From JFK to LBJ: A Lifelong Democrat

I've been a lifelong Democrat from the time I voted for Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 presidential election. At the time, I was a graduate student in Steeb Hall on the Ohio State campus where I was studying English literature on a four-year PhD fellowship. I remember listening to the radio until late at night, hoping against hope that Hubert Humphrey would squeak through to win the presidency, but it was not meant to be, even though it was a close election. I remember how frustrated I felt when I woke up that cold November morning, only to find out that Richard Nixon had won by a slim majority.

I've been voting Democratic ever since, but my candidate only won the presidency six times after that, i.e. Jimmy Carter in 1976, Bill Clinton twice in 1992 and 1996, Barak Obama twice in 2008 and 2012, and Joe Biden in 2020. The other times, the Republican candidate was elected, including Nixon in 1972, Ronald Reagan twice in 1980 and 1984, George H.W. Bush in 1988, George W. Bush twice in 2000 and 2004, and Donald Trump in 2016.

I first became aware of the political landscape while a high school student at St. Xavier High in Cincinnati, Ohio. The occasion was the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates. Two years later, I sat on the edge of my seat while Kennedy countered Kruschev during the October 1962 Missile Crisis. It felt like watching a high-stakes chess match in which the outcome could have been a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Two years later, I again found myself glued to the TV set that entire weekend after Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. During those days, I watched JFK's funeral cortege, and was shocked when Oswald was murdered by Jack Ruby in full view of the cameras. Like so many of my fellow Americans, I was deeply affected by the loss of the youthful president whom I had admired so much.

Beginning from when I was an undergraduate at Xavier University in the mid-sixties, my dad gave me an annual gift subscription to Newsweek which I combed through every week to follow the political events of the day. There I learned about the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War which were also televised on the nightly news. Of course, I was horrified by the double assassinations in 1968 of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. One year later I watched spellbound while Walter Cronkite walked us through Apollo 11 and the first manned lunar landing in July 1969.

The political turmoil of those times affected me personally when I was drafted in the spring of 1968. I had to report to my draft board to get a physical. Fortunately, I didn't end up in Viet Nam. Instead, I was classified 1Y, which meant I didn't have to serve except in a national emergency. What saved me was a severe case of psoriasis on my elbows and knees. In the summer of 1968, however, I did witness violent demonstrations in the streets of Paris where university students joined city workers to battle the police and protest the policies of Charles deGaulle. Fortunately, I wasn't injured during the ensuing fracas, although I did see people being teargassed in the Metro. A few years later in 1971, while a student in my German hometown Marburg, I witnessed a college professor being shouted down by some Marxist students who were planning a protest.

Although I seldom participated in any protest actions myself, I did get involved in politics in several other ways. For a few years, I served as an election judge at my local polling place. I also joined several Day on the Hill rallies at the Minnesota State Capitol, where I spoke with state legislators to advocate on behalf of mental health legislation. And I sent letters to my state representatives and senators to protest a municipal transit strike. I also lobbied on behalf of gun control legislation.

I readily admit to being a news junkie. I enjoy following both local and national politics on MPR and PBS news stations. One of my favorite programs is Almanac, hosted by Eric Eskola and Cathy Wurzer. As a matter of fact, I once ran into Eric at a downtown St. Paul bus stop. Now, I'm more motivated than ever to stay informed about current political events while our very democracy is being threatened both in our country and abroad.