Episode 224 Hubert Humphrey: The Happy Warrior - A TRIBUTE (Special Edition)

In this special edition of our podcast , we pay tribute to one of the true giants of the post World War 2 era, former Vice President and Former United States Senator , Hubert Horatio Humphrey.  He was the happy warrior and in some ways the fundamental decency of this man is probably what kept him away from the Presidency in an era of politics notorious for being shark infested waters,

For it was Hubert Humphrey that watched his Presidential dreams get dashed in 1960 when John F. Kennedy's father  allegedly paid to insure the West Virginia Primary was won by his son, and again as the Vietnam War waged in 1968 he saw his campaign lose a close one to Former Vice President Richard Nixon.  Those losses often obscured Hubert Humphrey's major and often forgotten role as the father of Civil Rights in this country.

 For it was Hubert Humphrey that took to the podium at the Democratic National Convention and argued for the party to champion the cause of civil rights. It was his speech that led Strom Thurmond and many other Southern Democrats to walk out of the 1948 Democratic Convention and challenge Harry Truman for the Presidency. Truman had just integrated the United States Armed Forces and became the lightening rod against Civil Rights for doing so. 

It was Hubert Humphrey that was also an early champion for a program that would one day become Medicare, and an early champion of healthcare reform as well. Humphrey was a giant of his era and in this episode we hope to give him his long deserved recognition. 

But we also hope we can touch on the decency and goodness of this great man. For while our nation was extremely lucky to have elected one of its four greatest Presidents in 1968 in Richard Nixon,  it is not without some wonder at what might have been, had Hubert Humphrey ever gotten a bite at the Presidential apple himself at some point.

 Such was the choice between two of the greatest leaders our nation ever produced in 1968, that our nation had to pick just one of them to be our President.  It does make you long for that era again, when our national leadership produced such great men as Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey to have to choose between. 

So we hope you enjoy this special edition in honor of a great man, Hubert Horatio Humphrey. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Host Randal Wallace reads letter from Norman Sherman
• 2:24 Election night 1972 phone call between President Richard Nixon and Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey
• 6:35 Music Intro
• 7:00 Host Randal Wallace introduces Hubert Humphrey to our audience
• 9:46 Former President Bill Clinton remembers Hubert Humphrey August 4, 2012 - Minnesota Senate Media Services
• 26:07 Senator Hubert Humphrey's remarks at the 1948 Democratic National Convention on Civil Rights
• 35:58 Host Randal Wallace talks about the importance of that speech and Humphrey's role in Civil Rights, Introduces the Election night phone call with LBJ
• 38:38 Hubert Humphrey phone call with President Lyndon Johnson on November 3, 1964
• 47:09 Host Randal Wallace talks about the relationship between the two men and Humphrey;s important role in passing the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, an introduces the TV Debate with Strom Thurmond
• 47:32 Hubert Humphrey and Strom Thurmond Debate the civil rights Bill on CBS
• 53:10 Randal Wallace.com ad
• 54:50 Hubert Humphrey dies at 66 - ABC News Coverage January 14, 1973
• 1:11:10 Host Randal Wallace talks about Hubert Humphrey, the man, his great example of civility and kindness, that you can do that in politics
• 1:13:08 "Words from a True Friend: Hubert Humphrey's last speech to Labor "
• 1:32:05 Closing music