Program Information

As the hot summer of 1968 ground to a close, the Democrats prepared to descend on Chicago for their quadrennial gathering. The year had taken its toll. Assassination, riot, an unpopular war and a divided leadership left the Democrats in disarray.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Introduction: A Moment in Time, 1968: A special series on the 40th anniversary of a year of upheaval, in a world seemingly out of control.

Content: As the hot summer of 1968 ground to a close, the Democrats prepared to descend on Chicago for their quadrennial gathering. The year had taken its toll. Assassination, riot, an unpopular war and a divided leadership left the Democrats in disarray. Richard Nixon was in the wings ready to take advantage of the Party’s malaise with his Republican arms flung wide in welcome to southerners disdainful of black demands, Americans sick of anti-war hippies, and a segment of society increasingly receptive to his hard-line message of law and order.

Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley was in no mood to pour oil on troubled waters to accommodate the fractious Democratic coalition. The meeting had been intended for the Chicago Convention Center, but when that building had burned in 1967, he refused to entertain suggestions that the Party move the Party to Miami. Instead, he insisted the Convention meet at the Amphitheater miles from Loop by the old Stockyards. Daley’s ruthless suppression of the riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April signaled his grim determination to pounce on any demonstrations he did not sanction. And there would be demonstrations with his permission or not.

Tom Hayden and the Students for Democratic Action were in town. Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies were planning a “Festival of Life” to parallel what they termed the Democrat’s “Festival of Death.” In the days before the Convention, Hoffman met with the Deputy Mayor to secure a demonstration permit. Seated in the latter’s City Hall office, Hoffman promptly lit up a joint. It was not an auspicious sign. The Yippies then announced their nomination of a pig for President and released the hapless creature into Lincoln Park. Next time: Silly to bloody serious.

Research assistance by Timothy Litzenburg and Elaine Chou. At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

Virginia Standards