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Show 234 Zachary Burt The 1968 election was a landmark election in American political history. In the summer of 1968, Vice President Hubert Humphrey was nominated by the Democratic Party. This nomination was controversial, and the Democrats' summer convention was chaotic and infamous. Humphrey gained the nomination due to his strong ties to the political establishment of the Democratic Party. He was selected by party bosses and insiders, rather than by the rank and file. Unlike his main competitors, Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy, Humphrey did not contest a single primary. However, Humphrey's selection was not that unusual. For over a century, the Democratic and Republican parties had been selecting their nominees at national political conventions. Nonetheless, many people thought it was time for change, as the events at the 1968 Democratic National Convention illustrated. In the wake of the convention, and Humphrey's defeat in the general election that fall, the Democratic Party began reforming its presidential nomination process. Into the 1980s, several reform commissions were established. The most notable commis-sion was the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The Republicans reformed their process as well, but the Democrats moved towards reform first, as well as made the most extensive reforms. The 1968 election and the subsequent reforms brought about, although inadvertently, the contemporary primary-centered presidential nomination process. This thesis will examine the 1968 election, particularly the nomination of Humphrey, and discuss why that nomination and the reforms that followed are so instrumental to the modern primary process. Also, the history of the national po-litical convention and its predecessor, the congressional caucus, show that the electoral process became more open to average Americans over the years. This theme of increasing democratic participation is an important one, and will be focused on as well in this thesis. THE 1968 ELECTION AND THE BIRTH OF THE CONTEMPORARY PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION PROCESS Zachary Burt (Matthew Burbank) Department of Political Science University of Utah honors college spring 2012 Matthew Burbank |
