1.
United States presidential election, 1972
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The United States presidential election of 1972, the 47th quadrennial presidential election was held on Tuesday, November 7,1972. Overall, he won 60. 7% of the popular vote, Johnson’s in 1964, but with a larger margin of victory in the popular vote, thus becoming the fourth largest in presidential election history. He received almost 18 million more votes than McGovern, the widest margin of any United States presidential election. McGovern only won the votes in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. It was also the first time that Hawaii was carried by a Republican, together with the House and Senate elections of 1972, it was the first electoral event in which people aged 18 to 20 could vote in every state, according to the provisions of the 26th Amendment. It was also the first election in which California had the most votes in the electoral college, furthermore, the presidential term of 1973–1977 is notable for being the only one in American history in which both the original President and Vice President fail to complete the term. Ultimately, the 1973–77 term would see two different Presidents and three different Vice Presidents, as of 2016, this is the last time Minnesota voted for the Republican candidate. Overall, fifteen people declared their candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination, mcCarthy, former Senator from Minnesota Henry M. C. The favorite for the Democratic nomination then became Senator Ed Muskie, Muskie’s momentum collapsed just prior to the New Hampshire primary, when the so-called Canuck letter was published in the Manchester Union-Leader. Subsequently, the published an attack on the character of Muskie’s wife Jane, reporting that she drank. Muskie made a defense of his wife in a speech outside the newspaper’s offices during a snowstorm. Nearly two years before the election, South Dakota Senator George McGovern entered the race as an anti-war, McGovern was able to pull together support from the anti-war movement and other grassroots support to win the nomination in a primary system he had played a significant part in designing. On January 25,1972, New York Representative Shirley Chisholm announced she would run, Hawaii Representative Patsy Mink also announced she would run and became the first Asian American to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. On April 25, George McGovern won the Massachusetts primary, once middle America – Catholic middle America, in particular – finds this out, he’s dead. ”The label stuck and McGovern became known as the candidate of amnesty, abortion, and acid. It became Humphrey’s battle cry to stop McGovern—especially in the Nebraska primary, alabama Governor George Wallace, an anti-integrationist, did well in the South and among alienated and dissatisfied voters in the North. What might have become a campaign was cut short when Wallace was shot in an assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer on May 15. Wallace was struck by five bullets and left paralyzed from the waist down, the day after the assassination attempt, Wallace won the Michigan and Maryland primaries, but the shooting effectively ended his campaign and he pulled out in July. In the end, McGovern won the nomination by winning primaries through grassroots support in spite of establishment opposition, McGovern had led a commission to re-design the Democratic nomination system after the divisive nomination struggle and convention of 1968
2.
George McGovern
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George Stanley McGovern was an American historian, author, U. S. Representative, U. S. Senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election. McGovern grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota, where he was a renowned debater and he volunteered for the U. S. Army Air Forces upon the countrys entry into World War II and as a B-24 Liberator pilot flew 35 missions over German-occupied Europe. Among the medals bestowed upon him was a Distinguished Flying Cross for making an emergency landing of his damaged plane. After the war he gained degrees from Dakota Wesleyan University and Northwestern University, culminating in a PhD and he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1956 and re-elected in 1958. After a failed bid for the U. S. Senate in 1960, as a senator, McGovern was an exemplar of modern American liberalism. He became most known for his opposition to the growing U. S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He staged a brief run in the 1968 presidential election as a stand-in for the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy. The McGovern–Hatfield Amendment sought to end the Vietnam War by legislative means but was defeated in 1970 and 1971, in the general election McGovern lost to incumbent Richard Nixon in one of the biggest landslides in American electoral history. Re-elected Senator in 1968 and 1974, McGovern was defeated in a bid for a term in 1980. Throughout his career, McGovern was involved in related to agriculture, food, nutrition. McGovern was born in the 600‑person farming community of Avon, South Dakota, McGovern, born in 1868, was pastor of the local Wesleyan Methodist Church there. Joseph – the son of an alcoholic who had immigrated from Ireland – had grown up in states, working in coal mines from the age of nine. He had been a baseball player in the minor leagues, but had given it up due to his teammates heavy drinking, gambling and womanizing. George was the second oldest of four children, Joseph McGoverns salary never reached $100 per month, and he often received compensation in the form of potatoes, cabbages, or other food items. Joseph and Frances McGovern were both firm Republicans, but were not politically active or doctrinaire, when George was about three years old, the family moved to Calgary for a while to be near Frances ailing mother, and he formed memories of events such as the Calgary Stampede. When George was six, the returned to the United States and moved to Mitchell, South Dakota. McGovern attended public schools there and was an average student and he was painfully shy as a child and was afraid to speak in class during first grade. His only reproachable behavior was going to see movies, which were among the worldly amusements forbidden to good Wesleyan Methodists
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1972 Democratic National Convention
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The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, lawrence F. OBrien served as permanent chairman of the convention, while Yvonne Braithwaite Burke served as vice-chair, becoming the first African American to hold that position. It nominated Senator George McGovern of South Dakota for President and Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri for Vice President, previously excluded political activists gained influence at the expense of elected officials and traditional core Democratic constituencies such as organized labor. A protracted vice presidential nominating process delayed McGoverns acceptance speech until 2,48 a. m. —after most television viewers had gone to bed, Hunter S. Thompson covered this convention in detail in several articles and in Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72. After McGovern resigned from his position as chair, he was replaced as chair by U. S, representative Donald Fraser, which gave the McGovern–Fraser Commission its name. The 28-member commission was established after the tumultuous 1968 convention, among the most significant of the changes were new quotas mandating that certain percentages of delegates be women or members of minority groups. As a result of the new rules, subjects that were deemed not fit for political debate, such as abortion and gay rights. The new rules for choosing and seating delegates created a number of rules. Many traditional Democratic groups such as organized labor and big-city political machines had small representation at the convention, many traditional Democratic leaders and politicians felt that McGoverns delegate count did not reflect the wishes of most Democratic voters. Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter helped to spearhead a Stop McGovern campaign, the stop-McGovern forces tried unsuccessfully to alter the delegate composition of the California delegation. The Illinois primary required voters to select individual delegates, not presidential candidates, most Illinois delegation members were uncommitted and were controlled or influenced by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, the leader of the Chicago political machine. The delegation was challenged by McGovern supporters arguing that the results of the primary did not create a diverse enough delegation in terms of women, singer, Jesse Jackson and pledged to George McGovern. The California primary was winner-take-all, which was contrary to the selection rules. So even though McGovern only won the California primary by a 5% electoral margin, as with the credential fight, McGovernites carried the day effectively handing the nomination to McGovern. McGovern recognized the results of the changes that he made to the Democratic nominating convention, saying. Formed after divisive platform battles, the 1972 Democratic National Conventions platform has been characterized as probably the most liberal one ever adopted by a party in the United States. It advocated immediate withdrawal from Vietnam, amnesty for war resisters, the abolition of the draft, a job for all Americans. The Feminist Movement was an influence on the Democratic platform of 1972
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Richard Nixon
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Richard Milhous Nixon was an American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until 1974, when he became the only U. S. president to resign from office. He had previously served as a U. S, Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California, after completing his undergraduate studies at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife Pat moved to Washington in 1942 to work for the federal government and he subsequently served on active duty in the U. S. Navy Reserve during World War II. Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950 and his pursuit of the Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president and he waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California to Pat Brown in 1962. In 1968, he ran for the presidency again and was elected by defeating incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Nixon ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam in 1973 and brought the American POWs home, and ended the military draft. His administration generally transferred power from Washington D. C. to the states and he imposed wage and price controls for a period of ninety days, enforced desegregation of Southern schools and established the Environmental Protection Agency. Nixon also presided over the Apollo 11 moon landing, which signaled the end of the moon race and he was reelected in one of the largest electoral landslides in U. S. history in 1972, when he defeated George McGovern. The year 1973 saw an Arab oil embargo, gasoline rationing, the scandal escalated, costing Nixon much of his political support, and on August 9,1974, he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. After his resignation, he was issued a pardon by his successor, in retirement, Nixons work writing several books and undertaking of many foreign trips helped to rehabilitate his image. He suffered a stroke on April 18,1994. Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9,1913 in Yorba Linda, California and his parents were Hannah Nixon and Francis A. Nixon. His mother was a Quaker and his father converted from Methodism to the Quaker faith, Nixons upbringing was marked by evangelical Quaker observances of the time, such as refraining from alcohol, dancing, and swearing. Nixon had four brothers, Harold, Donald, Arthur, four of the five Nixon boys were named after kings who had ruled in historical or legendary England, Richard, for example, was named after Richard the Lionheart. Nixons early life was marked by hardship, and he quoted a saying of Eisenhower to describe his boyhood, We were poor. The Nixon family ranch failed in 1922, and the moved to Whittier
5.
Mayo Clinic
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Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit medical practice and medical research group based in Rochester, Minnesota. It employs more than 4,500 physicians and scientists and 57,100 allied health staff, the practice specializes in treating difficult cases through tertiary care. It spends over $660 million a year on research, William Worrall Mayo settled his family in Rochester in 1864 and opened a medical practice that evolved under his sons into Mayo Clinic. It has been on the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For published by Fortune magazine for thirteen consecutive years and it continued to achieve this ranking through 2015. In addition to their hospital in Rochester, the Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Arizona. The Mayo Clinic Health System also operates affiliated facilities throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, in 1863, William Worrall Mayo came to Rochester, Minnesota as part of his appointment as an examining surgeon for the military draft board during the American Civil War. The city was to his liking, and his wife and children joined him in early 1864, William Worrall Mayo opened his medical practice after the war, and served in several leadership roles in the community. Mayos sons, William James Mayo and Charles Horace Mayo grew up in Rochester, William graduated in 1883 and joined his fathers practice, with Charles joining after he completed his training in 1888. On August 21,1883, a tornado struck Rochester, causing at least 37 deaths in the area, one-third of the town was destroyed, but the Mayo family escaped serious harm. Mother Alfred Moes and the Sisters of Saint Francis were called in to act as nurses despite having been trained as teachers, on September 30,1889, Saint Marys Hospital was opened by the Sisters. Mayo,70 years old, was one of the physicians at the hospital. His two sons began seeing patients and performing surgeries at the hospital when they returned from school in the 1880s. In 1892, W. W. Mayo asked Augustus Stinchfield, after Stinchfield agreed, W. W. Mayo retired at the age of 73 and the practice continued to grow. The founders of Mayo Clinic are the Mayo brothers Will and Charlie, Stinchfield, Graham, Henry Plummer, Millet, Judd and these early founders and partners shared in the profits of the private group practice, while other staff hired by the partners were salaried. W. W. Mayo died in 1911 and in 1919 the remaining founders, with the exception of Graham, created the Mayo Properties Association, the founders gave the Clinic properties and furnishings to this newly formed association. The integrated practice model developed primarily by Plummer, created a foundation for what would grow into the Mayo Clinic, as the private practice grew, it required additional space. In 1914, the planned, designed and built a new clinic building. This was groundbreaking work, and the first building designed to facilitate the integrated group medical practice. The air exchange rate for the building was three minutes, one intriguing innovation was the Rookwood fountain in the main lobby that was designed to clean and humidify air from the outside
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Genghis Khan
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Genghis Khan, born Temüjin, was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He came to power by uniting many of the tribes of Northeast Asia. After founding the Empire and being proclaimed Genghis Khan, he started the Mongol invasions that conquered most of Eurasia, campaigns initiated in his lifetime include those against the Qara Khitai, Caucasus, and Khwarazmian, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were accompanied by large-scale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in the Khwarazmian. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a portion of Central Asia. Before Genghis Khan died, he assigned Ögedei Khan as his successor and he died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia, many of these invasions repeated the earlier large-scale slaughters of local populations. As a result, Genghis Khan and his empire have a reputation in local histories. Beyond his military accomplishments, Genghis Khan also advanced the Mongol Empire in other ways and he decreed the adoption of the Uyghur script as the Mongol Empires writing system. He also practiced meritocracy and encouraged religious tolerance in the Mongol Empire, present-day Mongolians regard him as the founding father of Mongolia. This brought communication and trade from Northeast Asia into Muslim Southwest Asia and Christian Europe, Temüjin was related on his fathers side to Khabul Khan, Ambaghai, and Hotula Khan, who had headed the Khamag Mongol confederation and were descendants of Bodonchar Munkhag. When the Jurchen Jin dynasty switched support from the Mongols to the Tatars in 1161, Temüjins father, Yesügei, emerged as the head of the ruling Mongol clan. This position was contested by the rival Tayichiud clan, who descended directly from Ambaghai, when the Tatars grew too powerful after 1161, the Jin switched their support from the Tatars to the Keraites. Little is known about Temüjins early life, due to the lack of written records. The few sources that give insight into this period often contradict, Temüjins name was derived from the Mongol word temür meaning of iron, while jin denotes agency thus temüjin means blacksmith. Temüjin was probably born in 1162 in Delüün Boldog, near the mountain Burkhan Khaldun, the Secret History of the Mongols reports that Temüjin was born grasping a blood clot in his fist, a traditional sign that he was destined to become a great leader. He was the son of his father Yesügei who was a Kiyad chief prominent in the Khamag Mongol confederation. Temüjin was the first son of his mother Hoelun, according to the Secret History, Temüjin was named after the Tatar chief Temüjin-üge whom his father had just captured
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Truman Capote
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At least 20 films and television dramas have been produced of Capote novels, stories, and plays. Capote rose above a childhood troubled by divorce, an absence from his mother. He had discovered his calling as a writer by the age of 8, Capote began his professional career writing short stories. The critical success of one story, Miriam, attracted the attention of Random House publisher Bennett Cerf, Capote earned the most fame with In Cold Blood, a journalistic work about the murder of a Kansas farm family in their home. Capote spent four years writing the book aided by his lifelong friend Harper Lee, a milestone in popular culture, In Cold Blood was the peak of Capotes literary career. In the 1970s, he maintained his celebrity status by appearing on talk shows. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Capote was the son of 17-year-old Lillie Mae Faulk and his parents divorced when he was four, and he was sent to Monroeville, Alabama, where, for the following four to five years, he was raised by his mothers relatives. He formed a fast bond with his mothers distant relative, Nanny Rumbley Faulk and her face is remarkable – not unlike Lincolns, craggy like that, and tinted by sun and wind, is how Capote described Sook in A Christmas Memory. In Monroeville, he was a neighbor and friend of author Harper Lee, as a lonely child, Capote taught himself to read and write before he entered his first year of school. Capote was often seen at age five carrying his dictionary and notepad and he was given the nickname Bulldog around this age. Capote received recognition for his work from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 1936. In 1933, he moved to New York City to live with his mother and her husband, Joseph Capote, a Cuban-born textile broker. However, Joseph was convicted of embezzlement and shortly afterwards, when his income crashed, of his early days, Capote related, I began writing really sort of seriously when I was about eleven. I say seriously in the sense that other kids go home and practice the violin or the piano or whatever, I used to go home from school every day. In 1935, he attended the Trinity School in New York City and he then attended St. Joseph Military Academy. In 1939, the Capote family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, and Truman attended Greenwich High School, where he wrote for both the schools literary journal, The Green Witch, and the school newspaper. When they returned to New York City in 1942, he attended the Franklin School, an Upper West Side private school now known as the Dwight School and that was the end of his formal education. While still attending Franklin in 1943, Capote began working as a copyboy in the art department at The New Yorker, years later, he reminisced, Not a very grand job, for all it really involved was sorting cartoons and clipping newspapers
8.
Babe Ruth
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George Herman Babe Ruth Jr. was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Ruth established many MLB batting records, including home runs, runs batted in, bases on balls, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging. Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time, in 1936, Ruth was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its first five inaugural members. At age seven, Ruth was sent to St, in 1914, Ruth was signed to play minor-league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles but was soon sold to the Red Sox. By 1916, he had built a reputation as a pitcher who sometimes hit long home runs. With regular playing time, he broke the MLB single-season home run record in 1919, after that season, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees amid controversy. The trade fueled Bostons subsequent 86 year championship drought and popularized the Curse of the Bambino superstition, in his 15 years with New York, Ruth helped the Yankees win seven American League championships and four World Series championships. As part of the Yankees vaunted Murderers Row lineup of 1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs and he retired in 1935 after a short stint with the Boston Braves. During his career, Ruth led the AL in home runs during a season twelve times, Ruths legendary power and charismatic personality made him a larger-than-life figure in the Roaring Twenties. During his career, he was the target of press and public attention for his baseball exploits. His often reckless lifestyle was tempered by his willingness to do good by visiting children at hospitals, after his retirement as a player, he was denied a managerial job in baseball, most likely due to poor behavior during parts of his playing career. In his final years, Ruth made many appearances, especially in support of American efforts in World War II. In 1946, he became ill with cancer, and died two years later, George Herman Ruth Jr. was born in 1895 at 216 Emory Street in Pigtown, a working-class section of Baltimore, Maryland, named for its meat-packing plants. Its population included recent immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Italy, Ruths parents, George Herman Ruth, Sr. and Katherine Schamberger, were both of German American ancestry. According to the 1880 census, his parents were born in Maryland, the paternal grandparents of Ruth, Sr. were from Prussia and Hanover. Ruth, Sr. had a series of jobs, including lightning rod salesman and streetcar operator, before becoming a counterman in a combination grocery. George Ruth Jr. was born in the house of his grandfather, Pius Schamberger. Only one of young Georges seven siblings, his younger sister Mamie, many details of Ruths childhood are unknown, including the date of his parents marriage
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United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
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World Food Programme
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The World Food Programme is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the worlds largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. According to the WFP, it provides assistance to an average of 80 million people in 75 countries each year. From its headquarters in Rome and from more than 80 country offices around the world and it is a member of the United Nations Development Group and part of its Executive Committee. The WFP was formally established in 1963 by the FAO and the United Nations General Assembly on an experimental basis. In 1965, the programme was extended to a continuing basis, the WFP is governed by an Executive Board which consists of representatives from 36 member states. Ertharin Cousin is the current Executive Director, appointed jointly by the UN Secretary General and she heads the Secretariat of the WFP. The European Union is a permanent observer in the WFP and, as a major donor and its vision is a world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. The WFP has a staff of about 11,500 people, the WFP strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal in mind of eliminating the need for food aid itself. Food-for-work programmes help promote environmental and economic stability and agricultural production, in 2013, the WFP reached 80.9 million people in 75 countries and provided 3.1 million tonnes of food, including nutritionally improved products such as Plumpysup, Plumpydoz, and Supercereal Plus. 7.8 million malnourished children received special support in 2013. The WFP has scaled up its use of cash and vouchers as food assistance tools,7.9 million people received assistance through cash or voucher programmes in 2013. In the same year, the WFP purchased food in 91 countries, among its other activities, the WFP has coordinated the five-year Purchase for Progress pilot project. Launched in September 2008, P4P assists smallholder farmers by offering opportunities to access agricultural markets. The project resulted in 366,000 metric tons of food produced and generated more than $148 million in income for its smallholder farmers. The WFP focuses its food assistance on those who are most vulnerable to hunger, which most frequently means women, children, the sick and the elderly. School-feeding and/or take-home ration programmes in 71 countries help students focus on their studies and encourage parents to send their children, especially girls, the WFP operations are funded by voluntary donations from world governments, corporations and private donors. The organizations administrative costs are only seven percent—one of the lowest and best among aid agencies, in 2011, the WFPs total revenue was $3.73 billion. From 2008-2012, private donors donated around $500 million, the Fast Information Technology and Telecommunications Emergency and Support Team is a small, elite, technical team of emergency responders within the IT division of the World Food Programme
11.
1968 Democratic National Convention
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The 1968 National Convention of the U. S. Democratic Party was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, the keynote speaker was Senator Daniel Inouye. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine were nominated for President and Vice President, respectively. The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence, the convention also followed the assassination of Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, on June 5. Both Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota had been running for the Democratic Nomination at the time, in 1968 the Democratic Party was divided. Senator Eugene McCarthy entered the campaign in November 1967, challenging incumbent President Johnson for the Democratic nomination, Robert F. Kennedy entered the race in March 1968. Johnson, facing dissent within his party, and having only won the New Hampshire primary. After Kennedys assassination on June 5, the Democratic Partys divisions grew, at the moment of Kennedys death the delegate count stood at Humphrey 561.5, Kennedy 393.5, McCarthy 258. Kennedys murder left his delegates uncommitted, in the end, the Democratic Party nominated Humphrey. Even though 80 percent of the voters had been for anti-war candidates. The loss was perceived to be the result of President Johnson, Humphrey, who had not entered any of 13 state primary elections, won the Democratic nomination, and went on to lose the election to the Republican Richard Nixon. Source, Keating Holland, All the Votes, really, CNN Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley intended to showcase his and the citys achievements to national Democrats and the news media. Rioting took place by the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois National Guard against the demonstrators, the disturbances were well publicized by the mass media, with some journalists and reporters being caught up in the violence. Network newsmen Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, and Edwin Newman were assaulted by the Chicago police while inside the halls of the Democratic Convention, the Democratic Presidential Nominating Convention had been held in Chicago 12 years earlier. Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley had played a role in the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. In 1968, however, it did not seem that Daley had maintained the clout which would allow him to bring out the voters again to produce a Democratic victory as he had in 1960. On October 7,1967, Daley and Johnson had a meeting at a fund raiser for President Johnsons re-election campaign. Johnsons pro-war policies had already created a division within the party
12.
Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1972
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As 1972 approached, President Richard Nixon faced uncertain re-election prospects. Nixon had in fact widened the conflict by invading Cambodia in 1970, the Paris Peace Talks had bogged down, dimming hopes for a negotiated settlement to the war. On the domestic front, a recession in 1969 had shaken investor confidence. The administrations attempt to steer a course on issues of busing and affirmative action had displeased liberals. Republican losses in the 1970 midterm elections further weakened the partys congressional and gubernatorial position, as a result, a large field of Democratic challengers emerged. The establishment favorite for the Democratic nomination was Ed Muskie, the moderate who acquitted himself well as the 1968 Democratic vice-presidential candidate, in August 1971 Harris polling amid a growing economic crisis, Muskie came out on top of incumbent Nixon if the election had been held that day. Shirley Chisholm announced she would run and became the first black ever to run for president on a major party ticket. But then prior to the New Hampshire primary, the Canuck Letter was published in the Manchester Union-Leader, subsequently, the paper published an attack on the character of Muskies wife Jane, reporting that she drank and used off-color language. Muskie made a defense of his wife in a speech outside the newspapers offices during a snowstorm. Though Muskie later stated that what had appeared to the press as tears were actually melted snowflakes, Muskie did worse than expected in the primary, while McGovern came in a surprisingly close second. McGovern now had the momentum, which was orchestrated by his campaign manager. Alabama governor George Wallace, with his image, did well in the South. What might have become a campaign was cut short when Wallace was shot while campaigning. Wallace did win the Maryland primary and the Michigan primary both held the day, but his near assassination effectively ended his campaign. Hubert Humphrey made another run at the nomination, in an era when previous nominees were considered legitimate contenders even after losing a general election. He fell just short in delegates, despite winning the popular vote, Humphrey, like Senator Henry Scoop Jackson, was considered the favorite of the party establishment after Muskies withdrawal. In the end, McGovern succeeded in winning the nomination by winning primaries through grass-roots support in spite of establishment opposition and he had led a commission to redesign the Democratic nomination system after the messy and confused nomination struggle and convention of 1968. Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Wilbur Mills was drafted by friends, to position himself to appeal to senior citizens during the 1972 presidential campaign, Mills championed the automatic Cost Of Living Adjustment to Social Security
