As they stand in front of the CBS News booth, protesters hold up 'Stop the War' signs on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in the International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Aug. 28, 1968. "For some Americans, just saying 'Chicago 68' is enoug… | By 1960s: Days of Rage on August 19, 2024 | As they stand in front of the CBS News booth, protesters hold up 'Stop the War' signs on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in the International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Aug. 28, 1968. "For some Americans, just saying 'Chicago 68' is enough to bring it all back. Add the words, 'Democratic National Convention' and millions more can visualize brawling delegates, billowing clouds of tear gas and police batons flailing at long-haired protestors. The chant went up from witnesses of the street battle at the time: 'The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!' Much of it was. And the memory has been a kind of curse on the Democratic Party and on the Windy City itself. Prior to 1968, Chicago had easily hosted the most presidential nominating conventions of any city. There had been nine Democratic conventions in the centrally located and convention-friendly city and -- 14 Republican ones. But neither party returned after that until 1996, when the Democrats ventured back using a convention facility far from the downtown scenes reminiscent of 1968. This month's return will be their first since then; and the Republicans have not been back at all. National political conventions are by nature difficult-to-manage events. Even when the presidential nomination is not in question like it was in 1968, there can be conflicts and controversies that thousands of news people are standing by to amplify. But there has not been a convention to compare to Chicago '68. In the months leading up to DNC 2024, Chicago '68 has been repeatedly conjured as the epitome of disaster like the sinking of the Titanic, or the stock market crash of '29. Organizers of various protests planned for this year have invoked the memory in promoting their own current plans. But if some saw dark clouds gathering over the Windy City again this August, the forecast may have brightened in recent weeks. Attempts will surely be made to protest the Biden administration's support for Israel or its struggle to deal with immigration. But there is nothing in the current political climate to compare to that of 1968 and its all-encompassing anxiety over Vietnam. What happened during the 1968 Democratic National Convention? Recalling that hot week still requires a vocabulary of violence with talk of a fight, a battle and, most of all, a war. Let's start with the fight. It involved what happened inside the convention hall. On the first night, there was contention over which delegations should be seated from Texas and other states. The second night was consumed by struggles over the party platform language. And the rest of the week was spent feuding over who would speak, who would preside over the official session and, of course, who would be the nominee. By the third and fourth nights these fights included incidents of pushing and shoving. Punches were thrown. Much of the fight inside the International Amphitheater was a reaction to what was going on outside. ..." NPR (August 2024) Salon - "A story of contrasts": The DNC returns to Chicago — but 2024 promises to be nothing like 1968 (August 2024) POLITICO - From Fiery Revolutionary to Sunshine State Retiree: The THC-Fueled Twilight of the Last of the Chicago 7 (August 2024) How the 1968 DNC in Chicago Devolved into 'Unrestrained and Indiscriminate Police Violence' (Video) (August 2024) Variety - Dan Rather Looks Back at Turbulent 1968 Democratic Convention, Says Biden-Harris Switch Was 'Almost Anticlimactic' in Comparison (August 2024) We Were There: The 1968 Democratic Convention - Doris Kearns Goodwin (Video) (August 2024) "Rights in Conflict," commonly known as the Walker Report, details the confrontation between police and anti-war protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. | | | | You can also reply to this email to leave a comment. | | | | |
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