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Hubert H. Humphrey Facts

Hubert H. Humphrey Facts
Hubert Humphrey was an important American politician and statesman from the state of Minnesota in the mid to late twentieth century. Humphrey held a number of important elected positions during his long career as a public servant, including: Mayor of Minneapolis (1945-148), U.S. Senator from Minnesota (1949-1964 and again from 1971 to 1978), and Vice President of the United States from 1965 to 1969. Humphrey unsuccessfully ran for the office of President of the United States in 1968 as the Democratic Party's nominee against Republican Richard M. Nixon. Although Humphrey never attained the highest office, he had a profound influence on the generation of Democrat politicians who were in office from the 1940s through the 1980s, sometimes referred to as "Humphrey Democrats." Like their namesake, Humphrey Democrats were traditional liberals on domestic racial and social issues, but somewhat conservative in international affairs, supporting the Vietnam War for instance. Humphrey was born Hubert Horatio Humphrey Junior on May 27, 1911 in Wallace, South Dakota to Hubert and Ragnild Humphrey. Humphrey followed in his father's footsteps by working as a pharmacist for a while, but eventually returned to school and earned his MA in political science from Louisiana State University. He married Muriel Buck in 1936 and would have four children with her. They remained married until Humphrey's death.
Interesting Hubert H. Humphrey Facts:
One of Humphrey's strengths as a politician was he public speaking abilities, which he developed while in college.
Humphrey's first major campaign for office had mixed results. He lost the 1943 Minneapolis mayoral race, but did quite well despite little organization or funding. The race gave him experience and allowed him to develop important political connections.
The Farmer-Labor Party was larger than the Democratic Party in Minnesota and the Dakotas during the Depression Era. Humphrey helped merge the Farmer-Labor Party with the Minnesota branch of the Democratic Party, creating the Democrat Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, which is what it is still known as today.
While in the Senate, Humphrey was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
He first ran for the presidency in 1960, but was soundly defeated by John F. Kennedy for the Democrat Party's nomination.
Humphrey developed a political alliance and friendship with Lyndon B. Johnson in the Senate in the 1950s, which led to Johnson naming him as his vice president.
When Humphrey won the Democrat Party's presidential nomination in 1968, he represented the pro-Vietnam War wing of the party, which many experts believe split the vote, helping to elect Nixon.
Humphrey suffered from bladder cancer later in his life. He died on January 13, 1978 in Waverly, Minnesota. His body was placed in state in the Minnesota capitol before being interred at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


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