The media and the Democratic Convention in Chicago 1968 Research Paper

The media and the Democratic Convention in Chicago 1968 - Research Paper Example The younger generation was always tuned on to television for updates. On the other hand, the country election were around the corner as the situation on the ground worsened. The elections that followed could see the 36th President in office.2 Consequently, in August 1967, the Democratic Party had a task of selecting a new candidate to replace President Baines Johnson, who had announced in March that he was not going to seek reelection of presidency. Moreover, many contenders vied for the ticket and included Johns vice president, former Senator Hubert Humprey, Robert Kennedy a New York senator but, unfortunately, was shot in Los Angeles hotel. The others were the South Dakota Senator George Mc Govern, who supporters of Kennedy had allegiance in and the Minnesota senator Eugene Mc Carthy who was an antiwar candidate who college students campaigned for from door to door. Rumors also spread that Kennedy’s younger brother was also entering the race even until the date of the convention but he did not.3 In August 1968, Humphrey was the likely winner of the Democratic ticket. Additionally, the convention had two objectives; one was to get the representative of the party in the November elections and the platform which could be used to run. Many questions came up whether the democrats could support the Vietnam War or adopt the plan advocated by McCarthy.4 Despite the different opinions coming from the delegates in relation to antiwar, the vice-president got more than 1000 votes to secure the ticket for the Democratic Party on August28. 5 Nineteen sixty-eight was a year with many problems in the city of Chicago. Chicago was a great and respected American city but in this year, it was far much behind than the rest. Following the assassination of Dr. King, race riots broke out in Chicago, and the police officers responded with a brutal violence. As Major Daley made orders on the â€Å"shoot to kill†, it changed the mythic proportion of