1968 was a year of unrest and June 26 was no exception. A year with a Presidential election and the Vietnam War was in full swing. As the Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago, Illinois, thousands of antiwar demonstrators began protesting in the streets. They were protesting the war and the top Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey who supported the war. The 1968 convention was the most violent in U.S. History. The police and National Guardsmen clashed with the protesters and the violence even spilled into the convention. Hundreds of people, including innocent bystanders were beaten by the Chicago police. Inside the convention, guards roughed up delegates and members of the press. This included CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace who was punched in the face. By August 29th, Humphrey secured the nomination and the convention ended.
The investigation following the violence identified the confrontations as a “police riot” and blamed Mayor Richard Daley for inciting his police to violence. From the riots, eight political radicals known as the “Chicago Eight” were arrested on charges of conspiring to incite the violence. The trial that began in 1969 sparked a new wave of protests in Chicago.
i remember this so well, though my perspective was different as seen through a child’s eyes –
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I would have been not quite 4. My knowledge would have been from stories of it afterwards. Sounds like a crazy time in the country.
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The picture of Mike Wallace is famous and I have read about these riots-crazy times!
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I know. Where I wish I had a time machine to go back and experience things first hand, I’d be glad I had the machine to get me out there quickly 🙂
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