A Brief History
On August 26, 1968, the Democratic Party began their National Convention in Chicago at a time of great unrest in the United States. Between national angst over the course of changes regarding Civil Rights, race relations and women’s liberation, the divisive nature of the war in Vietnam, and a general activist and non-conformist wave that had swept the young people of America, the situation was ripe for problems, and problems they had!
Digging Deeper
A couple of other Democratic National Conventions likewise rank as embarrassments to the Democratic Party, and here we tell you a bit about these three goofy gatherings of Democrats.
3. 1924, New York City.
Often referred to as the “Klanbake,” this free for all at Madison Square Garden took a record 103 ballots to select a nominee for President (eventually John Davis of West Virginia, a former Congressman and ambassador). The front runners for the nomination, William McAdoo and Al Smith were gradually pushed aside by the influence of the Ku Klux Klan in favor of Davis. This convention notably saw a woman presented as a candidate for vice president (Lena Springs), although a man, Charles Bryan, was actually nominated. The Democratic ticket went on to defeat by Calvin Coolidge. The KKK supported McAdoo over the Catholic Smith (Note: the Klan is stridently anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish as well as anti-Black), and the division over support of a resurgent KKK resulted in a vote to condemn the Klan that lost by the tiny margin of 546 votes in favor of the Klan against 542 votes in favor of condemning the Klan. This “victory” resulted in many thousands of Klan members celebrating in New Jersey directly across from New York City, and the strong Klan presence resulted in the nickname “Klanbake” for this raucous convention, the longest convention in US history and the first Democratic Convention broadcast by radio. Republicans held the Presidency for the next 12 years.
2. 1968, Chicago.
Mr. Tough Guy Law and Order mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, had sworn his police would enforce peace and good order in the wake of riots that had swept the United States in preceding months due to the poor state of race relations and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy (the Democratic front runner in the primaries). The withdrawal of President Lyndon Johnson from seeking the Democratic nomination and the death of Robert Kennedy left the Democratic Party in turmoil over who would be nominated. Vice President Hubert Humphrey eventually got the nomination over anti-war candidate Senator Eugene McCarthy even though Humphrey had not run in a single primary! The party delegates were divided and irate over the course of events, a schism between the establishment (Humphrey) and the liberal wing of the party (McCarthy). Meanwhile, protesters defied the threats by Mayor Daley and clashes between police and protesters developed into a full scale riot that deeply embarrassed the City of Chicago and Democratic Party. Humphrey went on to lose to Richard Nixon in a close election, quite possibly due in part to the spectacle at Chicago The rumble between police and demonstrators has been referred to as a “police riot” perpetrated not by demonstrators who were almost universally peaceful, but by the police and National Guard that tried to clean the streets of such “rabble.” Worse yet, the physical confrontations also took place inside the Convention hall, notably with newsman Dan Rather. Respected journalist Walter Cronkite referred to the police and security guards as “thugs.” Notable arrests included the infamous “Chicago Eight” that were arrested by Federal authorities for inciting a riot and other charges. These included activists such as Black Panther Bobby Seale and Hippie/Yippie drug culture figures Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden and Jerry Rubin, icons of the counter-culture of the 1960’s. Convicted and given ridiculous jail sentences, the 8 men were eventually cleared, but had been a symbol of an oppressive government that embarrassed the Democratic Party.
1. 2016, Philadelphia.
Only concluded a little more than a month ago, this year’s Democratic Convention was not only besmirched by supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders booing their own candidate when he announced his support of eventual nominee Hillary Clinton (including a threatened “Fart In” to take place during Clinton’s acceptance speech), but also the embarrassing specter of a massive release of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee by internet hackers, Wikileaks. These electronic documents revealed a bias against Bernie Sanders and an effort to discredit him for the purpose of guiding the Democratic delegates to support their chosen candidate, Hillary Clinton. Sanders went into the convention behind Clinton in delegates, but with overwhelming momentum and much better showing in polls against Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. Sanders supporters had accused the DNC of “fixing” or “rigging” the Convention, and this Wikileaks release confirmed the charge. Democratic National Chairman, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was forced to resign, along with other Democratic party office holders. On top of this scandal, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton (first major party female to be nominated for President) was dogged by her own email scandal from her time as Secretary of State where she improperly used a private email server for government business. Despite the FBI recommending no prosecution take place, the FBI Director delivered a scathing speech condemning Clinton’s actions, diverting much attention from the historic nomination to a national debate of whether or not the Nominee should be prosecuted for failing to protect national secrets. Clinton also made the controversial decision to invite mothers of African-American criminals killed by police (during attempts to subdue or arrest those men in the wake of crimes) to speak about perceived “police violence.” This shameful race-baiting pandering and embracing of career criminals turned off much of the Caucasian and educated population and served Donald Trump and his claim to be the “Law and Order” candidate.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What do you consider to have been the most embarrassing Democratic Party National Convention?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Cutler, Stanley. Two Conventions: Politics at the 1948 and 2016 Democratic Party Conventions in Philadelphia. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015.
Mailer, Norman. Miami and the Siege of Chicago: An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2016.
Murray, Robert Keith. The 103rd Ballot: The Legendary 1924 Democratic Convention That Forever Changed Politics. Harper Paperbacks, 2016.