Sixty years ago this month a combination of sadness, anticipation and shock – it was the 60s after all.
We were still dealing with the loss of President Kennedy, into whose role as Commander-In-Chief Lyndon Johnson assumed that day nine months earlier in Dallas. This month in 1964 he was the nominee and the big question was who would be the running mate.
America was going through changes in 1964 – the Civil Rights Movement was a hotly contested issue, particularly in the South where political tensions were running high and threats of abandoning the Democratic Party were getting louder and louder, coupled with increased violence and protests in every city throughout the South. Vietnam was just coming into view, with the now-infamous Gulf Of Tonkin incident sure to become an issue come November. And of course the Baby Boom generation who were becoming more prominent on the cultural scene, and as predicted, were becoming an economic force to deal with.
It would be a full plate for any President – and with every President throughout American history, the promise of stability and positive change were uttered, pledged and assured – 1964 and every other year, the promise and the reality seldom met eye to eye – but it was a hope. And on this night of August 26, 1964, Hubert Humphrey would be nominated vice-President and the business of convincing the rest of America was underway.
Ever since the earliest days of Radio, along with Television and now streaming, our Political conventions have become rituals, watched from gavel to gavel by much of America (some years more – some years less; the same with parties).
This snippet, a little under three hours worth, was captured from CBS TV by a hobbyist who lived somewhere in North Carolina – he faithfully captured all the conventions (1960 and 1964) from both parties, even though the sound is a bit wonky in places, it’s a fascinating document and gives you an idea of just how much our Political conventions have changed over the years – still the enthusiasm, but more aware of an audience’s attention span (short and getting shorter).
Here’s a taste of what August 26, 1964 was all about in Atlantic City with Politics as spectator sport.
Dive in.
