Posted on 10/28/2002 11:08:50 AM PST by PJ-Comix
…..In 1968, during the toughest campaign of his life, Senator Fred Harris (HHH’s campaign cochairman), a man whom he loved and considered espousing for the vice presidency, went on a disgruntled slowdown after the convention when he was denied that nomination. Humphrey was saddened, but harbored no hard feelings. But Harris soon returned and was ready for any assignment from Larry O’Brien, the newly appointed campaign manager.
It was not so with Fritz Mondale, his political pride and joy, a disciple of twenty years (now vice president), whom Humphrey had created and nursed along politically from start to finish. Prior to the 1968 convention, as cochairman of the Humphrey forces, Mondale had some problems getting along with other leaders in the organization. He was constantly at odds with Humphrey’s top aides (not that some of it wasn’t necessary), demanding that Max Kampleman, Humphrey’s friend, be kept out of the campaign (for good reasons), and hiring and firing too much from the hip. I tried to tell Humphrey about this, but he couldn’t believe it until there was a long piece about Mondale’s divisiveness in Drew Pearson’s column. Humphrey finally had to have a talk with him. Mondale voluntarily stepped down from the leadership and took lesser duties without relinquishing the title. He worked hard at the convention, but right after, he was said to have made some remarks about “Humphrey losing his moral compass” and that he himself was through with the U.D.H. [United Democrats for Humphrey] organization and would only work in Minnesota (which he did). He came back to Washington, attended one or two of the thrice-weekly executive meetings of the United Democrats for Humphrey but wasn’t much in evidence until election night at the Leamington. It was bruited about that his excuse was Humphrey’s statement that “Daley was one of the best mayors in America and did what he had to do at the convention.” Others said it was his pique that Humphrey didn’t take his advice above all others and also because of his downgrading in the organization.
I was outraged by Mondale’s behavior. If Hubert was he didn’t show it. I couldn’t conceive of anyone who was so close to Hubert personally, as well as being beholden to him for his political life, doing this to him. I asked, “How can you let this man who you got started, had appointed as Minnesota attorney general, then gave him your senatorial seat, do this to you?” But Humphrey felt deeply about Fritz. This schism didn’t last long, and in 1976, no one pushed harder than Humphrey to make Mondale Carter’s vice president, and now I’m sure no one misses Hubert more than Fritz.
But Mondale was only one among many in that political upper crust who let him down…..
True. I once did a thorough study of immigration patterns in the 19th century.
Even larger than English, I have been told.
Actually there are fewer folks of English descent than is commonly believed. Irish descended folks outnumber those of English stock. Plus many of those believed to be English are actually of Scotch-Irish descent. And then again folks of Scotch-Irish descent are actually neither Scotch (or at least not Highlands Scotch) nor Irish but an admixture of folks who lived on the borderlands between England and Scotland. Most of the folks who settled in the Appalachians and the frontier in general were of Scotch-Irish, not English descent. Well, better stop now before the researcher in me continues spewing out more unimportant facts.
Geraldine Ferraro. She uses her maiden name. Her husband's last name, I believe, is Soprano.
"The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which has historically has proved to be always possible." Senator Hubert Humphery (D- Minnesota)
True. Italian-Americans number about 15 million and Irish-Americans are at least twice that number. One reason is that the Irish have been immigrating in large numbers since about 1848 whereas the bulk of Italian immigration didn't begin until the 1890s. BTW, a lot of these statistics are meaningless now since most folks have varied ethnic backgrounds in America. Many people now of both Irish and Italian extraction especially in places such as Boston and New York. Sean Hannity is an example.
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