Hubert H. Humphrey

:This article is about the US politician. For other people called Hubert Humphrey see Hubert Humphrey (disambig).

The Happy Warrior (1948-1964)

The Democratic Party at the national level had been accommodating racial discrimination in the South, under the rubric of "states' rights". At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, the draft platform reflected this policy, and was supported by the incumbent President Harry S. Truman and the Democratic Party leadership. Humphrey and other liberals sought to substitute a strong civil rights plank. In one of the most renowned speeches in American political history, Humphrey told the Convention: "To those who say that this civil rights program is an infringement on states' rights, I say this, that the time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadows of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights." Humphrey and his allies succeeded; the pro-civil-rights plank was narrowly adopted.

Related Topics:
South - States' rights - 1948 - Democratic National Convention - Platform - Harry S. Truman - Civil rights

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As a result of the Convention's vote, several Southern and conservative Northern delegations walked out of the hall. Many Southern Democrats were so enraged that they formed the "Dixiecrat" party and nominated their own presidential candidate, Strom Thurmond. Although the strong civil rights plank adopted at the Convention cost Truman the support of the Dixiecrats, it gained him important votes from blacks, especially in Northern cities. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough has written that Humphrey probably did more to get Truman elected in 1948 than anyone other than Truman himself.

Related Topics:
Dixiecrat - Strom Thurmond - Pulitzer Prize - David McCullough

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Minnesota elected Humphrey to the United States Senate in 1948 on the DFL ticket, and he took office on January 3, 1949. Humphrey's father died that year, and Humphrey stopped using "Jr." He was reelected in 1954 and 1960. His colleagues selected him as majority whip in 1961, a position he held until he left the Senate on December 29, 1964.

Related Topics:
United States Senate - 1948 - January 3 - 1949 - 1954 - 1960 - Majority whip - 1961 - December 29 - 1964

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In the Senate, Humphrey became known for his advocacy of liberal causes (such as civil rights, arms control, a nuclear test ban, food stamps, and humanitarian foreign aid), and for his long and witty speeches. In 1954 Humphrey proposed to make mere membership in the Communist Party a felony. He was chairman on the Select Committee on Disarmament (Eighty-fourth and Eighty-fifth Congresses). As Democratic whip in the Senate in 1964, Humphrey was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of that year.

Related Topics:
Liberal - Civil rights - Arms control - Nuclear test ban - Food stamps - Foreign aid - Communist Party - Select Committee on Disarmament - Eighty-fourth - Eighty-fifth - 1964 - Civil Rights Act

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