A half-century later, 1968 remains etched in our collective memory, a year of tremendous hope and utter tragedy. This week we take the second of three looks at that iconic year, focusing on the chaotic Democratic convention in Chicago.
Ted Van Dyk, Hubert Humphrey’s top adviser, talks about how the vice president was boxed in by President Johnson on LBJ’s war policy, making dissension at the convention inevitable.
Sam Brown, a leading anti-Vietnam War activist, talks about the scene outside the convention, the violent confrontations between Chicago Mayor Daley’s police and the peace demonstrators.
Rima Rudd, back then a high school teacher in the Bronx, recounts what she saw on the streets of Chicago.
George McGovern, the South Dakota senator who was a stand-in candidate for the late Robert Kennedy, remembers the passionate nominating speech given by Connecticut’s Abraham Ribicoff, who talked about “Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago.”
And Tom Hayden, a leader of the “Chicago 7” demonstrators, recounts his role from 1968.
Photo courtesy of Bettmann/CORBIS
Music used in this podcast:
The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel