Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.

Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples' physical integrity and safety; protection from discrimination on grounds such as physical or mental disability, gender, religion, race, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity; and individual rights such as the freedoms of thought and conscience, speech and expression, religion, the press, and movement.

Political rights include natural justice (procedural fairness) in law, such as the rights of the accused, including the right to a fair trial; due process; the right to seek redress or a legal remedy; and rights of participation in civil society and politics such as freedom of association, the right to assemble, the right to petition, and the right to vote.

Civil and political rights form the original and main part of international human rights. They comprise the first portion of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (with economic, social and cultural rights comprising the second portion). The theory of three generations of human rights considers this group of rights to be "first-generation rights", and the theory of negative and positive rights considers them to be generally negative rights.

The phrase "civil rights" is a translation of Latin ''ius civis'' (rights of citizens). Roman citizens could be either free (''libertas'') or servile (''servitus''), but they all had rights in law. After the Edict of the Milan in 313, these rights included the freedom of religion. Roman legal doctrine was lost during the Middle Ages, but claims of universal rights could still be made based on religious doctrine. According to the leaders of Kett's Rebellion (1549), "all bond men may be made free, for God made all free with his precious blood-shedding."

In the 17th century, English common law judge Sir Edward Coke revived the idea of rights based on citizenship by arguing that Englishman had historically enjoyed such rights The English Bill of Rights was adopted in 1689. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, by George Mason and James Madison, was adopted in 1776. The Virginia declaration is the direct ancestor and model for the U.S. Bill of Rights (1789).

In early 19th century Britain, the phrase "civil rights" most commonly referred to the problem of legal discrimination against Catholics. In the House of Commons support for the British civil rights movement was divided, many more largely known politicians supported the discrimination towards Catholics. Independent MPs (such as Lewis Eves and Matthew Mountford) applied pressure on the larger parties to pass the civil rights act of the 1920s.

In the 1860s, Americans adapted this usage to newly freed blacks. Congress enacted civil rights acts in 1866, 1871, 1875, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1991.

Guarantees of rights

T.H. Marshall Notes that civil rights were among the first to be recognized and codified, followed later by political rights and still later by social rights. In many countries, they are constitutional rights and are included in a bill of rights or similar document. They are also defined in international human rights instruments, such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Civil and political rights need not be codified to be protected, although most democracies worldwide do have formal written guarantees of civil and political rights. Civil rights are often considered to be natural rights. Thomas Jefferson wrote in his 1774 ''A Summary View of the Rights of British America'' that "a free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate."

Custom also plays a role. Implied or unenumerated rights are rights that courts may find to exist even though not expressly guaranteed by written law or custom; one example is the right to privacy in the United States.

The question of to whom civil and political rights apply is a subject of controversy. In many countries, citizens have greater protections against infringement of rights than non-citizens; at the same time, civil and political rights are considered to be universal rights that apply to all persons.

Civil rights movement

When civil and political rights are not guaranteed to all as part of equal protection of laws, or when such guarantees exist on paper but are not respected in practice, opposition and even social unrest may ensue.

The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. The movement had a legal and constitutional aspect, and resulting in much law-making at both national and international levels. It also had an activist side, particularly in situations where violations of rights were widespread. Movements with the proclaimed aim of securing observance of civil and political rights included:

the US civil rights struggle in the 1960s in the southern United States, where rights of black citizens had been violated;

the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, formed in 1967 following failures in this province of the United Kingdom to respect the Catholic minority's rights; and

movements in many Communist countries, such as Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia.

Most civil rights movements relied on the technique of civil resistance, using nonviolent methods of struggle, to achieve their aims. In some countries, struggles for civil rights were accompanied, or followed, by civil unrest and even armed rebellion. While civil rights movements over the last 60 years have resulted in an extension of civil and political rights, the process was long and tenuous in many countries, and many of these movements did not achieve or fully achieve their objectives.

Problems and analysis

Questions about civil and political rights have frequently emerged. For example, to what extent should the government intervene to protect individuals from infringement on their rights by other individuals, or from corporations — e.g., in what way should employment discrimination in the private sector be dealt with?

Political theory deals with civil and political rights. Robert Nozick and John Rawls expressed competing visions in Nozick's ''Anarchy, State, and Utopia'' and Rawls' ''A Theory of Justice''. Other influential authors in the area include Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld and Jean Edward Smith.

See also

Civil death

Civil resistance

Constitutional economics

Flex Your Rights

Justice

Police power

Proactive policing

Public interest

Rule of law

Rule According to Higher Law

References

External links

Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle ~ an online multimedia encyclopedia presented by the King Institute at Stanford University, includes information on over 1000 civil rights movement figures, events and organizations

"CivilRightsTravel.com" ~ a visitors guide to key sites from the civil rights movement

The History Channel: Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights: Beyond Black & White - slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Civil Rights in America: Connections to a Movement

Category:Rights Category:Human rights concepts Category:Identity politics

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{{infobox officeholder| name	Hubert Humphrey
order	38th Vice President of the United States
term start	January 20, 1965
term end	January 20, 1969
president	Lyndon B. Johnson
predecessor	Lyndon B. Johnson
successor	Spiro Agnew
jr/sr3	sen
state3	Minnesota
term start3	January 3, 1971
term end3	January 13, 1978
predecessor3	Eugene McCarthy
successor3	Muriel Humphrey
term start4	January 3, 1949
term end4	December 30, 1964
predecessor4	Joseph H. Ball
successor4	Walter Mondale
office5	1st Deputy President pro tempore of the United States Senate
term start5	1977
term end5	1978
president5	James Eastland
leader5	Robert Byrd
predecessor5	''None''
successor5	George J. Mitchell (1987)
office6	14th United States Senate Majority Whip
term start6	January 3, 1961
term end6	December 30, 1964
leader6	Mike Mansfield
predecessor6	Mike Mansfield
successor6	Russell B. Long
office7	35th Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
term start7	July 2, 1945
term end7	November 30, 1948
predecessor7	Marvin L. Kline
successor7	Eric G. Hoyer
birth date	May 27, 1911
birth place	Wallace, South Dakota
death date	January 13, 1978
death place	Waverly, Minnesota
party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor
spouse	Muriel Buck Humphrey
children	Hubert Humphrey IIINancy Faye Humphrey (1939-2003)Robert HumphreyDouglas Humphrey
residence	Minneapolis, Minnesota
signature	Hubert H Humphrey Signature.svg
Signature alt	Cursive signature in ink
religion	Congregationalism (United Church of Christ)/United Methodist
Alma mater	University of Minnesota, Louisiana State University, and the Capitol College of Pharmacy.

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. (May 27, 1911 January 13, 1978), served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Americans for Democratic Action. He also served as Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1945 to 1949. Humphrey was the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 1968 presidential election but lost to the Republican nominee, Richard Nixon.

Early years

Humphrey was born in a room over his father's drugstore in Wallace, South Dakota. He was the son of Hubert Humphrey, Sr. (1882–1949) and Ragnild Kristine Sannes (1883–1973), who was a Norwegian immigrant. Humphrey spent most of his youth in Doland, South Dakota, on the Dakota prairie; the town's population was about 700 people when he lived there. His father was a pharmacist who served as mayor and a town-council member. In the late 1920s a severe economic downturn hit Doland; both of the town's banks closed and Humphrey's father struggled to keep his drugstore open.

After his son graduated from Doland's high school, Hubert, Sr. left Doland and opened a new drugstore in the larger town of Huron, South Dakota (population 11,000), where he hoped to improve his fortunes. Because of the family's financial struggles, Hubert had to leave the University of Minnesota after just one year to help his father in the new drugstore. He earned a pharmacist's license from the Capitol College of Pharmacy in Denver, Colorado (completing a two-year licensure program in just six months), and spent the years from 1930 to 1937 helping his father run the family drugstore. Over time the "Humphrey Drug Company" in Huron became a profitable enterprise and the family again prospered.

However, Hubert did not enjoy working as a pharmacist, and his dream remained to earn a doctorate in political science and become a college professor. In 1937 he returned to the University of Minnesota and earned a bachelor's degree in 1939. He was a member of Phi Delta Chi Fraternity. He also earned a master's degree from Louisiana State University in 1940, serving as an assistant instructor of political science there. One of his classmates was Russell B. Long, a future U.S. Senator from Louisiana. He then became an instructor and doctoral student at the University of Minnesota from 1940 to 1941 (joining the American Federation of Teachers), and was a supervisor for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Humphrey would soon become active in Minneapolis politics, and as a result he never finished his Ph.D.

Marriage and family

In 1934 Hubert began dating Muriel Buck; she was a bookkeeper and graduate of local Huron College. They were married in 1936 and remained married until Humphrey's death nearly 42 years later. They had four children: Hubert Humphrey III, Nancy, Robert, and Douglas. Unlike many prominent politicians Humphrey never became wealthy, and through most of his years as a U.S. Senator and Vice President, he lived in a modest middle-class housing development in Chevy Chase, Maryland. In 1958, Hubert and Muriel used their savings to build a lakefront home in Waverly, Minnesota, about forty miles west of Minneapolis.

City and state politics (1942–1948)

During World War II, Humphrey tried twice to join the armed forces, but was rejected both times because of a hernia. He instead led various wartime government agencies and worked as a college instructor. In 1942 he was the state director of new production training and reemployment and chief of the Minnesota war service program. In 1943 he was the assistant director of the War Manpower Commission. From 1943-1944 Humphrey was a professor in political science at Macalester College in St. Paul and from 1944-1945 he was a news commentator for a Minneapolis radio station.

In 1943, Humphrey made his first run for elective office, for mayor of Minneapolis. Although he lost, his poorly funded campaign still captured over 47% of the vote. In 1944, Humphrey was one of the key players in the merger of the Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties of Minnesota to form the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). When in 1945 Minnesota Communists tried to seize control of the new party, Humphrey became an engaged anti-Communist and led the successful fight to oust the Communists from the DFL.

Humphrey's political outlook began to change after the war:

Humphrey was a Willkie Republican in 1940, but during the postwar mop-up, when old American radicals were kicked out of a newly war-enamored Left, Humphrey busily extirpated Bryanism from the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party so that the populist FL might merge with the Trumanite hawks of the Democratic Party. “A Republican less than five years earlier,” [political scientist Jeff] Taylor notes of HHH in 1947, “he was now reading lifelong Farmer-Laborites out of the party.” The Humphrey fusionists vanquished “the traditional agrarian populists within the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party.”

After the war, he again ran for mayor of Minneapolis and won the election with 61% of the vote. He served as mayor from 1945 to 1949. He was re-elected in 1947 by the largest margin in the city's history to that time. Humphrey gained national fame during these years by becoming one of the founders of the liberal anticommunist Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and for reforming the Minneapolis police force. The city had been named the "anti-Semitism capital" of the country, and the small African-American population of the city also faced discrimination. Humphrey's tenure as mayor is noted for his efforts to fight all forms of bigotry.

The 1948 Democratic National Convention

The national Democratic Party of 1948 was split between liberals, who thought the federal government should actively protect civil rights for racial minorities, and southern conservatives, who believed that states should be able to enforce racial segregation and infringe on the rights of non-white citizens.

At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, the party platform reflected this division and contained only platitudes in favor of civil rights. The incumbent president, Harry S Truman, had already issued a detailed 10-point ''Civil Rights Program'' that called for aggressive federal action on the issue of civil rights. He, however, supported the party establishment's platform that was a replication of the 1944 Democratic National Convention plank on civil rights.

A diverse coalition opposed this tepid platform, including anti-communist liberals like Humphrey, Paul Douglas and John Shelley, all of whom would later become known as leading progressives in the Democratic Party. These liberals proposed adding a "minority plank" to the party platform that would commit the Democratic Party to a more aggressive opposition to racial segregation. The minority plank called for federal legislation against lynching, an end to legalized school segregation in the South, and ending job discrimination based on skin color. Also strongly backing the liberal civil rights plank were Democratic urban bosses like Ed Flynn of the Bronx, who promised the votes of northeastern delegates to Humphrey's platform, Jacob Arvey of Chicago, and David Lawrence of Pittsburgh. Although viewed as being conservatives, these urban bosses believed that Northern Democrats could gain many black votes by supporting civil rights, and that losses among anti-civil rights Southern Democrats would be relatively small. Though many scholars have suggested that labor unions were leading figures in this coalition, no significant labor leaders attended the convention, with the exception of the heads of the Congress of Industrial Organizations Political Action Committee (CIOPAC), Jack Kroll and A.F. Whitney.

Despite aggressive pressure by Truman's aides to avoid forcing the issue on the Convention floor, Humphrey chose to speak on behalf of the minority plank. In a renowned speech, Humphrey passionately told the Convention, "To those who say, my friends, to those who say, that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years (too) late! To those who say, this civil rights program is an infringement on states' rights, I say this: the time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!" Humphrey and his allies succeeded; the pro-civil-rights plank was narrowly adopted.

As a result of the Convention's vote, the Mississippi and one half of the Alabama delegation walked out of the hall. Many Southern Democrats were so enraged at this affront to their "way of life" that they formed the Dixiecrat party and nominated their own presidential candidate, Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. The goal of the Dixiecrats was to take Southern states away from Truman and thus cause his defeat. The Southern Democrats reasoned that after such a defeat the national Democratic Party would never again aggressively pursue a pro-civil rights agenda. However, the move backfired. Although the strong civil rights plank adopted at the Convention cost Truman the support of the Dixiecrats, it gained him many votes from blacks, especially in large northern cities. As a result Truman won a stunning upset victory over his Republican opponent, Thomas E. Dewey. Truman's victory demonstrated that the Democratic Party could win presidential elections without the "Solid South", and thus weakened Southern Democrats instead of strengthening their position. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough has written that Humphrey probably did more to get Truman elected in 1948 than anyone other than Truman himself.

The Happy Warrior (1948–1964)

Minnesota elected Humphrey to the United States Senate in 1948 on the DFL ticket, unseating incumbent Republican Joseph H. Ball with 60% of the vote, and he took office on January 3, 1949. He was the first Democrat elected senator from the state of Minnesota since before the Civil War. Humphrey's father died that year, and Humphrey stopped using the "Jr." suffix on his name. He was re-elected in 1954 and 1960. His colleagues selected him as majority whip in 1961, a position he held until he left the Senate on December 29, 1964 to assume the vice presidency. During this period, he served in the 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, and a portion of the 88th Congress. Initially, Humphrey's support of civil rights led to his being ostracized by Southern Democrats, who dominated most of the Senate leadership positions and who wanted to punish Humphrey for proposing the successful civil rights platform at the 1948 Convention. However, Humphrey refused to be intimidated and stood his ground; his integrity, passion and eloquence eventually earned him the respect of even most of the Southerners. His acceptance by the Southerners was also helped a great deal when Humphrey became a protege of Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. Humphrey became known for his advocacy of liberal causes (such as civil rights, arms control, a nuclear test ban, food stamps, and humanitarian foreign aid), and for his long and witty speeches. During the period of McCarthyism (1950–1954), Humphrey was accused of being "soft on Communism," despite having been one of the founders of the anti-communist liberal organization Americans for Democratic Action, having been a staunch supporter of the Truman Administration's efforts to combat the growth of the Soviet Union, and having fought Communist political activities in Minnesota and elsewhere. In addition, Humphrey "was a sponsor of the clause in the McCarran Act of 1950 threatening concentration camps for 'subversives,'" and in 1954 proposed to make mere membership in the Communist Party a felony — a proposal that failed. He was chairman of the Select Committee on Disarmament (84th and 85th Congresses). Although "Humphrey was an enthusiastic supporter of every U.S. war from 1938 to 1978," in February, 1960, he introduced a bill to establish a National Peace Agency. As Democratic whip in the Senate in 1964, Humphrey was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of that year. Humphrey's consistently cheerful and upbeat demeanor, and his forceful advocacy of liberal causes, led him to be nicknamed "The Happy Warrior" by many of his Senate colleagues and political journalists.

While President John F. Kennedy gets credit for creating the Peace Corps, the first initiative came from Humphrey when he introduced the first bill to create the Peace Corps in 1957—three years prior to JFK and his University of Michigan speech. In his autobiography, ''The Education of a Public Man'', Humphrey wrote:

:"There were three bills of particular emotional importance to me: the Peace Corps, a disarmament agency, and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The President, knowing how I felt, asked me to introduce legislation for all three. I introduced the first Peace Corps bill in 1957. It did not meet with much enthusiasm. Some traditional diplomats quaked at the thought of thousands of young Americans scattered across their world. Many senators, including liberal ones, thought the idea was silly and unworkable. Now, with a young president urging its passage, it became possible and we pushed it rapidly through the Senate. It is fashionable now to suggest that Peace Corps Volunteers gained as much or more, from their experience as the countries they worked. That may be true, but it ought not demean their work. They touched many lives and made them better."

Presidential and Vice-Presidential ambitions (1952–1964)

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; the second time was in 1960. In between these two presidential bids, Senator Humphrey was part of the free-for-all for the vice-presidential nomination at the 1956 Democratic National Convention, where he received 134 votes on the first ballot and 74 on the second.

In 1960, Humphrey ran again for the Democratic presidential nomination against fellow Senator John F. Kennedy in the primaries. Their first meeting was in the Wisconsin Primary, where Kennedy's well-organized and well-funded campaign defeated Humphrey's energetic but poorly funded effort. Kennedy's attractive brothers, sisters, and wife combed the state looking for votes. At one point Humphrey memorably complained that he "felt like an independent merchant running against a chain store." Kennedy won the Wisconsin primary, but by a smaller margin than anticipated; some commentators argued that Kennedy's victory margin had come almost entirely from areas that were heavily Roman Catholic, and that Protestants actually supported Humphrey. As a result, Humphrey refused to quit the race and decided to run against Kennedy again in the West Virginia primary. Humphrey calculated that his midwestern populist roots and Protestant religion (he was a Congregationalist) would appeal to the state's disenfranchised voters more than the Ivy League and Catholic millionaire's son, Kennedy. But Kennedy led comfortably until the issue turned to religion. When he asked an adviser why he was losing ground in the polls compared to his earlier performance, the adviser explained "no one knew you were a Catholic then."

Kennedy chose to meet the religion issue head-on. In radio broadcasts, he carefully repositioned the issue from one of Catholic versus Protestant to tolerance versus intolerance. Kennedy's appeal placed Humphrey, who had championed tolerance his entire career, on the defensive, and Kennedy attacked him with a vengeance. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., the son of the former President, stumped for Kennedy in West Virginia and raised the issue of Humphrey's failure to serve in the armed forces in World War II (though in fact Humphrey had tried to enlist). Humphrey, who was short on funds, could not match the well-financed Kennedy operation. Humphrey traveled around the state in a cold rented bus, while Kennedy and his staff flew around West Virginia in a large, modern, family-owned airplane. There were accusations (both by Humphrey and numerous historians) that the Kennedys "bought" the West Virginia primary by paying bribes to county sheriffs and other local officials to give Kennedy the vote; however, these accusations were never proven. 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 West Virginia primary, Kennedy was able to overcome the belief that Protestant voters would not elect a Catholic candidate to the Presidency and thus sewed up the Democratic nomination for President.

Humphrey did win the South Dakota and District of Columbia primaries, which JFK did not enter. At the 1960 Democratic Convention he received 41 votes even though he was no longer an active presidential candidate.

Humphrey's defeat in 1960 had a profound influence on his thinking; after the primaries he told friends that, as a relatively poor man in politics, he was unlikely to ever become President unless he served as Vice-President first. Humphrey believed that only in this way could he raise the funds and nationwide organization and visibility he would need to win the Democratic nomination. As such, as the 1964 presidential campaign began Humphrey made clear his interest in becoming President Lyndon Johnson's running mate. At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Johnson kept the three likely vice presidential candidates, Connecticut Senator Thomas Dodd, fellow Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy, and Humphrey, as well as the rest of the nation in suspense before announcing Humphrey as his running-mate with much fanfare, praising Humphrey's qualifications for a considerable amount of time before announcing his name.

The following day Humphrey's acceptance speech overshadowed Johnson's own acceptance address:

Hubert warmed up with a long tribute to the President, then hit his stride as he began a rhythmic jabbing and chopping at Barry Goldwater. "Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate voted for an $11.5 billion tax cut for American citizens and American business," he cried, "but not Senator Goldwater. Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate — in fact four-fifths of the members of his own party — voted for the Civil Rights Act, but not Senator Goldwater."

Time after time, he capped his indictments with the drumbeat cry: "But not Senator Goldwater!" The delegates caught the cadence and took up the chant. A quizzical smile spread across Humphrey's face, then turned to a laugh of triumph. Hubert was in fine form. He knew it. The delegates knew it. And no one could deny that Hubert Humphrey would be a formidable political antagonist in the weeks ahead.

In 1964, the Johnson/Humphrey ticket won overwhelmingly, garnering 486 electoral votes out of 538. Only five Southern states and Goldwater's home state of Arizona supported the Republican ticket.

The Vice Presidency (1965-1969)

Humphrey took office on January 20, 1965. As Vice President, Humphrey was controversial for his complete and vocal loyalty to Johnson and the policies of the Johnson Administration, even as many of Humphrey's liberal admirers opposed Johnson with increasing fervor with respect to Johnson's policies during the war in Vietnam. Many of Humphrey's liberal friends and allies over the years abandoned him because of his refusal to publicly criticize Johnson's Vietnam War policies. Humphrey's critics later learned that Johnson had threatened Humphrey — Johnson told Humphrey that if he publicly opposed his Administration's Vietnam War policy, he would destroy Humphrey's chances to become President by opposing his nomination at the next Democratic Convention. However, Humphrey's critics were vocal and persistent: even his nickname, the Happy Warrior, was used against him. The nickname referred not to his military hawkishness but rather to his crusading for social welfare and civil rights programs.

While he was Vice President, Hubert Humphrey was the subject of a satirical song by songwriter/musician Tom Lehrer entitled "Whatever Became of Hubert?" The song addressed how some liberals and progressives felt let down by Humphrey, who had become a much more mute figure as Vice President than he had been as a senator. The song goes ''"Whatever became of Hubert? Has anyone heard a thing? Once he shone on his own, now he sits home alone and waits for the phone to ring. Once a fiery liberal spirit, ah, but now when he speaks he must clear it. ..." ''

During these years Humphrey was a repeated and favorite guest of Johnny Carson on ''The Tonight Show''. He also struck up a friendship with Frank Sinatra that would endure Sinatra's early 1970s conversion to the Republican party and was perhaps most on notice in the fall of 1977 when Sinatra was the star attraction and host of a tribute to a then-ailing Humphrey. He also appeared on a ''Dean Martin Celebrity Roast'' in 1973.

The 1968 Presidential election

As 1968 began, it looked as if President Johnson, despite the rapidly decreasing approval rating of his Vietnam War policies, would easily win the Democratic nomination for a second time. Humphrey indicated to Johnson that he would like to be his running mate again. However, in the New Hampshire primary Johnson was nearly defeated by McCarthy, who challenged Johnson on an anti-war platform, but had not expected to become an actual contender for the Democratic nomination. A few days later, Senator Robert Kennedy of New York also entered the race on an anti-war platform. On March 31, 1968, a week before the Wisconsin primary, where the polls predicted a loss to McCarthy, President Lyndon B. Johnson stunned the nation by withdrawing from his race for a second full term.

Following this announcement, Humphrey quickly re-evaluated his position, and announced his presidential candidacy in late April 1968. Many people saw Humphrey as Johnson's stand-in; he won major backing from the nation's labor unions and other Democratic groups that were troubled by young antiwar protesters and the social unrest around the nation. Humphrey avoided the primaries (and/or was too late to enter them) and concentrated on winning delegates in non-primary states; by June he was seen as the clear front-runner for the nomination. However, following a key victory over McCarthy in the California primary, it appeared that Kennedy could win the nomination. But the nation was shocked yet again when Senator Kennedy was assassinated the night of his victory speech in California.

Humphrey and his running mate, Ed Muskie, went on to easily win the Democratic nomination at the party convention in Chicago, Illinois. Unfortunately for Humphrey and his campaign, outside the convention hall there were riots and protests by thousands of antiwar demonstrators, many of whom favored McCarthy, George McGovern, or other "anti-war" candidates. These protesters—most of them young college students—were attacked and beaten on live television by Chicago police, which merely amplified the growing feelings of unrest in the general public. Humphrey's inaction during the riots, as well as public backlash from securing the presidential nomination without entering a single primary, highlighted turmoil in the Democratic party's base that proved to be too much for Humphrey to overcome in time for the general election. The combination of the unpopularity of Johnson, the Chicago riots, and the discouragement of liberals and African-Americans when both Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated during the election year, were all contributing factors that caused him to eventually lose the election to former Vice President Nixon. Although he lost the election by less than 1% of the popular vote, (43.4% for Nixon (31,783,783 votes) to 42.7% (31,271,839 votes) for Humphrey, with 13.5% (9,901,118 votes) for George Wallace), Humphrey only carried 13 states with 191 electoral college votes. Richard Nixon carried 32 states and 301 electoral votes, and Wallace carried 5 states in the South and 46 electoral votes (270 were needed to win). He said: "I have done my best. I have lost, Mr. Nixon has won. The democratic process has worked its will."

Thirty percent of Humphrey’s campaign funding was raised from contributions of $500 or less, compared to 85 percent of George Wallace’s funding.

Post-Vice Presidency (1969–1978)

Teaching and return to the Senate

After leaving the Vice-Presidency, Humphrey used his talents by teaching at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota, and by serving as chairman of board of consultants at the Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation.

Initially he had not planned to return to political life, but an unexpected opportunity changed his mind. McCarthy, who was up for re-election in 1970, realized that he had only a slim chance of winning even re-nomination (he had angered his party by opposing Johnson and Humphrey for the 1968 presidential nomination) and declined to run. Humphrey won the nomination, defeated Republican Congressman Clark MacGregor, and returned to the U.S. Senate on January 3, 1971. He was re-elected in 1976, and remained in office until his death. In a rarity in politics, Humphrey served as a Senator by holding both seats in his state (Class I and Class II). This time he served in the 92nd, 93rd, 94th, and a portion of the 95th Congress.

In 1972, Humphrey once again ran for the Democratic nomination for president. He drew upon continuing support from organized labor and the African-American and Jewish communities, but remained unpopular with college students because of his association with the Vietnam War, even though he had altered his position in the years since his 1968 defeat. Humphrey initially planned to skip the primaries, as he had in 1968. Even after he revised this strategy he still stayed out of New Hampshire, a decision that allowed McGovern to emerge as the leading challenger to Muskie in that state. Humphrey did win some primaries, including those in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, but was defeated by McGovern in several others, including the crucial California primary. Humphrey also was out-organized by McGovern in caucus states and was trailing in delegates at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida. His hopes rested on challenges to the credentials of some of the McGovern delegates. For example, the Humphrey forces argued that the winner-take-all rule for the California primary violated procedural reforms intended to produce a better reflection of the popular vote, the reason that the Illinois delegation was bounced. The effort failed, as several votes on delegate credentials went McGovern's way, guaranteeing his victory.

Humphrey also briefly considered mounting a campaign for the Democratic nomination from the Convention once again in 1976, when the primaries seemed likely to result in a deadlock, but ultimately decided against it. At the conclusion of the Democratic primary process that year, even with Jimmy Carter having the requisite number of delegates needed to secure his nomination, many still wanted Humphrey to announce his availability for a draft. However, he did not do so, and Carter easily secured the nomination on the first round of balloting. What wasn't known to the general public was that Humphrey already knew he had terminal cancer.

Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate (1976–1978)

In 1974, along with Rep. Augustus Hawkins of California, Humphrey authored the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, the first attempt at full employment legislation. The original bill proposed to guarantee full employment to all citizens over 16 and set up a permanent system of public jobs to meet that goal. A watered-down version called the ''Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act'' passed the House and Senate in 1978. It set the goal of 4 percent unemployment and 3 percent inflation and instructed the Federal Reserve Board to try to produce those goals when making policy decisions.

Humphrey ran for Majority Leader after the 1976 election but lost to Robert Byrd of West Virginia. The Senate honored Humphrey by creating the post of Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate for him. On August 16, 1977, Humphrey revealed he was suffering from terminal bladder cancer. On October 25, 1977, he addressed the Senate, and on November 3, 1977, Humphrey became the first person other than a member of the House or the president to address the House of Representatives in session. President Carter honored him by giving him command of ''Air Force One'' for his final trip to Washington on October 23. One of Humphrey's speeches contained the lines "It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped," which is sometimes described as the "liberals' mantra."

Death and funeral

Humphrey spent his last weeks calling old political acquaintances. One call was to Richard Nixon inviting him to his upcoming funeral. Nixon accepted the invitation. Living in the hospital, Humphrey went from room to room, cheering up other patients with a joke and listening to them.

He died on January 13, 1978 of bladder cancer at his home in Waverly, Minnesota. His body lay in state in the rotunda of both the United States Capitol and the Minnesota State Capitol, and was interred in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. Old friends and opponents of Humphrey, from Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon to President Carter and Vice-President Walter Mondale paid their final respects. "He taught us how to live, and finally he taught us how to die", said Mondale.

His wife, Muriel Humphrey, was appointed by Minnesota's governor Rudy Perpich to serve in the US Senate until a special election to fill the term was held. She did not seek election to finish her husband's term in office.

Muriel Humphrey remarried in 1981 (to Max Brown) and took the name Muriel Humphrey Brown. She died in 1998 at the age of 86 and is interred next to Hubert Humphrey.

Honors

{{external media | image1 = HHH Statue, link from the panoramio web site. }} In 1965, Humphrey was made an ''Honorary Life Member'' of Alpha Phi Alpha, a historically African American fraternity.

He was awarded posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal on June 13, 1979 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.

He was honored by the United States Postal Service with a 52¢ Great Americans series (1980–2000) postage stamp.

There is a slightly under-sized statue of him in front of the Minneapolis City Hall.

Named for Humphrey

Fellowship

The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, which fosters an exchange of knowledge and mutual understanding throughout the world.

Buildings and institutions

The Hubert H. Humphrey Terminal at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome domed stadium in Minneapolis and home to the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League

The Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul, Minn.

The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and its building, the Hubert H. Humphrey Center (formerly Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs; changed in January 2011)

The Hubert H. Humphrey Building of the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Bridge carrying FL S.R. 520 over the Indian River Lagoon between Cocoa and Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida

The Hubert H. Humphrey Middle School in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in Los Angeles, CA.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Recreation Center of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks in Pacoima, CA.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Auditorium at Doland High School in Doland, South Dakota.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Hubert H. Humphrey Elementary School in Waverly, Minnesota

The Hubert H. Humphrey Cancer Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota

Electoral history

The Hubert H. Humphrey Building - Washington,DC: The headquarters building of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

See also

Politics of Minnesota

United States congressional delegations from Minnesota

Humphrey's son and grandson are also Minnesotan politicians.

Notes

References

Berman, Edgar . ''Hubert: The Triumph And Tragedy Of The Humphrey I Knew''. New York, N.Y. : G.P. Putnam's & Sons, 1979. A physician's personal account of his friendship with Humphrey from 1957 until his death in 1978.

Cohen, Dan. ''Undefeated: The Life of Hubert H. Humphrey''. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1978.

Garrettson, Charles L. III. ''Hubert H. Humphrey: The Politics of Joy''. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993.

Humphrey, Hubert H. ''The Education of a Public Man: My Life and Politics''. Garden City, N. Y. : Doubleday, 1976.

Mann, Robert. ''The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights''. New York, N.Y. : Harcourt Brace, 1996.

Solberg, Carl. ''Hubert Humphrey: A Biography''. New York : Norton, 1984.

Taylor, Jeff. ''Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy''. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2006.

Thurber, Timothy N. ''The Politics of Equality: Hubert H. Humphrey and the African American Freedom Struggle.'' Columbia University Press, 1999. Pp. 352.

External links

University of Texas biography

Hubert H.Humphrey Papers are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Complete text and audio of Humphrey's 1948 speech at the Democratic National Convention - from AmericanRhetoric.com

Complete text and audio of Humphrey's 1964 speech at the Democratic National Convention - from AmericanRhetoric.com

Account of 1948 Presidential campaign - includes text of Humphrey's speech at the Democratic National Convention

Oral History Interviews with Hubert H. Humphrey, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library

Information on Humphrey's thought and influence, including quotations from his speeches and writings.

Hubert H. Humphrety at the Macedonian Baptist Church, San Francisco, May 23, 1972 Photographs by Bruce Jackson of Humphrey on his last campaign.

Radio airchecks/recordings of Hubert H. Humphrey from 1946-1978 including interviews, radio appearances, newscasts, etc.

|-

Category:1911 births Category:1978 deaths Category:American anti-communists Category:American Congregationalists Category:American Federation of Teachers Category:American pharmacists Category:American people of the Vietnam War Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:Cancer deaths in Minnesota Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Cooperative organisers Category:Deaths from bladder cancer Category:Democratic Party United States Senators Category:Democratic Party Vice Presidents of the United States Category:Democratic Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Category:Louisiana State University alumni Category:People from Codington County, South Dakota Category:Mayors of Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:Minnesota Democrats Category:People from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:United Church of Christ members Category:United States presidential candidates, 1952 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1960 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1964 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1968 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1972 Category:United States presidential candidates, 1976 Category:United States Senators from Minnesota Category:United States vice-presidential candidates, 1956 Category:United States vice-presidential candidates, 1964 Category:University of Minnesota alumni Category:Vice Presidents of the United States

an:Hubert Humphrey bcl:Hubert Humphrey ca:Hubert Humphrey cs:Hubert Humphrey da:Hubert Humphrey de:Hubert H. Humphrey dv:Hubert Humphrey et:Hubert Humphrey es:Hubert Humphrey fr:Hubert Humphrey ko:휴버트 호레이쇼 험프리 id:Hubert H. Humphrey it:Hubert Humphrey he:יוברט האמפרי ka:ჰუბერტ ჰამფრი la:Hubertus Horatius Humphrey hu:Hubert Humphrey mr:ह्युबर्ट एच. हम्फ्री nl:Hubert Humphrey ja:ヒューバート・H・ハンフリー no:Hubert Humphrey pl:Hubert Humphrey pt:Hubert Humphrey ru:Хамфри, Хьюберт Хорейшо simple:Hubert Humphrey fi:Hubert Humphrey sv:Hubert Humphrey tr:Hubert Humphrey war:Hubert Humphrey yo:Hubert Humphrey zh:休伯特·汉弗莱

name	Dick Gregory
birth date	October 12, 1932
birth place	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
medium	Stand-up, film, books
nationality	American
active	1953–present
genre	Satire/Political satire, Observational comedy
subject	American civil rights, American politics, American culture, African-American culture, racism, race relations, vegetarianism, healthy diet
influences	Mort Sahl
influenced	Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Nichols and May, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock
spouse	Lillian Gregory (1959–present) 10 children
notable work	''In Living Black and White ''''nigger: An Autobiography'' ''Write Me In!''
website	www.dickgregory.com
footnotes	}}

Richard Claxton "Dick" Gregory (born October 12, 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American comedian, social activist, social critic, writer, and entrepreneur.

Gregory is an influential American comic who has used his performance skills to convey to both white and black audiences his political message on civil rights. His social satire changed the way white Americans perceived African American comedians since he first performed in public.

Influenced to stand up for civil rights by his early surroundings of poverty and violence, Gregory was one of the first comedians to successfully perform for both black and white audiences .

Early life

As a poor student who excelled at running, Gregory was aided by teachers at Sumner High School such as Warren St. James. He earned a track scholarship to Southern Illinois University Carbondale. There he set school records as a half-miler and miler. His college career was interrupted for two years in 1954 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. The army was where he got his start in comedy, entering and winning several Army talent shows at the urging of his commanding officer, who had taken notice of Gregory's penchant for joking. In 1956, Gregory briefly returned to the university after his discharge, but left without a degree because he felt that the university "''didn't want me to study, they wanted me to run''".

In the hopes of performing comedy professionally, he moved to Chicago, where he became part of a new generation of black comedians that included Nipsey Russell, Bill Cosby, and Godfrey Cambridge. These comedians broke with the minstrel tradition, which presented stereotypical black characters. Gregory drew on current events, especially the racial issues, for much of his material: "Segregation is not all bad. Have you ever heard of a collision where the people in the back the bus got fucked?".

Career

After completing military service, he performed as a comedian in small, primarily black nightclubs while working for the United States Postal Service during the daytime. In 1961, while working at the Black-owned Roberts Show Bar in Chicago, he was hired by Hugh Hefner to work at the Chicago Playboy Club after Hefner heard him perform the following material before a largely white audience:

:''Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night.''

:''Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, "We don't serve colored people here." I said, "That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken."''

:''Then these three white boys came up to me and said, "Boy, we're giving you fair warning'. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you". So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, "Line up, boys!"''.

This routine caused a direct request from publisher Hugh Hefner and he was booked as a replacement for the white comedian Professor Irwin Corey. Until then Gregory had worked mostly at small clubs with predominantly black audiences.

Dick Gregory's first TV appearance was on the late night Jack Paar Show. He soon began appearing nationally and on television.

Post career

He is number 82 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Standups of all time and has his own star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. There is a grassroots effort afoot to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, spearheaded by Radio One host Joe Madison.

Gregory is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Gregory was a former co-host with radio personality Cathy Hughes, and is still a frequent morning guest, on WOL 1450 AM talk radio's "The Power", the flagship station of Hughes' Radio One. He also appears regularly on the nationally syndicated ''Imus in the Morning'' program.

Gregory appears as "Mr. Sun" on the television show ''Wonder Showzen'' (the third episode, titled "Ocean", aired in 2005). As Chauncey, a puppet character, imbibes a hallucinogenic substance, Mr. Sun warns, "Don't get hooked on imagination, Chauncey. It can lead to terrible, horrible things." Gregory also provides guest commentary on the ''Wonder Showzen'' Season One DVD. Large segments of his commentary were intentionally bleeped out, including the names of several dairy companies, as he made potentially slanderous remarks concerning ill effects that the consumption of cow milk has on human beings.

Gregory attended and spoke at the funeral of James Brown on December 30, 2006, in Augusta, Georgia.

Dick Gregory is occasionally a guest on the Mark Thompson's "Make It Plain" Sirius Channel 146 Radio Show from 3pm to 6pm PST.

Mr. Gregory appeared on The Alex Jones Show on September 14, 2010.

Personal life

Gregory met his wife Lillian at an African-American club; they married in 1959. They have ten children total, including one child who died at birth: Michele, Lynne, Pamela, Paula, Stephanie (aka Xenobia), Gregory, Christian, Miss, Ayanna and Yohance. In 1973 the Gregory family moved to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where he developed an interest in vegetarianism.

Activism

Political activism

Active in the civil rights movement, on October 7, 1963, he came to Selma, Alabama and spoke for two hours on a public platform two days before the voter registration drive known as "Freedom Day" (October 7, 1963).

In 1964, he became more involved in struggles for civil rights, activism against the Vietnam War, economic reform, anti-drug issues, conspiracy theories, and others. As a part of his activism, he went on several hunger strikes.

Gregory began his political career by running against Richard J. Daley for the mayoralty of Chicago in 1967. Though he did not emerge victorious, this would not prove to be the end of Dick Gregory's dalliances with electoral politics.

Gregory unsuccessfully ran for President of the United States in 1968 as a write-in candidate of the Freedom and Peace Party, which had broken off from the Peace and Freedom Party. He won 47,097 votes (including one from Hunter S. Thompson) with fellow activist Mark Lane as his running mate in some states, David Frost in others, and Dr. Benjamin Spock in Virginia and Pennsylvania garnering more than the party he had left. The Freedom and Peace Party also ran other candidates, including Beulah Sanders for New York State Senate and Flora Brown for New York State Assembly. His efforts landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents.

He then wrote the book ''Write Me In'' about his presidential campaign. One interesting anecdote in the book related the story of a publicity stunt which came out of Operation Breadbasket in Chicago where the campaign had printed $1 bills with Gregory's image on them. Some of these bills made it into circulation in cash transactions causing considerable problems, but priceless publicity.

The majority of these bills were quickly seized by the federal government. A large contributing factor to the seizure came from the bills resembling authentic US currency enough that they worked in many dollar cashing machines of the time. Gregory avoided being charged with a federal crime, later joking that the bills couldn’t really be considered US currency because "everyone knows a black man will never be on a US bill."

Shortly after this time Gregory became an outspoken critic of the Warren Commission findings that President JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. On March 6, 1975 Mr. Gregory and assassination researcher Robert Groden appeared on Geraldo Rivera's late night ABC talk show Goodnight America. An important historical event happened that night when the famous Zapruder film of JFK's assassination was shown to the public on TV for the first time in history. The public's response and outrage to that showing led to the forming of the Hart-Schweiker investigation, which contributed to the Church Committee Investigation on Intelligence Activities by the United States, which resulted in the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation.

Gregory was an outspoken feminist activist, and in 1978 he joined Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, Margaret Heckler, Barbara Mikulski, and original suffragists to lead the ''National ERA March for Ratification and Extension'', a march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol of over 100,000 on Women's Equality Day (August 26), 1978 to demonstrate for a ratification deadline extension for the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution, and for the ratification of the ERA. The march was ultimately successful in extending the deadline to June 30, 1982, and Gregory joined other activists the Senate for celebration and victory speeches by pro-ERA Senators, Congressmen, Congresswomen, and activists. The ERA still narrowly failed to be ratified by the extended ratification date, however, but the Women's Movement was largely successful in securing gender equality in the laws and society.

On July 21, 1979, Gregory appeared at the Amandla Festival where Bob Marley, Patti LaBelle and Eddie Palmieri, amongst others, had performed. Gregory held a speech before Marley's performance, blaming President Carter, and showing his support for the international Anti-Apartheid movements. Gregory and Mark Lane did landmark research into the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which helped move the U.S. House Assassinations Committee to investigate the murder, along with that of John F. Kennedy. Lane was author of conspiracy theory books such as ''Rush to Judgment''. The pair wrote the MLK conspiracy book ''Code Name Zorro'', which postulated that convicted assassin James Earl Ray did not act alone. Gregory has also argued that the moon landing was faked and the commonly accepted account of the 9/11 attacks is wrong, among other conspiracy theories.

Gregory was an outspoken activist during the US Embassy Hostage Crisis in Iran. In 1980 he traveled to Tehran to attempt to negotiate the hostages' release and engaged in a public hunger strike there, weighing less than 100 pounds (45 kg) when he returned to the United States.

In 1998 Gregory spoke at the celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Clinton was in attendance. Not long after that, the President told Gregory’s long-time friend and P.R. Consultant, Steve Jaffe, “I love Dick Gregory, he is one of the funniest people on the planet.” They spoke of how Gregory had made a comment on Dr. King’s birthday that broke everyone into laughter, when he noted that the President made Speaker Newt Gingrich ride “in the back of the plane,” on an Air Force One trip overseas.

According to a June 2000 JET Magazine interview, Gregory stated that he was diagnosed with lymphoma in late 1999. Gregory reported that he was treating the cancer with herbs, vitamins and exercise which he believes has kept the cancer in remission.

Since the late 1980s, Gregory has been a figure in the health food industry by advocating for a raw fruit and vegetable diet. Gregory first became a vegetarian in the 1960s, and has lost a considerable amount of weight by going on extreme fasts, some lasting upwards of 50 days. He developed a diet drink called "Bahamian Diet Nutritional Drink" and went on TV shows advocating for his diet and to help the morbidly obese. He is probably best remembered for his attempts, chronicled in the media on daytime talk shows in early 1988, at helping 1,200 pound (540 kg) Long Island man Walter Hudson drop nearly 600 pounds (270 kg) in only a few months on a liquid diet.

At a Civil Rights rally marking the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Gregory criticized the United States, calling it "the most dishonest, ungodly, unspiritual nation that ever existed in the history of the planet. As we talk now, America is 5 percent of the world's population and consumes 96 percent of the world's hard drugs".

Gregory announced a hunger strike on Sept. 10, 2010, saying in a commentary published by the Centre for Research on Globalisation in Montreal that he doubted the official U.S. report about the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. "One thing I know is that the official government story of those events, as well as what took place that day at the Pentagon, is just that, a story. This story is not the truth, but far from it. I was born on October 12, 1932. I am announcing today that I will be consuming only liquids beginning Sunday until my eightieth birthday in 2012 and until the real truth of what truly happened on that day emerges and is publicly known."

Charity work

In 1984 he founded Health Enterprises, Inc., a company that distributed weight loss products. In 1985 Gregory introduced the "Slim-Safe Bahamian Diet", a powdered diet mix. Economic losses caused in part by conflicts with his business partners led to his eviction from his home in 1992. Gregory remained active, however, and in 1996 returned to the stage in his critically acclaimed one-man show, "Dick Gregory Live!"

Albums

''In Living Black and White'' (1961)

''East & West'' (1961)

''Dick Gregory Talks Turkey'' (1962)

''The Two Sides of Dick Gregory'' (1963)

''Dick Gregory Running for President'' (1964)

''So You See... We All Have Problems'' (1964)

''Dick Gregory On:'' (1969)

''The Light Side: The Dark Side'' (1969)

''Dick Gregory's Frankenstein'' (1970)

''Live at the Village Gate'' (1970)

''At Kent State'' (1971)

''Caught in the Act'' (1974)

''The Best of Dick Gregory'' (1997)

Books

''nigger: an autobiography'', by Dick Gregory with Robert Lipsyte, Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster), 1964. (one account says 1963) ISBN 0-671-62611-6

''Write me in!'', Bantam, 1968.

''From the Back of the Bus''

''What's Happening?''

''The Shadow that Scares Me''

''Dick Gregory's Bible Tales, with Commentary'', a book of Bible-based humor. ISBN 0-8128-6194-9

''Dick Gregory's Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin' With Mother Nature!'' ISBN 0-06-080315-0

(with Shelia P. Moses), ''Callus on My Soul : A Memoir'' ISBN 0-7582-0202-4

''Up from Nigger''

''No More Lies; The Myth and the Reality of American History''

''Dick Gregory's political primer''

(with Mark Lane), ''Murder in Memphis: The FBI and the Assassination of Martin Luther King''

(with Mel Watkins), ''African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today (Library of Black America)''

Robert Lee Green, ''Dick Gregory, daring Black leader''

''African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today'' (editor) ISBN 1-55652-430-7

Filmography

"One Bright Shining Moment" (2006)

''The Hot Chick'' (2002)

''Children of the Struggle'' (1999)

''Panther'' (1995)

''Sweet Love, Bitter'' (1967)

See also

American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)

African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

References

External links

Dick Gregory on IMDb

A short biography from www.dickgregory.com

The Juice on Dick Gregory (dietary habits)

Dick Gregory's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project

Category:1932 births Category:Living people Category:African American comedians Category:African Americans' rights activists Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists Category:Anti-apartheid activists Category:Conspiracy theorists Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:United States presidential candidates, 1968 Category:American feminists Category:American middle distance runners Category:American social commentators Category:American vegetarians Category:People from Plymouth, Massachusetts Category:Religious skeptics Category:Male feminists Category:African American United States presidential candidates Category:Radio One (company) Category:Vee-Jay Records artists Category:Peace and Freedom Party politicians

de:Dick Gregory he:דיק גרגורי

Name	Dorothy I. Height
Aspect ratio	.807
Birth name	Dorothy Irene Height
Birth date	March 24, 1912
Birth place	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Death date	April 20, 2010
Death place	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Educator and social activist }}

Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an American administrator, educator, and social activist. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for forty years, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.

Early life

Height was born in Richmond, Virginia. At a very early age, she moved with her family to Rankin, Pennsylvania, a steel town in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. Height was admitted to Barnard College in 1929, but upon arrival, she was denied entrance because the school had an unwritten policy of admitting only two black students per year. She pursued studies instead at New York University, earning a degree in 1932, and a master's degree in educational psychology the following year.

Career

Height started working as a caseworker with the New York City Welfare Department and, at the age of twenty-five, she began a career as a civil rights activist when she joined the National Council of Negro Women. She fought for equal rights for both African Americans and women, and in 1944 she joined the national staff of the YWCA. She also served as National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority from 1946 to 1957. She remained active with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority throughout her life. While there she developed leadership training programs and interracial and ecumenical education programs.

In 1957, Height was named president of the National Council of Negro Women, a position she held until 1997. During the height of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Height organized "Wednesdays in Mississippi", which brought together black and white women from the North and South to create a dialogue of understanding.

American leaders regularly took her counsel, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Height also encouraged President Dwight D. Eisenhower to desegregate schools and President Lyndon B. Johnson to appoint African American women to positions in government. In the mid 1960s, Height wrote a column entitled "A Woman's Word" for the weekly African-American newspaper, the ''New York Amsterdam News'' and her first column appeared in the March 20, 1965 issue on page 8.

Height served on a number of committees, including as a consultant on African affairs to the Secretary of State, the President's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped, and the President's Committee on the Status of Women. In 1974, Height was named to the National Council for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, which published The Belmont Report, a response to the infamous "Tuskegee Syphillis Study" and an international ethical touchstone for researchers to this day.

Later life

In 2004, Height was recognized by Barnard for her achievements as an honorary alumna during its commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the ''Brown v. Board of Education'' decision.

The musical stage play ''If This Hat Could Talk'', based on her memoirs ''Open Wide The Freedom Gates'', debuted in the middle of 2005. It showcases her unique perspective on the civil rights movement and details many of the behind-the-scenes figures and mentors who shaped her life, including Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Height was the chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the largest civil rights organization in the USA. She was an honored guest and seated on stage at the inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.

She attended the National Black Family Reunion, celebrated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., every year until her death in 2010.

On March 25, 2010 Height was admitted to Howard University Hospital in Washington D.C. for unspecified reasons. Her spokeswoman issued a statement stating that at that time she was in a "very serious, but stable" condition but that they were remaining optimistic about her recovery. On April 20, 2010, Height died at the age of ninety-eight. Her funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on April 29, 2010 was attended by President and Mrs Obama plus many dignitaries and notable people. She was later interred at Fort Lincoln Cemetery.

Awards and honors

Presidential Citizens Medal (1989)

Spingarn Medal from the NAACP (1993)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom From Want Award (1993)

inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame (1993)

Presidential Medal of Freedom (1994) 7th Annual Heinz Award Chairman's Medal (2001) Listed on Molefi Kete Asante's list of ''100 Greatest African Americans'' (2002) Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush on behalf of the United States Congress (Approved, 2003) (Awarded, 2004) 2009 Foremothers Lifetime Achievement Award from the NRC for Women & Families

Upon her death, President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-mast on April 29, 2010 in her honor.

On May 21, 2010, a CALL BOX was dedicated to Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. The Call Box is located on 7th Street, SW in front of the last building Ms. Height lived in.

References

External links

National Council for Science and the Environment

Dorothy Height - Daily Telegraph obituary

African Events Congressional Gold Medal Award for Dorothy Height

Dorothy Height's oral history video excerpts, The National Visionary Leadership Project

Dorothy Height's Videos

''Legacy: Black and White in America'', a documentary featuring Dorothy Height

''Flag Half-Staff Day Order by President Barack Obama

Dorothy Height (1912–2010): Civil Rights Leader Remembered for Lifelong Activism- video report by ''Democracy Now!''

Dorothy I. Height, Unsung Heroine

Sources

Height, Dorothy. ''Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir.

Tracey A. Fitzgerald, ''The National Council of Negro Women and the Feminist Movement, 1935–1975'', Georgetown University Press, 1985.

Judith Weisenfeld, "Dorothy Height", ''Black Women in America: Profiles'', MacMillan Library Reference USA, New York, 1999, pp. 128–130.

''Legacy: Black and White in America'', a documentary featuring Dorothy Height.

Category:African American female activists Category:African American educators Category:African Americans' rights activists Category:African American memoirists Category:American Protestants Category:American women's rights activists Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:New York University alumni Category:People from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Spingarn Medal winners Category:1912 births Category:2010 deaths Category:20th-century African-American activists Category:Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Category:Delta Sigma Theta presidents

da:Dorothy Height de:Dorothy Height es:Dorothy Height fr:Dorothy Height ig:Dorothy Height it:Dorothy Height la:Dorothea Height nl:Dorothy Height pt:Dorothy Height fi:Dorothy Height sv:Dorothy Height yo:Dorothy Height