is an ad by richard nixon taking aim at vietnam and the failed policies of lyndon johnson and hubert humphrey. we'll fom that with an ad from the humphrey campaign to give you a sense of what was going on. we'll start with richard nixon and the failure ad. >> how can a party that can't unite itself unite the nation? how can a party that can't keep order in its own backyard hope to keep order in our 50 states? how can a party that labels the results of its programs the great society ever find any real solutions? how can i party that lets the country get bogged down in an endless war against a fourth-rate military power promise anything but decades of conflict? how in the a lot of all this can the american people fail to see that the united states urgently needs new leadership. by now it's clear. it's the american people do see the need. >> do you want castro to have the bomb now? do you want any country that doesn't have the bomb to be able to get it? of course you don't. where does richard nixon stand on the u.n. treaty to stop the spread of nuclear weapons? he says he's in no hurry to pass i

. >> now lessons from the 1968 presidential race and the candidacy of hubert humphrey. c-span's washington classroom is a partnership with the washington center and george mason university. this week they focus on the historic 1968 presidential campaign and specifically on the democratic nominee. mitt is the producer of the documenta documentary, and he joined the class from humphries home state of minnesota. this semester's class is focused on the road to the white house with a look at the issues and events shaping the current campaign as well as historical perspectives from past presidential elections. this is one hour. >> to my students part of the washington center here in washington, d.c. and from george mason, we want to welcome to the class mitt kohen and he's talking about hubert humphries specifically. thank you for being with us chls. >> thank you. >> let me begin whether the year began with the ted offensive and the decision by lyndon johnson not to seek another term in march of 1968. both of those events really had had a huge impact on the politics of that y

hubert humphrey had gone to the floor and forced a floor fight on the civil rights plank. the southern democrats were mad enough going into this convention, then hubert humphrey says our plank on civil rights is not as strong as the republicans'. it's the same mush that we were peddling in 1944. no, we need to move of out of the shadow of states' rights into the bright sunlight of civil rights. and he forces a floor or fight onto the convention, first one since 1932 with the democrats since prohibition, and he wins. he wins, and the southern democrats, some of them anyway, walk out. walk out. the convention is just dragging on into chaos, and then when they announce harry truman is coming into the hall at 1 a.m. past any media notice that you could get, they unleash this, they open up this big floral display of the liberty bell because they're in philadelphia x. they fly out the doves of peace which are all pigeons, actually, and they've been cooped up for hours now. l and they see all the lights and the noise and the bands, and they just go crazy! and they, they're attack

hubert humphrey has gone to the floor and forced a floor fight on civil rights. the southern democrats were mad enough going into this convention and then hubert humphrey said our plank on civil rights is not as strong as the republicans. it's the same mush that we were paddling in 1944. no, we need a move out of the shadow of states rights into the bright sunlight of civil rights and he forces a floor fight on to the convention, the first one since 1932 and he wins. he wins in the southern democrats, some of them anyway, walk out, walk out. the convention is dragging on into chaos and then when they announce harry chairman is coming into the hall at 1:00 a.m. past any media that you can get. they unleash an open up this vague floral display of the liberty bell in philadelphia and they fly out the doves of peace which are all pigeons actually and they have been cooped up her hours now and they see all the lights in the noise and the dance and they just go crazy. they are attacking things and flying into electric fans and landing on sam raeburn's head and they are

hubert humphrey had gone to the floor and forced a floor fight on the civil-rights plank. we need to move out of the shadow of states' rights into the bright sunlight of civil rights. the forces of floor fight on to the convention. first one says 1932 says probation, and he wins. he wins and the southern democrats, some of them anyway, walkout, walkout. the convention is dragging on into chaos, and then when they announce harry truman is coming into the hall at 1:00 a.m. passed in the media that you could get, they unleashed -- they open up this big floral display of the liberty bell because their in philadelphia, and they fly out the doves of peace, which are all pigeons actually come in they have been cooped up for hours now, and see all lights and the noise and the fans and they just go crazy. and they are attacking things and flying into electric fans and landing on sam rayburn said. and they're doing things that pigeons do. and harry truman is wearing a white suit. [laughter] well, that is probably the low point. harry truman starts of kind of slow and the kind of has

the ones that stand out most prominently in my memory would include hubert humphrey, who was perhaps one of the greatest senators of all time, although i think someone of a tragic figure because of what happened to him in-during the vietnam when he was vice president. but as senator he really invented the modern senator's role to some extent. he communicated the senate to the vast public on issues like nuclear disarmment and civil rights particularly, and he was one of the great senators. >> let me -- two questions. the 60s and the 70s were very profound moments in american history. i think those of us our age can remember them. i just jotted down come -- coming here what i remember. the civil rights movement and it wasn't only martin luther king, jr., you had malcolm x, the black panthers, the assassination of president kennedy and the shock to the country, clearly the war in vietnam, profound impact that had on the whole nation, dividing us. and so forth. the rapid speed by which president johnson implemented the great society. and then the impact that had. young people's countercu

hubert humphrey used to say that he was an optimist because he looked out in the field of pessimism and there was too much competition. [laughter] but i think we have a lot to be optimistic about. when we met in san francisco recently, i really wanted to come back, because what you have done here is probably more than most cities in the country, and i invite you to continue to push washington. because what you have done is you have continued to raise this issue, and i think that will kind of give us the ammunition to move the program forward. i also want to recognize the employer here, because we get a lot of credit to employees for working hard and doing their job, but it really is employers, small businesses that are going to turn this around. and you articulated it. what they have done here in bringing this shop, opening this shot up here, helping to rejuvenate a community, but also to provide some pretty damn impressive pastry in the process. i am glad to be here, and i hope to be invited back at some point. thank you. [applause] >> and i will introduce the owner of pastry cupboard.

it suggested that hubert humphrey was indifferent to the death in vietnam. >> okay, the next spot is few years from 1988, it's dthe famous spo. it's a good example of how an existing narrative about a candidate requecan be put to go use. it can create news in which the ad melds together to create something larger. let's see the spot now. >> there's a bear in the woods, for some people the bear is easy to see. others don't see it at all some people say the bear is tame. others take it's vicious. and dangerous. since no one can be sure who is right, isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear? if there's a bear? >> okay, that is my fault. that is the famous bear spot, which was a demonstrating like the daisy girl spot that existing narratives in the viewer's mind can be put to use and don't require lots of factual information. now we will see the wil horton spot. >> bush and dukakis on crime. bush supports the death penalty for first degree murders, dukakis does not support it and allows prisoners to have weekend passes. one was willie horton, he stabbed a boy 19 times, and despite a li

and what mansfield did with hubert humphrey and everett dirkson and the other senators is they won an overwhelming victory for what was probably the most important piece of legislation ever enacted, the civil rights act of '64. >> ira shapiro discusses his book with independent senator bernie sanders of vermont this friday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on after words here on c-span radio. >> news on afghanistan and syria today from defense secretary leon pa at the time net ta who spoke to reporters jo. today applauding hamid karzai for telling an interviewer that the afghan government and the taliban recently holding three-way talks aimed at moving toward a political settlement of the war. president karzai's comments by the way coming in the "wall street journal," an interview published this morning available

was the last bastion of resistance that heterosexual to be overcome and what mansfield did with hubert humphrey and everett dirksen and the other senators they won an overwhelming victory for what was probably the most important piece of legislation ever enjaktd, the civiling rights of '64. >> shapiro discusses his book with bernie sanders of vermont this friday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on "after words" here on c-span radio. ♪ >>> this is an economic relief package. because the president's policies have not only failed, they've actually made the economy worse. we were doing policies like those that we've passed and sent over to the senate be no need for this type of economic relief package. >> i'm just glad for the american people that the drum beat that president obama created across the country, remember public sentiment is everything and the public overwhelmingly supported a payroll tax cut for 160 million americans. the republic overwhelmingly supported that we have unemployment compensation. >> the democratic leader in the house of representatives, congresswoman nancy pelosi and the speaker of

brokers chewed on big cigars, speaking in language to pick the nominee. 1968 all the chaos, when hubert humphrey was the nominee after a series of speeches at the convention by fellow democrats. they emerged battered and bruise, he lost to richard nixon. people's votes at the primary process had to be the way their nominees were selected. they weren't going to wheel and deal behind closed doors. republican followed suit a few years later. since then, no cigar smoke, no wise guys in back rooms. the 1976 race came close with ronald reagan taking the fight against gerald ford all the way to the convention. but then ford squeaked by, clinched the nomination before losing to jimmy carter. a brokered convention is a much more elusive animal. the various candidates have to attract delegate thes because they are bound by state rules to vote for a specific candidate based on showing in a primary caucus or convention, that has to fail first. if it did fail, if the ballot dead locked, these delegates could be released from those rules if the contest drags on and on at the convention. but it gets more compl

it is possible that hubert humphrey in 1968 is one who was over 50%. >> but a sitting vice president. >> but a sitting vice president but extremely unpopular and we know what happened there. maybe in some corners governor mcgov everyone, maybe bob dole in '96 but i don't recall specifically that anyone has won the nomination and gone in to a general election with an over 50% unfavorable rating. >> there are some things in politics that are simple. this is one of them. it is the reason i bet against hillary clinton last time around. she had an unfavor able of over 50 and i have no experience of anyone overcoming that in one of these campaigns. howard fineman, thank you for joining us. >>> my interview with ellie bezell and why he asked mitt romney to tell the mormon church to top trying to baptize jews. this story is too strange toex plain in this little space. you have to stay with us to see it next. >>> in the "rewrite" the asian actress who i called out last week for her partition passion in the most vile political tv ad of the year now realizes her mistake nmplts the spotlight toni

hubert humphrey -- >> same thing in '68. >> mccain was no favorite of the republican base, none of themt. the other thing is, you know, tonight, i would like to see -- i would like to see john king ask mitt one question. can you think of a great or near great president who came out of a business background? >> you think that that biography actually is not working with voters in >> saying historically, you got me on here like newt gingrich, i'm the historian, i haven't got paid as much as he did, there is no example. i mean, hoover was the last president who -- >> official business. >> business background. gw bush to some extend. i don't think mitt romney wants to cite either of them as examples of why you want a businessman-turned-president. the auto industry, who won the 1916 michigan public primary, chuck? henry ford. always had this notion that they would be good. >> the lost the senate race because he was an anti-semite. >> so, i don't -- my degree is not in psychology, i can't give you an oedipal explanation of what -- >> put him on the couch? don't want to put him on the couch >>.

it suggested that hubert humphrey was indifferent to the death and carnage in vietnam. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> okayoing to jump ahead a few years from 1988, it's the famous willie horton spot that was aired by a third party group on behalf of george h.w. bush. it's a good example of how an existing narrative about a candidate can be put to use in an advertising campaign, also a demonstration that ads can help create synergy in which the ad and the news melt together to create something larger than the sum of their parts. let's see that spot now. >> there is a bear in the woods. for some people the bear is easy the see. to see. others don't see it at all. some people say the bear is tame, others say it's vicious. and dangerous. since no one can really be sure who's right, isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear? if there is a bear? >> okay. that's my fault. that's ronald reagan's '88 campaign, the famous bear spot which i think is a very good use of parable in advertising and demonstrates like the tase si girl spot -- daisy girl spot that existing narratives in the viewers' mind can be put to use

it suggested hubert humphrey was indifferent to the death and carnage in vietnam. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> okay. we're going to jump ahead a few years from 1988. it's the famous willy horton spot that was aired by a third-party group on behalf of george h.w. bush. it's a good example of how an existing narrative about a candidate can be put to good use in an advertising campaign. it's also a demonstration that ads cannot only create news but can help create synergyism in which the ads and the news meld together about creating something larger than the sum of their parts. let's see that spot now. >> there's a bear in the woods. for some people, the bear is easy to see. others don't see it at all. some people say the bear is tame. others say it's vicious and dangerous. since no one can really be sure who's right, isn't it smart to be as smart as the bear, if there is a bear? >> okay. that's my fault. that's ronald reagan's '88 campaign, the famous bear spot which i think is a very good use of parable in advertising and demonstrates like the daisy girl spot that existing narratives in the viewers'