Humphrey, Hubert Horatio

(1911-1978)

   38th vice president of the United States. Born in South Dakota, Hubert Humphrey attended the University of Minnesota but left before graduating and worked as a pharmacist from 1933 to 1937. He completed his degree in 1939, and after further study at Louisiana State University, he taught at the University of Minnesota. During World War II, Humphrey was state director of public war service and assistant director of the state War Manpower Commission. He also taught political science from 1943 to 1944. Active as a Democrat in state politics, Humphrey helped bring about the merger of the Democratic Party and Farm-Labor Party in Minnesota. From 1945 to 1948, he was mayor of Minneapolis, where he had already begun to establish his liberal credentials. At the Democratic National Convention in 1948 Humphrey urged the adoption of a strong civil rights plank, asking the party to “get out of the shadow of states rights.” In 1948 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and he held his seat until 1964 when he became vice president.

   Humphrey was a liberal but anticommunist. He was one of the founders of Americans for Democratic Action. He also tried unsuccessfully to defeat the Taft-Hartley Act. In 1964, he was chosen by Lyndon Johnson as his vice presidential running mate. Although he initially disagreed with Johnson about Vietnam, Humphrey remained loyal and later supported the escalation of the war. However, when Johnson indicated that he would not seek reelection in 1968, and following the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Humphrey became the Democratic presidential candidate, promising to end the war. He was defeated by Republican Richard M. Nixon. After briefly teaching political science at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota, in 1970 he was reelected to the Senate. He was given the specially created post of deputy president pro tempore of the Senate in 1977 not long before he died of cancer. Humphrey was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1979 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.