Hubert Humphrey: A Personal Story
Many of you have probably never heard of Hubert Humphrey. But he was the 38th Vice President of the United States under Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s and, before that, was a longtime U.S. Senator from Minnesota. He ran against and lost the presidency to Richard Nixon in 1968.
Humphrey was born 110 years ago today.
By today’s incredibly low standards, he was not a bad politician. He became known for his advocacy of liberal causes (such as civil rights, arms control, a nuclear test ban, food stamps and humanitarian foreign aid).
But, Humphrey was also known for his love of television cameras, microphones and long-winded, witty speeches. The reason I bring all of this up is because Humphrey was one of those “coming of age” politicians for me. One where I first learned that all we see on TV is not true.
One funny Humphrey story was when Jim Covington, my mentor in shooting 16mm film at WIS-TV in Columbia, S.C., taught me a trick.
Humphrey, as vice president, was coming into a small South Carolina airport and no other press people were there. Even in those days, the Secret Service wouldn’t let a lone cameraman near the vice president.
So Covington rigged several microphones on stands in Humphrey’s view as he got off the plane. Only one of the microphones, the one connected to our camera, was operative. Sure enough, the bait worked. Humphrey saw the row of microphones and was lured over to have a “press conference.”
Covington got his one-man, exclusive interview with the vice president using that little deception.
Humphrey had a consistently cheerful and upbeat demeanor in public, and his forceful advocacy of liberal causes led him to be nicknamed "The Happy Warrior" by many of his Senate colleagues and political journalists. For a while, as a naïve kid, I actually believed that nickname.
That is until the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, a bizarre week by anyone’s standards. I somehow found myself in a small room with the then presidential nominee. Suddenly, the happy warrior wasn’t so happy anymore.
Humphrey started cursing and letting out a string of expletives that was startling to anyone who had previously bought the “Happy Warrior” image. This South Carolina kid was totally stunned. In that very instant, any notion of truth in politics was over for me. Forever!
Later, while working at NBC, I was assigned to Humphrey’s funeral in Minnesota. All I remember was the 20 degree below zero temperature outside. My beard froze, I had trouble breathing and thought for a few minutes that I would die. I have never been so cold before or since that day.
Then, I remembered Humphrey’s steamy language in the little room in Chicago and could only smile at the grand irony of the moment.
Humphrey, in death, had gotten the last laugh.