<P> The 1968 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held August 26--29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois . As President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, the purpose of the convention was to select a new presidential nominee to run as the Democratic Party's candidate for the office . The keynote speaker was Senator Daniel Inouye (D - Hawaii). </P> <P> Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine were nominated for President and Vice President, respectively . </P> <P> The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence, and civil unrest, particularly riots in more than 100 cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4 . The convention also followed the assassination of Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, on June 5 . Both Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota had been running for the Democratic Nomination at the time . </P> <P> In 1968, despite the control of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, the Democratic Party was divided . Senator Eugene McCarthy entered the campaign in November 1967, challenging incumbent President Johnson for the Democratic nomination . Robert F. Kennedy entered the race in March 1968 . Johnson, facing dissent within his party, and having only barely won the New Hampshire primary, dropped out of the race on March 31 . Vice President Hubert Humphrey then entered into the race, but did not compete in any primaries; he inherited the delegates previously pledged to Johnson and then collected delegates in caucus states, especially in caucuses controlled by local Democratic party leaders . After Kennedy's assassination on June 5, the Democratic Party's divisions grew . At the moment of Kennedy's death the delegate count stood at Humphrey 561.5, Kennedy 393.5, McCarthy 258 . Kennedy's murder left his delegates uncommitted . </P>

The fight over the democratic party's presidential nomination in 1968 resulted in