and hubert humphrey is running, and eugene mccarthy runs. and mccarthy does better than anyone expected and then bobby announces. >> guest: causing a lot of ill will which it earned in one sense, and bobby has won all but the oregon primaries and then it's the california primary. but my point is in the reality where all he said then imagine if robert kennedy had lived and sotomayor daley who was the symbol of the old guard, the old politics, if he was backing the peace candidate, you don't have all those demonstration. you only have the radicals. that was the extent of my answer. then i went home and i couldn't sleep because all these other things occur to me, specifically if you look at the numbers in 1968, humphrey had the support of the old guard. and in those days unlike now a lot of the states there were no primaries. the bosses, the leaders had the delegates. so the general calculation was it was going to be very tougher robert carey to win even after winning the primaries. but if it survived an assassination attempt which is the plot

which if you are hubert humphrey or people who admired him it didn't sound so good. in fact in both cases you are right, the politics of the times, both those men were challenging orthodoxy, and in fact in this scenario, robert kennedy as president runs into serious trouble with big-city mayors and interest groups along with the democratic hardy because he is trying to change stuff. you know the teachers unions, when robert kennedy -- he actually did propose, suggested that young men and i think you meant women, was a different time, be allowed to leave school and work or several hours a day so they could provide money for their families and have experience of a job which they have never seen in their communities. >> host: the unions hated that. george meany hated it. >> guest: child labor. this is what we thought for? child labor. >> host: but what i find so striking about this jeff, is what does it say about how the country has changed? it is almost as though liberalism was here. conservatism was there. but we have moved so far in this direction, so far in that dir

which if you are hubert humphrey or people who admired him didn't sound very good.n fact, in both cases you're right. the politics of the time, both those men were challenging orthodoxy. and, in fact, in the scenario robert kennedy as president runs into serious trouble with big city mayors and interest groups along with the democratic party 'cause he's trying to change, you know, the teachers unions. when robert kennedy -- he did propose and he suggest the young men and i think he meant women it was a different time be able to leave school and work for several hours a day so they could provide money to their families and have a job. >> host: the unions hated that. george meany hated it. >> guest: child labor. is this what we fought for? child labor? >> host: but what i find so striking, jeff, is what does it say about how the country has changed. it was almost like liberalism was here and conservatism is there but we have moved so far in this direction and so far in that direction i guess -- >> guest: yes, i think --. >> host: we've become so liberal that today's l

the imam war is killing and hubert humphrey and eugene mccarthy runs and mccarthy does better than anyone expected and body announces. >> guest: causing a lot of ill will hear and and all the has won all but the word in primaries and then it's the california primary. imagine if robert kennedy had lived and so mayor daley who was the symbol of the old guard, the old politics if he was backing the peace candidate you don't have all those demonstrators you only have the radicals and they are marginalized then i went home and i couldn't sleep because of all these other things that occurred to me specifically. if you look at the numbers of 1968 humphrey had the support of the old guard and in those days on like now a lot of the states during the primaries, so the general population was it's going to be tough for robert kennedy even after winning the primaries but if he had survived the assassination attempt which is the plot in here and think about what happened with ronald reagan after he survived john hinckley and you think of the good will and the good grace and humor with which he dealt wi

. >> guest: vice president hubert humphrey, wonderfully energetic and appealing person, he was vice president and had just come back from vietnam. via 1 increasingly becoming a major political factor in the country. it had not been when i first ran in sixty-two. but in 64 or 66 or 65 president johnson was getting complaints that members of congress didn't feel they were being informed about war. [talking over each other] >> however they may have said such a thing. >> he invited members of congress to the white house and we all went down. a large number went down. the invitation came late and we went in and it is not nothing for young congressman to be sitting in the white house getting briefed by the president or vice president and just got back from vietnam and hubert humphrey starts the briefing and linda nuns and was commander in chief and he was bigger than life that would pop up every time someone said something and to the question and hubert would just about be ready to lead the. and lyndon johnson would take over. >> like bombing halts? >> guest: listening to him i was probably more cr

hubert humphrey start to give a briefing, and lyndon baines johnson was commander-in-chief. and he was bigger than life. he would pop up every time someone would say something and answer the question. and hubert would just about every to answer, and stop and lyndon johnson would take over. >> that's pretty much the way it was. >> yes, indeed. it was a powerful figure. >> and johnson was talking about the things he was doing to win the war, and you piped up and said like bombing homes? >> he was -- you know, as a congressman listening to him, i was probably more critical than it would've been as a member of the executive branch being asked questions by members of congress. so where you stand kind of depends on where you sit. but he, he was going to appear at what he was trying to figure out what to do in the war in tranninety and he would go through a heavy bombing period and then it would be a bombing pause and he would hope that would cause a positive reaction from the north vietnamese. or the vietcong. and it didn't. and he in explaining what he was doing was asked a quest

they destroyed hubert humphrey. hubert hump -- humphrey came within 1% of defeating richard nixon.even the regressives began a revolt in that party. with their challenge to hubert humphrey. hubert humphrey who a lot of people -- there would be no problems with labor if hubert hump try or -- humphrey or his successors had prevailed. he was pro-labor, pro-civil rights, you know? is he's a man who said if i'm a black person living in the ghetto, i've got to revolt. remember? george wallace got on him about that. so they destroyed him. then they destroyed jimmy carter. nothing satisfies these people until they get this utopia, you know, where -- i don't know what it is. i have my ideas about it. but they destroyed jimmy carter. jimmy carter wasn't good, so we got ronald reagan, you know? now they're talking about a primary challenge against barack obama. so that element is always going to be there. the white left has never accepted black leadership all the way back to the abolitionists, you know? when frederick douglass decided to start his own newspaper, lloyd garrison got up and said

>> i think he said that about hubert humphrey but it's a good lead-in. have hubert inside the tent. >> yeah. >> you know, i don't want to stir controversy too much. but i think we've made a little too much -- this idea that lincoln was brave for picking his convention rivals for the cabinet. you know, with all due respect to doris goodwin whom i adore and respect enormously, and boy, can that lady write a book balancing 17 characters in a book and making them all come to life. but, you know, i went back to re-examine this cabinet-making process very carefully. there's a lot of tradition of presidents in the mid-19th century appointing their, quote, rival to the cabinet, whether they were doing it to keep them from going in and out or whatever. it's the most accepted tradition and the most famous one william henry harrison. the original log cabin president. >> right. >> who was the surprise winner of the 1840 whig convention that henry clay believed he was going to win hands down just as william seward believed he was going to win in 1860, 20 years later.

hubert humphrey starts to give the briefing and lyndon baines johnson was commander in chief. he was bigger than life. he would pop up every time someone would say something and answer the question and hubert would just about be ready to answer and stop and lyndon johnson would take over. >> that is pretty much the weight usually was dhume. >> yes, indeed. he was a powerful figure. >> and johnson was talking about the things he was doing to win the war and you piped up and said like --. >> as a congressman, listening to him i was probably more critical than i would have been as a member of the executive branch being asked questions by members of congress so where you stand kind of depends on where you sit but, he was going through a period where he was trying to figure out what to do in the war in vietnam and he would go through a heavy bombing period and then there would be a bombing pause and he would hope that would cause a positive reaction from the north vietnamese or the viet cong and it didn't. and, he and explaining what he was doing was asked a question by a democrati

hubert humphrey starts to give the briefing and lyndon baines johnson was commander in chief. he was bigger than life. he would pop up every time someone would say something and answer the question and hubert would just about be ready to answer and stop and lyndon johnson would take over. >> that is pretty much the weight usually was dhume. >> yes, indeed. he was a powerful figure. >> and johnson was talking about the things he was doing to win the war and you piped up and said like --. >> as a congressman, listening to him i was probably more critical than i would have been as a member of the executive branch being asked questions by members of congress so where you stand kind of depends on where you sit but, he was going through a period where he was trying to figure out what to do in the war in vietnam and he would go through a heavy bombing period and then there would be a bombing pause and he would hope that would cause a positive reaction from the north vietnamese or the viet cong and it didn't. and, he and explaining what he was doing was asked a question by a democrati

they will be reading excerpts from senators hubert humphrey, democrat from minnesota, edward kennedy,, and edward dirksen, republican from illinois. now, come up here, a junior and coordinator will read an excerpt from senator hubert's address delivered on march 30th 1964. [applause] >> thank you. it's an honor to be here. mr. president, i cannot over imp size the historic importance of the debate we are beginning. we are participants in one of the most crucial eras in the long and proud history of the united states, and, yes, in man keep's struggle for justice and freedom which has gone forward since the dawn of history. if freedom becomes a full reality in america, we can dare to believe it will become a reality ever where. if freedom fails here in america, the land of the free, what hope can we have that it will survive elsewhere? the golden rule shows what we are attempting to do in the civil rights legislation. do unto others as you would have them do unto you. if i went to castle to try to do what you are doing, it would be to fulfill this great admiration which is the human rul

they will be reading excerpts from senators hubert humphrey, democrat from minnesota, edward kennedy, democrat from massachusetts, and edward dirksen, republican from illinois. now, come up here, a junior and coordinator will read an excerpt from senator hubert's address delivered on march 30th 1964. [applause] >> thank you. it's an honor to be here. mr. president, i cannot over imp size the historic importance of the debate we are beginning. we are participants in one of the most crucial eras in the long and proud history of the united states, and, yes, in man keep's struggle for justice and freedom which has gone forward since the dawn of history. if freedom becomes a full reality in america, we can dare to believe it will become a reality ever where. if freedom fails here in america, the land of the free, what hope can we have that it will survive elsewhere? the golden rule shows what we are attempting to do in the civil rights legislation. do unto others as you would have them do unto you. if i went to castle to try to do what you are doing, it would be to fulfill this great admir

hubert humphrey gave his famous speech in salt lake saying, "i haltcreate a bombigng if i'm elected," and the democratic party started to come together. humphrey game and gained in gay and right up until election day, where -- gained and gained and gained right up until election day, where nixon won narrowly. the town he came to was utterly hostile to the nixon. in love to john f. kennedy. richard nixon was loathed by a significant part of the press. it was predominantly democratic. for the first time since zachary taylor, both houses of congress were against the president of the united states. and as i said, the media loathed richard nixon, a lot of them did, and others did not like richard nixon. here is the final problem -- go up and down the east coast, "boston globe," "new york times," "washington post," anti- nixon, all of them. the three networks -- people depended on the network news of those networks as their primary source of news and information about the president of the united states. all of fossil to richard nixon. thus, -- all were hostile to richard nixon. thus, the im