of support among political leaders that would be respected by southerners. strom thurmond, for example, of south carolina. all that we could ask for is somebody who would just and fair and treat the south like the other sections of the country. strom thurmond had been a democrat but he had left the democratic party because of the civil rights act. the race is between mr. nixon and mr. rockefeller. and i would prefer mr. nixon. i think he would be better for the whole country. convention will come to order. 1968 is the last presidential year in which it was possible to run for president without entering any primaries. ronald reagan showed up in miami beach, gave a press conference and said, i m running for president. yes. as of this moment, response to that resolution by the california delegation.
hubert humphrey as is lined up, i think senator eugene mccarthy really would have conceded defeat in his heart of hearts a month or two ago. the nomination was really not in question anymore. mr. mcgovern. it was not going to be mccarthy and it was not going to be mcgovern. it was going to be hubert humphrey. that was a done deal before the convention opened. the focus became on a peace plank in the democratic party platform, felt strongly by those of us who had been in the kennedy campaign or mccarthy or mcgovern campaign. it was our last hope to get something at least. this is the moment of truth for the democratic party. it was the issue of vietnam and deeply-held feelings that the killing had to stop that motivated robert kennedy to become a candidate for president. a bullet stilled that voice, but
there s no other place to sleep. so we knew if you re going to drive people out of the parks, they re going to be in the streets. it s going to be pandemonium. is that what you want? how do you feel about the anti-war demonstrators? i don t like them. i don t like them one bit. there s no reason for them. they accomplish nothing. the police, largely working class people, who d come up the hard way, see these privileged white students and have to wonder what do they have to be angry about? and many of those police officers, themselves, identified with the soldiers coming back from the war in vietnam. we re coming not because our fight is with policemen or national guard troops, our fight is with the policies of this administration. on this eve of the beginning of the 35th democratic national convention, chicago is nearly security-tight. the police, several thousand of them, are now deployed. u.s. army troops began arriving in chicago in substantial numbers this morning. at l
at 5:00, the police started beating people up. we want the park! we want the park! hey. hey, hey, hey. they dispersed into the streets. i m giving you one more warning. one more. and this is the first melee of many. whole bunch picked me up and dragged me, beat me, put mace in my face. how did you get that blood? i came over to get a picture, squirted me with mace. he clubbed you? and he clubbed me. a democratic convention is about to begin in a place state. there just doesn t seem to be any other way to say it. and could be on the journey to much worse. try parodontax toothpaste. it s clinically proven to remove plaque, the main cause of bleeding gums. for healthy gums and strong teeth.
now they re raising the illinois delegation. thank you very much. fine. a brief effort to start a parade. lyndon johnson was weary of holding a convention in chicago but he gave it to chicago and daley because he assured him, it will be a controlled environment, we will keep it under control. one, two, three, four, stop this damn war! one, two, three, four, stop this damn war! the democratic party was closed to change on vietnam unless it faced such massive pressure that might make it turn. mr. vice president, this is the opening night of the democratic convention. are you going to be nominated? that s my hope, my plan. that s what we re trying to do. the security around this international amphitheater has been worthy of an armed camp. someone called the amphitheater ft. daley and i think at this point, that is not very far from the truth.