As the Democrats have convened in Denver to anoint Barack and Joe B. (Bill Clinton deserves an Emmy), there is a notorious anniversary at hand. Forty years ago, beginning on August 25, 1968, the Democratic Party threw its quadrennial soiree in Chicago and a whole bunch of uninvited guests crashed the party to voice their displeasure with war in VietNam. There were YIPPIES (Youth International Party), the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), the Weathermen, the Chicago police, the Illinois National Guard and more, thrown together in a roiling stew of violence, arrogance, brutality and fear.
In the months prior to the convention, we had already been stunned by the murders of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Huge riots followed King's killing in April, while there was intense sadness after Kennedy was sh
ot to death in June. The war in VietNam was raging at full throttle and fatalities were mounting. An offshoot of the SDS, the Weathermen, had begun to punctuate the anti-war message with their own acts of violence.
ot to death in June. The war in VietNam was raging at full throttle and fatalities were mounting. An offshoot of the SDS, the Weathermen, had begun to punctuate the anti-war message with their own acts of violence.The Democratic party and the TV networks, sensing trouble, wanted the convention moved to Miami, where the Republicans had held their convention. Richard J. Daley would have none of it. He promised to "enforce peace". Such a curious phrasing; it foreshadowed the events that would unfold, on television, in Chicago's front yard. The messengers of peace would include 11,900 policemen, 7,500 Army troops, 7,500 National Guard troops and 1,000 Secret Service agents.
The convention was being held at the Chicago Amphitheater (a dump even back then) at 41st Street and Halsted. The Democrats were headquartered 4 miles north at the Hilton. The protesters were trying to camp in Lincoln Park, 4 more miles further to the north. The protesters held an anti-war rally Sunday night with a bonfire (fueled by some 
park benches) in Lincoln Park. The park closing time was 11 p.m., and the messengers of peace marched in to assure that the park was vacated in a timely fashion. Violence was widespread. Battles would recur nightly in Lincoln Park and Grant Park.
park benches) in Lincoln Park. The park closing time was 11 p.m., and the messengers of peace marched in to assure that the park was vacated in a timely fashion. Violence was widespread. Battles would recur nightly in Lincoln Park and Grant Park. On Wednesday, the protesters began to march to the Amphitheater. The police and soldiers stopped them. A riot that came to be known as "the Battle of Michigan Avenue" ensued, with plenty of media coverage to record the events. These actions would later be pronounced by a government inquiry to have been "a police riot". Richard J. Daley would reject the finding and give his policemen a raise.
Inside the convention, the Democrats argued and protested as a minority attempted to fashion a peace platform for the party. Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Massachusets denounced the "Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago". The Hubert H. Humphrey/Edmund Muskie ticket was officially slated and went on to lose the general election to Richard Nixon.
President Nixon continued to bomb the hell out of VietNam while negotiating for peace.
On March 20, 1969, a grand jury indicted 8 policeman and 8 civilians. The eight civilians were charged with crossing a state line to incite a riot. They were the first people to be charged under a law that had been passed the previous year.
On March 20, 1969, a grand jury indicted 8 policeman and 8 civilians. The eight civilians were charged with crossing a state line to incite a riot. They were the first people to be charged under a law that had been passed the previous year.
The law was the 1968 Civil Rights Act.
Peace in VietNam would officially come in January of 1973.
The whole world was watching. Still.
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