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Aug. 28, 1968
August 28, 1968

Humphrey, Muskie nominated on the second ballot

The Democrats have chosen Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Maine Senator Edmund Muskie as their nominees in the 1968 Presidential election. At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the delegates voted for their pledged candidates. On the first ballot, Humphrey fell just a few votes short of the 1,305 delegates needed to win the nomination, as most of the remaining delegates were split between rivals Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy. With a clear plurality, some of the delegates changed their votes, pushing Humphrey over the 50% mark on the second ballot, giving him a total of 1,362 votes. [1] The delegates chose Senator Edmund Muskie (D-ME) to be Humphrey’s running mate.

Kennedy, a longtime rival of Humphrey, endorsed him with a call for party unity. [2] McCarthy, however, refused to make an endorsement. [3] The McCarthy campaign said that the Senator will not endorse any candidate that supports the war in Vietnam and believes that the DNC unfairly favored Humphrey. Outside the convention hall, several thousand protesters gathered, most of whom were supporters of antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy. Protests were peaceful for the most part, but a few brief scuffles broke out between the police and the protesters outside the convention hall, resulting several dozen arrests. [4]


[1] Despite not having run in a single primary, Humphrey was likely to get the nomination even if RFK had lived. It’s far from inevitable that Humphrey would have gotten the Democratic nomination, but given his support among the DNC, it’s likely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention

[2] Robert Kennedy and Humphrey were actually on pretty good terms, despite Kennedy and Johnson’s mutual hatred.

[3] “Humphrey Taps Muskie Amid Demo Dissension”, St. Petersburg Times, Aug. 30, 1968: https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&pg=5918,5839967&dq=eugene+mccarthy+1968

[4] With Kennedy still alive, Humphrey’s nomination will be less controversial than OTL, though I think some on the antiwar left will be disappointed. While protests are almost inevitable, I don’t think there will be the level of violence seen in OTL.
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