Hubert Humphrey: The Conscience Of The Country
One of the great liberal politicians of the twentieth century, rediscovered in an important, definitive biography Hubert Humphrey (1911ā1978) was one of the great liberal leaders of postwar American politics, yet because he never made it to the Oval Office he has been largely overlooked by biographers. His career encompassed three wellā āknown high points: the civil rights speech at the 1948 Democratic Convention that risked his political future; his shepherding of the 1964 Civil Rights Act through the Senate; and his nearā āvictory in the 1968 presidential election, one of the angriest and most divisive in the countryās history. Historian Arnold A. Offner has explored vast troves of archival records to recapture Humphreyās life, giving us previously unknown details of the vice presidentās fractious relationship with Lyndon Johnson, showing how Johnson colluded with Richard Nixon to deny Humphrey the presidency, and describing the most neglected aspect of Humphreyās career: his major legislative achievements after returning to the Senate in 1970. This definitive biography rediscovers one of Americaās great political figures.