The Democratic Party

Summary

• specific to the 1960s

                                     [1]

Origin:

The Democratic Party of the 1960’s began the decade with new ambition and motivation. On January 2nd, the party announced John F. Kennedy as their official presidential candidate, rivaling Republican Vice President Richard Nixon (1). In his acceptance speech, John F. Kennedy presented his stance on ending the arms race, rebuilding the education system, maintaining order in the emergence of new nations, sustaining the agricultural and urban base economies, resolving the growth of inflation and unemployment, and preserving traditional American values throughout each step. Kennedy appealed to the public by referencing the Democratic victory in 1932, and indicated that it was time to revive the party’s goals. The 1932 election laid the foundation for the New Deal coalition (2), which brought together a variety of groups due to economic concerns. Kennedy’s success in the election became a starting point for the Democratic Party throughout the 1960’s and early 1970’s.

Chronology:

• 1960: Presidential Election of 1960-Democratic nominee John F. Kennedy wins vs. Republican nominee Vice President Richard Nixon. Kennedy had a narrow victory of 118,000 votes out of 69 million cast.

[2]

• May 5, 1961: American astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. went into outerspace in the Freedom 7 capsule as a product of Project Mercury, America's initial space program.
• September 1962: James Meredith becomes the first African American student to attend the University of Mississippi when President Kennedy orders 500 U.S. marshals to protect Meredith.
• August 28, 1963: March on Washington. A quarter of a million Americans, including Martin Luther King Jr., gathered on the Washington Mall to show congress their support for President Kennedy's civil rights bill.
• November 22, 1963: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas.
• July 1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson ended legal discrimination of the basis of race, color, sex, religion, and national origin in federal programs, employment, voting, and public accommodation. Programs, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, were created to enforce this civil rights act through withholding federal funding and investigating claims of job discrimination.
• 1964: Presidential Election of 1964-President Lyndon B. Johnson wins vs. Republican Arizona senator Barry Goldwater

[3] [4]

• August 1964: Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Resolution. Following attacks of U.S. destroyers by the North Vietnamese President Lyndon B. Johnson gained power to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the United States and to prevent further aggression". This event forced Johnson to increase his focus on the conflict in Vietnam rather than focus on soical reforms.
• 1965: Voting Rights Act
• April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by 42 year old James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee.
• August 1968: Democratic National Convention in Chicago, IL. Violence erupted as anitwar protestors gathered to campaign for antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy.
• 1968: Presidential Election of 1968-Republican nominee Richard Nixon wins; Democratic nominee Vice President Hubert Humphery; and Independent Governor George Wallace of Alabama.

Significant People:

John F. Kennedy- Democratic presidential candidate in the 1960 election whose acceptance speech and inauguration speech addressed the majority of issues that were the focus of the party for the decade (1)

Lee Harvey Oswald- assassinated Kennedy three years into his presidency

Lynden B. Johnson- Democratic presidential candidate in the 1960 election whose plan for a “Great Society” elaborated upon Kennedy’s concerns and addressed them

Martin Luther King, Jr.- Instrumental in laying the groundwork for future civil rights activists and adapted the Gandhi tactic of creative nonviolence as a means of fighting for rights.

Eugene McCarthy- The peace candidate in the 1968 election whose strong ideas against the Vietnam War attracted thousands of young liberals, also known as “The Children’s Crusade.” (3)

Hubert Humphrey- LBJ’s Vice President who ran and lost a close presidential election against Republican Richard Nixon in 1968. His campaign was fundamentally based on appealing to the remnants of the New Deal coalition. (4)

George McGovern- leader of the reform commission in 1968 that reorganized the delegate process at the Democratic National Convention. Also received the party nominatin in 1972. (4)

John William McCormack & Carl Albert- Democratic Speakers of the House between 1961 & 1973.

Betty Friedan, Pauli Marray, and Gloria Stienem- Began the national organization of women and were instrumental in the fights for civil rights throughout the 1960's

Outcomes/Long Term Effects on U.S. Culture:

One of the biggest longterm effects of the Democratic Party during the 1960's was the major change in the delegation process, originated by George McGovern. The policy of creating proportional numbers of delegates as well as creating the concept of superdelegates originated from the conflicts of the 1968 Democratic Convention.(4)

The party also began to mandate the representative proportions of delegates in terms of race, gender, age, ethnicity, and more.

In addition to election changes, the lack of unity displayed in the later part of the decade within the party weakened the Democrats on a national scale as they continued to lose a number of the ensuing elections. (2)

References:

1.Norton, Mary Beth, David M. Katzman, and David W. Blight. A People and a Nation : A History of the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin College Division, 2004. 829. 2.