1968 Democratic National Convention

1968 Democratic National Convention

1968 presidential election
Nominees Humphrey and Muskie
Convention
Date(s)	August 26–29, 1968
City	Chicago, Illinois
Venue	International Amphitheatre
Candidates
Presidential nominee	Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota
Vice presidential nominee	Edmund Muskie of Maine
Other candidates	Eugene McCarthy George McGovern
‹ 1964 · 1972 ›

The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making the purpose of the convention to select a new presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.^[1] Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine were nominated for president and vice president, respectively.

The event was among the most tense and confrontational political conventions in American history, and became notorious for the televised heavy-handed police tactics of the host, Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago. The most contentious issues were the continuing American military involvement in the Vietnam War, and expanding the right to vote to draft-age soldiers by lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years old. Dissatisfaction with the convention led to significant changes in the rules governing delegate selection, ushering in the modern primary election system.

The year 1968 was a time of riots, political turbulence, and mass civil unrest. The assassination of Martin Luther King in April of that year, following his opposition to the Vietnam War, further inflamed racial tensions, and protest riots in more than 100 cities followed.^[2][3] The convention also followed the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, a candidate in the primary, on June 5.^[4] Currently second in delegates at the time of his death to the pro-war Humphrey, the loss of Kennedy saw his committed delegates go for Humphrey over candidate Eugene McCarthy, who had been third in delegates.

The Humphrey–Muskie ticket failed to win the confidence of Democratic voters, to unite liberals, or to attract anti-war voters. They were later defeated in the presidential election by the "silent majority" Republican ticket of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.