I have a public plan, and as one whose heart has ached for the past eight years over the agony of vietnam, i will halt the senseless bombing of indochina on inaugural day. [applause] greta it was 1972, 2 30 in the morning when George Mcgovern delivered his acceptance speech. A few months later, he would lose badly to president Richard Nixon. The contenders. The candidacy and legacy of George Mcgovern. We are live from the mcgovern museum in mitchell, south dakota. Joining us from there is president ial author scott farris. Acceptance speech in miami. Why . Scott thank you, greta. Of the structure of the Mcgovern Campaign. Against the establishment. Senator mcgovern, he was very, very strong on the issue of vietnam. One of the things that has drawn me to writing about senator mcgovern as one of the most who ran for the presidency who was not successful, he went after the vietnam issue. He spoke about that war in ways no president ial candidate had ever spoken about war before. It was language as you heard that was mild compared to what i it was Strong Language that unsettled lots of americans and caused them to worry about how he would win the war. The war. Insurgent campaign to end the war against the established democrats. There was a lot of conflict there that eventually lead over bled over into the convention. There were some floor fights, there were some issues with the california delegation. There were issues with who he would select for his Vice President ial running mate. The convention got out of hand for him so when it was time to discuss his nomination, it was 2 30 in the morning. So he missed an opportunity instead of speaking before , 75 million americans, he only spoke to about 15 million americans in the wee hours of the morning. He joked they were either insomniacs or people who fell asleep in front of the tv set. Greta we are going to do a deep dive into the 1972 campaign and the convention. Joining us here from our studios first, in washington is Jules Witcover, a veteran political reporter, columnist who covered the Mcgovern Campaign for the Los Angeles Times. Featured prominently in the book the boys on the bus about the media campaign, or the Media Coverage of that campaign. So, mr. Witt cover what is the , atmosphere at the convention in 1972 . Jules exhaustion. Greta exhaustion. [laughter] jules mcgovern gave the speech so late because fights continued to go on over various issues on the platform including the war in vietnam even though the platform had been adopted. It actually played out the next morning when the staff met to choose a Vice President or to decide who should be cast to be Vice President. Asked to be Vice President. It was done in a very hurried and unsettling way to the point that the confusion led, and i am sure we will get to it in this discussion led to probably the most disastrous part of the Mcgovern Campaign, which was the selection of the Vice President ial nominee who did not stand up. Greta but in the Convention Hall that night, are the people with him . Are they still there . It is 2 30 in the morning. Jules oh yes. Because you know the mcgovern , followers at the convention, many had never been to a convention before. As a result of new roles in the selection of delegates, importantly initiated and developed by mcgovern himself on a commission, you have a lot of people there who had never been to any convention, had never been involved much in politics before then. So it was a great experience for them. At any convention, staying up until 2 00 in the morning is not unusual anyway. Greta right. Jules but what was unusual is that mcgovern gave that very important speech so early in the morning. Greta we will talk about that the reforms led to those people at the convention. But scott farris, lets go back to the mcgovern museum in mitchell, south dakota. What is happening in our country in that leads to the triumph of 1972, an antiwar candidate to win the nomination for the Democratic Party . Scott the great political legacy of George Mcgovern is that he quite literally changed the complexion of the modern Democratic Party. Before mcgovern, the democrats built their base around what was called the new Deal Coalition, an amalgam of urban catholics and jews and organized labor. And southern white populists. But by 1968, 1972, because of divisions that were exposed by the division over vietnam, senator mcgovern was one of those in the Democratic Party who thought the party badly needed to reform or else it was going to die. He saw the party was losing southern white populists who are becoming southern white republicans over the issue of civil rights. He saw urban ethics were moving out to the suburbs and saw that organized labor was shrinking in influence and size. He looked over the Political Landscape and saw opportunities for growth by reaching out for minority groups that had been ignored by both parties. Such as hispanic americans. Reaching out to women who had previously voted strongly the republican side. Reaching out to the youth vote. 1972, because of the 26 amendment the first time , was the first time 18yearolds could vote in the United States. He put together the new Politics Coalition to create with the new Deal Coalition this , ruling democratic majority. So coming out the 1968 convention, as mr. Whitcover mentioned, he chaired a commission on reform, changing the delegate Selection Process heavily. He was very proactive in bringing women and minorities into the party. The winners are also losers. Organized labor resented that their influence was going to diminish. It was a very wild ride because of the reforms mcgovern was able to put through the party. Along with his commission. He had the advantage of an insurgent, upsetting the preferred establishment candidate, the one who had been considered a favorite. Ed muskie humphreys running mate , in 1968. That caught him off guard. This copy establishment off this caught the establishment off guard. As this built up, it caused a lot of tension. It was a very tumultuous year for the Democratic Party in 1972, even as the republicans were solidifying around Richard Nixon. And probably the high point of the nixon presidency was 1972 the year he famously he went to china among other things. Greta we will talk more about that later on in the program. Part of senator mcgoverns acceptance speech on that night in 1972 was about reforming the Democratic Party. He also takes aim at the Republican Party and what they are doing at their convention, which is being held shortly after the democrats, also in miami. Take a look. [applause] sen. Mcgovern we have had our fury and frustrations in this in these past months and at this convention. But frankly, i welcome the contrast with the smug and dull and empty event which will doubtless take place in miami here next month. [applause] sen. Mcgovern we chose this struggle. We reformed our party. And we let the people in. [applause] and so we stand today, not as a collection of backroom strategists, not as a tool of itt or any other special interest. [applause] greta scott farris, George Mcgovern in 1972, saying we let the people in. Take us back to the 1968 convention when Hubert Humphrey gets the nomination. And draw a clear connection for our viewers between the 1968 convention and mcgovern winning then in 1972. Scott greta, lets go back even to 1967, because this is when the Antiwar Movement is starting to pick up steam. They are very frustrated that president Lyndon Johnson is maintaining the course in vietnam and believes america can achieve an outright military victory in vietnam. So the antiwar activist starts shopping for an alternative to johnson. Someone who can challenge johnson in the primaries, which is really unprecedented. When you think about prior to 1968 when a party tried to challenge a sitting president of its own members was 1912, when you had the former president , theodore roosevelt, challenging a sitting president , even a former president could not knock off a sitting president for the nomination. They wanted to pressure johnson to quickly end the war and deescalate vietnam. They search for a number of people and they approached senator mcgovern, and he declined. Senator mccarthy of minnesota decided to run as an antiwar candidate. When he entered the New Hampshire primary in 1968, he surprised the political world by having a very strong showing against johnson. He did not win, but he got enough of the votes that it made johnson aware he would have a tough time getting the renomination. So johnson decided to withdraw from the race. In the meantime, senator Robert Kennedy, president kennedys brother, also entered the president ial contest. They were both going after it, and Vice PresidentHubert Humphrey decided to enter to carry the standard for the johnson administration. And at that point, Vice President humphrey still supported the war policies of president johnson. It was again what outraged senator kennedy senator kennedy of course was assassinated in june. And so that really left only senator mccarthy to be the insurgent candidate. Senator kennedys followers urged senator mcgovern to enter basically as a token candidate at the end. There is a lot of bad blood between the kennedy and mccarthy forces. Mcgovern did run a token presidency. Ultimately, the nomination went to Hubert Humphrey, which infuriated the reformers in the Antiwar Movement. Not only has senator humphrey not won a single primary, he did not enter a single primary. It was evidence to the the insurgents that the Democratic Party was still being run by the big city political bosses, by the political machines, and they wanted to have the process more open, to have underrepresented constituencies like women, like minorities, like the young, brought into the process. They wanted the entire process opened up so was not in caucuses sometimes held amo secretly in peoples homes, but widely advertised so anybody could participate. The disillusion with how Hubert Humphrey was selected in 1968 put pressure on the Democratic Party to reform. In trying to appease the insurgents, humphrey suggested reforms to the party. That was the background. It was really the humphrey nomination that outraged the reformers and caused them to demand fundamental change. Greta ok lets stick to the 1968 convention. Jules, your covering it. What is the mood like at the convention . 1968 what is happening inside and outside the hall . Jules it was a much more tumultuous convention than the 1972 convention because the party itself was so divided over the war and personalities. That is the year in which there were riots in the streets of chicago, the Police Department repressed them to the point that it was called a police riot. There was a big fight over a vietnam plank that the antiwar forces lost but generated tremendous heat. And it continued through the convention. Even after the nomination of humphrey, i remember humphrey was a very sad figure, and in his own supposedly celebratory moment. Because he knew what was going on out in the street, and out on the floor of the convention. There was so much criticism of him and of continuing the war. So that was, in my experience, the most disruptive, but also the most exciting convention in my time. Greta yeah, and compare how humphrey was chosen as the nominee in 1968 to four years later the way mcgovern is chosen as the nominee. Jules a lot of it had to do with the mcgovern reform rules. In 1968, delegates were selected largely as they had been for years by appointment of party , bosses, governors. And if you were a party official, you got a free ticket to the 1968 convention by nature of your influence or your official position as an Office Holder or as a party holder or Office Holder. In 1972, those people who wanted to get to the convention had to actually run as delegates, supporting one of the primary candidates. A lot of them picked the wrong horse in 1972, because they supported ed muskie, the establishment candidate, and he had all of those officeholders pulling for him. But when his campaign disintegrated, they were all left out of the Convention Hall. So, many new people had never been to a convention before, they filled the seats of the high and mighty who went to the convention in 1968. Greta Jules Witcover, covering the 1968 and 1972 conventions for the Los Angeles Times. Here, as part of our contenders series here in washington to help us uncover , George Mcgovern, our 13th contender in our 14 week series. Back at the mcgovern museum is south dakota is scott farris, president ial author. He wrote about mcgoverns campaign in 1972. There are going to take your questions and your comments tonight. We will get to your phone calls in a little bit. Eastern central time, if you live in that area, 2027370001. Mountainpacific time, call 2027370002. Scott farris, let me go back to the reforms that were headed by George Mcgovern. How did he get involved in the mcgovernfraser commission . Scott well, as mr. Witt cover mentioned, there was chaos in 1968. Humphrey closed the gap on nixon toward the end of 1968. It was a very close campaign. So you have the regulars thinking that we came close and with we hadnt had all this agitation we would be fine. The insurgents said this was the last gasp of a dying political machine. Humphrey was anxious to try to unite the party. He decided to throw a bone to the insurgents by appointing a commission on delegate selection reform. As they looked to figure out who was the proper guide for the chair, they needed to look for several qualifications. One, did they have credibility with the insurgents . Had they picked a regular it , would have been viewed as a sham, but they also wanted somebody who was loyal to the party, who had shown they can also work with the regulars. Mcgovern unlike mccarthy and some folks had also been considered for this position. Mcgovern had actively campaigned for humphrey. He was always a loyal democrat and never broke from the party. The third thing they were looking for is they were worried that people would view this as a way to manipulate the process to ensure the nomination. Everyone was so sure George Mcgovern would not be a viable president ial candidate in 1972, he seemed like the obvious choice because he could not manipulate the system to benefit his candidacy because his candidacy was such a long shot and not even worth discussing. And so he was appointed to the commission to be the chair. There were about two dozen members. People say, how were they able to push these reforms through . The way they were able to do that, the people who would most likely be opposed to reform, particularly organized labor, boycotted the entire process. And so the Reform Commission was really dominated by those who were intent on opening up the process, while the old regulars, particularly organized labor did , not think it was worth bothering with. They did not think anything would come of it. Greta so what were the actual reforms . What did they say . Scott walt they began the process by encouraging most states use primaries as opposed , to caucuses to choose their convention delegates. Then if you did have a caucus, you are required to make it open and wellpublicized and publicly available. Mr. Witcover mentioned a lot of time previously if you were a party official, you automatically had a chance to be a delegate. A lot of time those Party Delegates would name others. Where they would get proxy votes and pick whoever they wanted to take and sometimes the decision was made a year before the convention so they tried to open up the process generally to make it more responsive and more butter responsive. They also tried to do away with that winner take all formatted primaries to make a proportional, to give minority candidates and insurgent candidates a better chance to build steam and overtake an establishment candidate in the long run. Most controversially, i suppose, is they decided on instead of a passive approach of no discrimination against anybody who would like to be a delegate, they adopted a very proactive that the delegations had to reflect the makeup of the States Parties by gender, ethnicity, race, age. They were trying to get more women, more minorities, and more youth into the process. And for mcgovern, they said the party should civilly strive for reasonable proportion, reasonable representation of those groups. After he left and a different chair took over, they adopted a specific quota that the that each delegation should be half female and minorities that are equal to the states population. Those were the basic gist of reforms by the commission. Greta scott far