The office of Vice President has often been a place in which to disappear or become the answer to a trivia question. Who remembers Alvin Barkley (Truman's), Dan Quayle (George HW Bush's) or John Nance Garner (FDR's)?
And then there is Kamala Harris who has emerged as a charismatic presence after three years in relative obscurity. Rising to such prominence to lead the Democratic Party in a matter of a few weeks is an American phenomenon. It is a testimony to both the power of social media along with her robust grasp of the moment, met with a fierce intelligence, buoyant and compassionate nature, grace and authenticity, rarely seen on the political spectrum.
Enter, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson's much-maligned V.P. He was not treated fairly during his term (1964-1968) nor is he enjoying a notable afterlife. I feel for the guy and want to apologize for not giving him my vote 56 years ago.
He was a pharmacist (of all things) who completed the two-year course in six months. Like many druggists of his day, he wanted more. I know the feeling. Our sameness ends there.
Humphrey was unknown nationally when he addressed the 1948 Democratic convention and stirred the conscience of the delegates plus 60 million radio listeners. His words caused Mississippi and Alabama to storm out of the hall.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!
The pro-civil-rights plank was narrowly adopted and as a result the South splintered off from the party and formed the Dixiecrats which projected Truman’s defeat except that good sense and an aroused Black vote prevailed, returning him to office.
This champion for civil rights also spoke out for disarmament and was the first to propose Medicare in 1949 and the Peace Corps. He was elected senator three times before and twice after his term as vice-president.
As vice president, Humphrey played a key role in securing the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He persuaded and cajoled the moderate Republicans, under Everett Dirksen, to gain their vote. In those days the Democrats needed 67 votes, not 60, to break a filibuster and they got it. The final bill received more Republican votes than Democratic. It is a matter of dispute how much credit goes to LBJ or his V.P.
In 1964 Humphrey spoke out at a cabinet meeting against the Vietnam War. His opposition to the bombing put him in LBJ’s doghouse for the next four years. He was shut out of cabinet meetings, never asked to Camp David and never flew on Air Force One… until invited, years later, by Jimmy Carter. Every public statement had to be cleared by Johnson.
By 1968 he became closely (and wrongly) identified with the president’s war policy which led to the protests in Chicago. The anti-war movement disowned him, and the election went to Nixon by less than half a percent in popular vote. It was said that Johnson actually wanted Humphrey defeated.
After a year in academia, he was returned to the Senate by a twenty-point margin. However, he is largely remembered as a muffled (perhaps muzzled) voice of Liberalism; a fiery Liberal who flamed out, another tragic political figure of the 20th century whose principles got crushed in the machinery of the system.
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