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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