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We hear about this in the media a lot when they talk about the upcoming Democrat Convention. I was just reading up a bit on this and also looking for video on YouTube. I post my findings here:
As the 1968 Democratic National Convention approached, events throughout the nation combined to create a tense atmosphere in Chicago. Rising sentiment against the war in Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and the failure of the Democratic Party to apply its civil rights policy had an effect both inside and outside of the International Amphitheatre, where the convention delegates gathered.
Months before the convention, political activists planned demonstrations in Chicago to share the spotlight with the Democratic political leaders. Some groups, such as the Yippies, came to Chicago determined to challenge traditional political process and authority. Tensions increased and turned into violence when police refused to allow these groups near the main hotels and the conventional hall.
Protesters crowd the streets during the 1968 convention.
As the riots escalated, Mayor Richard J. Daley called in the troops. In total, 11,900 Chicago police, 7,500 Army regulars, 7,500 Illinois National Guardsmen, and 1,000 FBI and Secret Service agents were stationed in the city. Police and other authorities used force to keep the demonstrators away from the delegates' headquarters at the Conrad Hilton Hotel and the Amphitheatre. At the end of convention week, police announced that 589 persons had been arrested and more than 119 police and 100 demonstrators injured.
Inside the Amphitheatre, tension was also brewing. Antiwar delegates supporting Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern opposed the controlling Humphrey faction, not just over the nomination, but in virtually every aspect of the convention. They challenged the credentials of 15 delegations, a record number. Debate over the inclusion of an anti-Vietnam War plank in the platform lasted two days. Connecticut senator Abraham Ribicoff, in a speech nominating George McGovern, stated that "with George McGovern as President of the United States, we wouldn't have Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago." Television viewers throughout the country witnessed Mayor Daley's furious response.
Although the turmoil would take its toll on the Democratic party, Humphrey's supporters retained control of the convention. He won the platform fight and was nominated on the first ballot. Humphrey selected Sen. Edmund S. Muskie of Maine as his running mate.
The credibility of the Democratic Party was severely injured by the display in Chicago. As the Democratic presidential nominee, Humphrey never fully recovered from the convention debacle. In November 1968 he lost the presidential race to Richard Nixon. In addition, the Chicago Convention further radicalized some activists who felt that their nonviolent tactics were no longer effective against the violence of the system. Some of them decided that armed revolt was the only way to create change.
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The convention had been planned as a renomination celebration for President Lyndon Johnson. Johnson, however, had surprised the nation on March 31 by announcing that he would not run for reelection. Suffering from poor health and unpopularity due to his failing Vietnam policy, Johnson had thrown his support to Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Humphrey was favored to win the Democratic nomination despite primary election victories by anti-Vietnam War candidates Senator Eugene McCarthy and Senator Robert Kennedy. Humphrey was favored because delegates to the convention were selected by the party leaders, not by voters in open primaries. And party leaders supported Humphrey, not the anti-war candidates.
That's how the Democrat Party used to be: 100% super delegates.
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Forum Rule 3: Discuss the Issue, not your opponent.
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