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1952 – 1964
Presidential and Vice-Presidential ambitions (1952 – 1964)
As one of the most respected members of the U.S. Senate, Humphrey ran for the
Democratic presidential nomination twice before his election to the Vice
Presidency in 1964. The first time was as Minnesota's "favorite son" in 1952,
where he received only 26 votes on the first ballot, and again in 1960, when he
lost to Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy (JFK).
In a display of hypocrisy, this life-long opponent of bigotry used Kennedy's
Catholicism against him in the West Virginia primary. Humphrey calculated that
his mid-western populist roots would appeal more to the state's disenfranchised
voters more than the Ivy League millionaire's son, Kennedy. But Kennedy led
comfortably until the issue turned to religion. When asked why he was quickly
losing ground in polls, one adviser explained to Kennedy, "no one knew you were
a Catholic then."
Kennedy chose to engage the religion issue head-on. In radio broadcasts, he
carefully repositioned the issue from one of Catholic versus Protestant to
tolerance versus intolerance. Kennedy appealed to West Virginia's long-held
revulsion for prejudice and placed Humphrey, who had championed tolerance his
entire career, on the defensive; Kennedy attacked him with a vengeance.
Humphrey, who was short on funds, could not match the well-financed Kennedy
operation. Kennedy defeated Humphrey soundly, winning 60.8% of the vote in that
state. That evening, Humphrey announced that he was no longer a candidate for
the presidency. By winning the primary, Kennedy was able to overcome the taboo
of Catholic candidates for President and sewed up the Democratic nomination for
President.
Humphrey did win the South Dakota and District of Columbia primaries, which JFK
didn't enter. At the convention he received 41 votes.
Senator Humphrey was part of the vice-presidential free-for-all at the 1956
Democratic National Convention, where he received 134 votes on the first ballot
and 74 on the second.
In 1964, Humphrey was chosen by President Lyndon Johnson to be his running mate
over Connecticut Senator Thomas Dodd and fellow Minnesota Senator Eugene
McCarthy. The Johnson/Humphrey ticket won overwhelmingly, garnering 486
electoral votes out of 538.
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