Hubert H. Humphrey, Jr.†
(Democratic)
1965-1970
After his nailbiter defeat in 1960, Hubert Humphrey left on a trip for Europe, holding press conferences and meeting with world leaders. While never vocally opposed to Goldwater’s foreign policy while away, his close allies were loudly critical of the Czech Missile Crisis. Rumors still circulate that Humphrey helped convince Western Europe to support the Soviets in the Missile Crisis, but that was never confirmed. As the nation began to fall apart under Goldwater, Humphrey returned to claim the Presidency he had been denied four years previously. Also running were the pacifist liberal George McGovern and hawkish moderate Jack Kennedy, with Humphrey intentionally positioning himself as the middle ground of the Party. He vowed that his well known record on Civil Rights would help to restore order in the South, and that he would pursue and unspecified plan to restore order with the Soviets. Humphrey fit well into the current political atmosphere securing a victory on the first ballot. His opponent, George McGovern, would be chosen as Vice President to help appease the more leftist side of the party.
Throughout the campaign, Humphrey maintained a consistent lead in the polls, and it looked like he would secure a victory as large as any Stevenson had received. The race began to tighten after the beginning of the tension in the Germanies spilled into war, and Goldwater proclaimed unrepentant support for Chancellor Willy Brandt. Humphrey studiously stuck to the script talking about peace at home, even as the Soviets moved troops into Eastern Germany for defensive purposes. Perhaps if the situation abroad had gotten worse Goldwater might have rallied to victory, but voters were looking at rioting in American cities at home, and voted for Humphrey.
Humphrey/McGovern -314
Goldwater/Nixon - 224
Upon taking office, Humphrey dove into addressing the civil rights violations that had initiated the beginning of the rioting. The Civil Rights Act that Goldwater had vetoed was revived and passed very quickly. When Southern Governors protested the legislation, Vice President McGovern was sent to work with local leaders, both black and white, to implement the legislation; there was an unspoken implication that if the Governors didn’t get on board, President Humphrey would be the first President to use federal troops to enforce civil rights legislation since the end of Reconstruction. The Governors backed down, and with integration beginning to trickle into effect over the course of Humphrey’s first term, the anarchy of the Goldwater administration were snuffed out. By the time the nation and the world watched the Virgil Grissom step onto the surface of the moon in the summer of 65, it was felt that things had returned to normal.
Over the course of his term, Humphrey would pursue the expansion of economic and education opportunity throughout the nation, with Secretary of Commerce Robert Kennedy spearheading that effort. Cooperation between business and labor was the best it had been in awhile, though there was outrage over the President encouraging the spread of unions into the South. If there were accusations of corruption and strongarming from time to time, there wasn’t much cause for alarm, as the economy was ticking along just fine. Not long after the death of General Eisenhower, an interstate program was pushed through Congress in his honor.
Looking to secure his legacy, and re-election, Humphrey wanted to restore relations with the Soviet Union. Early in 1965, talks had begun in Norway with the Soviets to discuss armaments control. These talks carried on throughout most of the term, without much progress. This would change when Kruschev, on a trip to Great Britain to formalize relations with the West, had an unscheduled meeting with Vice President McGovern, who had conveniently been sent to London at the same time. This meeting led to the talks being expedited and an armaments limitation treaty signed between the two powers in the summer of 1968. Soviet and German diplomats were invited to Washington to discuss the end of the conflict there, resulting in an armistice in the winter of 1968; it would be later revealed that Humphrey had leaned on the West German leaders to sign the armistice.
Humphrey, with several successes under his belt, wanted to make sure that his re-election was an easy one. If he could win a large enough victory, most of the South being clearly lost to him, he could build a coalition that the Democrats could count no for many elections to come. While nothing illegal has been proven to occur, there were definitely efforts by Democratic operators and union members colluding to disrupt the Republican nomination process to ensure a weak challenge to the President. Republican frontrunner Richard Nixon would suffer from various political setbacks, with his campaign staff being accused of everything from racism to criminal behavior. Republicans would operations would suffer wherever they came in contact with unions, with speeches being undermined by poor sound and light quality with more than a few locations being locked to the candidate’s staff with keys unable to be located. Nothing tremendously damaging, but a thousand little frustrations that continued into the general election. After Nixon imploded, after yelling at a reporter during a press conference, the dark-horse Governor of Maryland Spiro Agnew became the Republican nominee. Despite his best efforts, and the enthusiasm of his supporters, Agnew just couldn’t compete with Humphrey’s tightly run ship. Agnew would end up only carrying the Deep South.
Humphrey/McGovern - 461
Agnew/Lodge - 77
While Congress only saw modest Democratic gains, several Humphrey Democrats were swept into the Governor’s mansions in the upper South. The President’s social programs, as well as the unions, would begin to take hold in those states during the early parts of the 70s. With the people having confirmed his policies, Humphrey could focus on some of the more tertiary concerns like environmental protection. Relations with the Soviets continued on point, with talks to be scheduled on the liberalization of control on Eastern Europe to commence in 1972. President Humphrey would meet regularly with Congressional leaders to determine the policies necessary for maintaining support for Democrats in the midterm elections.
Tragedy would strike in 1970, when President Humphrey was stumping for Congressman George Brown in his bid for Senator of California. Lynette Frome, of the infamous Manson family came to a campaign event with a handgun where she opened fire on the President and Congressman. Frome would be apprehended, but both the Congressman and President would be declared dead on the way to the hospital. The Vice President, campaigning in New York, would fly immediately to the Washington to give the oath of office and assume the Presidency.
