Humphrey, Hubert

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{{Infobox_President | name =Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr.
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[[Image:H Humphrey.jpg|thumb|right|Hubert Humphrey, 38th U.S. Vice-President]]
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'''Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr.''' (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was the thirty-eighth Vice President of the United States, serving under President Lyndon Johnson. Humphrey served a total of five terms as a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Americans for Democratic Action. He also served as mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1945–1949. In 1968, Humphrey was the nominee of the Democratic Party in the United States presidential election but narrowly lost to the [[Republican Party (U.S.)|Republican]] nominee, [[Richard M. Nixon]].
| caption        =
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{{toc}}
| order          =38th [[Vice President of the United States]]
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Humphrey was strongly committed to achieving civil rights for all. He told the 1948 Democratic National Convention, "The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadows of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights," winning support for a pro-civil rights plank in the Party's platform. This controversial stance strengthened support by northern black voters for Truman and weakening influence of southern conservative democrats.
| term_start      =20 January, 1965
 
| term_end        =20 January, 1969
 
| president      =[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
 
| predecessor    =Lyndon B. Johnson
 
| successor      =[[Spiro Agnew]]
 
| jr/sr2 = United States Senator
 
| state2 = [[Minnesota]]
 
| term_start2 = January 3, 1971
 
| term_end2 = January 13, 1978
 
| predecessor2 = [[Eugene McCarthy]]
 
| successor2 = [[Muriel Humphrey]]
 
| jr/sr3 = United States Senator
 
| state3 = [[Minnesota]]
 
| term_start3 = January 3, 1949
 
| term_end3 = December 30, 1964
 
| predecessor3 = [[Joseph H. Ball]]
 
| successor3 = [[Walter Mondale]]
 
| office4 = 14<sup>th</sup> [[Majority Whip|United States Senate Majority Whip]]
 
| term_start4 = January 3, 1961
 
| term_end4 = December 30, 1964
 
| predecessor4 = [[Mike Mansfield]]
 
| successor4 = [[Russell B. Long]]
 
| office5 = 1<sup>st</sup> [[President pro tempore|Deputy President ''pro tempore'' of the United States Senate]]
 
| term_start5 = 1977
 
| term_end5 = 1978
 
| president5 = Sen. [[James Eastland]]
 
| predecessor5 = None
 
| successor5 = [[George J. Mitchell]] (1987)
 
| birth_date      ={{birth date|1911|5|27|mf=y}}
 
| birth_place    =Wallace, [[South Dakota]]
 
| death_date      ={{death date and age|1978|1|13|1911|5|27}}
 
| death_place    =Waverly, [[Minnesota]]
 
| party          =[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
 
| spouse          =Muriel Buck Humphrey
 
| profession      =
 
| religion        =Congregationalist ([[United Church of Christ]])/[[United Methodist]]
 
|}}
 
'''Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr.''' (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was the thirty-eighth [[Vice President of the United States]], serving under President Lyndon Johnson. Humphrey twice served as a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Minnesota]], and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the [[Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party]] and [[Americans for Democratic Action]]. He also served as [[List of mayors of Minneapolis|mayor]] of [[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]], 1945–1949. In 1968, Humphrey was the nominee of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1968|United States presidential election]] but narrowly lost to the [[Republican Party (U.S.)|Republican]] nominee, [[Richard M. Nixon]].
 
  
In a renowned speech, Humphrey told the [[1948 Democratic National Convention]], "The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadows of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights," winning support for a pro-civil-rights plank in the Party's platform.
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==Early years==
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Humphrey was born in Wallace, South Dakota. He was the son of Hubert Humphrey, Sr. and Ragnild Kristine Sannes, a Norwegian.<ref>RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, [http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=geolarson2&id=I272211 An Extended family.] Retrieved November 9, 2007.</ref> Humphrey spent most of his youth in the small town of Doland, South Dakota, on the Dakota prairie. His father was the town pharmacist and a community leader who served as Doland's mayor and as a town council member. In the late 1920s, the Great Depression hit Doland. Both banks in town closed. Humphrey's father struggled to keep his drugstore open. After his son graduated from Doland's high school, Hubert, Sr. left Doland and opened a new drugstore in the larger town of Huron, South Dakota, where he hoped to improve his fortunes. As a result of the family's financial struggles, Hubert had to leave the University of Minnesota after just one year to help his father in the new drugstore. He quickly earned a pharmacist's license from the Drew College of Pharmacy in Denver, [[Colorado]], and spent from 1930 to 1937 helping his father run the family drugstore. In time, the Humphrey Drug Company in Huron became profitable and the family prospered again.
  
==Early years==
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Hubert did not enjoy working as a pharmacist. He aspired to earn a doctorate in political science and become a college professor. In 1937, Humphrey returned to the University of Minnesota, completing a bachelor's degree in 1939. The following year, he earned a master's degree from Louisiana State University, serving as an assistant instructor of political science there. One of his classmates was Russell B. Long, a future senator from [[Louisiana]].  
Humphrey was born in [[Wallace, South Dakota|Wallace]], [[Codington County, South Dakota|Codington County]], [[South Dakota]]. He was the son of Hubert Humphrey, Sr. and Ragnild Kristine Sannes, who was [[Norwegian people|Norwegian]].<ref>{{cite web| title = RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project|publisher = Ancestry.com| url = http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=geolarson2&id=I272211| accessdate = 2006-12-29}}</ref> Humphrey spent most of his youth in the small town of [[Doland, South Dakota]] on the Dakota prairie. His father was the town [[pharmacist]] and a community leader; he served as Doland's mayor and as a town council member. In the late 1920s a severe economic downturn hit Doland; both of the town's banks closed and Humphrey's father struggled to keep his drugstore open. After his son graduated from Doland's high school, Hubert, Sr. left Doland and opened a new drugstore in the larger town of [[Huron, South Dakota]], where he hoped to improve his fortunes. As a result of the family's financial struggles, Hubert had to leave the [[University of Minnesota]] after just one year to help his father in the new drugstore. He quickly earned a pharmacist's license from the Drew College of Pharmacy in [[Denver, Colorado]], and spent the years from 1930 to 1937 helping his father run the family drugstore. He was a brother of [[Phi Delta Chi]], a professional pharmaceutical fraternity and also Alpha Phi Alpha. Over time the "Humphrey Drug Company" in Huron became a profitable enterprise and the family was able to prosper again.
 
  
However, Hubert did not enjoy working as a pharmacist, and his dream remained to earn a [[doctorate]] in [[political science]] and become a college professor. In 1937 he returned to the University of Minnesota and earned a bachelor's degree in 1939. He also earned a master's degree from [[Louisiana State University]] in 1940, serving as an assistant instructor of political science there. One of his classmates was [[Russell B. Long]], a future senator from [[Louisiana]]. He then became an instructor and graduate student at the University of Minnesota from 1940 to 1941 (joining the [[American Federation of Teachers]]), and was a supervisor for the [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA). Humphrey would soon become active in [[Minneapolis]] politics, and as a result he never finished his [[Ph.D.]].
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After completing his master's degree, Hubert returned to Minnesota to become an instructor and graduate student at the University of Minnesota from 1940 to 1941. He joined the American Federation of Teachers, and was also a supervisor for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Humphrey soon became active in Minneapolis politics and as a result, he never finished his Ph.D.
  
 
==Marriage and family==
 
==Marriage and family==
In 1934 Hubert began dating [[Muriel Buck]]; she was a bookkeeper and graduate of local [[Huron College]]. They were married in 1936 and remained married until Humphrey's death nearly 42 years later. They had four children: [[Hubert Humphrey III]], Nancy, Robert, and Douglas. Through most of his years as a U.S. Senator and Vice-President his home was located in a modest middle-class housing development in [[Chevy Chase, Maryland]], a suburb of [[Washington, D.C.]]. In the 1960s Hubert and Muriel used their savings to build a lakefront home in [[Waverly, Minnesota]], some forty miles west of [[Minneapolis]].
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In 1934, Hubert began dating Muriel Buck, a bookkeeper and graduate of local Huron College. They were married in 1936, and remained married until Humphrey's death at age 66, nearly 42 years later. They had four children: Hubert Humphrey III, Nancy, Robert, and Douglas.  
  
==City and state politics (1942–1948)==
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Through most of Humphrey's years as a U.S. Senator and Vice-President the family home was located in a modest middle-class housing development in Chevy Chase, [[Maryland]], a suburb of [[Washington, D.C.]]
During [[World War II]], Humphrey tried twice to join the [[armed forces]], but was rejected both times due to a [[hernia]]. Instead, he served in an administrative capacity in a variety of wartime government agencies; he also worked as a college instructor. In 1942 he was the state director of new production training and reemployment and chief of the Minnesota war service program. In 1943 he was the assistant director of the War Manpower Commission. From 1943-1944 Humphrey was a professor in political science at [[Macalester College]] in [[St. Paul, MN|St. Paul]] and from 1944-1945 he was a news commentator for a Minneapolis radio station.
 
  
In 1943, Humphrey made his first run for elective office, for [[List of mayors of Minneapolis|mayor]] of [[Minneapolis]]. Although he lost, his poorly-funded campaign still captured over 47% of the vote. In 1944, Humphrey was the one of the key players in the merger of the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] and [[Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party|Farmer-Labor]] parties of [[Minnesota]] to form the [[Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party|Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party]] (DFL). When in 1945 Minnesota [[Communist]]s attempted to seize control of the new party, Humphrey became an engaged [[anti-Communist]] and led the successful fight to oust the Communists from the DFL.  
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Humphrey and his family officially held membership in Minneapolis' First Congregational Church, now affiliated with the United Church of Christ. They also attended United Methodist congregations in Minneapolis and suburban Washington, D.C.
  
After the war, he again ran for [[mayor]] of Minneapolis and won the election with 61% of the vote. He served as mayor from 1945–1949. He was re-elected in 1947 by the largest margin in the city's history to that time. Humphrey gained national fame during these years by becoming one of the founders of the liberal anti-communist [[Americans for Democratic Action]] (ADA) and for reforming the Minneapolis [[police]] force. Previously, the city had been declared the [[antisemitism]] capital of the country and the small [[African-American]] population of the city encountered numerous instances of racial discrimination. Humphrey worked hard to end these examples of racism, and his tenure as mayor would be famous for his efforts to fight [[bigotry]] in all its forms.
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In the 1960s, Hubert and Muriel used their savings to build a lakefront home in Waverly, Minnesota, forty miles west of Minneapolis.
  
==The 1948 Democratic National Convention==
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==Career, initiation into city and state politics (1942–1948)==
The national Democratic Party of 1948 was split between [[liberalism|liberals]] who thought the federal government should assertively guarantee [[civil rights]] for non-whites and [[southern United States|southern]] [[conservatism|conservatives]] who thought the states should be able to choose what civil rights their citizens would enjoy (the "[[states' rights]]" position).
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During [[World War II]], Humphrey tried twice to join the armed forces, but was rejected both times due to a hernia. To support the war effort, he served in an administrative capacity in a variety of wartime government agencies. In 1942, he was appointed state Director of New Production Training and Reemployment and Chief of the Minnesota War Service Program. In 1943, he became Assistant Director of the War Manpower Commission. From 1943-1944, Humphrey was a professor in political science at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1944 and 1945, he was a news commentator for a Minneapolis radio station.  
  
At the [[1948 Democratic National Convention]], the [[political party platform|party platform]] reflected this division and contained only platitudes in favor of civil rights. Though the incumbent President [[Harry S Truman]] had already issued a detailed 10-point ''Civil Rights Program'' calling for aggressive federal action on the issue of civil rights, he gave his backing to the party establishment's platform that was a replication of the [[1944 Democratic National Convention]] plank on civil rights.
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In 1943, Humphrey made his first run for elective office, for mayor of Minneapolis. Although he lost, his poorly-funded campaign captured over 47 percent of the vote. In 1944, Humphrey was a key player in the merger of the United States Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota. The merger formed the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). When, in 1945, Minnesota Communists attempted to seize control of the new party, Humphrey became an engaged anti-Communist and led the successful fight to oust the Communists from the DFL.  
  
A diverse coalition opposed this tepid platform, including anti-communist liberals like Humphrey, [[Paul Douglas]] and [[John Shelley]], all of whom would later become known as leading progressives in the Democratic Party. These liberals proposed adding a "minority plank" to the party platform that would commit the Democratic Party to a more aggressive opposition to [[racial segregation]]. The minority plank called for federal legislation against [[lynching]], an end to legalized school segregation in the South, and ending job discrimination based on skin color. Also strongly backing the liberal civil rights plank were Democratic urban bosses like Ed Flynn of the [[Bronx]], who promised the votes of northeastern delegates to Humphrey's platform, [[Jacob Arvey]] of [[Chicago]], and [[David Lawrence]] of [[Pittsburgh]]. Although viewed as being conservatives, these urban bosses believed that Northern Democrats could gain many black votes by supporting civil rights, and that losses among anti-civil rights Southern Democrats would be relatively small. Though many scholars have suggested that labor unions were leading figures in this coalition, no significant labor leaders attended the convention, with the exception of the heads of the Congress of Industrial Organizations Political Action Committee (CIOPAC), Jack Kroll and A.F. Whitney.
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After the war, he ran for mayor of Minneapolis again, and won the election with 61 percent of the vote. He served as mayor from 1945–1949. In 1947, Humphrey's re-election was by the largest margin in the city's history. Humphrey gained national fame during these years by becoming one of the founders of the liberal anti-communist Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and for reforming the Minneapolis [[police]] force. Previously, the city had been declared the antisemitism capital of the country. The small African-American population of the city had encountered numerous instances of racial discrimination from the police. Humphrey worked hard to end these examples of racism, making him well known for his efforts to fight bigotry in all its forms during his tenure as mayor.
  
Despite aggressive pressure by Truman's aides to avoid forcing the issue on the Convention floor, Humphrey chose to speak on behalf of the minority plank. In a renowned speech, Humphrey passionately told the Convention, "To those who say, my friends, to those who say, that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years too late! To those who say, this civil rights program is an infringement on states' rights, I say this: the time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!" Humphrey and his allies succeeded; the pro-civil-rights plank was narrowly adopted.
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==The 1948 Democratic National Convention==
 +
The national Democratic Party of 1948 was split between [[liberalism|liberals]] who thought the federal government should guarantee [[civil rights]] for non-whites and southern conservatives who thought states should choose what civil rights their citizens would enjoy (the "states' rights" position). At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, the party platform reflected this division and contained only platitudes in favor of civil rights. Though the incumbent President [[Harry S. Truman]] had already issued a detailed 10-point ''Civil Rights Program'' calling for aggressive federal action on the issue of civil rights, he gave his backing to the party establishment's platform that was a replication of the 1944 Democratic National Convention plank on civil rights.
  
As a result of the Convention's vote, the [[Mississippi]] and one half of the [[Alabama]] delegation walked out of the hall. Many Southern Democrats were so enraged at this affront to their "way of life" that they formed the [[Dixiecrat]] party and nominated their own presidential candidate, Governor [[Strom Thurmond]] of [[South Carolina]]. The goal of the Dixiecrats was to take several Southern states away from Truman and thus cause his defeat. The Southern Democrats reasoned that after such a defeat the national Democratic Party would never again aggressively pursue a pro-civil rights agenda. However, this move actually backfired. Although the strong civil rights plank adopted at the Convention cost Truman the support of the Dixiecrats, it gained him important votes from blacks, especially in large northern cities. As a result Truman won a stunning upset victory over his [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] opponent, [[Thomas E. Dewey]]. Truman's victory demonstrated that the Democratic Party no longer needed the "Solid South" to win presidential elections, and thus weakened Southern Democrats instead of strengthening their position. [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning historian [[David McCullough]] has written that Humphrey probably did more to get Truman elected in 1948 than anyone other than Truman himself.
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A diverse coalition opposed this tepid platform, including anti-communist liberals Humphrey, Paul Douglas, and John Shelley. The three would later become known as leading progressives in the Democratic Party. These men proposed adding a "minority plank" to the party platform that would commit the Democratic Party to more aggressive opposition to [[racial segregation]]. The minority plank called for federal legislation against lynching, an end to legalized school segregation in the South, and ending job discrimination based on skin color. Also strongly backing the liberal civil rights plank were Democratic urban bosses like Ed Flynn of the Bronx, who promised the votes of northeastern delegates for Humphrey's platform, [[Jacob Arvey]] of Chicago, and David Lawrence of Pittsburgh. Although viewed as being conservatives, these urban bosses believed that Northern Democrats could gain many black votes by supporting civil rights, and that losses among anti-civil rights Southern Democrats would be relatively small. Though many scholars have suggested that labor unions were leading figures in this coalition, no significant labor leaders attended the convention, with the exception of the heads of the Congress of Industrial Organizations Political Action Committee (CIOPAC), Jack Kroll and A.F. Whitney.
  
==The Happy Warrior (1948–1964)==
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Despite aggressive pressure by Truman's aides to avoid forcing the issue on the Convention floor, Humphrey chose to speak on behalf of the minority plank. In a renowned speech, Humphrey passionately told the Convention, "My friends, to those who say that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years too late! To those who say, this civil rights program is an infringement on states' rights, I say this: The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!" Humphrey and his allies succeeded; the pro civil rights plank was narrowly adopted.
Minnesota elected Humphrey to the [[United States Senate]] in [[U.S. Senate election, 1948|1948]] on the [[Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party|DFL]] ticket, and he took office on [[January 3]], [[1949]]. Humphrey's father died that year, and Humphrey stopped using the "Jr." suffix on his name. He was re-elected in [[U.S. Senate election, 1954|1954]] and [[U.S. Senate election, 1960|1960]]. His colleagues selected him as [[Majority Whip of the United States Senate|majority whip]] in 1961, a position he held until he left the [[U.S. Senate|Senate]] on [[December 29]], [[1964]] to assume the vice presidency. During this period, he served in the [[81st United States Congress|81st]], [[82nd United States Congress|82nd]], [[83rd United States Congress|83rd]], [[84th United States Congress|84th]], [[85th United States Congress|85th]], [[86th United States Congress|86th]], [[87th United States Congress|87th]], and a portion of the [[88th United States Congress|88th Congress]].
 
  
Initially, Humphrey's support of civil rights led to him being ostracized by Southern Democrats, who dominated most of the Senate leadership positions and who wanted to punish Humphrey for proposing the successful civil rights platform at the 1948 Convention. However, Humphrey refused to be intimidated and stood his ground; his passion and eloquence eventually earned him the respect of even most of the Southerners. Humphrey became known for his advocacy of [[liberalism|liberal]] causes (such as [[civil rights]], [[arms control]], a [[nuclear testing|nuclear test ban]], [[Food Stamp Program|food stamps]], and humanitarian [[foreign aid]]), and for his long and witty speeches. During the period of [[Joseph McCarthy|McCarthyism]] (1950–1954), Humphrey was accused of being "soft on [[Communism]]," despite having been one of the founders of the anti-communist liberal organization [[Americans for Democratic Action]], having been a staunch supporter of the Truman Administration's efforts to combat the growth of the [[Soviet Union]], and having fought Communist political activities in Minnesota and elsewhere. In 1954 Humphrey proposed to make mere membership in the [[CPUSA|Communist Party]] a felony — a proposal that failed. He was chairman of the [[U.S. Senate Select Committee on Disarmament|Select Committee on Disarmament]] ([[84th United States Congress|84th]] and [[85th United States Congress|85th]] Congresses). As Democratic [[whip (politics)|whip]] in the Senate in 1964, Humphrey was instrumental in the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Act]] of that year. Humphrey's consistently cheerful and upbeat demeanor, and his forceful advocacy of liberal causes, led him to be nicknamed "The Happy Warrior" by many of his Senate colleagues and political journalists.
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As a result of the Convention's vote, the [[Mississippi]] delegation and half of the [[Alabama]] delegation walked out of the hall. Many Southern Democrats were so enraged at this affront to their "way of life" that they formed the Dixiecrat party and nominated their own presidential candidate, Governor [[Strom Thurmond]] of [[South Carolina]]. The goal of the Dixiecrats was to take several Southern states away from Truman and thus cause his defeat. The Southern Democrats reasoned that after such a defeat the national Democratic Party would never again aggressively pursue a pro-civil rights agenda. However, this move actually backfired. Although the strong civil rights plank adopted at the Convention cost Truman the support of the Dixiecrats, it gained him important votes from blacks, especially in large northern cities. As a result Truman won a stunning upset victory over his Republican Party opponent, [[Thomas E. Dewey]]. Truman's victory demonstrated that the Democratic Party no longer needed the "Solid South" to win presidential elections, and thus weakened Southern Democrats instead of strengthening their position. [[Pulitzer Prize]] winning historian David McCullough wrote that Humphrey probably did more to get Truman elected, in 1948, than anyone other than Truman himself.
  
==Presidential and Vice-Presidential ambitions (1952–1964)==
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==Senator and advocate of liberal causes (1948–1964)==
As one of the most respected members of the U.S. Senate, Humphrey ran for the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[President of the United States|presidential]] nomination twice before his election to the Vice Presidency in 1964. The first time was as Minnesota's "favorite son" in 1952, where he received only 26 votes on the first ballot; the second time was in 1960. In between these two presidential bids, Senator Humphrey was part of the free-for-all for the vice-presidential nomination at the [[1956 Democratic National Convention]], where he received 134 votes on the first ballot and 74 on the second.
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Minnesota elected Humphrey to the United States Senate in 1948, on the DFL ticket. He took office on January 3, 1949. Humphrey's father died that same year, and Humphrey stopped using the "Jr." suffix on his name. He was re-elected in 1954 and 1960. His colleagues selected him as Majority Whip in 1961, a position he held until he left the Senate on December 29, 1964, to assume the vice presidency.  
  
In 1960, Humphrey ran again for the Democratic presidential nomination against fellow Senator [[John F. Kennedy]] in the primaries. Their first meeting was in the [[Wisconsin]] primary, where Kennedy's well-organized and well-funded campaign defeated Humphrey's energetic but poorly-funded effort. Kennedy's attractive brothers, sisters, and wife combed the state looking for votes, at one point Humphrey memorably complained that he "felt like an independent merchant running against a chain store." Kennedy won the Wisconsin primary, but by a smaller margin than anticipated; some commentators argued that Kennedy's victory margin had come almost entirely from areas that were heavily [[Roman Catholic]], and that [[Protestants]] actually supported Humphrey. As a result, Humphrey refused to quit the race and decided to run against Kennedy again in the [[West Virginia]] primary. Humphrey calculated that his midwestern populist roots and Protestant religion (he was a [[Congregationalist]]) would appeal to the state's disenfranchised voters more than the [[Ivy League]] and Catholic millionaire's son, Kennedy. But Kennedy led comfortably until the issue turned to religion. When asked why he was quickly losing ground in polls, one adviser explained to Kennedy, "no one knew you were a Catholic then."
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Initially, Humphrey was ostracized by Southern Democrats for his support of civil rights. They dominated most of the Senate leadership positions and sought to punish Humphrey for proposing the successful civil rights platform at the 1948 Convention. Humphrey refused to be intimidated and stood his ground. His passion and eloquence eventually earned him the respect of even most of the Southerners.  
  
Kennedy chose to engage the religion issue head-on. In radio broadcasts, he carefully repositioned the issue from one of Catholic versus [[Protestantism|Protestant]] to tolerance versus intolerance. Kennedy appealed to West Virginia's long-held revulsion for prejudice and placed Humphrey, who had championed tolerance his entire career, on the defensive; Kennedy attacked him with a vengeance. [[Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.]], the son of the former President, stumped for Kennedy in West Virginia and raised the issue of Humphrey's failure to serve in the armed forces in World War II (Humphrey had tried to serve but had been rejected for medical reasons). Humphrey, who was short on funds, could not match the well-financed Kennedy operation; Humphrey traveled around the state in a cold, rented bus while Kennedy and his staff flew around West Virginia in a large, modern, family-owned airplane. There were also accusations (both by Humphrey and numerous historians) that the Kennedys "bought" the West Virginia primary by paying bribes to county sheriffs and other local officials to give Kennedy the vote, however these accusations have never been conclusively proven. Kennedy defeated Humphrey soundly, winning 60.8% of the vote in that state. That evening, Humphrey announced that he was no longer a candidate for the presidency. By winning the West Virginia primary, Kennedy was able to overcome the belief that Protestant voters would not elect a Catholic candidate to the Presidency and thus sewed up the Democratic nomination for President.<ref>{{cite book| last =Solberg| first =Carl| title =Hubert Humphrey: A Biography| publisher =Borealis Books| date =1984| pages =209| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=wzGabQcvDvcC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=humphrey+kennedy+catholic&source=web&ots=vTJ4Cbv1rr&sig=RRIlG-prYSwmP6IUsG3cjck4r94#PPA209,M1| isbn =0-87351-473-4}}</ref>
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Humphrey became known for his advocacy of liberal causes such as civil rights, the Food Stamp Program, humanitarian foreign aid, arms control, and a nuclear test ban. He served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Disarmament during the 84th and 85th Congresses. Humphrey was also known as a fine orator, for his long and witty speeches.  
  
Humphrey did win the South Dakota and District of Columbia primaries, which JFK did not enter. At the 1960 Democratic Convention he received 41 votes even though he was no longer an active presidential candidate.
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During the period of McCarthyism (1950–1954), Humphrey was accused of being soft on Communism, despite having been one of the founders of the anti-communist liberal organization Americans for Democratic Action. He was also a staunch supporter of the Truman Administration's efforts to combat the growth of the [[Soviet Union]], and he fought Communist political activities in Minnesota and elsewhere. In 1954, Humphrey proposed to make mere membership in the Communist Party a felony—a proposal that failed.  
  
At the [[1964 Democratic National Convention]], [[Lyndon Johnson]] kept the three likely vice presidential candidates, Connecticut Senator [[Thomas Dodd]], fellow Minnesota Senator [[Eugene McCarthy]], and Humphrey, as well as the rest of the nation in suspense before announcing Humphrey as his running-mate with much fan-fare, praising Humphrey's qualifications for a considerable amount of time before announcing his name.
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As Democratic whip in the Senate in 1964, Humphrey was instrumental in the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Act]].  
  
The following day Humphrey's acceptance speech overshadowed Johnson's own acceptance address:
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Humphrey's consistently cheerful and upbeat demeanor, and his forceful advocacy of liberal causes, led him to be nicknamed "The Happy Warrior" by many of his Senate colleagues and political journalists.
  
<blockquote>
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==Presidential and Vice-Presidential ambitions (1952–1964)==
Hubert warmed up with a long tribute to the President, then hit his stride as he began a rhythmic jabbing and chopping at Barry Goldwater. "Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate voted for an $11.5 billion tax cut for American citizens and American business," he cried, "but not Senator Goldwater. Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate—in fact four-fifths of the members of his own party —voted for the Civil Rights Act, but not Senator Goldwater."
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As one of the most respected members of the U.S. Senate, Humphrey ran for the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[President of the United States|presidential]] nomination twice before his election to the Vice Presidency in 1964.  
  
Time after time, he capped his indictments with the drumbeat cry: "But not Senator Goldwater!" The delegates caught the cadence and took up the chant. A quizzical smile spread across Humphrey's face, then turned to a laugh of triumph. Hubert was in fine form. He knew it. The delegates knew it. And no one could deny that Hubert Humphrey would be a formidable political antagonist in the weeks ahead.<ref>{{cite web| title =The Man Who Quit Kicking the Wall| work =[[Time Magazine]]| publisher =Time/CNN| date =1964-09-04| url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830552-6,00.html| accessdate = 2007-05-31}}</ref></blockquote>
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In the 1960 presidential primaries, Humphrey ran against fellow Senator [[John F. Kennedy]]. Their first electoral encounter was in the [[Wisconsin]] primary. Kennedy's well-organized and well funded campaign defeated Humphrey's energetic but poorly funded effort.  
  
In [[United States presidential election, 1964|1964]], the Johnson/Humphrey ticket won overwhelmingly, garnering 486 electoral votes out of 538. Minnesota voted for the Democratic ticket; only five Southern states and Goldwater's home state of Arizona supported the Republican ticket.
+
Kennedy's attractive brothers, sisters, and wife combed the state looking for votes. At one point Humphrey complained that he "felt like an independent merchant running against a chain store." Kennedy won the Wisconsin primary, but by a smaller margin than anticipated; some commentators argued that Kennedy's victory margin had come almost entirely from areas that were heavily [[Roman Catholic]], and that [[Protestants]] actually supported Humphrey. As a result, Humphrey refused to quit the race and decided to run against Kennedy again in the [[West Virginia]] primary. Humphrey calculated that his midwestern populist roots and Protestant religion (he was a [[Congregationalist]]) would appeal to the state's disenfranchised voters more than the Ivy League and Catholic millionaire's son, Kennedy. But Kennedy led comfortably until the issue turned to religion. When asked why he was quickly losing ground in polls, one adviser explained to Kennedy, "no one knew you were a Catholic then."
  
==The Vice Presidency==
+
Kennedy chose to engage the religion issue head-on. In radio broadcasts, he carefully repositioned the issue from one of Catholic versus Protestant to tolerance versus intolerance. Kennedy appealed to West Virginia's long-held revulsion for prejudice and placed Humphrey, who had championed tolerance his entire career, on the defensive. Kennedy attacked him with a vengeance. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., the son of the former President, stumped for Kennedy in West Virginia, raising the issue of Humphrey's failure to serve in the armed forces in World War II (Humphrey had been rejected for medical reasons). Humphrey, who was short on funds, could not match the well-financed Kennedy operation. He traveled around the state in a cold, rented bus while Kennedy and his staff flew around West Virginia in a large, modern, family-owned airplane. Kennedy defeated Humphrey soundly, winning 60.8 percent of the vote in that state. The evening of the primary, Humphrey announced that he was no longer a candidate for the presidency. By winning the West Virginia primary, Kennedy was able to overcome the belief that Protestant voters would not elect a Catholic candidate to the Presidency and thus sewed up the Democratic nomination for President.
[[Image:HumphreyHHBust.jpg|thumb|right|Vice President Humphrey bust]]
 
[[Image:Humphrey with johnson and creighton.JPG|thumb|400px|left|Vice President Hubert Humphrey, President [[Lyndon Johnson]], and General [[Creighton Abrams]] in a Cabinet Room meeting in March 1968]]
 
Humphrey took office on [[January 20]], [[1965]]. As Vice President, Humphrey was controversial for his complete and vocal loyalty to Johnson and the policies of the Johnson Administration, even as many of Humphrey's liberal admirers opposed Johnson with increasing fervor with respect to Johnson's policies during the [[Vietnam War|war in Vietnam]]. Many of Humphrey's liberal friends and allies over the years abandoned him because of his refusal to publicly criticize Johnson's Vietnam War policies. Humphrey's critics later learned that Johnson had threatened Humphrey — Johnson told Humphrey that if he publicly opposed his Administration's Vietnam War policy, he would destroy Humphrey's chances to become President by opposing his nomination at the next Democratic Convention. However, Humphrey's critics were vocal and persistent - even his nickname, the Happy Warrior, was used against him. The nickname referred not to his military hawkishness but rather to his crusading for social welfare and civil rights programs.
 
  
In [[Germany]], Humphrey indirectly earned fame during an April 1967 visit when some [[hippies]], armed with what looked like a bomb, planned to cause trouble at the place Humphrey was to speak. However, the "bomb" contained nothing but pudding, and the plan was foiled by the police. The would-be vandals were dubbed "[[assassin]]s" and "ten little [[Lee Harvey Oswald|Oswalds]]" in some widely-read right-leaning German newspapers; this characterization sparked riots by [[left-wing]] student activists. The well-known left-wing [[journalist]] [[Ulrike Meinhof]] wrote in the [[Konkret]] at the time; "It is thought rude to throw custard pies at politicians, but not to welcome politicians who have villages wiped out and cities bombed...[[napalm]] yes, custard, no." This "pudding assassination" thus became an early defining moment of the German part of the May 1968 movement, many of whose leaders moved into national politics later.
+
Humphrey did win the South Dakota and District of Columbia primaries, which JFK did not enter. At the 1960 Democratic Convention he received 41 votes, even though he was no longer an active presidential candidate.
  
==The 1968 Presidential election==
+
At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] kept the three likely vice presidential candidates, Connecticut Senator Thomas Dodd, fellow Minnesota Senator [[Eugene McCarthy]], and Humphrey, as well as the rest of the nation in suspense before announcing Humphrey as his running-mate with much fan-fare, praising Humphrey's qualifications for a considerable amount of time before announcing his name.
As 1968 began it looked as if President Johnson, despite the rapidly-increasing unpopularity of his Vietnam War policies, would easily win the Democratic nomination for a second time. Humphrey indicated to Johnson that he would like to be his running mate again. However, in the [[New Hampshire]] primary Johnson was nearly defeated by Senator [[Eugene McCarthy]] of [[Minnesota]]; McCarthy had challenged Johnson on an anti-war platform. A few days later Senator [[Robert Kennedy]] of [[New York]] also entered the race on an anti-war platform. On [[March 31]], [[1968]], a week before the [[Wisconsin]] [[Primary election|primary]], where the polls predicted a loss to McCarthy, President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] stunned the nation by withdrawing from his race for a second term. Humphrey immediately re-evaluated his position, and then announced his presidential candidacy in late April 1968. Many people saw Humphrey as Johnson's stand-in; he won major backing from the nation's [[labor unions]] and other Democratic groups that were troubled by young antiwar protestors and the social unrest around the nation. Humphrey avoided the primaries and concentrated on winning delegates in non-primary states; by June he was seen as the clear front-runner for the nomination. However, following his victory over McCarthy in the [[California]] primary, it appeared that if Kennedy could unite the forces opposed to the Vietnam War that he could possibly beat Humphrey for the nomination. However, the night of the California primary, Senator Kennedy was assassinated. With the support of Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]], Humphrey and his [[running mate]], [[Ed Muskie]] went on to easily win the Democratic nomination at the [[1968 Democratic National Convention|party convention]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]. Unfortunately for Humphrey's presidential chances, outside the convention hall there were riots and protests by thousands of [[Opposition to the Vietnam War|antiwar demonstrators]], some of whom favored [[Eugene McCarthy]], [[George McGovern]], or other "anti-war" candidates. These antiwar protestors - most of whom were young college students - were attacked and beaten on live television by Chicago police. Humphrey's inaction during the riots, and the turmoil within the Democratic Party, created divisions that Humphrey was never able to overcome in the general election, despite a vigorous and forceful campaign. Humphrey was also hurt by the third-party campaign of former [[Alabama]] Governor [[George Wallace]], a Southern Democrat whose veiled [[racism]] and militant opposition to antiwar protestors attracted millions of Northern and Midwestern [[blue-collar]] votes that would otherwise have probably gone to Humphrey.
 
  
Humphrey lost [[U.S. presidential election, 1968|the 1968 election]] to [[Richard M. Nixon]]. His campaign was hurt in part because Humphrey had secured the presidential nomination without entering a single primary. In later years, changes to the party rules made such an outcome virtually impossible. During his underdog campaign, Humphrey grew on voters, who saw a kind of transparent decency as well as a mind that quickly grasped complicated issues. Starting out substantially behind Nixon in the polls, he had almost closed the gap by election day. Humphrey lost the election by 0.7 % of the popular vote: 43.4% (31,783,783 votes) for Nixon to 42.7% (31,271,839 votes) for Humphrey, with 13.5% (9,901,118 votes) for [[George Wallace]] of [[Alabama]]. In the electoral college Humphrey carried 13 states with 191 electoral votes, to Nixon's 32 states and 301 electoral votes, and Wallace's 5 states and 46 electoral votes (270 were needed to win).
+
The following day, Humphrey's acceptance speech overshadowed Johnson's own acceptance address:
  
While he was Vice President, Hubert Humphrey was the subject of a satirical song by songwriter/musician [[Tom Lehrer]] entitled "Whatever Became of Hubert?" ("I wonder how many people here tonight remember Hubert Humphrey. He used to be a senator..."). The song addressed how some [[liberal]]s and [[progressivism|progressives]] felt let down by Humphrey, who had become a much more mute figure as Vice President than he had been as a senator. The song goes ''"Whatever became of Hubert? Has anyone heard a thing? Once he shone on his own, now he sits home alone and waits for the phone to ring. Once a fiery liberal spirit, ah, but now when he speaks he must clear it. ..." ''
+
<blockquote>
 +
Hubert warmed up with a long tribute to the President, then hit his stride as he began a rhythmic jabbing and chopping at Barry Goldwater. "Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate voted for an $11.5 billion tax cut for American citizens and American business," he cried, "but not Senator Goldwater. Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate—in fact four-fifths of the members of his own party—voted for the Civil Rights Act, but not Senator Goldwater."
  
Immensely admired by associates and members of his staff, Humphrey could not break loose from the domination of Lyndon Johnson. The combination of the unpopularity of Johnson, the Chicago riots, and the discouragement of liberals and African-Americans when both [[Robert F. Kennedy]] and [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] were assassinated during the election year caused him to lose to a candidate many thought less qualified to be president.The war that Humphrey was saddled with in the Johnson Administration continued until the mid-1970s.
+
Time after time, he capped his indictments with the drumbeat cry: "But not Senator Goldwater!" The delegates caught the cadence and took up the chant. A quizzical smile spread across Humphrey's face, then turned to a laugh of triumph. Hubert was in fine form. He knew it. The delegates knew it. And no one could deny that Hubert Humphrey would be a formidable political antagonist in the weeks ahead.<ref>''Time Magazine,'' [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830552-6,00.html The Man Who Quit Kicking the Wall.] Retrieved November 9, 2007.</ref></blockquote>
  
==Post-Vice Presidency (1969–1978)==
+
In the U.S. presidential election or 1964, the Johnson/Humphrey ticket won overwhelmingly, garnering 486 electoral votes out of 538. Minnesota voted for the Democratic ticket; only five Southern states and Goldwater's home state of Arizona supported the Republican ticket.
===Teaching and return to the Senate===
 
[[Image:Humphrey and carter.JPG|thumb|300px|right|Senator Hubert Humphrey with President [[Jimmy Carter]] aboard [[Air Force One]] in 1977.]]
 
After leaving the Vice-Presidency, Humphrey utilized his talents by teaching at [[Macalester College]] and the [[University of Minnesota]], and by serving as chairman of board of consultants at the [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Educational Corporation.
 
  
Initially he had not planned to return to political life, but an unexpected opportunity changed his mind. [[Eugene McCarthy]], a DFL U.S. Senator from [[Minnesota]] who was up for re-election in [[U.S. Senate election, 1970|1970]], realized that he had only a slim chance of winning even re-nomination (he had angered his party by opposing Johnson and Humphrey for the 1968 presidential nomination), and declined to run. Humphrey won the DFL nomination and the election, and returned to the U.S. Senate on [[January 3]], [[1971]]. He was re-elected in [[U.S. Senate election, 1976|1976]], and remained in office until his death. In a rarity in politics Humphrey served as a Senator by holding both seats in his state (Class I and Class II). This time he served in the [[92nd United States Congress|92nd]], [[93rd United States Congress|93rd]], [[94th United States Congress|94th]], and a portion of the [[95th United States Congress|95th Congress]]. {{Seealso|US Congressional Delegations from Minnesota}}
+
==The Vice Presidency==
  
In 1972, Humphrey once again ran for the Democratic nomination for president. He was defeated by Senator [[George McGovern]] in several primaries, and was trailing in delegates at the [[1972 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Miami Beach, Florida]]. His hopes rested on challenges to the credentials of some of the McGovern delegates. For example, the Humphrey forces argued that the winner-take-all rule for the [[California]] primary violated procedural reforms intended to produce a better reflection of the popular vote, the reason that the [[Illinois]] delegation was bounced. The effort failed, as several votes on delegate credentials went McGovern's way, guaranteeing his victory.
+
[[Image:HumphreyHHBust.jpg|thumb|right|Vice President Humphrey bust]]
  
Humphrey also briefly considered mounting a campaign for the Democratic nomination from the Convention once again in [[1976 Democratic National Convention|1976]], when the primaries seemed likely to result in a deadlock, but ultimately decided against it. At the conclusion of the Democratic primary process that year, even with [[Jimmy Carter]] having requisite number of delegates needed to secure his nomination, many still wanted Humphrey to announce his availability for a "draft" movement. However, he did not do so, and Carter easily secured the nomination on the first round of balloting. What wasn't known to the general public was that Humphrey already knew he had terminal cancer.
+
Humphrey took office on January 20, 1965. As Vice President, Humphrey was controversial for his complete and vocal loyalty to Johnson and the policies of the Johnson Administration, even as many of Humphrey's liberal admirers opposed Johnson with increasing fervor with respect to Johnson's policies during the  [[Vietnam War|war in Vietnam]]. Many of Humphrey's liberal friends and allies over the years abandoned him because of his refusal to publicly criticize Johnson's Vietnam War policies. Humphrey's critics later learned that Johnson had threatened Humphrey. Johnson told Humphrey that if he publicly opposed his Administration's Vietnam War policy, he would destroy Humphrey's chances to become President by opposing his nomination at the next Democratic Convention. However, Humphrey's critics were vocal and persistent. Even his nickname, the Happy Warrior, was used against him. The nickname referred not to his military hawkishness but rather to his crusading for social welfare and civil rights programs.
  
===Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate (1976–1978)===
+
==The 1968 Presidential election==
In 1974, along with [[Augustus F. Hawkins|Rep. Augustus Hawkins]] of [[California]], Humphrey authored [[Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act]], the first attempt at full employment legislation. The original bill proposed to guarantee full employment to all citizens over 16 and set up a permanent system of public jobs to meet that goal. A watered-down version called the ''Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act'' passed the House and Senate in 1978. It set the goal of 4 percent unemployment and 3 percent inflation and instructed the [[Federal Reserve Board]] to try to produce those goals when making policy decisions. [[Image:HumphreyGrave.jpg|300px|thumb|Burial Plot of Vice President Humphrey. [[Lakewood Cemetery]], [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]]]
+
As 1968 began, it appeared President Johnson, despite the rapidly-increasing unpopularity of the Vietnam War, would easily win the Democratic nomination again. Humphrey indicated to Johnson that he would like to be his running mate again. However, in the [[New Hampshire]] primary Johnson was nearly defeated by Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota. McCarthy had challenged Johnson on an anti-war platform. A few days later, Senator [[Robert Kennedy]] of [[New York]] also entered the race on an anti-war platform.
  
Humphrey ran for [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Majority Leader]] after the 1976 election but lost to [[Robert Byrd]] of [[West Virginia]]. The Senate honored Humphrey by creating the post of [[Deputy President pro tempore of the United States Senate|Deputy President pro tempore]] of the Senate for him. On [[August 16]], [[1977]], Humphrey revealed his terminal cancer to the public. On [[October 25]], [[1977]], he addressed the Senate, and on [[November 3]], [[1977]], Humphrey became the first person other than a member or the president to address the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] in session. [[Jimmy Carter|President Carter]] honored him by giving him command of ''[[Air Force One]]'' for his final trip to Washington on [[October 23]]. One of Humphrey's speeches contained the lines "It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped," which is sometimes described as the "liberals' mantra."
+
On March 31, 1968, a week before the [[Wisconsin]] primary, President Lyndon B. Johnson stunned the nation by withdrawing from his race for a second term. Humphrey immediately re-evaluated his position. He announced his presidential candidacy in late April 1968. Many people saw Humphrey as Johnson's stand-in. He won major backing from the nation's labor unions and other Democratic groups that were troubled by antiwar protesters and social unrest around the nation. Humphrey avoided the primaries and concentrated on winning delegates in non-primary states. By June he was seen as the clear front-runner for the nomination.  
  
Humphrey spent his last weeks calling old political acquaintances on a special long-distance telephone his family had given him. He also placed a call to his former foe in the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon, only to learn the depressed state of the Nixons. Disturbed by this, he called back to Nixon to invite the former president to his upcoming funeral, which Nixon accepted. After his death at home in [[Waverly, Minnesota]], he lay in state in the rotunda of both the [[United States Capitol|U.S. Capitol]] and of the [[Minnesota State Capitol]]. His body was interred in [[Lakewood Cemetery]], [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]].
+
Following his victory over McCarthy in the [[California]] primary, Kennedy had hope that he could unite the forces opposed to the Vietnam War and possibly beat Humphrey for the nomination. This was not to be. The night of the California primary, Senator Kennedy was assassinated.  
  
Humphrey's wife, [[Muriel Humphrey]], was appointed by the state governor to finish her husband's term in office.
+
With the support of Mayor [[Richard Daley]], Humphrey and his running mate, Ed Muskie easily won the Democratic nomination at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, [[Illinois]]. Unfortunately for Humphrey's presidential chances, outside the convention hall there were riots and protests by thousands of antiwar demonstrators, some of whom favored Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, or other "anti-war" candidates. These antiwar protestors - most of whom were young college students - were attacked and beaten on live television by Chicago police. Humphrey's inaction during the riots, and the turmoil within the Democratic Party, created divisions that Humphrey was never able to overcome in the general election, despite a vigorous and forceful campaign. Humphrey was also hurt by the third-party campaign of former [[Alabama]] Governor George Wallace, a Southern Democrat whose veiled [[racism]] and militant opposition to antiwar protestors attracted millions of Northern and Midwestern blue-collar votes that would otherwise have probably gone to Humphrey.
  
== Honors ==
+
Humphrey lost the 1968 election to [[Richard M. Nixon]]. His campaign was hurt in part because Humphrey had secured the presidential nomination without entering a single primary. In later years, changes to the party rules made such an outcome virtually impossible. During his underdog campaign, voters saw a transparent decency as well as a mind that quickly grasped complicated issues. Starting out substantially behind Nixon in the polls, he had almost closed the gap by election day. Humphrey lost the election by 0.7 percent of the popular vote: 43.4 percent (31,783,783 votes) for Nixon to 42.7 percent (31,271,839 votes) for Humphrey, with 13.5 percent (9,901,118 votes) for George Wallace of Alabama. In the electoral college, Humphrey carried 13 states with 191 electoral votes, to Nixon's 32 states and 301 electoral votes, and Wallace's 5 states and 46 electoral votes.
[[Image:Hubert Humphrey statue.jpg|thumb|A statue honoring Humphrey outside [[Minneapolis City Hall]]<ref>[http://www.municipalbuildingcommission.org/Facts.htm Municipal Building Commission: City Hall and Courthouse timeline]</ref>]]
 
In 1965, Humphrey was made an ''Honorary Life Member'' of [[Alpha Phi Alpha]], the first intercollegiate [[Greek alphabet|Greek-letter]] [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]] established for African American males.
 
  
He was awarded posthumously the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] on [[June 13]], [[1979]] and the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in 1980.
+
Immensely admired by associates and members of his staff, Humphrey could not break loose from the domination of Lyndon Johnson. The combination of the unpopularity of Johnson, the Chicago riots, and the discouragement of liberals and African-Americans when both Robert F. Kennedy and [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] were assassinated during the election year, caused him to lose to a candidate many thought less qualified to be president.
  
== Buildings and institutions named for Humphrey ==
+
==Post-Vice Presidency (1969–1978)==
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Terminal at [[Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport]]
+
===Teaching and return to the Senate===
* The [[Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome]] domed stadium in Minneapolis
+
[[Image:Humphrey and carter.JPG|thumb|300px|right|Senator Hubert Humphrey with President [[Jimmy Carter]] aboard Air Force One in 1977.]]
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul, Minn.
+
After leaving the Vice Presidency, Humphrey utilized his talents by teaching at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota. He also served as chairman of the board of consultants at the Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
* The [[Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs]] at the [[University of Minnesota]] and its building, the Hubert H. Humphrey Center
 
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Building of the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington
 
* The [[Hubert H. Humphrey Bridge]] carrying [[Florida State Road 520|FL S.R. 520]] over the [[Indian River Lagoon]] between [[Cocoa, Florida|Cocoa]] and [[Merritt Island]] in [[Brevard County, Florida]]
 
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Middle School in [[Bolingbrook, Illinois]].
 
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in Los Angeles, CA.
 
  
==Personal life==
+
Initially, he had not planned to return to political life, but an unexpected opportunity changed his mind. Eugene McCarthy, DFL U.S. Senator from Minnesota was up for re-election to the Senate in 1970. McCarthy realized he had only a slim chance of winning renomination because he had angered his party by opposing Johnson and Humphrey for the 1968 presidential nomination. So he declined to run. Humphrey won the DFL nomination and the election, returning to the U.S. Senate on January 3, 1971. He was re-elected in 1976, and remained in office until his death.  
Humphrey and his family officially held membership in Minneapolis' First Congregational Church, now affiliated with the [[United Church of Christ]]. However, he also attended [[United Methodist]] congregations in Minneapolis and suburban Washington, D.C.
 
  
He was Married to [[Muriel Humphrey]] for over 41 years at the time of his death at the age of 66. They had three children. His widow remarried to Republican Max Brown in 1979. She then took the name of Muriel Humphrey Brown. Mrs. Brown passed away in 1998 at the age of 86 with her husband and children at her side.
+
In 1972, Humphrey ran again for the Democratic nomination for president. He was defeated by Senator George McGovern in several primaries, trailed in delegates at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Florida. His hopes rested on challenges to the credentials of some of the McGovern delegates. The challenge failed, guaranteeing McGovern's victory.
  
==Electoral history==
+
Humphrey also briefly considered mounting a campaign for the Democratic nomination from the Convention once again in 1976, when the primaries seemed likely to result in a deadlock, but ultimately decided against it. At the conclusion of the Democratic primaries that year, even with [[Jimmy Carter]] having requisite number of delegates needed to secure his nomination, many still wanted Humphrey to announce his availability for a "draft" movement. However, he did not. Carter easily secured the nomination on the first round of balloting. What wasn't known to the general public was that Humphrey already knew he had terminal cancer.
'''1976 Minnesota United States Senatorial Election'''
 
  
{|
+
===Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate (1976–1978)===
|'''Hubert Humphrey''' (D) (inc.) 67.5%
+
In 1974, Humphrey partnered with Rep. Augustus Hawkins of California, in authoring the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act. this was the first attempt at full employment legislation. The original bill proposed to guarantee full employment to all citizens over 16 and set up a permanent system of public jobs to meet that goal. A watered-down version called the ''Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act'' passed the House and Senate in 1978. It set the goal of 4 percent unemployment and 3 percent inflation and instructed the Federal Reserve Board to try to produce those goals when making policy decisions. [[Image:HumphreyGrave.jpg|300px|thumb|Burial Plot of Vice President Humphrey. Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota]]
|-
 
|Gerald W. Brekke (R) 25%
 
|-
 
|Paul Helm (I) 6.6%
 
|}
 
  
'''1970 Minnesota United States Senatorial Election'''
+
Humphrey ran for Senate Majority Leader after the 1976, election but lost to Robert Byrd of West Virginia. The Senate honored Humphrey by creating the post of Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate for him.
  
{|
+
On August 16, 1977, Humphrey revealed his terminal cancer to the public. On October 25, 1977, he addressed the Senate. On November 3, 1977, Humphrey became the first person other than the president or a member of the the House of Representatives to address the House in session. President Carter honored him by giving him command of ''Air Force One'' for his final trip to Washington, on October 23.  
|'''Hubert Humphrey''' (D) 57.8%
 
|-
 
|[[Clark MacGregor]] (R) 41.6%
 
|}
 
  
'''1968 United States Presidential Election'''
+
One of Humphrey's speeches contained the lines "It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped," which is sometimes described as the "liberals' mantra."
  
{|
+
Humphrey spent his last weeks calling old political acquaintances on a special long-distance telephone his family had given him. He also placed a call to his former foe in the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon, only to learn the depressed state of the Nixons. Disturbed by this, he called Nixon back to invite the former president to his upcoming funeral. Nixon accepted. After his death at home in Waverly, Minnesota, Humphrey lay in state in the rotunda of both the United States Capitol and the Minnesota State Capitol. His body was interred in Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
|[[Richard Nixon]] (R) 43.4%
 
|-
 
|'''Hubert Humphrey''' (D) 42.7
 
  
|-
+
Humphrey's wife, Muriel, was appointed to finish her husband's term in office.
|[[George Corley Wallace]] (American Independent) 13.5%
 
|}
 
  
'''1960 Minnesota United States Senatorial Election'''
+
==Legacy==
 +
Hubert Humphrey is remembered as a man whose vision was wide enough and whose heart was deep enough to respect all people's dignity and humanity. Against those who still opposed racial equality and the extension of [[Civil rights|Civil Rights]] to all, especially to black Americans, he knew that only when this was achieved would America live up to the highest ideals it espoused. Even if the founding fathers meant 'white men' when they said that "all men are created equal" and excluded women and slaves, he knew that the truth that lies behind these words is more profound than those who wrote the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. How true were the words he spoke, "My friends, to those who say that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years too late! To those who say, this civil rights program is an infringement on states' rights, I say this: The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!"  It took another two decades before there was much movement towards implementing his vision but he had the vision and when such men as [[Martin Luther King, Jr]] and others, inspired by [[Rosa Parks]] took up the struggle, legislation finally followed in the Civil Rights Act (1964).
  
{|
+
=== Honors ===
|'''Hubert Humphrey''' (D) (inc.) 57.5%
 
|-
 
|P. Kenneth Peterson (R) 42.2%
 
|}
 
  
'''1954 Minnesota United States Senatorial Election'''
+
In 1965, Humphrey was made an ''Honorary Life Member'' of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate fraternity established for African American males.
  
{|
+
He was awarded posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal on June 13, 1979 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.
|'''Hubert Humphrey''' (D) (inc.) 56.4%
 
|-
 
|Val Bjornson (R) 42.1%
 
|}
 
  
'''1948 Minnesota United States Senatorial Election'''
+
=== Buildings and institutions named for Humphrey ===
 
+
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Terminal at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport
{|
+
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome domed stadium in Minneapolis
|'''Hubert Humphrey''' (Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor) 59.9%
+
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul, Minn.
|-
+
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and its building, the Hubert H. Humphrey Center
|[[Joseph H. Ball]] (R) (inc.) 39.7%
+
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Building of the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington
|}
+
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Bridge carrying Florida State Road 520 over the Indian River Lagoon between Cocoa, Florida and Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida
 
+
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Middle School in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
==See also==
+
* The Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in Los Angeles, CA.
*[[Politics of Minnesota]]
 
*[[US Congressional Delegations from Minnesota]]
 
*Humphrey's [[Hubert H. Humphrey III|son]] and [[Buck Humphrey|grandson]] are also [[Minnesota]]n [[politician]]s.
 
*In the sit-com ''[[Growing Pains]]'', the youngest son is named Benjamin ''Hubert Horatio Humphrey'' Seaver, though his full name is used only when he's being yelled at. The parents are confirmed Democrats.
 
*In the movie ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)|Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas]]'', while Raoul Duke is beating on the white Cadillac, he yells "you people voted for Hubert Humphrey, and you killed Jesus." [[Hunter S. Thompson]] who wrote the book the movie was based on, was very critical of Humphrey in one of his other works, ''[[Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72]]''.
 
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
+
<references/>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
* Berman, Edgar [http://www.medicalalumni.org/bulletin/winter_2006/lead2.html]. ''Hubert: The Triumph And Tragedy Of The Humphrey I Knew''. New York, N.Y. : G.P. Putnam's & Sons, 1979. A physician's personal account of his friendship with Humphrey from 1957 until his death in 1978.
+
* Berman, Edgar. ''Hubert: The Triumph And Tragedy Of The Humphrey I Knew''. New York,: G.P. Putnam's & Sons, 1979. ISBN 0399123148
* Cohen, Dan. ''Undefeated: The Life of Hubert H. Humphrey''. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1978.
+
* Cohen, Dan. ''Undefeated: The Life of Hubert H. Humphrey''. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1978. ISBN 0822599538
* Garrettson, Charles L. III. ''Hubert H. Humphrey: The Politics of Joy''. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993.
+
* Garrettson, Charles L. III. ''Hubert H. Humphrey: The Politics of Joy''. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993. ISBN 1560000295
* Humphrey, Hubert H. ''The Education of a Public Man: My Life and Politics''. Garden City, N. Y. : Doubleday, 1976.
+
* Humphrey, Hubert H. ''The Education of a Public Man: My Life and Politics''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976. ISBN 0385056036
* Mann, Robert. ''The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights''. New York, N.Y. : Harcourt Brace, 1996.
+
* Mann, Robert. ''The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights''. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1996. ISBN 0151000654
* Solberg, Carl. ''Hubert Humphrey: A Biography''. New York : Norton, 1984.
+
* Solberg, Carl. ''Hubert Humphrey: A Biography''. New York: Norton, 1984. ISBN 0393018067
* Taylor, Jeff. ''Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy''. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2006.
+
* Taylor, Jeff. ''Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy''. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2006. ISBN 0826216595
* Thurber, Timothy N. ''The Politics of Equality: Hubert H. Humphrey and the African American Freedom Struggle.'' Columbia University Press, 1999. Pp. 352.
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* Thurber, Timothy N. ''The Politics of Equality: Hubert H. Humphrey and the African American Freedom Struggle.'' NY: Columbia University Press, 1999. ISBN 0231110464
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
* {{CongBio|H000953}}
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All links retrieved January 17, 2018.
* [http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/FAQs/humphrey/HHH_home.asp University of Texas biography]
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*[http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/huberthumphey1948dnc.html Complete text and audio of Humphrey's 1948 speech at the Democratic National Convention - from AmericanRhetoric.com]  
*[http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/huberthumphey1948dnc.html Complete text and audio of Humphrey's 1948 speech at the Democratic National Convention - from AmericanRhetoric.com]
 
 
*[http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/huberthumphrey1964dnc.htm Complete text and audio of Humphrey's 1964 speech at the Democratic National Convention - from AmericanRhetoric.com]
 
*[http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/huberthumphrey1964dnc.htm Complete text and audio of Humphrey's 1964 speech at the Democratic National Convention - from AmericanRhetoric.com]
*[http://www2.austincc.edu/lpatrick/his1302/WhenAllTheExperts1.html Account of 1948 Presidential campaign] - includes text of Humphrey's speech at the Democratic National Convention
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*[http://www2.austincc.edu/lpatrick/his1302/WhenAllTheExperts1.html Account of 1948 Presidential campaign] - includes text of Humphrey's speech at the Democratic National Convention  
*[http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/oralhistory.hom/Humphrey/humphrey.asp Transcript, Hubert H. Humphrey Oral History Interview], [[August 17]], [[1971]], by Joe B. Frantz, Internet Copy, LBJ Library. Accessed [[April 3]], [[2005]].
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* [http://www.popcorn78.blogspot.com/2006/05/deleted-scenes.html Information on Humphrey's thought and influence, including quotations from his speeches and writings.]
 
*[http://csac.buffalo.edu/hhh/humphrey.html Hubert H. Humphrety at the Macedonian Baptist Church, San Franciso, 23 May 1972] Photographs by Bruce Jackson of Humphrey on his last campaign.
 
  
  
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Latest revision as of 21:09, 7 February 2024

Hubert Humphrey, 38th U.S. Vice-President

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was the thirty-eighth Vice President of the United States, serving under President Lyndon Johnson. Humphrey served a total of five terms as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Americans for Democratic Action. He also served as mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1945–1949. In 1968, Humphrey was the nominee of the Democratic Party in the United States presidential election but narrowly lost to the Republican nominee, Richard M. Nixon.

Humphrey was strongly committed to achieving civil rights for all. He told the 1948 Democratic National Convention, "The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadows of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights," winning support for a pro-civil rights plank in the Party's platform. This controversial stance strengthened support by northern black voters for Truman and weakening influence of southern conservative democrats.

Early years

Humphrey was born in Wallace, South Dakota. He was the son of Hubert Humphrey, Sr. and Ragnild Kristine Sannes, a Norwegian.[1] Humphrey spent most of his youth in the small town of Doland, South Dakota, on the Dakota prairie. His father was the town pharmacist and a community leader who served as Doland's mayor and as a town council member. In the late 1920s, the Great Depression hit Doland. Both banks in town closed. Humphrey's father struggled to keep his drugstore open. After his son graduated from Doland's high school, Hubert, Sr. left Doland and opened a new drugstore in the larger town of Huron, South Dakota, where he hoped to improve his fortunes. As a result of the family's financial struggles, Hubert had to leave the University of Minnesota after just one year to help his father in the new drugstore. He quickly earned a pharmacist's license from the Drew College of Pharmacy in Denver, Colorado, and spent from 1930 to 1937 helping his father run the family drugstore. In time, the Humphrey Drug Company in Huron became profitable and the family prospered again.

Hubert did not enjoy working as a pharmacist. He aspired to earn a doctorate in political science and become a college professor. In 1937, Humphrey returned to the University of Minnesota, completing a bachelor's degree in 1939. The following year, he earned a master's degree from Louisiana State University, serving as an assistant instructor of political science there. One of his classmates was Russell B. Long, a future senator from Louisiana.

After completing his master's degree, Hubert returned to Minnesota to become an instructor and graduate student at the University of Minnesota from 1940 to 1941. He joined the American Federation of Teachers, and was also a supervisor for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Humphrey soon became active in Minneapolis politics and as a result, he never finished his Ph.D.

Marriage and family

In 1934, Hubert began dating Muriel Buck, a bookkeeper and graduate of local Huron College. They were married in 1936, and remained married until Humphrey's death at age 66, nearly 42 years later. They had four children: Hubert Humphrey III, Nancy, Robert, and Douglas.

Through most of Humphrey's years as a U.S. Senator and Vice-President the family home was located in a modest middle-class housing development in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Humphrey and his family officially held membership in Minneapolis' First Congregational Church, now affiliated with the United Church of Christ. They also attended United Methodist congregations in Minneapolis and suburban Washington, D.C.

In the 1960s, Hubert and Muriel used their savings to build a lakefront home in Waverly, Minnesota, forty miles west of Minneapolis.

Career, initiation into city and state politics (1942–1948)

During World War II, Humphrey tried twice to join the armed forces, but was rejected both times due to a hernia. To support the war effort, he served in an administrative capacity in a variety of wartime government agencies. In 1942, he was appointed state Director of New Production Training and Reemployment and Chief of the Minnesota War Service Program. In 1943, he became Assistant Director of the War Manpower Commission. From 1943-1944, Humphrey was a professor in political science at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1944 and 1945, he was a news commentator for a Minneapolis radio station.

In 1943, Humphrey made his first run for elective office, for mayor of Minneapolis. Although he lost, his poorly-funded campaign captured over 47 percent of the vote. In 1944, Humphrey was a key player in the merger of the United States Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota. The merger formed the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). When, in 1945, Minnesota Communists attempted to seize control of the new party, Humphrey became an engaged anti-Communist and led the successful fight to oust the Communists from the DFL.

After the war, he ran for mayor of Minneapolis again, and won the election with 61 percent of the vote. He served as mayor from 1945–1949. In 1947, Humphrey's re-election was by the largest margin in the city's history. Humphrey gained national fame during these years by becoming one of the founders of the liberal anti-communist Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and for reforming the Minneapolis police force. Previously, the city had been declared the antisemitism capital of the country. The small African-American population of the city had encountered numerous instances of racial discrimination from the police. Humphrey worked hard to end these examples of racism, making him well known for his efforts to fight bigotry in all its forms during his tenure as mayor.

The 1948 Democratic National Convention

The national Democratic Party of 1948 was split between liberals who thought the federal government should guarantee civil rights for non-whites and southern conservatives who thought states should choose what civil rights their citizens would enjoy (the "states' rights" position). At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, the party platform reflected this division and contained only platitudes in favor of civil rights. Though the incumbent President Harry S. Truman had already issued a detailed 10-point Civil Rights Program calling for aggressive federal action on the issue of civil rights, he gave his backing to the party establishment's platform that was a replication of the 1944 Democratic National Convention plank on civil rights.

A diverse coalition opposed this tepid platform, including anti-communist liberals Humphrey, Paul Douglas, and John Shelley. The three would later become known as leading progressives in the Democratic Party. These men proposed adding a "minority plank" to the party platform that would commit the Democratic Party to more aggressive opposition to racial segregation. The minority plank called for federal legislation against lynching, an end to legalized school segregation in the South, and ending job discrimination based on skin color. Also strongly backing the liberal civil rights plank were Democratic urban bosses like Ed Flynn of the Bronx, who promised the votes of northeastern delegates for Humphrey's platform, Jacob Arvey of Chicago, and David Lawrence of Pittsburgh. Although viewed as being conservatives, these urban bosses believed that Northern Democrats could gain many black votes by supporting civil rights, and that losses among anti-civil rights Southern Democrats would be relatively small. Though many scholars have suggested that labor unions were leading figures in this coalition, no significant labor leaders attended the convention, with the exception of the heads of the Congress of Industrial Organizations Political Action Committee (CIOPAC), Jack Kroll and A.F. Whitney.

Despite aggressive pressure by Truman's aides to avoid forcing the issue on the Convention floor, Humphrey chose to speak on behalf of the minority plank. In a renowned speech, Humphrey passionately told the Convention, "My friends, to those who say that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years too late! To those who say, this civil rights program is an infringement on states' rights, I say this: The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!" Humphrey and his allies succeeded; the pro civil rights plank was narrowly adopted.

As a result of the Convention's vote, the Mississippi delegation and half of the Alabama delegation walked out of the hall. Many Southern Democrats were so enraged at this affront to their "way of life" that they formed the Dixiecrat party and nominated their own presidential candidate, Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. The goal of the Dixiecrats was to take several Southern states away from Truman and thus cause his defeat. The Southern Democrats reasoned that after such a defeat the national Democratic Party would never again aggressively pursue a pro-civil rights agenda. However, this move actually backfired. Although the strong civil rights plank adopted at the Convention cost Truman the support of the Dixiecrats, it gained him important votes from blacks, especially in large northern cities. As a result Truman won a stunning upset victory over his Republican Party opponent, Thomas E. Dewey. Truman's victory demonstrated that the Democratic Party no longer needed the "Solid South" to win presidential elections, and thus weakened Southern Democrats instead of strengthening their position. Pulitzer Prize winning historian David McCullough wrote that Humphrey probably did more to get Truman elected, in 1948, than anyone other than Truman himself.

Senator and advocate of liberal causes (1948–1964)

Minnesota elected Humphrey to the United States Senate in 1948, on the DFL ticket. He took office on January 3, 1949. Humphrey's father died that same year, and Humphrey stopped using the "Jr." suffix on his name. He was re-elected in 1954 and 1960. His colleagues selected him as Majority Whip in 1961, a position he held until he left the Senate on December 29, 1964, to assume the vice presidency.

Initially, Humphrey was ostracized by Southern Democrats for his support of civil rights. They dominated most of the Senate leadership positions and sought to punish Humphrey for proposing the successful civil rights platform at the 1948 Convention. Humphrey refused to be intimidated and stood his ground. His passion and eloquence eventually earned him the respect of even most of the Southerners.

Humphrey became known for his advocacy of liberal causes such as civil rights, the Food Stamp Program, humanitarian foreign aid, arms control, and a nuclear test ban. He served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Disarmament during the 84th and 85th Congresses. Humphrey was also known as a fine orator, for his long and witty speeches.

During the period of McCarthyism (1950–1954), Humphrey was accused of being soft on Communism, despite having been one of the founders of the anti-communist liberal organization Americans for Democratic Action. He was also a staunch supporter of the Truman Administration's efforts to combat the growth of the Soviet Union, and he fought Communist political activities in Minnesota and elsewhere. In 1954, Humphrey proposed to make mere membership in the Communist Party a felony—a proposal that failed.

As Democratic whip in the Senate in 1964, Humphrey was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

Humphrey's consistently cheerful and upbeat demeanor, and his forceful advocacy of liberal causes, led him to be nicknamed "The Happy Warrior" by many of his Senate colleagues and political journalists.

Presidential and Vice-Presidential ambitions (1952–1964)

As one of the most respected members of the U.S. Senate, Humphrey ran for the Democratic presidential nomination twice before his election to the Vice Presidency in 1964.

In the 1960 presidential primaries, Humphrey ran against fellow Senator John F. Kennedy. Their first electoral encounter was in the Wisconsin primary. Kennedy's well-organized and well funded campaign defeated Humphrey's energetic but poorly funded effort.

Kennedy's attractive brothers, sisters, and wife combed the state looking for votes. At one point Humphrey complained that he "felt like an independent merchant running against a chain store." Kennedy won the Wisconsin primary, but by a smaller margin than anticipated; some commentators argued that Kennedy's victory margin had come almost entirely from areas that were heavily Roman Catholic, and that Protestants actually supported Humphrey. As a result, Humphrey refused to quit the race and decided to run against Kennedy again in the West Virginia primary. Humphrey calculated that his midwestern populist roots and Protestant religion (he was a Congregationalist) would appeal to the state's disenfranchised voters more than the Ivy League and Catholic millionaire's son, Kennedy. But Kennedy led comfortably until the issue turned to religion. When asked why he was quickly losing ground in polls, one adviser explained to Kennedy, "no one knew you were a Catholic then."

Kennedy chose to engage the religion issue head-on. In radio broadcasts, he carefully repositioned the issue from one of Catholic versus Protestant to tolerance versus intolerance. Kennedy appealed to West Virginia's long-held revulsion for prejudice and placed Humphrey, who had championed tolerance his entire career, on the defensive. Kennedy attacked him with a vengeance. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., the son of the former President, stumped for Kennedy in West Virginia, raising the issue of Humphrey's failure to serve in the armed forces in World War II (Humphrey had been rejected for medical reasons). Humphrey, who was short on funds, could not match the well-financed Kennedy operation. He traveled around the state in a cold, rented bus while Kennedy and his staff flew around West Virginia in a large, modern, family-owned airplane. Kennedy defeated Humphrey soundly, winning 60.8 percent of the vote in that state. The evening of the primary, Humphrey announced that he was no longer a candidate for the presidency. By winning the West Virginia primary, Kennedy was able to overcome the belief that Protestant voters would not elect a Catholic candidate to the Presidency and thus sewed up the Democratic nomination for President.

Humphrey did win the South Dakota and District of Columbia primaries, which JFK did not enter. At the 1960 Democratic Convention he received 41 votes, even though he was no longer an active presidential candidate.

At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Lyndon B. Johnson kept the three likely vice presidential candidates, Connecticut Senator Thomas Dodd, fellow Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy, and Humphrey, as well as the rest of the nation in suspense before announcing Humphrey as his running-mate with much fan-fare, praising Humphrey's qualifications for a considerable amount of time before announcing his name.

The following day, Humphrey's acceptance speech overshadowed Johnson's own acceptance address:

Hubert warmed up with a long tribute to the President, then hit his stride as he began a rhythmic jabbing and chopping at Barry Goldwater. "Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate voted for an $11.5 billion tax cut for American citizens and American business," he cried, "but not Senator Goldwater. Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate—in fact four-fifths of the members of his own party—voted for the Civil Rights Act, but not Senator Goldwater."

Time after time, he capped his indictments with the drumbeat cry: "But not Senator Goldwater!" The delegates caught the cadence and took up the chant. A quizzical smile spread across Humphrey's face, then turned to a laugh of triumph. Hubert was in fine form. He knew it. The delegates knew it. And no one could deny that Hubert Humphrey would be a formidable political antagonist in the weeks ahead.[2]

In the U.S. presidential election or 1964, the Johnson/Humphrey ticket won overwhelmingly, garnering 486 electoral votes out of 538. Minnesota voted for the Democratic ticket; only five Southern states and Goldwater's home state of Arizona supported the Republican ticket.

The Vice Presidency

Vice President Humphrey bust

Humphrey took office on January 20, 1965. As Vice President, Humphrey was controversial for his complete and vocal loyalty to Johnson and the policies of the Johnson Administration, even as many of Humphrey's liberal admirers opposed Johnson with increasing fervor with respect to Johnson's policies during the war in Vietnam. Many of Humphrey's liberal friends and allies over the years abandoned him because of his refusal to publicly criticize Johnson's Vietnam War policies. Humphrey's critics later learned that Johnson had threatened Humphrey. Johnson told Humphrey that if he publicly opposed his Administration's Vietnam War policy, he would destroy Humphrey's chances to become President by opposing his nomination at the next Democratic Convention. However, Humphrey's critics were vocal and persistent. Even his nickname, the Happy Warrior, was used against him. The nickname referred not to his military hawkishness but rather to his crusading for social welfare and civil rights programs.

The 1968 Presidential election

As 1968 began, it appeared President Johnson, despite the rapidly-increasing unpopularity of the Vietnam War, would easily win the Democratic nomination again. Humphrey indicated to Johnson that he would like to be his running mate again. However, in the New Hampshire primary Johnson was nearly defeated by Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota. McCarthy had challenged Johnson on an anti-war platform. A few days later, Senator Robert Kennedy of New York also entered the race on an anti-war platform.

On March 31, 1968, a week before the Wisconsin primary, President Lyndon B. Johnson stunned the nation by withdrawing from his race for a second term. Humphrey immediately re-evaluated his position. He announced his presidential candidacy in late April 1968. Many people saw Humphrey as Johnson's stand-in. He won major backing from the nation's labor unions and other Democratic groups that were troubled by antiwar protesters and social unrest around the nation. Humphrey avoided the primaries and concentrated on winning delegates in non-primary states. By June he was seen as the clear front-runner for the nomination.

Following his victory over McCarthy in the California primary, Kennedy had hope that he could unite the forces opposed to the Vietnam War and possibly beat Humphrey for the nomination. This was not to be. The night of the California primary, Senator Kennedy was assassinated.

With the support of Mayor Richard Daley, Humphrey and his running mate, Ed Muskie easily won the Democratic nomination at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. Unfortunately for Humphrey's presidential chances, outside the convention hall there were riots and protests by thousands of antiwar demonstrators, some of whom favored Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, or other "anti-war" candidates. These antiwar protestors - most of whom were young college students - were attacked and beaten on live television by Chicago police. Humphrey's inaction during the riots, and the turmoil within the Democratic Party, created divisions that Humphrey was never able to overcome in the general election, despite a vigorous and forceful campaign. Humphrey was also hurt by the third-party campaign of former Alabama Governor George Wallace, a Southern Democrat whose veiled racism and militant opposition to antiwar protestors attracted millions of Northern and Midwestern blue-collar votes that would otherwise have probably gone to Humphrey.

Humphrey lost the 1968 election to Richard M. Nixon. His campaign was hurt in part because Humphrey had secured the presidential nomination without entering a single primary. In later years, changes to the party rules made such an outcome virtually impossible. During his underdog campaign, voters saw a transparent decency as well as a mind that quickly grasped complicated issues. Starting out substantially behind Nixon in the polls, he had almost closed the gap by election day. Humphrey lost the election by 0.7 percent of the popular vote: 43.4 percent (31,783,783 votes) for Nixon to 42.7 percent (31,271,839 votes) for Humphrey, with 13.5 percent (9,901,118 votes) for George Wallace of Alabama. In the electoral college, Humphrey carried 13 states with 191 electoral votes, to Nixon's 32 states and 301 electoral votes, and Wallace's 5 states and 46 electoral votes.

Immensely admired by associates and members of his staff, Humphrey could not break loose from the domination of Lyndon Johnson. The combination of the unpopularity of Johnson, the Chicago riots, and the discouragement of liberals and African-Americans when both Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated during the election year, caused him to lose to a candidate many thought less qualified to be president.

Post-Vice Presidency (1969–1978)

Teaching and return to the Senate

Senator Hubert Humphrey with President Jimmy Carter aboard Air Force One in 1977.

After leaving the Vice Presidency, Humphrey utilized his talents by teaching at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota. He also served as chairman of the board of consultants at the Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.

Initially, he had not planned to return to political life, but an unexpected opportunity changed his mind. Eugene McCarthy, DFL U.S. Senator from Minnesota was up for re-election to the Senate in 1970. McCarthy realized he had only a slim chance of winning renomination because he had angered his party by opposing Johnson and Humphrey for the 1968 presidential nomination. So he declined to run. Humphrey won the DFL nomination and the election, returning to the U.S. Senate on January 3, 1971. He was re-elected in 1976, and remained in office until his death.

In 1972, Humphrey ran again for the Democratic nomination for president. He was defeated by Senator George McGovern in several primaries, trailed in delegates at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Florida. His hopes rested on challenges to the credentials of some of the McGovern delegates. The challenge failed, guaranteeing McGovern's victory.

Humphrey also briefly considered mounting a campaign for the Democratic nomination from the Convention once again in 1976, when the primaries seemed likely to result in a deadlock, but ultimately decided against it. At the conclusion of the Democratic primaries that year, even with Jimmy Carter having requisite number of delegates needed to secure his nomination, many still wanted Humphrey to announce his availability for a "draft" movement. However, he did not. Carter easily secured the nomination on the first round of balloting. What wasn't known to the general public was that Humphrey already knew he had terminal cancer.

Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate (1976–1978)

In 1974, Humphrey partnered with Rep. Augustus Hawkins of California, in authoring the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act. this was the first attempt at full employment legislation. The original bill proposed to guarantee full employment to all citizens over 16 and set up a permanent system of public jobs to meet that goal. A watered-down version called the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act passed the House and Senate in 1978. It set the goal of 4 percent unemployment and 3 percent inflation and instructed the Federal Reserve Board to try to produce those goals when making policy decisions.

Burial Plot of Vice President Humphrey. Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Humphrey ran for Senate Majority Leader after the 1976, election but lost to Robert Byrd of West Virginia. The Senate honored Humphrey by creating the post of Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate for him.

On August 16, 1977, Humphrey revealed his terminal cancer to the public. On October 25, 1977, he addressed the Senate. On November 3, 1977, Humphrey became the first person other than the president or a member of the the House of Representatives to address the House in session. President Carter honored him by giving him command of Air Force One for his final trip to Washington, on October 23.

One of Humphrey's speeches contained the lines "It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped," which is sometimes described as the "liberals' mantra."

Humphrey spent his last weeks calling old political acquaintances on a special long-distance telephone his family had given him. He also placed a call to his former foe in the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon, only to learn the depressed state of the Nixons. Disturbed by this, he called Nixon back to invite the former president to his upcoming funeral. Nixon accepted. After his death at home in Waverly, Minnesota, Humphrey lay in state in the rotunda of both the United States Capitol and the Minnesota State Capitol. His body was interred in Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Humphrey's wife, Muriel, was appointed to finish her husband's term in office.

Legacy

Hubert Humphrey is remembered as a man whose vision was wide enough and whose heart was deep enough to respect all people's dignity and humanity. Against those who still opposed racial equality and the extension of Civil Rights to all, especially to black Americans, he knew that only when this was achieved would America live up to the highest ideals it espoused. Even if the founding fathers meant 'white men' when they said that "all men are created equal" and excluded women and slaves, he knew that the truth that lies behind these words is more profound than those who wrote the Declaration of Independence. How true were the words he spoke, "My friends, to those who say that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years too late! To those who say, this civil rights program is an infringement on states' rights, I say this: The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!" It took another two decades before there was much movement towards implementing his vision but he had the vision and when such men as Martin Luther King, Jr and others, inspired by Rosa Parks took up the struggle, legislation finally followed in the Civil Rights Act (1964).

Honors

In 1965, Humphrey was made an Honorary Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate fraternity established for African American males.

He was awarded posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal on June 13, 1979 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.

Buildings and institutions named for Humphrey

  • The Hubert H. Humphrey Terminal at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport
  • The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome domed stadium in Minneapolis
  • The Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul, Minn.
  • The Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and its building, the Hubert H. Humphrey Center
  • The Hubert H. Humphrey Building of the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington
  • The Hubert H. Humphrey Bridge carrying Florida State Road 520 over the Indian River Lagoon between Cocoa, Florida and Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida
  • The Hubert H. Humphrey Middle School in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
  • The Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in Los Angeles, CA.

Notes

  1. RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, An Extended family. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  2. Time Magazine, The Man Who Quit Kicking the Wall. Retrieved November 9, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Berman, Edgar. Hubert: The Triumph And Tragedy Of The Humphrey I Knew. New York,: G.P. Putnam's & Sons, 1979. ISBN 0399123148
  • Cohen, Dan. Undefeated: The Life of Hubert H. Humphrey. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1978. ISBN 0822599538
  • Garrettson, Charles L. III. Hubert H. Humphrey: The Politics of Joy. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993. ISBN 1560000295
  • Humphrey, Hubert H. The Education of a Public Man: My Life and Politics. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976. ISBN 0385056036
  • Mann, Robert. The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1996. ISBN 0151000654
  • Solberg, Carl. Hubert Humphrey: A Biography. New York: Norton, 1984. ISBN 0393018067
  • Taylor, Jeff. Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2006. ISBN 0826216595
  • Thurber, Timothy N. The Politics of Equality: Hubert H. Humphrey and the African American Freedom Struggle. NY: Columbia University Press, 1999. ISBN 0231110464

External links

All links retrieved January 17, 2018.


Political offices
Preceded by:
Marvin Kline
Mayor of Minneapolis
1945 – 1949
Succeeded by: Eric G. Hoyer
Preceded by:
Mike Mansfield
United States Senate Majority Whip
1961 – 1965
Succeeded by: Russell B. Long
Preceded by:
Lyndon B. Johnson
Vice President of the United States
January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969
Succeeded by: Spiro Agnew
New Title Deputy President pro tempore of the United States Senate
1977 – 1978
Succeeded by: George J. Mitchell
United States Senate
Preceded by:
Joseph H. Ball
Senator from Minnesota (Class 2)
1949 – 1964
Served alongside: Edward Thye, Eugene McCarthy
Succeeded by: Walter Mondale
Preceded by:
Eugene McCarthy
Senator from Minnesota (Class 1)
1971 – 1978
Served alongside: Walter Mondale, Wendell Anderson
Succeeded by: Muriel Humphrey
Party Political Offices
Preceded by:
Lyndon B. Johnson
Democratic Party vice presidential candidate
1964
Succeeded by: Edmund Muskie
Democratic Party presidential candidate
1968
Succeeded by: George McGovern
Honorary Titles
Preceded by:
Lyndon B. Johnson
Persons who have lain in state or honor
in the United States Capitol rotunda

January 14, 1978 – January 15, 1978
Succeeded by: Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam Era

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