Selection of the Democratic nominee for the 1968 U.S. presidential election in Chicago
1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 presidential election
Nominees Humphrey and Muskie
Convention
Date(s)
August 26–29, 1968
City
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
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] The keynote speaker was Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.[2] Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine were nominated for president and vice president, respectively. The most contentious issues of the convention were the continuing American military involvement in the Vietnam War and voting reform, particularly expanding the right to vote for draft-age soldiers (age 18) who were unable to vote as the voting age was 21. The convention also marked a turning point where previously idle groups such as youth and minorities became more involved in politics and voting.
The convention of 1968 was held during a year of riots, political turbulence, and mass civil unrest. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April of that year inflamed racial tensions to an unprecedented level. King assassination riots in more than 100 cities followed and marked the end of the civil rights movement.[3][4] The convention also followed the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy on June 5.[5] Kennedy's assassination derailed the convention, paving the way for Humphrey. Both Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota opposed the Vietnam War and had been running for the Democratic nomination at the time. The Humphrey–Muskie ticket, while competitive, failed to unite liberals and attract anti-war voters. They would be defeated in the presidential election by the "silent majority" Republican ticket of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.
^"Past Convention Coverage". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
^"Keynoter Knows Sting of Bias, Poverty". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. August 27, 1968.
^"1968: Martin Luther King shot dead". On this Day. BBC. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
^Blake, Bailey (1992). The 60s. New York: Mallard Press.
^Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. (1968). Robert Kennedy and His Times. New York: Ballantine Books. p. xi.
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