[thread=146866]Discussion thread[/thread]
Double Tragedy: The Deaths of JFK & LBJ
November 21, 1963: Walter Cronkite looked and felt like a man who'd just been handed a death sentence. All morning he'd been praying that the bulletin out of Dallas would be wrong, that in those last few seconds before he went on the air some intern would breathlessly rush up to him to deliver the word that it had all been a mistake, that Air Force One had in fact safely reached Texas and President Kennedy's visit to Dallas would proceed as scheduled.
But no such reprieve would be forthcoming, he realized now, and with a maximum effort at self-control he faced the camera to read the bulletin he knew would plunge an entire nation into grief: "We have received confirmation within the last few minutes that Air Force One, carrying President Kennedy and the First Family along with Vice-President and Mrs. Johnson, has crashed in the Gulf of Mexico... While the full details of the accident are still not yet known, it has already been verified that no one survived the impact."
"Son of a bitch." whispered a shocked Barry Goldwater to no one in particular as he watched Cronkite's newscast on a black-and-white TV in his office. The idea of a sitting President dying before his term of office had ended was disturbing enough, but for one to be killed in a plane crash was unthinkable.
A few doors down, Speaker of the House John McCormack wept not noticing or caring whether anybody heard him.
At the Kremlin, Nikita Khrushchev gaped at the images on his television screen and wondered if the world were coming to an end. Never in a million years would it have occurred to him even in his wildest imagination that the President of the United States could perish in such a horrific fashion. Whatever one might think of the Americans' political philosophy, the CPSU First Secretary thought, one certainly had to admire their engineering skill; it simply wasn't possible this could have happened by mere chance. Either Kennedy's plane had been sabotaged in some fashion or it had been fired on.
The First Term of President John McCormack
November 21, 1963: At 4PM, a Joint Session of Congress was convened in the House chamber where Chief Justice Earl Warren swore in John McCormack as the 36th President of the United States. McCormack was less than one month shy of his 72nd birthday and the oldest man ever to serve as president.
In his first speech as President, McCormack expressed his sorrow over the deaths of Kennedy and Johnson, and vowed to live up to the great duty he had been called to undertake.
“On the 20th day of January, in 1961, John F. Kennedy told his countrymen that our national work would not be finished "in the first thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But," he said, "let us begin."
Today, in this moment of new resolve, I would say to all my fellow Americans, let us continue. I profoundly hope that the tragedy and the torment of these terrible days will bind us together in new fellowship, making us one people in our hour of sorrow. So let us here highly resolve that John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson did not live--or die--in vain. And this coming Thanksgiving, as we gather together to ask the Lord's blessing, and give Him our thanks, let us unite in those familiar and cherished words:
America, America, God shed His grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.”
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.”
November 25, 1963: A day after the funeral for Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson in Texas, John and Jacqueline Kennedy are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In a moment that becomes an emotional and iconic image of the 1960s, an orphaned three year old JFK, Jr. steps forward and renders a final salute as the flag-draped caskets holding his parents are carried out from St. Matthew's Cathedral. The photo, taken by UPI photographer Stan Stearns, would win the Pulitzer Prize. He and his sister Caroline will be raised by their uncle and aunt, Robert and Ethel Kennedy. Bobby eulogizes him with the words: "Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass through all the world."
Kennedy concludes his eulogy, paraphrasing his deceased brother Robert by quoting George Bernard Shaw: "As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him, some men see things as they are and say 'Why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"
November 28, 1963: In his first Cabinet meeting, President McCormack announces that he will not seek a term of his own in 1964 but will serve out the remainder of his term until January 1965. He asks the Cabinet that he inherited from the Kennedy administration to stay on.
After the meeting, RFK meets with President McCormack in the Oval Office to announce that he is resigning as Attorney General effective upon the confirmation of his successor. McCormack reluctantly accepts. By Christmas, the Senate confirms Nicholas Katzenbach as Attorney General while the Kennedy family will spend several months in seclusion at the family compound in Massachusetts.
July 2, 1964: Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a landmark piece of legislation that outlaws racial segregation in schools, public places and employment.
July 3, 1964: On the eve of Independence Day, President McCormack signs the Civil Rights Act into law at the Rose Garden and gives pens to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Hubert Humphrey and Robert Kennedy in his first public appearance since leaving the Cabinet.
July 8, 1964: Both houses of Congress pass the 25th Amendment which is presented to the states for ratification. Section 2 of the amendment allows the President to nominate a Vice President if there is a vacancy in that office who will be confirmed by the House and Senate.
July 16, 1964: Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona is officially nominated by the Republicans at their National Convention at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Goldwater selects Congressman William Miller as his running mate. Privately, Goldwater noted that Miller “drives McCormack nuts.”
August 4, 1964: President McCormack is told by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara that an incident took place in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam. Apparently, two U.S. ships were fired upon by North Vietnamese ships. "Get confirmation on that," McCormack tells him. "If it's true, it means the situation in Southeast Asia has just become a war. But let's be sure it's true first.
August 7, 1964: Secretary McNamara can now confirm it: There was no shooting on U.S. ships by North Vietnamese ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. "That was a close one," President McCormack tells him. "I didn't want to have to go to war and have Barry Goldwater criticize me for sending American boys to do what Asian boys should be doing for themselves."
August 24, 1964: The Democratic National Convention opens at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Having clinched the majority of delegates, Senator Hubert Humphrey selects Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina, a southern moderate, as his running mate.
August 27, 1964: Governor John Conally of Texas introduces a short film in honor of the late Vice President Lyndon Johnson. This is followed by Robert Kennedy’s introduction of a short film in honor of his brother’s memory. Kennedy receives 22 minutes of uninterrupted applause,causing him to nearly break into tears. Speaking about JFK’s vision for the country, Kennedy famously quotes from Romeo and Juliet:
[...] and when [he] shall die
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
November 3, 1964: The election is a landslide for the Democrats as Hubert Humphrey is elected President of the United States.
Hubert Humphrey/Terry Sanford (D) 61.3%, 486 EV
Barry Goldwater/Margaret Chase Smith (R) 38.0%, 52 EV
Barry Goldwater/Margaret Chase Smith (R) 38.0%, 52 EV
Humphrey’s coattails help Democrats increase their majorities in the House and Senate. In New York, Robert Kennedy defeats incumbent Senator Kenneth Keating despite moving to the state just before Labor Day. California Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown defeats Republican actor George Murphy for the Senate seat held by Clair Engle until his death earlier in the year.
In Massachusetts, Governor Endicott Peabody is reelected by just 1 percent over former Governor John Volpe. Lieutenant Governor Francis Bellotti wanted to challenge him in the primary, but President McCormack intervened to put a stop to it.
The First Term of Hubert Horatio Humphrey
January 20, 1965: Hubert H. Humphrey is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States. In an Inaugural Address, HHH says, "It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”
January 24, 1965: In a meeting with executives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, President Humphrey tells them that America should accelerate its space program: "If we don't put a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth soon, the Soviets will get there first, and we don't want that." They tell HHH that a manned Moon landing is at least seven years away. "Not good enough," he tells them. "We might have a Red Moon by '72. You've already got two-man crews on Project Gemini. I know you're working on an escape-velocity rocket system. Can you put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade?" They say they will try.
August 14, 1965: In the wake of the Watts riots in Los Angeles, President Hubert Humphrey says, "This Administration declares an unconditional war on poverty. We can not allow the conditions that created the riot to continue."
November 8, 1965: President Hubert Humphrey signs a bill creating the Office of Economic Opportunity, legislation authored by Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
November 9, 1965: Much of the northeastern United States is hit with a blackout, the largest power failure in the nation's history. Despite the power loss, New York City, hit harder by the blackout than any other city, experiences the lowest number of total crimes committed on any night in its measured history.
November 10, 1965: Former Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee for President in 1960, attacks President Humphrey's "war on poverty." "It is not poverty that causes crime," Nixon says. "The blackout in New York yesterday proved that. A city with so many of the poor people the President claims to befriend had the fewest crimes in its history. What causes crime is criminal behavior. What this nation needs is more law and order."
January 29, 1966: President Hubert Humphrey delivers the State of the Union Address. In the face of criticism from conservative Republicans, who say that crime is caused by criminal behavior rather than poverty, and more law enforcement is needed, HHH says that he will expand the Equal Opportunity Act to aid minority hiring in urban police departments. "A young black man thinking of committing a crime might react with hatred for a white policeman threatening to arrest or shoot him," he says, "but he might react with more respect for a black policeman. The armed forces have integrated well. We should assist police departments with such an integration." Appointed to give the Republican response, Richard Nixon, now the front-runner for the 1968 Presidential nomination, talks about "big government" and "the situation in Vietnam," but not crime, poverty or racism.
March 18, 1966: Republican leaders in Congress ask President Humphey for a meeting at the White House. They tell him that the American military mission in Vietnam needs to be stepped up. "We've had five thousand men killed there," says Minority Leader Everett Dirksen. "What are they dying for? If we don't mount a major offensive, and soon, we might lose." HHH considers their recommendations, but later scoffs at them. He has his own ideas.
April 14, 1966: President Hubert Humphrey meets with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev at Glassboro State College in southern New Jersey (now Rowan University). Brezhnev gives HHH what he wants: Assurance that the Soviet Union will not aid Arab nations should war break out between those nations and Israel; nor will the Soviets aid the Vietcong should the U.S. step up its role in Vietnam. In return, HHH agrees to withhold aid to anti-Communist dictators in Latin America and Africa, and to not attack Cuba during his Administration. Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina calls this "appeasement" and "an American Munich."
January 27, 1967: During a "full up" rehearsal of the launch of Apollo 1, Mission Commander Gus Grissom gets fed up with communications problems and notes the smell of "foul milk" in the spacecraft's environmental system. Grissom's patience is exhausted and orders the test be cancelled. The launch pad team opens the hatches to Apollo 1 and Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee completes exiting the spacecraft at 6:24 pm. At 6:31pm as the Astronauts were preparing to leave the gantry, an electrical short causes a fire aboard Apollo 1. The Astronauts are evacuated and the fire is extinguished by the pad team. Due to the brief period of time of the fire, investigators are able to pinpoint the cause of the electrical short. The crews' narrow escape and terse comments at a press conference causes NASA to declare no Block 1 Apollo missions will be flown. The Block 2 Apollo spacecraft is ready in June 1968 and Grissom and his crew fly a flawless 14 day mission.
June 5, 1967: Israel launches pre-emptive attacks on its Arab neighbors, who had been massing troops on its borders. President Hubert Humphrey announces that he will not send aid to Israel as long as it is on the offensive, but will do so if Israel appears to be falling on the defensive. This proves unnecessary, as the Israelis win what becomes known as the Six-Day War.
October 2, 1967: Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by President Hubert Humphrey to replace the retiring Justice Tom Clark.
January 27, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey is informed that a Vietcong attack is expected soon in Vietnam. He orders an attack on the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. "Let's end this thing for once and for all," he says. "We'll deal with the Russians and the Chinese if we have to later."
January 28, 1968: U.S. troops attack the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, two days before the scheduled offensive the Vietcong had planned for the Vietnamese New Year, or "Tet."
January 31, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey announces that the Vietnam War has been won. North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh has been shot and killed, and General Vo Nguyen Giap, in U.S. custody, has surrendered.
March 16, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey makes it official: He's running for re-election.
March 31, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey announces the signing of the Treaty of Paris, ending the Vietnam War. Reunification of a free Vietnam is scheduled for September 30.
April 4, 1968: Dr. Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis. President Hubert Humphrey gives an impassioned speech from the Oval Office, asking that anger over the killing be directed toward achieving King's goals rather than tearing down society.
Upon learning of King's death during a visit to a public school in Harlem, Senator Robert F. Kennedy gives a heartfelt, impromptu speech in which Kennedy called for reconciliation between the races.
“For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times...What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.
So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that's true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love--a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.”
The riots are few, and in New York City, there are no riots and no deaths are recorded, a fact many attribute to the effect of this speech.
June 5, 1968: After speaking to his supporters at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in celebrating of his victory in the California Republican primary (and clinching the nomination for President), former Vice President Richard Nixon is shot as he is walking through the kitchen. Sirhan Sirhan is immediately caught by police. During questioning, Sirhan, a Jordanian Arab, claims he was taking revenge on Nixon for his pro-Israel, anti-Arab stance during last year's Six-Day War.
June 6, 1968: Doctors are unable to save Richard Nixon’s life as he succumbs to his injuries. He was 55.
Meanwhile, former Governor George Wallace of Alabama gives a campaign speech at the campus of Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi without mentioning the death of Nixon. He will be criticized in the press for it.
June 9, 1968: A state funeral is held in Washington for the assassinated former Vice President Richard Nixon. Eulogies are given at the National Cathedral by President Humphrey, Speaker of the House Carl Albert, House Minority Leader Gerald Ford, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Nixon’s former running mate Henry Cabot Lodge, and even Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was one of the pallbearers of Nixon’s coffin. Nixon’s body is then flown to Los Angeles where it is buried at his hometown of Whittier.
June 26, 1968: Chief Justice Earl Warren retires from the Supreme Court. President Humphrey promotes Associate Justice Byron White to be Chief Justice, and federal Appellate Judge and fellow Minnesotan Harry Blackmun to White’s seat as Associate Justice.
August 8, 1968: With the assassination of Richard Nixon throwing the Republican National Convention at Miami Beach open, several Republicans declare their candidacies hoping to win over Nixon’s delegates including Rep. John Ashbrook, Governor Ronald Reagan of California, and Governor George Romney of Michigan.
August 10, 1968: Governor Nelson Rockefeller clinches the Republican nomination for President on the third ballot. To win over support from the conservative and Southern delegates, Rockefeller reluctantly agrees to select John Ashbrook as his running mate. Rockefeller has his work cut out for him as he trails President Humphrey by 20 points.
August 29, 1968: The Democratic National Convention in Chicago goes off without incident as President Humphrey and Vice President Sanford are re-nominated by acclamation.
September 30, 1968: With President Hubert Humphrey and Secretary of State Dean Rusk in attendance, the Vietnam reunification ceremony is held in Saigon. Nguyen Van Thieu, President of South Vietnam, is now President of a united nation, at peace sine January 31.
November 5, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey is easily reelected to a second term as President of the United States.
Hubert Humphrey/Terry Sanford (D): 52%, 355 EV
Nelson Rockefeller/John Ashbrook (R): 33%, 130 EV
George Wallace/Curtis LeMay (AI): 14%, 53 EV
In the final analysis, it was evident that Americans voted to continue the peace and prosperity of the Humphrey administration. Rockefeller’s liberalism on civil rights and other social issues hurt the Republicans in the South and enabled George Wallace to win 6 states. While Rockefeller was able to win back some traditional Republican states, he lost his home state to Humphrey by 400 votes and could not even carry his running mate’s home state of Ohio.
The Democrats score modest gains in Congressional races. In Oregon, Senator Wayne Morse survives a strong challenge from state legislator Bob Packwood. In Pennsylvania, Senator Joseph Clark turns back a challenge from Congressman Richard Schweiker.
Newly elected Senators include Democrats Leroy Collins in Florida, James Allen in Alabama, Alan Cranston in California, Harold Hughes in Iowa; and Republicans William Saxbe in Ohio, Charles Matthias in Maryland, and Marlow Cook in Kentucky.
November 7, 1968: Dean Rusk announces that he will resign as Secretary of State at the end of the year. President Humphrey nominates UN Ambassador and former New York Governor Averell Harriman as Rusk’s successor. Humphrey also nominates Labor Secretary Daniel Patrick Moynihan as the new Ambassador to the United Nations.
The Second Term of Hubert Horatio Humphrey
January 20, 1969: President Hubert Humphrey is sworn in for his second term in office.
March 24, 1969: Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower dies of a heart attack at the age of 78. President Hubert Humphrey, knowing that "Ike" was a football player at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and knowing that the federal government, through the Department of the Interior, runs the complex, signs an executive order renaming District of Columbia Stadium, home of baseball's Washington Senators and the NFL's Washington Redskins, "Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Stadium." Fans quickly begin to call it "Ike Stadium," though.
June 23, 1969: Associate Justice Hugo Black announces his retirement from the Supreme Court. President Humphrey nominates Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach as Black’s successor on the Supreme Court. To replace Katzenbach at the Justice Department, Humphrey nominates former Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman for Attorney General. Both nominees will be easily confirmed.
July 16, 1969: Apollo XI lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida -- later to be renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center -- on its journey to the Moon.
July 20, 1969: President Hubert Humphrey picks up the phone and speaks to lunar astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Always a fan of the space program, he cherishes this moment, and later recalls it as the highlight of his Administration. “I regret that Lyndon and Jack did not live to witness this moment,” said Humphrey to his wife Muriel.
July 24, 1969: Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany. He is the first Social Democrat to hold such a position since the 1930s. The first to call and congratulate him is American president Hubert Humphrey, who knowing Brandt was the mayor of Berlin, ends the conversation with something that has been on his mind for a few years: “remember, always take pride in the words Ich Bin Ein Berliner.”
July 27, 1969: President Humphrey asks Congress to pass a new literacy bill.
October 20, 1969: Greek shipping billionaire Aristotle Onassis marries retired opera singer Maria Callas.
November 15, 1969: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea; the incident is kept secret from the public, so as to not cause panic. The incident will later be revealed, but not until the 1990s, once the cold war is over.
November 25, 1969: The Occupational Safety & Health Act is passed, creating the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), a major piece of labor-related legislation.
December 1, 1969: Congress returns from Thanksgiving break. The Environmental Protection Act of 1969 is passed, and President Humphrey signs it into law. Before the week is out, the Congress will also pass an extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
December 15, 1969: Former actor Ronald Reagan announces his candidacy for Governor of California. In 1966, he came within 1,100 votes of defeating incumbent Democratic Governor Glenn Anderson. But with the state facing a minor recession, a budget deficit increasing as a result of the numerous highway construction projects started by Anderson's predecessor (now Senator) Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, and rising income taxes, Anderson decided not to seek reelection. Reagan is heavily favored to win next June's Republican primary against Lieutenant Governor Robert Finch, a protege of the late Vice President Richard Nixon. Among the Democrats, State Assembly Speaker Jess Unruh and Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty are running in that party's primary. Unruh and Yorty are sworn political enemies, and the primary contest is expected to be a negative one.
March 18, 1970: A movement to depose Prince Sihanouk as leader of Cambodia fails. With the American victory in the Vietnam War, Cambodia no longer needs to fear aggression from the Vietcong. The Khmer Rouge movement is doomed to failure.
May 4, 1970: It is a quiet day at Kent State University. A 14 year old runaway named Mary Ann Vecchio is arrested by on-campus police for trespassing. She will be returned to her hometown of Opa-locka, Florida in the custody of her parents. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Miller, a student at the university and graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, New York, has just finished studying for final exams. He was recently accepted into the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity and is planning to join his classmates Allison Krause and Sandra Lee Scheuer for dinner at the cafeteria on campus. Outside of Kent State, very few people will ever hear of Vecchio, Miller, Krause or Scheuer.
June 2, 1970: With conservative voters dominating the Republican primary in California, Ronald Reagan defeats Lt. Governor Robert Finch by a 57% to 41% margin. It is closer in the Democratic primary as Jess Unruh defeats Sam Yorty, 47% to 44%. Unruh's support and get out the vote efforts from African-American politicians, Berkley city councilor Ron Dellums, Congressman Augustus Hawkins, Assemblyman Willie Brown, Assemblywoman Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, and Los Angeles city councilor Tom Bradley contributed to his victory over the more conservative Los Angeles mayor.
October 10, 1970: Spiro Agnew resigns as Governor of Maryland following his conviction for income tax evasion. He had been running an uphill campaign for re-election against the Democratic nominee, Sargent Shriver, brother-in-law of the late President John F. Kennedy and former Ambassador to France. Shriver will be elected in a landslide, and be re-elected in 1974.
November 3, 1970: Republicans make small gains in the Congressional elections, but not enough to take either the House or Senate. In the Senate, Republicans gain the following seats: Rep Robert Roudebush defeats incumbent Vance Hartke in Indiana. Rep Glenn Beall defeats Joe Tydings in Maryland. In Texas, Rep George Bush defeats Senator Ralph Yarborough in a rematch of their 1964 contest. In Ohio, Governor James Rhodes defeats Howard Metzenbaum for the seat of retiring Democrat Stephen Young. In Florida, state legislator Lawton Chiles defeats Rep William Cramer to keep that Senate seat in Democratic hands. In Illinois, Secretary of State Adlai Stevenson II defeats appointed Senator Ralph Smith in a special election for the seat held by the late Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen. In Minnesota, Rep Donald Fraser is elected to the seat of retiring Senator Eugene McCarthy. In California, Ronald Reagan defeats State Assembly Speaker Jess Unruh to win his first term as Governor.
March 5, 1971: Vice Presidential Terry Sanford makes it official in a speech at Duke University in North Carolina. He is running for President. Although polls show Sanford as the frontrunner for the Democratic Party nomination, Senators Birch Bayh of Indiana, Henry “Scoop” Jackson of Washington, George McGovern of South Dakota, and Governor George Wallace of Alabama are expected to throw their hats in the ring.
By the end of this year, the following Republicans will announce their candidacies: former Governor George Romney of Michigan, Senators Howard Baker of Tennessee and Charles Percy of Illinois, and 1968 Vice Presidential nominee and Congressman John Ashbrook of Ohio.
March 8, 1971: In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Governor Ronald Reagan of California announces that he will not be a candidate for President in 1972. “There is much work to be done in cutting the size of state government and taking on the big spending liberals in Sacramento.” What Reagan does not mention is that if he won the Presidency in 1972, he would be succeeded by Lt Governor John Tunney, a Democrat who defeated GOP Congressman Ed Reinecke in a close race in 1970. Tunney has expressed interest in running for Governor in 1974. So has California Secretary of State Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown, son of Senator Pat Brown.
September 23, 1971: Justice John Marshall Harlan retires from the Supreme Court due to health reasons. He will die three months later. President Humphrey appoints former Solicitor General Archibald Cox Jr. He is easily confirmed.
November 20, 1971: On his 46th birthday, Senator Robert Kennedy announces that he will not be a candidate for President in 1972 and does not endorse any candidate. Privately, he tells his wife Ethel that he might have, if there were an obvious reason. "What if the Democrats hadn't pushed for Medicare," he says, "or the Voting Rights Act, or the War on Poverty? Suppose Lyndon became President and gotten us bogged down in a war somewhere and had tried to act all macho and Texan there. Imagine if Vietnam had fallen to the Communists, and had tried to spread communism throughout Asia. That might've gotten me into the race. But without something like that, running for President in 1972, especially against Terry would just be an exercise in vanity and everyone would know it."
January 4, 1972: President Humphrey announces that he will visit China in February 1972 in an effort to formally normalize relations with the Communist nation.
January 7, 1972: Lewis Powell, former President of the American Bar Association, is sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by President Humphrey to replace Justice Hugo Black.
January 24, 1972: In the Democratic caucus in Iowa, Vice President Terry Sanford is the winner with 35 percent of the vote. In a surprise, Senator Birch Bayh finishes second with 29 percent. Birch was helped by the fact that he was from a neighboring state and he had the endorsement of the state's Senator Harold Hughes. George McGovern, who headed a commission in reforming the Presidential selection process by apportioning delegates in each state, finished third with 25 percent. Scoop Jackson finished a poor fourth with only 8 percent.
George Romney wins the GOP contest with 41 percent of the vote. Romney appealed to farmers by promising to support the exploration of corn based alternative fuels. Senator Charles Percy takes 26 percent. John Ashbrook finishes third with 20 percent although he barely campaigned in the state. Ashbrook has spent much of his time in New Hampshire in the hope that his conservative message will resonate in a friendlier state.
February 21, 1972: President Humphrey lands in Beijing and is greeted by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. He is immediately summoned for a meeting with Chairman Mao Zedong, who had been ill nine days earlier but was at that point feeling strong enough to meet Humphrey. Secretary of State Averill Harriman is excluded from this meeting and the only other American present is National Security Council staffer Winston Lord. To avoid embarrassing Harriman, Lord was cropped out of all the official photographs of the meeting.
February 22, 1972: During a visit to the Great Wall of China with Premier Zhou, Humphrey huffs and puffs. “What’s the matter, Mister President?” asks Premier Zhou. “This Great Wall certainly gives you a great walk,” he responds, “The problem is that I haven’t been on a walk since I was a kid in Minnesota.”
February 28, 1972: As President Humphrey concludes his visit to China, the Americans and Chinese release a statement acknowledging the existence of one China. The statement enabled the U.S. and PRC to temporarily set aside the "crucial question obstructing the normalization of relations” concerning the political status of Taiwan and to open trade and other contacts. However, the United States will continue to maintain official relations with the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan. Back home, conservatives accuse the Humphrey administration of selling out Taiwan. In North Carolina, Republican Senate candidate Jesse Helms calls the visit an “American Munich.”
March 7, 1972: In the New Hampshire Primary, Congressman Ashbrook easily wins the Republican contest as Senator Percy and Governor Romney finished in a virtual tie for second place. Ashbrook, running with the endorsement of The Manchester Union Leader, was able to appeal to the anti-tax mood in the Granite State and even signed a no new taxes pledge. Romney and Percy refused to sign that same pledge and were criticized for it. In the Democratic contest, Vice President Sanford wins the primary but barely. Sanford takes 30 percent of the vote but in a surprise, George Wallace finished in second with 28 percent by focusing his campaign on the smaller towns and encouraging Republicans to cross over and vote for him in this open primary. Senators Bayh and McGovern each take 19 percent by appealing the youth and college age vote. Scoop Jackson finishes last but vows to remain in the race.
In analyzing the primary results, Governor Wallace appears to have the momentum as he campaigns in every county in Florida, a state he is favored to win and take all 45 delegates. In his stump speeches in the panhandle region of northern Florida, Wallace has accused Sanford of being a false southerner.
March 9, 1972: Vice President Sanford heads down to Florida to go all-out to win their primary. Instead of allowing Governor Wallace to frame the Democratic race as a referendum on busing and other issues that might appeal to white racists in the Southern State, he challenges Wallace's Democratic credentials, particularly in parts of the State with many elderly voters: "Governor Wallace said four years ago that there's not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties. He's proving that there is. Is he a Democrat who will protect Social Security and Medicare? Is he a Democrat who will fight with organized labor to maintain job growth and good wages? Is he a Democrat who will work for the benefit of all the people? And is he a Democrat who will fight crime, whether committed by whites or blacks, against either whites or blacks? I am that kind of Democrat. Only he can say for himself whether he is."
March 14, 1972: Vice President Sanford shocks the political world with his victory in the Democratic primary in Florida and defeats Wallace 44 percent to 36 percent. While Wallace wins the counties in Dixiecrat leaning northern Florida, Sanford wins the rest. Sanford wins the African-American and Jewish vote in the southern parts of the state. Scoop Jackson does a little better with 17 percent by appealing to the military vote. John Ashbrook wins the Republican primary. His anti-communist credentials wins over the Cuban-American community in Miami.
March 21, 1972: Senator Charles Percy finally wins a primary. It is in his home state of Illinois. While Percy had the support of Governor Richard Ogilvie, Congressman John Anderson and the Republican establishment, Congressman Ashbrook had the endorsement of his House colleagues Philip Crane and Edwin Derwinski, and conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. Vice President Sanford is the winner of the Democratic contest. He also had the endorsement of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and his political machine. Birch Bayh finishes a distant second and does well in the downstate counties, especially those bordering Indiana. George Wallace’s law and order campaign fails to resonate as he finishes third.
March 30, 1972: George Romney and Vice President Sanford win their respective parties primaries in Wisconsin. Sanford appears headed for the Democratic nomination while it looks like Romney and Ashbrook will battle it out for the Republicans. This is also the day that Senator Charles Percy drops out of the race but does not endorse a candidate.
April 4, 1972: In a hard fought battle, George Romney barely defeats John Ashbrook in the Wisconsin primary. Romney had been able to utilize his home turf advantage in a very middle class state and the birthplace of the GOP. Sanford wins the Democratic primary.
April 22, 1972: It is primary day in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Romney wins both states for the Republicans. In Pennsylvania, Scoop Jackson finally wins a primary by campaigning in heavily blue collar counties and emphasizing his anti-busing and pro-defense credentials. Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo’s endorsement certainly did not hurt. Vice President Sanford is victorious in Massachusetts as he squeaks by Senators McGovern and Jackson. Sanford overcomes McGovern’s support in the college community and Jackson’s support in Boston where opposition to busing is strong.
McGovern’s failure to win in Massachusetts is a disappointment as he hoped to win in a very liberal state. But an article written by columnist Robert Novak in which he quoted an unnamed Senator that McGovern was the candidate of “acid, amnesty and abortion” hurt McGovern among Catholic voters in both states. In a 2007 interview with Meet The Press, Novak reveals that the unnamed Senator was the late Thomas Eagleton of Missouri.
May 2, 1972: Congressman Ashbrook wins the Republican primaries in his home state of Ohio and Indiana. Romney wins the District of Columbia primary. On the Democratic side, Birch Bayh wins his home state but Sanford takes the rest. With his campaign running out of money, Bayh announces his withdrawal from the race and endorses the Vice President.
May 4, 1972: Senator Howard Baker wins the primary in his home state of Tennessee. It will be his only win as he suspends his campaign. George Wallace squeaks to a 500 vote victory in the Democratic primary over Vice President Sanford.
May 6, 1972: It is an easy victory in the North Carolina Democratic primary for its favorite son Terry Sanford as he wins 85 percent of the votes and all the delegates. John Ashbrook wins the Republican contest and it appears that he is consolidated his support in the South as he is favored to win the remaining southern states which choose their delegations through state conventions instead of primaries. But that is expected to change in the future.
May 9, 1972: It is John Ashbrook that is receiving the momentum as he wins today’s primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska. Terry Sanford continues his winning streak in both states for the Democrats. George Wallace finishes a distant second in West Virginia but does poorly in Nebraska. He hopes to do better in Maryland.
May 15, 1972: While campaigning at a shopping center in Laurel, Maryland, George Wallace is shot by Arthur Bremer in an assassination attempt. Wallace will be paralyzed from the waist down and forced to end his campaign. Upon learning the news, Vice President Sanford remarks, “If they got the right man, and it looks like they did, they should lock him up forever. Governor Wallace deserved defeat, not death."
May 16, 1972: George Romney wins his home state of Michigan while John Ashbrook wins Maryland. Sanford wins both states for the Democrats. His path to the Democratic nomination is assured when Senator George McGovern announces his withdrawal from the campaign.
May 23, 1972: With the endorsements of Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon and former Rhode Island Governor John Chafee, Romney wins both states Republican primaries. However, Romney trails Ashbrook who appears headed to the GOP nomination.
July 14, 1972: The Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida nominates Vice President Terry Sanford for President. As his running mate, Sanford selects Senator Harold Hughes of Iowa. Hughes had served as Iowa's Governor (1963-1969) before his election to the Senate in 1968 and is a recovering alcoholic. In a convention that celebrates the accomplishments of the Humphrey administration, the Sanford-Hughes ticket leaves Miami Beach with a 15 point lead over Ashbrook.
August 23, 1972: John Ashbrook is officially nominated for President at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida. Needing to be competitive in the South, Ashbrook selects Senator John Tower of Texas as his Vice Presidential running mate. With the country at peace and prosperity, the Republicans have their work cut out from them.
September 2, 1972: While campaigning in Dearborn, Michigan during Labor Day weekend, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford introduces John Tower at a rally near the General Motors auto plant. Tower declares that, “I realize that the American auto industry is struggling. Competition from foreign companies is leading this great state into economic collapse, and some are calling Michigan and surrounding states the ‘Rust Belt’ because of the economic slowdown. These people are right; many of the jobs we have lost are not coming back.” Although Tower goes on to explain that by supporting John Ashbrook's offshore oil drilling plan new automotive jobs can be created, many in the press attack “Tower’s pessimism.” Michigan Governor William Milliken after hearing the speech tells Ford that Tower cost the Republicans the state.
“Senator Tower has shown he has a ‘can’t do’ attitude and John Ashbrook still does not understand the needs of the middle class,” Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) declares on The Today Show on NBC.
November 7, 1972: Terry Sanford is elected President of the United States in a comfortable, if not overwhelming, victory over John Ashbrook.
Terry Sanford/Harold Hughes (D), 55%, 389 EV
John Ashbrook/John Tower (R), 44%, 149 EV
The Democrats also add to their majorities in the House and Senate. Among the newly elected Democrats in the Senate: Richard Clark defeats Senator Jack Miller in Iowa, Floyd Haskell defeats Senator Gordon Allott in Colorado, Congressman James Abourezk is elected to the seat of retiring GOP Senator Karl Mundt in South Dakota, Sam Nunn is elected in Georgia to the Senate seat held by the later Senator Richard Russell. Walter Huddleston defeats former Governor Louie B. Nunn in Kentucky for the seat held by outgoing Republican John Sherman Cooper, and Congressman William Hathaway of Maine wins the seat of retiring Republican Margaret Chase Smith. In North Carolina, Terry Sanford's coattails enable Congressman Nick Galifianakis to squeak to a 600 vote victory over Republican Jesse Helms. And in a major upset, New Castle County councilman Joseph Biden, weeks shy of his 30th birthday, wins the contest to succeed retiring Senator Caleb Boggs.
Republicans are able to gain Senate seats in Oklahoma, where former Governor Dewey Bartlett defeats Congressman Ed Edmondson for the seat held by Fred Harris who did not seek reelection. In New Mexico, Pete Domenici wins the seat of retiring Senator Clinton Anderson. In Idaho, Congressman James McClure is elected to succeed outgoing Senator Len Jordan.
Although John Tower will not become Vice President, he is reelected to his Senate seat in Texas.
The First Term of Hubert Horatio Humphrey
January 20, 1965: Hubert H. Humphrey is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States. In an Inaugural Address, HHH says, "It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”
January 24, 1965: In a meeting with executives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, President Humphrey tells them that America should accelerate its space program: "If we don't put a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth soon, the Soviets will get there first, and we don't want that." They tell HHH that a manned Moon landing is at least seven years away. "Not good enough," he tells them. "We might have a Red Moon by '72. You've already got two-man crews on Project Gemini. I know you're working on an escape-velocity rocket system. Can you put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade?" They say they will try.
August 14, 1965: In the wake of the Watts riots in Los Angeles, President Hubert Humphrey says, "This Administration declares an unconditional war on poverty. We can not allow the conditions that created the riot to continue."
November 8, 1965: President Hubert Humphrey signs a bill creating the Office of Economic Opportunity, legislation authored by Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
November 9, 1965: Much of the northeastern United States is hit with a blackout, the largest power failure in the nation's history. Despite the power loss, New York City, hit harder by the blackout than any other city, experiences the lowest number of total crimes committed on any night in its measured history.
November 10, 1965: Former Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee for President in 1960, attacks President Humphrey's "war on poverty." "It is not poverty that causes crime," Nixon says. "The blackout in New York yesterday proved that. A city with so many of the poor people the President claims to befriend had the fewest crimes in its history. What causes crime is criminal behavior. What this nation needs is more law and order."
January 29, 1966: President Hubert Humphrey delivers the State of the Union Address. In the face of criticism from conservative Republicans, who say that crime is caused by criminal behavior rather than poverty, and more law enforcement is needed, HHH says that he will expand the Equal Opportunity Act to aid minority hiring in urban police departments. "A young black man thinking of committing a crime might react with hatred for a white policeman threatening to arrest or shoot him," he says, "but he might react with more respect for a black policeman. The armed forces have integrated well. We should assist police departments with such an integration." Appointed to give the Republican response, Richard Nixon, now the front-runner for the 1968 Presidential nomination, talks about "big government" and "the situation in Vietnam," but not crime, poverty or racism.
March 18, 1966: Republican leaders in Congress ask President Humphey for a meeting at the White House. They tell him that the American military mission in Vietnam needs to be stepped up. "We've had five thousand men killed there," says Minority Leader Everett Dirksen. "What are they dying for? If we don't mount a major offensive, and soon, we might lose." HHH considers their recommendations, but later scoffs at them. He has his own ideas.
April 14, 1966: President Hubert Humphrey meets with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev at Glassboro State College in southern New Jersey (now Rowan University). Brezhnev gives HHH what he wants: Assurance that the Soviet Union will not aid Arab nations should war break out between those nations and Israel; nor will the Soviets aid the Vietcong should the U.S. step up its role in Vietnam. In return, HHH agrees to withhold aid to anti-Communist dictators in Latin America and Africa, and to not attack Cuba during his Administration. Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina calls this "appeasement" and "an American Munich."
January 27, 1967: During a "full up" rehearsal of the launch of Apollo 1, Mission Commander Gus Grissom gets fed up with communications problems and notes the smell of "foul milk" in the spacecraft's environmental system. Grissom's patience is exhausted and orders the test be cancelled. The launch pad team opens the hatches to Apollo 1 and Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee completes exiting the spacecraft at 6:24 pm. At 6:31pm as the Astronauts were preparing to leave the gantry, an electrical short causes a fire aboard Apollo 1. The Astronauts are evacuated and the fire is extinguished by the pad team. Due to the brief period of time of the fire, investigators are able to pinpoint the cause of the electrical short. The crews' narrow escape and terse comments at a press conference causes NASA to declare no Block 1 Apollo missions will be flown. The Block 2 Apollo spacecraft is ready in June 1968 and Grissom and his crew fly a flawless 14 day mission.
June 5, 1967: Israel launches pre-emptive attacks on its Arab neighbors, who had been massing troops on its borders. President Hubert Humphrey announces that he will not send aid to Israel as long as it is on the offensive, but will do so if Israel appears to be falling on the defensive. This proves unnecessary, as the Israelis win what becomes known as the Six-Day War.
October 2, 1967: Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by President Hubert Humphrey to replace the retiring Justice Tom Clark.
January 27, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey is informed that a Vietcong attack is expected soon in Vietnam. He orders an attack on the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. "Let's end this thing for once and for all," he says. "We'll deal with the Russians and the Chinese if we have to later."
January 28, 1968: U.S. troops attack the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, two days before the scheduled offensive the Vietcong had planned for the Vietnamese New Year, or "Tet."
January 31, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey announces that the Vietnam War has been won. North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh has been shot and killed, and General Vo Nguyen Giap, in U.S. custody, has surrendered.
March 16, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey makes it official: He's running for re-election.
March 31, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey announces the signing of the Treaty of Paris, ending the Vietnam War. Reunification of a free Vietnam is scheduled for September 30.
April 4, 1968: Dr. Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis. President Hubert Humphrey gives an impassioned speech from the Oval Office, asking that anger over the killing be directed toward achieving King's goals rather than tearing down society.
Upon learning of King's death during a visit to a public school in Harlem, Senator Robert F. Kennedy gives a heartfelt, impromptu speech in which Kennedy called for reconciliation between the races.
“For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times...What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.
So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that's true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love--a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.”
The riots are few, and in New York City, there are no riots and no deaths are recorded, a fact many attribute to the effect of this speech.
June 5, 1968: After speaking to his supporters at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in celebrating of his victory in the California Republican primary (and clinching the nomination for President), former Vice President Richard Nixon is shot as he is walking through the kitchen. Sirhan Sirhan is immediately caught by police. During questioning, Sirhan, a Jordanian Arab, claims he was taking revenge on Nixon for his pro-Israel, anti-Arab stance during last year's Six-Day War.
June 6, 1968: Doctors are unable to save Richard Nixon’s life as he succumbs to his injuries. He was 55.
Meanwhile, former Governor George Wallace of Alabama gives a campaign speech at the campus of Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi without mentioning the death of Nixon. He will be criticized in the press for it.
June 9, 1968: A state funeral is held in Washington for the assassinated former Vice President Richard Nixon. Eulogies are given at the National Cathedral by President Humphrey, Speaker of the House Carl Albert, House Minority Leader Gerald Ford, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Nixon’s former running mate Henry Cabot Lodge, and even Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was one of the pallbearers of Nixon’s coffin. Nixon’s body is then flown to Los Angeles where it is buried at his hometown of Whittier.
June 26, 1968: Chief Justice Earl Warren retires from the Supreme Court. President Humphrey promotes Associate Justice Byron White to be Chief Justice, and federal Appellate Judge and fellow Minnesotan Harry Blackmun to White’s seat as Associate Justice.
August 8, 1968: With the assassination of Richard Nixon throwing the Republican National Convention at Miami Beach open, several Republicans declare their candidacies hoping to win over Nixon’s delegates including Rep. John Ashbrook, Governor Ronald Reagan of California, and Governor George Romney of Michigan.
August 10, 1968: Governor Nelson Rockefeller clinches the Republican nomination for President on the third ballot. To win over support from the conservative and Southern delegates, Rockefeller reluctantly agrees to select John Ashbrook as his running mate. Rockefeller has his work cut out for him as he trails President Humphrey by 20 points.
August 29, 1968: The Democratic National Convention in Chicago goes off without incident as President Humphrey and Vice President Sanford are re-nominated by acclamation.
September 30, 1968: With President Hubert Humphrey and Secretary of State Dean Rusk in attendance, the Vietnam reunification ceremony is held in Saigon. Nguyen Van Thieu, President of South Vietnam, is now President of a united nation, at peace sine January 31.
November 5, 1968: President Hubert Humphrey is easily reelected to a second term as President of the United States.
Hubert Humphrey/Terry Sanford (D): 52%, 355 EV
Nelson Rockefeller/John Ashbrook (R): 33%, 130 EV
George Wallace/Curtis LeMay (AI): 14%, 53 EV
In the final analysis, it was evident that Americans voted to continue the peace and prosperity of the Humphrey administration. Rockefeller’s liberalism on civil rights and other social issues hurt the Republicans in the South and enabled George Wallace to win 6 states. While Rockefeller was able to win back some traditional Republican states, he lost his home state to Humphrey by 400 votes and could not even carry his running mate’s home state of Ohio.
The Democrats score modest gains in Congressional races. In Oregon, Senator Wayne Morse survives a strong challenge from state legislator Bob Packwood. In Pennsylvania, Senator Joseph Clark turns back a challenge from Congressman Richard Schweiker.
Newly elected Senators include Democrats Leroy Collins in Florida, James Allen in Alabama, Alan Cranston in California, Harold Hughes in Iowa; and Republicans William Saxbe in Ohio, Charles Matthias in Maryland, and Marlow Cook in Kentucky.
November 7, 1968: Dean Rusk announces that he will resign as Secretary of State at the end of the year. President Humphrey nominates UN Ambassador and former New York Governor Averell Harriman as Rusk’s successor. Humphrey also nominates Labor Secretary Daniel Patrick Moynihan as the new Ambassador to the United Nations.
The Second Term of Hubert Horatio Humphrey
January 20, 1969: President Hubert Humphrey is sworn in for his second term in office.
March 24, 1969: Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower dies of a heart attack at the age of 78. President Hubert Humphrey, knowing that "Ike" was a football player at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and knowing that the federal government, through the Department of the Interior, runs the complex, signs an executive order renaming District of Columbia Stadium, home of baseball's Washington Senators and the NFL's Washington Redskins, "Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Stadium." Fans quickly begin to call it "Ike Stadium," though.
June 23, 1969: Associate Justice Hugo Black announces his retirement from the Supreme Court. President Humphrey nominates Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach as Black’s successor on the Supreme Court. To replace Katzenbach at the Justice Department, Humphrey nominates former Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman for Attorney General. Both nominees will be easily confirmed.
July 16, 1969: Apollo XI lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida -- later to be renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center -- on its journey to the Moon.
July 20, 1969: President Hubert Humphrey picks up the phone and speaks to lunar astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Always a fan of the space program, he cherishes this moment, and later recalls it as the highlight of his Administration. “I regret that Lyndon and Jack did not live to witness this moment,” said Humphrey to his wife Muriel.
July 24, 1969: Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany. He is the first Social Democrat to hold such a position since the 1930s. The first to call and congratulate him is American president Hubert Humphrey, who knowing Brandt was the mayor of Berlin, ends the conversation with something that has been on his mind for a few years: “remember, always take pride in the words Ich Bin Ein Berliner.”
July 27, 1969: President Humphrey asks Congress to pass a new literacy bill.
October 20, 1969: Greek shipping billionaire Aristotle Onassis marries retired opera singer Maria Callas.
November 15, 1969: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea; the incident is kept secret from the public, so as to not cause panic. The incident will later be revealed, but not until the 1990s, once the cold war is over.
November 25, 1969: The Occupational Safety & Health Act is passed, creating the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), a major piece of labor-related legislation.
December 1, 1969: Congress returns from Thanksgiving break. The Environmental Protection Act of 1969 is passed, and President Humphrey signs it into law. Before the week is out, the Congress will also pass an extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
December 15, 1969: Former actor Ronald Reagan announces his candidacy for Governor of California. In 1966, he came within 1,100 votes of defeating incumbent Democratic Governor Glenn Anderson. But with the state facing a minor recession, a budget deficit increasing as a result of the numerous highway construction projects started by Anderson's predecessor (now Senator) Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, and rising income taxes, Anderson decided not to seek reelection. Reagan is heavily favored to win next June's Republican primary against Lieutenant Governor Robert Finch, a protege of the late Vice President Richard Nixon. Among the Democrats, State Assembly Speaker Jess Unruh and Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty are running in that party's primary. Unruh and Yorty are sworn political enemies, and the primary contest is expected to be a negative one.
March 18, 1970: A movement to depose Prince Sihanouk as leader of Cambodia fails. With the American victory in the Vietnam War, Cambodia no longer needs to fear aggression from the Vietcong. The Khmer Rouge movement is doomed to failure.
May 4, 1970: It is a quiet day at Kent State University. A 14 year old runaway named Mary Ann Vecchio is arrested by on-campus police for trespassing. She will be returned to her hometown of Opa-locka, Florida in the custody of her parents. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Miller, a student at the university and graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, New York, has just finished studying for final exams. He was recently accepted into the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity and is planning to join his classmates Allison Krause and Sandra Lee Scheuer for dinner at the cafeteria on campus. Outside of Kent State, very few people will ever hear of Vecchio, Miller, Krause or Scheuer.
June 2, 1970: With conservative voters dominating the Republican primary in California, Ronald Reagan defeats Lt. Governor Robert Finch by a 57% to 41% margin. It is closer in the Democratic primary as Jess Unruh defeats Sam Yorty, 47% to 44%. Unruh's support and get out the vote efforts from African-American politicians, Berkley city councilor Ron Dellums, Congressman Augustus Hawkins, Assemblyman Willie Brown, Assemblywoman Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, and Los Angeles city councilor Tom Bradley contributed to his victory over the more conservative Los Angeles mayor.
October 10, 1970: Spiro Agnew resigns as Governor of Maryland following his conviction for income tax evasion. He had been running an uphill campaign for re-election against the Democratic nominee, Sargent Shriver, brother-in-law of the late President John F. Kennedy and former Ambassador to France. Shriver will be elected in a landslide, and be re-elected in 1974.
November 3, 1970: Republicans make small gains in the Congressional elections, but not enough to take either the House or Senate. In the Senate, Republicans gain the following seats: Rep Robert Roudebush defeats incumbent Vance Hartke in Indiana. Rep Glenn Beall defeats Joe Tydings in Maryland. In Texas, Rep George Bush defeats Senator Ralph Yarborough in a rematch of their 1964 contest. In Ohio, Governor James Rhodes defeats Howard Metzenbaum for the seat of retiring Democrat Stephen Young. In Florida, state legislator Lawton Chiles defeats Rep William Cramer to keep that Senate seat in Democratic hands. In Illinois, Secretary of State Adlai Stevenson II defeats appointed Senator Ralph Smith in a special election for the seat held by the late Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen. In Minnesota, Rep Donald Fraser is elected to the seat of retiring Senator Eugene McCarthy. In California, Ronald Reagan defeats State Assembly Speaker Jess Unruh to win his first term as Governor.
March 5, 1971: Vice Presidential Terry Sanford makes it official in a speech at Duke University in North Carolina. He is running for President. Although polls show Sanford as the frontrunner for the Democratic Party nomination, Senators Birch Bayh of Indiana, Henry “Scoop” Jackson of Washington, George McGovern of South Dakota, and Governor George Wallace of Alabama are expected to throw their hats in the ring.
By the end of this year, the following Republicans will announce their candidacies: former Governor George Romney of Michigan, Senators Howard Baker of Tennessee and Charles Percy of Illinois, and 1968 Vice Presidential nominee and Congressman John Ashbrook of Ohio.
March 8, 1971: In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Governor Ronald Reagan of California announces that he will not be a candidate for President in 1972. “There is much work to be done in cutting the size of state government and taking on the big spending liberals in Sacramento.” What Reagan does not mention is that if he won the Presidency in 1972, he would be succeeded by Lt Governor John Tunney, a Democrat who defeated GOP Congressman Ed Reinecke in a close race in 1970. Tunney has expressed interest in running for Governor in 1974. So has California Secretary of State Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown, son of Senator Pat Brown.
September 23, 1971: Justice John Marshall Harlan retires from the Supreme Court due to health reasons. He will die three months later. President Humphrey appoints former Solicitor General Archibald Cox Jr. He is easily confirmed.
November 20, 1971: On his 46th birthday, Senator Robert Kennedy announces that he will not be a candidate for President in 1972 and does not endorse any candidate. Privately, he tells his wife Ethel that he might have, if there were an obvious reason. "What if the Democrats hadn't pushed for Medicare," he says, "or the Voting Rights Act, or the War on Poverty? Suppose Lyndon became President and gotten us bogged down in a war somewhere and had tried to act all macho and Texan there. Imagine if Vietnam had fallen to the Communists, and had tried to spread communism throughout Asia. That might've gotten me into the race. But without something like that, running for President in 1972, especially against Terry would just be an exercise in vanity and everyone would know it."
January 4, 1972: President Humphrey announces that he will visit China in February 1972 in an effort to formally normalize relations with the Communist nation.
January 7, 1972: Lewis Powell, former President of the American Bar Association, is sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by President Humphrey to replace Justice Hugo Black.
January 24, 1972: In the Democratic caucus in Iowa, Vice President Terry Sanford is the winner with 35 percent of the vote. In a surprise, Senator Birch Bayh finishes second with 29 percent. Birch was helped by the fact that he was from a neighboring state and he had the endorsement of the state's Senator Harold Hughes. George McGovern, who headed a commission in reforming the Presidential selection process by apportioning delegates in each state, finished third with 25 percent. Scoop Jackson finished a poor fourth with only 8 percent.
George Romney wins the GOP contest with 41 percent of the vote. Romney appealed to farmers by promising to support the exploration of corn based alternative fuels. Senator Charles Percy takes 26 percent. John Ashbrook finishes third with 20 percent although he barely campaigned in the state. Ashbrook has spent much of his time in New Hampshire in the hope that his conservative message will resonate in a friendlier state.
February 21, 1972: President Humphrey lands in Beijing and is greeted by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. He is immediately summoned for a meeting with Chairman Mao Zedong, who had been ill nine days earlier but was at that point feeling strong enough to meet Humphrey. Secretary of State Averill Harriman is excluded from this meeting and the only other American present is National Security Council staffer Winston Lord. To avoid embarrassing Harriman, Lord was cropped out of all the official photographs of the meeting.
February 22, 1972: During a visit to the Great Wall of China with Premier Zhou, Humphrey huffs and puffs. “What’s the matter, Mister President?” asks Premier Zhou. “This Great Wall certainly gives you a great walk,” he responds, “The problem is that I haven’t been on a walk since I was a kid in Minnesota.”
February 28, 1972: As President Humphrey concludes his visit to China, the Americans and Chinese release a statement acknowledging the existence of one China. The statement enabled the U.S. and PRC to temporarily set aside the "crucial question obstructing the normalization of relations” concerning the political status of Taiwan and to open trade and other contacts. However, the United States will continue to maintain official relations with the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan. Back home, conservatives accuse the Humphrey administration of selling out Taiwan. In North Carolina, Republican Senate candidate Jesse Helms calls the visit an “American Munich.”
March 7, 1972: In the New Hampshire Primary, Congressman Ashbrook easily wins the Republican contest as Senator Percy and Governor Romney finished in a virtual tie for second place. Ashbrook, running with the endorsement of The Manchester Union Leader, was able to appeal to the anti-tax mood in the Granite State and even signed a no new taxes pledge. Romney and Percy refused to sign that same pledge and were criticized for it. In the Democratic contest, Vice President Sanford wins the primary but barely. Sanford takes 30 percent of the vote but in a surprise, George Wallace finished in second with 28 percent by focusing his campaign on the smaller towns and encouraging Republicans to cross over and vote for him in this open primary. Senators Bayh and McGovern each take 19 percent by appealing the youth and college age vote. Scoop Jackson finishes last but vows to remain in the race.
In analyzing the primary results, Governor Wallace appears to have the momentum as he campaigns in every county in Florida, a state he is favored to win and take all 45 delegates. In his stump speeches in the panhandle region of northern Florida, Wallace has accused Sanford of being a false southerner.
March 9, 1972: Vice President Sanford heads down to Florida to go all-out to win their primary. Instead of allowing Governor Wallace to frame the Democratic race as a referendum on busing and other issues that might appeal to white racists in the Southern State, he challenges Wallace's Democratic credentials, particularly in parts of the State with many elderly voters: "Governor Wallace said four years ago that there's not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties. He's proving that there is. Is he a Democrat who will protect Social Security and Medicare? Is he a Democrat who will fight with organized labor to maintain job growth and good wages? Is he a Democrat who will work for the benefit of all the people? And is he a Democrat who will fight crime, whether committed by whites or blacks, against either whites or blacks? I am that kind of Democrat. Only he can say for himself whether he is."
March 14, 1972: Vice President Sanford shocks the political world with his victory in the Democratic primary in Florida and defeats Wallace 44 percent to 36 percent. While Wallace wins the counties in Dixiecrat leaning northern Florida, Sanford wins the rest. Sanford wins the African-American and Jewish vote in the southern parts of the state. Scoop Jackson does a little better with 17 percent by appealing to the military vote. John Ashbrook wins the Republican primary. His anti-communist credentials wins over the Cuban-American community in Miami.
March 21, 1972: Senator Charles Percy finally wins a primary. It is in his home state of Illinois. While Percy had the support of Governor Richard Ogilvie, Congressman John Anderson and the Republican establishment, Congressman Ashbrook had the endorsement of his House colleagues Philip Crane and Edwin Derwinski, and conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. Vice President Sanford is the winner of the Democratic contest. He also had the endorsement of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and his political machine. Birch Bayh finishes a distant second and does well in the downstate counties, especially those bordering Indiana. George Wallace’s law and order campaign fails to resonate as he finishes third.
March 30, 1972: George Romney and Vice President Sanford win their respective parties primaries in Wisconsin. Sanford appears headed for the Democratic nomination while it looks like Romney and Ashbrook will battle it out for the Republicans. This is also the day that Senator Charles Percy drops out of the race but does not endorse a candidate.
April 4, 1972: In a hard fought battle, George Romney barely defeats John Ashbrook in the Wisconsin primary. Romney had been able to utilize his home turf advantage in a very middle class state and the birthplace of the GOP. Sanford wins the Democratic primary.
April 22, 1972: It is primary day in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Romney wins both states for the Republicans. In Pennsylvania, Scoop Jackson finally wins a primary by campaigning in heavily blue collar counties and emphasizing his anti-busing and pro-defense credentials. Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo’s endorsement certainly did not hurt. Vice President Sanford is victorious in Massachusetts as he squeaks by Senators McGovern and Jackson. Sanford overcomes McGovern’s support in the college community and Jackson’s support in Boston where opposition to busing is strong.
McGovern’s failure to win in Massachusetts is a disappointment as he hoped to win in a very liberal state. But an article written by columnist Robert Novak in which he quoted an unnamed Senator that McGovern was the candidate of “acid, amnesty and abortion” hurt McGovern among Catholic voters in both states. In a 2007 interview with Meet The Press, Novak reveals that the unnamed Senator was the late Thomas Eagleton of Missouri.
May 2, 1972: Congressman Ashbrook wins the Republican primaries in his home state of Ohio and Indiana. Romney wins the District of Columbia primary. On the Democratic side, Birch Bayh wins his home state but Sanford takes the rest. With his campaign running out of money, Bayh announces his withdrawal from the race and endorses the Vice President.
May 4, 1972: Senator Howard Baker wins the primary in his home state of Tennessee. It will be his only win as he suspends his campaign. George Wallace squeaks to a 500 vote victory in the Democratic primary over Vice President Sanford.
May 6, 1972: It is an easy victory in the North Carolina Democratic primary for its favorite son Terry Sanford as he wins 85 percent of the votes and all the delegates. John Ashbrook wins the Republican contest and it appears that he is consolidated his support in the South as he is favored to win the remaining southern states which choose their delegations through state conventions instead of primaries. But that is expected to change in the future.
May 9, 1972: It is John Ashbrook that is receiving the momentum as he wins today’s primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska. Terry Sanford continues his winning streak in both states for the Democrats. George Wallace finishes a distant second in West Virginia but does poorly in Nebraska. He hopes to do better in Maryland.
May 15, 1972: While campaigning at a shopping center in Laurel, Maryland, George Wallace is shot by Arthur Bremer in an assassination attempt. Wallace will be paralyzed from the waist down and forced to end his campaign. Upon learning the news, Vice President Sanford remarks, “If they got the right man, and it looks like they did, they should lock him up forever. Governor Wallace deserved defeat, not death."
May 16, 1972: George Romney wins his home state of Michigan while John Ashbrook wins Maryland. Sanford wins both states for the Democrats. His path to the Democratic nomination is assured when Senator George McGovern announces his withdrawal from the campaign.
May 23, 1972: With the endorsements of Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon and former Rhode Island Governor John Chafee, Romney wins both states Republican primaries. However, Romney trails Ashbrook who appears headed to the GOP nomination.
July 14, 1972: The Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida nominates Vice President Terry Sanford for President. As his running mate, Sanford selects Senator Harold Hughes of Iowa. Hughes had served as Iowa's Governor (1963-1969) before his election to the Senate in 1968 and is a recovering alcoholic. In a convention that celebrates the accomplishments of the Humphrey administration, the Sanford-Hughes ticket leaves Miami Beach with a 15 point lead over Ashbrook.
August 23, 1972: John Ashbrook is officially nominated for President at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida. Needing to be competitive in the South, Ashbrook selects Senator John Tower of Texas as his Vice Presidential running mate. With the country at peace and prosperity, the Republicans have their work cut out from them.
September 2, 1972: While campaigning in Dearborn, Michigan during Labor Day weekend, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford introduces John Tower at a rally near the General Motors auto plant. Tower declares that, “I realize that the American auto industry is struggling. Competition from foreign companies is leading this great state into economic collapse, and some are calling Michigan and surrounding states the ‘Rust Belt’ because of the economic slowdown. These people are right; many of the jobs we have lost are not coming back.” Although Tower goes on to explain that by supporting John Ashbrook's offshore oil drilling plan new automotive jobs can be created, many in the press attack “Tower’s pessimism.” Michigan Governor William Milliken after hearing the speech tells Ford that Tower cost the Republicans the state.
“Senator Tower has shown he has a ‘can’t do’ attitude and John Ashbrook still does not understand the needs of the middle class,” Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) declares on The Today Show on NBC.
November 7, 1972: Terry Sanford is elected President of the United States in a comfortable, if not overwhelming, victory over John Ashbrook.
Terry Sanford/Harold Hughes (D), 55%, 389 EV
John Ashbrook/John Tower (R), 44%, 149 EV
The Democrats also add to their majorities in the House and Senate. Among the newly elected Democrats in the Senate: Richard Clark defeats Senator Jack Miller in Iowa, Floyd Haskell defeats Senator Gordon Allott in Colorado, Congressman James Abourezk is elected to the seat of retiring GOP Senator Karl Mundt in South Dakota, Sam Nunn is elected in Georgia to the Senate seat held by the later Senator Richard Russell. Walter Huddleston defeats former Governor Louie B. Nunn in Kentucky for the seat held by outgoing Republican John Sherman Cooper, and Congressman William Hathaway of Maine wins the seat of retiring Republican Margaret Chase Smith. In North Carolina, Terry Sanford's coattails enable Congressman Nick Galifianakis to squeak to a 600 vote victory over Republican Jesse Helms. And in a major upset, New Castle County councilman Joseph Biden, weeks shy of his 30th birthday, wins the contest to succeed retiring Senator Caleb Boggs.
Republicans are able to gain Senate seats in Oklahoma, where former Governor Dewey Bartlett defeats Congressman Ed Edmondson for the seat held by Fred Harris who did not seek reelection. In New Mexico, Pete Domenici wins the seat of retiring Senator Clinton Anderson. In Idaho, Congressman James McClure is elected to succeed outgoing Senator Len Jordan.
Although John Tower will not become Vice President, he is reelected to his Senate seat in Texas.
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