4 min readMumbaiAug 20, 2024 04:47 PM IST
First published on: Aug 20, 2024 at 03:28 PM IST
Chicago is playing host to the Democratic National Convention for the 12th time since the first such event was organised in 1832, this time witnessing a rousing ovation for US President Joe Biden inside the venue even as thousands of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the United Center arena.
The protests this year bring into focus the unrest witnessed in 1968 when thousands of delegates, guests, and journalists were met by demonstrators protesting the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, which by then had killed around 25,000 Americans. The Vietnam War was only a catalyst as the country was on the boil over the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr in April, the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June, and a general sentiment of disenfranchisement felt by many Americans, especially the African-American community.
In the convention held between August 26 and 29, anti-war demonstrators clashed with 11,900 Chicago police personnel, 7,500 Army troops as many Illinois National Guardsmen and 1,000 Secret Service agents over five days, according to CNN. Tear gas was deployed, the National Guard was called in and hundreds of demonstrators were arrested, often with the use of brutal force.
“You had a weekend of violence and people throwing stink bombs in hotel lobbies. You had police chasing demonstrators around Lincoln Park. You had this crazy stuff going on. In addition to the madness of thousands of people coming to Chicago to demonstrate, there was a rumor that they were going to put LSD in the water supply. We laugh at that today, but in the context of ’68, it wasn’t crazy. The cops had had enough,” William M Daley, a son of then-Mayor Richard J Daley ,told New York Times.
Around 600 protesters were arrested and 100 treated for injuries, alongside 119 police officers, according to BBC. Chicago’s police department was accused of a “police riot” and using overly aggressive tactics. On March 20, 1969, a Chicago grand jury indicted eight police officers and eight civilians in connection with the disorders during the Democratic convention. The eight civilians, dubbed the “Chicago 8,” were the first persons to be charged under provisions of the 1968 Civil Rights act, which made it a federal crime to cross state lines to incite a riot.
That year, Hubert Humphrey went on to lose the 1968 election to Republican Richard Nixon.
But the conventions in Chicago have seen their lighter moments too. At the 1996 Chicago convention, popular song ‘Macarena’ boomed through the United Centre as Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton applauded hundreds of delegates performing the signature steps. This was the first time the convention was held in Chicago after the 1968 riots, and saw Democrats celebrating an upcoming election where it was said Bill Clinton was sure to defeat Bob Dole.
The convention also saw a speech by the specially-abled actor Christopher Reeve, who spoke passionately about the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It was also the 1932 convention in Chicago that marked the beginning of the winning streak of Franklin D Roosevelt, who then went on to hold a record four-term presidency.
In his iconic nomination acceptance speech that came when the US was reeling under the effects of the Great Depression, Roosevelt delivered his ‘New Deal’ speech. “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. Let us all here assembled constitute ourselves prophets of a new order of competence and of courage. This is more than a political campaign. It is a call to arms.”
Since then, his leadership was termed the ‘New Deal’. Roosevelt was handed the Democrat nomination at future conventions in Chicago in 1940 and 1944 too.
Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senator Paul Simon and others on stage celebrating the nomination of Bill Clinton as the Democratic Party candidate for president, at the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) 
Share
