Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Horatio Humphrey was a Minnesota pharmacist, professor, mayor, senator, Democratic Party leader, and the thirty-eighth vice president. He became nationally prominent as an advocate for civil rights and liberal Democratic policies and later became one of the Senate's most influential Democratic leaders. He served as Lyndon B. Johnson's vice president from 1965 to 1969 and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1968.

Humphrey was born on May 27, 1911, in Wallace, South Dakota, to Hubert Humphrey Sr. and Christine Buck Humphrey. His father operated a pharmacy, and Humphrey initially trained to follow him into the profession. He attended the University of Minnesota and later earned a pharmacy degree from Capitol College of Pharmacy in Denver in 1939. He subsequently returned to the University of Minnesota and earned a master's degree in political science in 1942.

Humphrey became involved in politics during the New Deal era and entered Minnesota Democratic politics. He served as mayor of Minneapolis from 1945 to 1948, where he became nationally known for his advocacy of civil rights. At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Humphrey delivered a major speech urging the party to adopt a stronger civil-rights platform. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948.

Humphrey served in the Senate from 1949 to 1964 and became one of the chamber's leading liberal Democrats. He played important roles in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other legislation. He served as Democratic whip and later became Senate majority whip. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson selected Humphrey as his vice-presidential running mate, and the Johnson-Humphrey ticket won the election by a large electoral margin over Republican Barry Goldwater and William E. Miller.

As vice president, Humphrey became one of the Johnson administration's most active advocates for the Great Society. He worked extensively on civil-rights legislation, poverty programs, education, health care, and foreign policy. He also traveled internationally on behalf of the administration. However, the Vietnam War increasingly complicated his political position. Humphrey supported Johnson's Vietnam policy while the war became increasingly controversial within the Democratic Party.

In 1968, Humphrey became the Democratic presidential nominee after Johnson announced that he would not seek another term. Humphrey lost the general election to Republican Richard Nixon, with Democrat George Wallace running a strong third-party campaign. After the election, Humphrey returned to the Senate in 1971 and served until his death. He became Senate minority whip and remained an influential Democratic figure.

Humphrey died of bladder cancer at his home in Waverly, Minnesota, on January 13, 1978, less than two weeks before his sixty-seventh birthday. He was given a state funeral in Washington and was buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Humphrey's legacy is closely associated with the civil-rights movement, the Great Society, and the development of modern liberal Democratic politics. His Senate career placed him at the center of major legislative battles, while his vice presidency placed him within the Johnson administration during both landmark domestic reforms and the Vietnam War. His 1968 presidential campaign remains an important episode in the history of the Democratic Party and the Vietnam-era political realignment.