american politics to felt they were being pulled -- put upon by all of these young people, some of which you had supported j. mccarthy. richard nixon in this. is a guy who himself has concerns about the war. he has questions about it. he positions himself as a staunch supporter of the military and the war as a counter to some of the democrats -- democratic efforts into separate himself from the johnson forces. >> hubert humphrey still suffering from being loyal to his president. the two candidates were able to distinguish themselves. but let me just say, it is

interesting if you look on the republican side, it is not only richard nixon running but you have romney. romney was trying to position himself as anti-war. it leads us to what we will remember in george romney's presidential run, he says he has been brainwashed by the general and political leaders about what is going on in vietnam. it alienated some of the silent majority base. they wanted to see the war continued into when the war. romney thought that he could outflank nixon by be in the anti-war republican turnout he hurt himself with his base and he was never able to challenge richard nixon after that. then you have people like harold stafford, rockefeller is in that mix. guess who, ronald reagan is in

that mix. ronald reagan is the strongest conservative as opposed to richard nixon at the miami convention. it ultimately, it comes down to reagan and rockefeller knocking each other out and allowing richard nixon to have a clear path to the nomination. >> let's take a call from fred. >> hello. i wanted to mention one of my stories about hubert humphrey when he was the mayor of minneapolis. office overlooked the bell telephone companies across the street. he saw them taking in food. taking in food to prepare for a long strike.

they had already emptied the building and all of that stuff. the strike. hubert humphrey was always a great friend of the working people. that is my comment. >> thank you for telling the story. let's move right on to another call from nancy in virginia. >> i was 14 years old in 1968. i was visiting in washington. my older cousin was a hubert humphrey supporter. i was always proud of that. i wanted to absence i heard on s nbc and earlier that the occupied movement is coming to d.c. in the december. i was wondering what your guests could offer in recognizing provocateurs. i know that dr. king was for non-violent said knox of

delaware, tennessee. all of the 99%ers i approve of his nonviolent. thank you. >> he studied at the highlander school as did rosa parks and others involved with the civil rights movement. initially, it is there to help people with union activities fighting against coal miners and teach them how to organize. those tactics expanded to civil rights protest and the like, obviously in the case that dr. king and rosa parks become so well known for. extending that to the lessons she would take to something like occupy, remember when king is assassinated, he was attending to lead a poor people's campaign. the poor people's campaign was going to be on the national mall right in front of the u.s.

congress and the capital and the ideas dr. king expressed was he wanted to share the leaders of the free world that there was still poverty including an appellation. also in the big cities. he was going to build chanty cuts for it there on the ball. talk about an occupy movement. there was a fear that this was going to attract all kinds of anarchist elements. that is what we're seeing in occupy. >> we have a clip from a little bit later during the general election. talks about the fact there was no debates during the general election. a lot of discussion was of whether there would be. here is richard nixon talking about not debating pierre >> i happen to be of the opinion we need a debate in this country. i think you and hubert humphrey -- i think mr. hubert humphrey

as having a great time debating himself. >> are prejudiced, mr. nixon. if you do not want to debate with the third-party candidate whose name shall not be mentioned, why don't you get your friends in the house of representatives to pass a special law permitting u.s. and mr. hubert humphrey to debate. >> if you ever looked at the membership on that committee? it is always amusing to be when people said, why don't i get the republicans to do something of a debate. let's remember that the senate is 2-1 democratic. the house is 3-2 democratic. anytime that hubert humphrey with his influence on his side wants a debate, i would think he would be able to get the democrats to pass it. i think that my power in terms of what i can get the republican members in the house to do is greatly overestimated.

that is the problem as you know it. they are not opposing the debate. they are sitting with wallace getting 21% of the poll -- i am sorry. i should not have mentioned his name. with wallace getting 21% of the poll, they are insisting that they cannot go back to their constituents and laws that provide him an equal chance. >> if you got your friends and mr. humphrey got his friends, you would have enough friends to bring this thing on. >> i do not think he has that many friends. [laughter] >> richard nixon talking about the 1968 campaign. the focus of our discussion is hubert humphrey, democratic candidates for president unsuccessful in 1968. we will take a call from jim. >> great show. hello. >> we can hear you.

go ahead. >> i have a purely speculative question i want to ask to mick dealing with the power of celebrities in the 1968 and supported mainly kennedy and mccarthy and as to the announcements of a bombing halt possibilities many of them came flocking back to humphrey. many participated in an election telethon. many of these stars were there like frank sinatra, paul newman, sonny and cher. there was a poll taken the next day on election day saying humphrey would win. my question is do you think that if these stars and this colophon taking questions on air, that humphrey might have pulled it off if they would have

come to him earlier in the fall in 1968? >> it probably would have helped if he had come earlier in the year and joined the humphrey campaign. nothing else was going on at that time besides the telephone. they thought they had peace in viet nam the weekend before his poll ratings just kept going up almost passed nixon in most polls because peace in vietnam would have won him the presidency. -- nixon convinced the south vietnam's leader to not come to the peace talks because richard nixon would give him a better deal with president. this is documented all over the place. he backed out of peace talks. many people think that is what lost the election at the end appear >> are behind you is a

campaign poster for george wallace. when did he come into the race and what block did he represent? >> he represents southerners who were alienated not only by hubert humphrey but by the student protesters, he is representing working-class people even in the northern cities who i think are frustrated with the entire climate. they think there is a lack of law and order. they think the minorities and the blacks are out of control. they think nobody is listening to that. this is archie bunker element. that is to wallace comes to represent. a lot of people would have been democrats -- they argue in people or seven as per ed they are not in line with what has become of the democratic party in terms of the james mccarthy, they're just not there.

wallace formed to their feelings. >> in the interest of time we have to fast forward to the store. the republicans meet in 1968. democrats convene at the outset of chicago. the party had series fractions about the war. chicago was what kind of scene? >> where do you begin with chicago? humphrey tried to get the entire convention moved to miami because he knew it was coming. johnson would not do it because he was so close with daily and he promised daily there would be a convention there. there were all kinds of strikes. the repair kit up. it expected 15,000 protesters. it was chaos. he was worried about threats to his family. there have been threats to kidnap his wife. he arrived at the convention

without a peace plank. johnson squashed it right at the end. he ended at coming to the convention care >> did he have the nomination in hand when he got there. >> people were nominated in different ways. it was not by primaries, it was by the delegates. he had the most delegates by way of lyndon johnson. he had some sway with the delegates that would nominate him for president. >> that is a critical moment in terms of political history. humphrey is the last nominee who gets the nomination not to the primary process. you get people but the other big city leaders and union leaders to get behind humphrey almost out of anger at the counterculture movement and the anti-war movement. daley is not only beating up on

protesters in the street, he is beating up on media inside the convention. it is a horrible scene. in terms of the eighth american public that is watching this, a huge turn off. >> richard daley was determined to have law and order. >> the police were there and the national guard are all on the streets. they are whipping heads. it is a really horrible scene. humphry is put in a position of saying he stands with what the bosses against people who are breaking down law and order civilization. the anarchist in the streets and the drugs that are being featured in the free sex. he is trying to appeal to the silent majority in saying he stands for law and order. democrats are bought and out of control party. it is ironic. hubert humphrey is a guy who was not a great supporter of the

war. he was an idealist. in this moment he becomes a representative of the big city mayor union boss, lbj bullying hardball politics. >> mike is watching us from honolulu. >> i really enjoy your program. i in 69-years old now and i remember in 1961 i was in high school. i worked for kennedy. he was running against hubert humphrey hubert humphrey had a little campaign slogan or a campaign jingle to the tune of "give me that old-time religion." i remember that. of course, we go back to 1968

and i was voted the end -- i was married it then. i voted for hubert humphrey. my question for the author is this -- and it's the animosity between the humphrey camp and the kennedy camp because of his anti catholic campaign in 1960? thank you. >> i assume he means was it still there in 1968. i do not think so. i think it was gone at that point. the things that john kennedy did to hubert humphrey in the 1960 campaign a paled in comparison. he basically bought that election in west virginia. >> we have a clip we did not show from 1960. i am going to take a call. we have jfk talking about hubert humphrey from 1960 to help show some of the relationship. let's get to john and tennessee.

>> hubert humphrey and mccarthy were close friends for many years as fellow dfl'ers. mccarthy told humphrey he would come out and support him a scene. i think the assumption was something like september. mccarthy never did. that was a terrible burden for humphrey. probably mccarthy could have swung enough votes to get humphrey elected. i am just wondering whether our experts sure that you or whether they have some other few. >> thank you. >> we interviewed walter mondale and he said if mccarthy would have come out on the stage at the convention and said humphrey is not our best candidates and

we are against the war. if we need to vote for him instead of richard nixon, they would have won the election. they had a couple weeks before the convention where is that he would come out for him by mid september. he never did. there were talking constantly off the route the campaign trying to get mccarthy to come on board with humphrey. he would not do it. he left the country for a while. nobody knows why. >> if you have joined us along the way, mick caouette has done a documentary. the will show you the cover along the way. many clubs we are showing our from his research. this is from 1960 talking about his relationship with hubert humphrey and his influence on his presidential campaign. >> this week i had the opportunity to debate with mr. richard nixon. i feel i should reveal that i have a great advantage in that

debate. i am not referring to anyone's makeup and man. [applause] the advantage i had was mr. nixon had adjusted debated with crew shot. i debated with hubert humphrey and that gave me an expert >> debated with hubert humphrey gave him an edge. greg, you are on. welcome to the conversation. hello? >> hello kar. i was just -- this kind of relates to what you were talking about earlier. humphrey and lbj is relationship, why would he have

to attack his own over vietnam? >> why did lbj attack hubert humphrey? because lbj wanted to win the war and he did not want anyone telling him -- getting off about it. he wanted people to do what he told him to do. humphrey had reservations about the war and he knew it. he had been a free spirit his whole career and suddenly he was in a situation where he had to be controlled. >> i think basically he was protecting his own legacy. >> we are going to close out our conversation with a clip of the 1968 national guardsmen who were students themselves in the street holding back a student protesters.

this is hubert humphrey in a clip from the convention as he accepts the nomination. >> where there is hatred, let me sow love. where there is injury, pardon. where there is doubt, faiths. where there is despair, hope. where there is darkness, light. those are the words of the st.. those of us with less purity listen to them well and may america tonight resolve that

never again shall we see what we have seen. [applause] >> i was heartbroken. all at once there was this total disarray what do i do under these circumstances? >> that was a clip directly from the documentary about hubert humphrey reflecting on the terrible turmoil at the 1968 convention. we have about 35 minutes left. we are going to move along to the next part of the exhibit and it takes some seats and round out our discussion of the life and career, continue taking telephone calls. as we do, we will show you some of the humphrey commercials of the 1968 presidential campaign.

man >> democrats have paved the way for them to get good summer jobs. you have more money today for little luxuries because democrats worked hard to push into a higher minimum wage. you do not have to worry about supporting your mother today and she not worry about being a burden on you thanks to social security and medicare. quite an accomplishment, you know it. you only heard one minutes' worth. what have the democrats ever done for you and yours? think about it. >> paid for by it citizens for humphrey muskif.

>> we have seen the terrible results of violence for this country. it would be intolerable if a handful of violent people -- and that is what it is, just a handful -- could harden us to needed change. i have seen across the perverts the spirit of the america. i saw it at the republican convention in 1964 when rockefeller was shot down. i cited in indianapolis when the boss was heckled and to silence. happen to me in philadelphia. we should give notice to this violent few. there are americans that are willing to sacrifice for change but they want to do it without being threatened and what to do it peacefully. they are the nonviolent majority. black-and-white who are for change without violence. these are the people whose voice i want to be. >> mr. richard nixon, where you

stand on federal aid education? were you stand on expanded medicare? were you stand on aid to higher education? were you stand on the program? where do you stand? i must say -- you know something, richard nixon has not won an election on his own in 18 years. let's keep a good thing going. >> those were campaign commercials for the 1968 campaign as we talk about hubert h. humphrey, feature contender in our series on 40 men who lost the election but changed history. we are live from the minnesota history center. this is a special exhibit they are doing in 1968 which i am told will travel to other

cities. >> chicago for sure, and i believe atlanta or charlotte as well. >> it is time to talk about the fall campaign. juan williams on my left and mick caouette on my right. both have written a number of books about the civil rights era. in the fall campaign, we have wallace, nixon, and hubert humphrey all fighting for the white house. we had riots in the spring, did they continue? >> there was some rioting that persisted. it was not of the major kind of smoke in the sky variety that we saw earlier in the year. the racial tension was palpable throughout the country. it is interesting the way that nixon presented himself was as someone who was going to restore order in the big cities. this also had a strong appeal to people who felt this civil rights movement had sold chaos.

it is way beyond a just a matter of the quality. it is creating instability in the country. combined with the anti vietnam war sentiment, you get richard nixon as the guy who is a man of stability, law, and order. a man who said, we can win in the vietnam even though we will know he goes on to be somebody to start the pullout from vietnam. he understands he is appealing to the silent majority and that is what his campaign is it out. >> hubert humphrey comes out on vietnam still tied to lyndon johnson's policy? >> probably worse. the democratic national committee has no money. he has no money. he has to borrow money to start his campaign. no tv ads. the promotion whatsoever. he is 20 debt -- 20 points down

in the polls. >> how does it play out? >> he runs into -- it continues like that until the end of september. it continues and nothing changes. then he gives a speech in late september on september 30 and solid city where he -- he capital-letter to lose at that point. he makes a break with johnson in a real subtle way or a call for a bombing halt and bring the troops on. things change instantly. he gets something like $1 billion in cash come into him. people side as a chance. the next play see what, it is humphrey we are for you per >> here is a scene from those months. a popular refrain he met from protesters -- dominique the hump. >> i proceeded to go out the

main door walking with students and protesters on each side of the sidewalk pushing and shoving and cursing. there were throwing everything they could it to harass me. one of the things that were doing is throwing cans of urine at me and my party. it was a terrible ordeal grid i watched every step. i did no running. i got to my car. i waved back at the students and we started to drive away. >> i believe that the republican candidate owes it to the people

to come out of the shadows. [chanting] [applause] >> what you heard and saw was hubert humphrey reminiscing about a visit to stanford university and scenes from events in seattle and boston. this is surely from dallas. >> light first heard of you for humphrey when i was in my 20s. he was on a program called a town meeting of the year.

he made a speech in favor of civil rights and similar to what he did in 1948. since then he was always my political hero. i would like to ask a question. was he not active in the anti nuclear weapons toward the end of his career? i would like to hear more about that. >> earlier in his career, he was actually the force behind the disc are meant agency. he could not get in the middle of the 1950's -- he could not get the senate and congress because of the cold war to talk about disarmament and talk about negotiating with russians. he started a subcommittee and set this up by himself. the treaty was signed by president kennedy returned to humphrey and said, this is worse and i hope it works. >> the talk about the general

election in 1968, george wallace is there. george wallace's vice presidential candidates is lamay. he suggests that the united states might use nuclear weapons in vietnam. people are alarmed by this. people have not forgotten what happened in terms of the a-bomb. it just is an example of how extreme and harsh in this year was and how the 1968 campaign is about war and its bets and social change taking place in the country. we talk about special room -- the civil-rights movement and the idea of assassinations. there is also a feminism movement, campuses are on fire. the draft is going on. there is great discontent. this.

that has become -- this perido where we are going to seek the change coming out of the primary progress. the big union bosses and the mayors are dictating everything. you will see the need for the democratic party to come back together and it does not do so for a very long time. it receives a trajectory and which the south becomes republican. >> he mentioned vice presidential nominees. hubert humphrey shows muskie. how did that allies come together? >> he had known him for quite a while. everyone wanted a southern candidate to pull the south. he said, i want somebody who will be a good president if something happens to me. assassinations were very fresh. he wanted someone he liked and was stable. did not help him much politically. he was not thinking along those

lines. i should say as well that he also spoke to nelson rockefeller about being his vice president. crossing party lines which would have been pretty remarkable. nelson rockefeller gave it 24 hours and said he could not do it. they were friends. >> the next telephone call is from virginia. >> hello. i am enjoying the series. i was intrigued about the comment earlier that humphrey was the originator of the idea for the peace corps and a lot of other ideas for kennedy. i wonder if kennedy ever gave him credit for those ideas and what some of the other ideas of his work. >> i think pretty much publicly, he gave him credit for food for peace program.

i have a speech where he did that. i do not know what he said about the peace corps. i think he might have said that humphrey helped them -- these are humphrey ideas some of these ideas. when he lost the primary to jfk, he said i want to get my ideas into this administration. he worked on them. >> hubert humphrey was 57 years old. he was born in 1911. in 1968 he was 57 years old. how did he present himself as a candidate? we have all of this change going on in society. was he conventional? >> extremely conventional we talk a little bit about the difficulty he had portraying himself as an opponent of the war. he was born in 1911. he is not a counterculture and die. there is no way he will be standing around and made dashiki or with long hair and be credible.

he is trying to say that he understands the need for stability and law and order even though he is not a law-and-order candidate. he is in a suit and tie and he has difficulty even with the kind of poetics that robert kennedy had employed when the kennedy -- when king was assassinated. that is not huber humphrey. hubert humphrey is a great speaker. but how you speak -- you have people screaming at you and they see you as an operator for lyndon johnson who is on popular. he is an apolitical vice pierre >> it is impossible for him to present himself as anything. it was done for him. he did not have much of a chance to beat himself. interestingly enough, he was the revolutionary in 1948. he was in the other role in 1948 and he became part of the

establishment he attacked in 1948. >> a lot of change from 1948 to 1968. next telephone call. >> hello. i work force hubert humphrey my husband and the 1960's was his press secretary. we were involved in his 1960 campaign. we were with him for all of 1968. we were at the democratic convention and the horror and tragedy of what was unfolding. i have the experience of escorting muriel humphrey and their children through the basement of the convention center with tear-gas seeping all around us as we were going into

the convention hall on the evening that he would get the democratic nomination. on that night from the hotel room at the conrad hilton, we were with him as he stood there looking out the window at the violence and the terrible tragedy unfolding in grant park. the atmosphere in the room was almost of a funeral. humphrey was the saddest man you could ever imagine on the night that he had achieved his greatest political victory to be the democratic presidential candidate. this was a band whose ideals and integrity carried through his whole life and in his personal life when you knew him at home

or with him privately he was the same person with the same passion. the same conviction for civil rights, for working americans, for the concerns of world peace that you heard in his public statements. i do not think we have had somebody with his gift in the years cents. >> pat, our time is short. are we doing your boss justice tonight? is there one aspect of his political career you think it is important for our viewers to hear about? "i think you are doing a beautiful job on him. you have touched on so many things. i was happy that he was being given some credit for the tremendous array of ideas and

programs that he actually generated and then championed during the kennedy administration. >> thank you for your call. what is your family name? >> my husband wrote a biography of hubert humphrey in 1963 called "humphrey: a candid biography." >> thank you so much for being a part of our program. we have just 15 minutes late. we still have a long life of cuba humphrey to cover. let's talk about election night. where did he watched the returns? >> i think he was in the lemon 10 hotel in minneapolis. >> what were the results like? >> they willie thought they had

a chance at the end. an illinois, ohio, and a couple of other states came in at the very end. they were very close. he basically went to bed thinking he probably was not going to win and what he woke up found out he did not. >> it was very close. ohio, illinois, and in california which all voted richard nixon. they all go to nixon by a lot. i think it is just a of a percentage point difference in terms of absolute percentage of votes in the national election. >> a close popular vote. the electoral college vote 301 for richard nixon, 1914 q a humphrey. who did george wallace take boats away from? >> that is a good argument. i think if you think about the fact that the south was still mostly democratic and they are reacting to civil-rights efforts, i think those would have been available for a

democrat who was operating at the behest of the democratic machine. the union bosses, the mayors, the wealthy in the country. that was gone. the had fallen apart. they were trying to pull together for a country as part of lbj is missing. machine. he did not make the effort to try to give those people a reason to vote for humphrey. if i look back on it, i take is those were democratic votes. africant talked about americans were coming into the process. what happened is keen to lives? disking get more involved at this point? did king possibly launch a third-party effort? i do not know. that would have changed the dynamic market lead. >> was the african-american turn out like in 1968?

>> it was pretty good. this was right in the aftermath. you get the voting rights act in 1965 and the civil rights act of 1964. much more in the north and west. in the south there is still intimidation going on. >> i would say the block of states or southern states, alabama, mississippi, georgia. if you look at it a different way, if they had a choice of only nixon or humphrey, they might have gone to nixon. it is hard to know where those votes really came from. >> wallace also took louisiana, arkansas, mississippi, and georgia. let's take a call. hi, jim. >> i would like to mention that in 1968 when johnson made his

speech and he stepped down that two days before on friday, march 29 -- which i have to correct your guest on the date. on march 29, mr. humphrey agreed to speak at i school. the speech was scheduled for three weeks later. on sunday, march 31 is when johnson made his speech. i always wondered since that event whether he had a clue on that friday because he scheduled some other speeches later in april on the same date that johnson was going to step down or he was simply anticipating that the possibility may exist. because of that speech, i was able to sit in the front row of his announcement speech on april

27 at the hotel along with the other students that helped invite him. i was also at the capitol the day the civil rights act was passed in 1964. the i feel like i will always have somewhat of a privilege from a front-row seat in parts of his life. finally, i would like to make a comment that most of the progress of legislation and programs that evolved during the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's were a result of hubert humphrey's forward agenda. it seemed at that point when he ran for president in 1968, those who he supported with legislation turned on him and he suddenly became outdated or a little bit too conservative in

their eyes. the progressives for civil rights did not view him as a strong advocate, anti-war party did not consider him a strong advocate. >> ok, jim. we are going to jump and because i think our guests made that exact point earlier. he was a great influence but when it came time for his campaign -- >> key had his signature or hands on over 1000 bills for 10 years. the problem 1968 was there was only one issue and all of the rest were forgotten. all of that was lost unfortunately. >> richard nixon won. the war raged on for a couple other years. what about cuba humphries life

after this? >> nixon did not say he was going to end the war. he said he was going to win the war. he had a secret plan. that was the effort that appeal to the silent majority. the problem for humphrey again, we talk about how he is trapped in being lbj vice-president and lbj is feeling he needs to win this war. he is also trapped with the larger argument with nixon were he wants to say, i am for stability. i am not for things going out of control. this is at the same time nixon really says he is a law-and- order candidate. humphrey can never be that because nixon has the space occupied. he is alienating people who would be his supporters. >> i will take a call. this is cavan from new york. >> hello. you touched a part -- you touched upon this earlier.

if george wallace had been out of the 1968 presidential race, would you have seen the outcome be in even closer than it was? in all of your opinions, who would it have been closer for? would it have been humphrey on the top where would it have put? ahead? thank you. >> do you have any more to say on that? it bought know why from iowa perspective, i think wallace heart humphrey. i think a lot of working-class union folks who had some allegiances to the democratic party going back to fdr, i think they peeled off. i do not know if they would have done to the republican party and to dixon. >> we see that in the north. i think the south -- if wallace was not in the race in the

south, nixon might have gotten those votes. >> did hubert humphrey give up his aspirations after his defeat in 1968? >> he came close to trying in 1972 but then he backed out to mcgovern. he became to be at that point. >> but he did go back to the senate? >> in 1970 he took mccarthy's a seat in the senate. his popularity had dropped and he left politics and humphry took it. it was one of the largest landslides of his senatorial career. he served there until 1978 until he died. >> how was his second santa? >> he was at the bottom. he was a freshman. he had no committees. walter mondale was the senior senator and he was treated like somebody who was just starting. he was given no respect. he found his own way and with a short time he was working on bills again and he passed a couple of different bills during

that time. he got back into it. >> us take a call from michigan. hello, amy. >> my question is sent senator humphrey served during the mccarthy of -- era, what was his relationship with jobs and courtney? >> that is a with a complicated question. he tried to pass something called the communist control act were to try to make it illegal to be communist. that was done in some part because he was trying to make joe mccarthy -- to bring the truth out and force his hand so he would have to prove somebody was a communist and would be illegal. he could not be quite so passe about it or blase about how he attacked people. he would have to incriminate them. that was a bad plan. it did not work.

he did not like joe mccarthy or any of his tactics. he did not like anything about what he did. >> we just have two minutes left. he was very ill toward the end with cancer. what kind of cancer did he have? >> and bladder cancer. >> he ended up dying in january of 1978. the time before he died, he was brought back to the capital for what seemed to be an unusual tribute. >> it never happened before. >> tell us about that. >> it was the first time the congress and the senate met for one senator. never happened before. they all met -- it was just to honor his work. he died at two months later. his spirit was still there and republicans and democrats both spoke. >> he invited richard nixon to come back for his funeral in the capitol building.

>> he called the x and at christmas and said you need to come back. i do not think any president should be not allowed in the city. i want you to come back. he said i do not think i can do it. he said you need to come to my funeral. it is a dying wis. >> as we close i will ask both of you to bring us full arc. the premise of the series is people who are unsuccessful and the presidential bid but the change to american history. how did he change in american history? >> american samoa speech at the 1948 convention changed history. if you think about social movement in the 20th century, it is the civil-rights movement. hubert humphrey was at the top of that order in terms of people who held elective office to put themselves out as advocates on the right side of history. he was well ahead of the curve in terms of pushing the democratic party, pushing politics in the direction of the

passage of the civil-rights act and so much we have seen in this country when it comes to race relations -- race relations. when you think about barack obama as president today, that does not happen without some of the changes that come from the democratic party. here is hubert humphrey. he is the last selection by the party bosses and machines. in the aftermath of hubert humphrey's defeat in 1968, suddenly you have an allocation of delegates based on primaries and process. that part of the hubert humphrey's legacy. then there are the social programs. we think about the end of the new deal. you have a whole new range of efforts on the social justice scene. social programs -- the work of

hubert humphrey's mind. >> i apologize to you but we have run out of time. what i will do is encourage people to find your documentary. he make the case about how peter humphrey changed history. here is what it looks like. "humbert humphrey: the art of possible." he was buried back here in minneapolis. his tombstone has this inscription on it -- i have enjoyed my life. disappointments outweighed by pledges. i have love my country in a way that some people consider sentimental and out of style. i still do and i remain an optimist with a joint, without apology about this country and about the american experiment in democracy. as we close on this contenders series, we will show you a bit of video from a that very unusual session in the house of representatives chamber.

some real familiar faces. when hubert humphrey just months before his death was invited back for a tribute and a celebration of his long political and legislative career. thank you for being with us. [applause] >> we ask you here so we could tell you, we love you. [applause] mr. speaker, knowing full well the dangers of what i am about to do, i yield as much time as he wishes to consent to the senior senator from minnesota. [applause] >> i know where i am standing.

i am standing with the president of the united states gives his state of the union address. my goodness. how i have longed for that opportunity [applause] >> the contenders about the man ran for the presidency and lost but change political history. friday, four term governor of alabama -- alabama george wallace. the contenders, this week at 8:00 eastern on c-span. bidens wreckage is a shameful rollcall of the most catastrophic the trails and blunders in our lifetime.

careerspent his entire on the wrong side of history. >> our current president has failed in his most basic duty to the nation. he has failed to protect us. he has failed to protect america. my fellow americans, that is unforgivable. >> the first presidential debate between donald trump and joe biden is tuesday, september 29 at 9:00 eastern. watch live coverage on c-span. watch live streaming and on-demand that c-span.org or listen live on the free c-span radio app. ♪ >> c-span's washington journal, everyday we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day and we'll discuss policy issues that impact you. friday morning, the bipartisan votingcenter discusses ahead of election day 2020.

editor in chief of the journal of the american medical association talks about the u.s. response to covid-19. watch c-span's washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern friday morning. be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, comments, text messages, and tweets. ♪ jille biden and his wife visited kenosha, wisconsin thursday where jacob blake was shot by police last month. they met with community officials and activists and can -- in kenosha. topics included policing policy and the concerns of residents and business owners in the wake of protest. they met privately with mr. blake's family before the event. this is one hour and 15 minutes.