 in the political life of America, a ritual. Representatives of the two major parties meet to choose by open vote their presidential candidates. It is a ritual called convention. And we Democrats meet tonight in the glow of the four inspiring Kennedy Johnson years. A showpiece, a showpiece. Four years of reluctant backing into tomorrow. We're called unwieldy and irresponsible. Yet from it has come every American president since Lincoln. In the summer of 1964, it was once again the time of the conventions. The 28th National Convention of the Republican Party was about to begin. From each of the 50 states from the Pacific to the Caribbean would come 1,308 delegates. Businessmen, lawyers, housewives, all would be members of the same discipline. Republicans. Prior to the opening of the convention, a committee of delegates had met to draft the party platform, the promises, the intentions, the philosophy upon which the Republican presidential nominee would campaign. Some six miles outside the city, another platform was taking shape. The Mammoth Hall, called the Cow Palace, had originally been built for the exhibition of cattle. In the week to come, it would serve as the convention arena, the front runner. California Republicans in the statewide primary election had just voted him all of their 86 delegates, and he had the pledged support of hundreds more. To win, he would need the votes of 655 delegates. A self-proclaimed conservative, Goldwater's slogan was a choice, not an echo. In his view, the choice lay between the excessive spread of federal power and the freedom of the individual citizen. I promise you that I will preserve and extend for him over this country and all over this world. With the backing of Republican moderates and liberals, Granton had entered the race barely a month before, following Goldwater's upset victory in California. Though far behind in delegate support, Granton had announced his candidacy, saying we are going to San Francisco to hold a convention, not a coronation. Hello. How are you? Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. How are you? How are you? Goldwater had often called Richard Nixon the likeliest threat to his nomination. Though he was not a formal candidate, in the event of a Goldwater scranton deadlock, Richard Nixon might well emerge as the compromise choice. Like it. Like it. And this is a party unity, is this true? I never comment on Pearson's politics. Conventions are temporary worlds, and they're capitals of the city's hotels. Here would be the headquarters, the meeting places, the private chambers of Republican politics. Here, too, the nerve lines of communication, the telephone and television tendrils, connecting the convention with other worlds. The 1,308 delegates to the Republican Convention were in the main of two persuasions, for Barry Goldwater or against him. Mrs. Floyd Archer, one of the 86 California delegates pledged to Goldwater, for years had believed that he would make the best possible president of the United States. She had supported her convictions with voluntary precinct work and was co-chairman of the Los Angeles County Goldwater volunteers. A housewife, the mother of two teenage daughters, this would be Floyd Archer's first convention. The Mark Hopkins Hotel on San Francisco's highest hill was the command post of Barry Goldwater. Here, the vote of each delegate would be counted a prize to be held, to be secured, or lost. In San Francisco, if the delegate could be won, he would be wooed. Two floors below, workers for William Scranton were on 24-hour duty. Their job? To change the minds of at least 100 delegates now supporting Goldwater. That many opinions would have to be swayed if a first ballot nomination was to be blocked. Across the city, others were also concerned with influencing delegates. This was the summer of civil rights. Barry Goldwater had voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Bill. Now, many groups, such as the Congress of Racial Equality, were preparing peaceful protests against him. So we have to ask each group for each challenge. Sunday, the day before the opening of the convention. And San Francisco was the scene of a major organized demonstration. From the Embarcadero to the mall at Civic Center, people joined to walk together, hoping to bring pressure on the convention. To the Republican convention, that we have nothing against the Republican Party as such. But we want the nation and the world to know that Senator Goldwater is not fit to be a candidate for president in the United States. The civil rights demonstration would produce a flurry of headlines and little else. It would have little effect on the convention. For the supporters of Barry Goldwater, the mood of San Francisco remained one of victory. And from the city came the delegates. His name was Robert Ray. He was 35 years old, chairman of the Republican Party in the state of Iowa. For Bob Ray, the issues at San Francisco were clear cut. And so was his responsibility. I mean, I feel my job here is to represent not just my own views, but those of the others. The people in the party back home have made me a delegate. Now, according to the polls, 60% of Iowa Republicans are what you might call moderates. They don't favor Goldwater. They'd prefer to have somebody else to vote for. And I can't ignore that. Now, Mr. Scranton, men and women might have their hearts changed and their lives transformed by the power of God. But back up, Barry Goldwater, the man that is behind the Vector of Embers, he can go, he can fly, right back from the top, he can go, he can fly. Publicly, Bob Ray was non-committal. Privately, his decision was made. He would vote for William Scranton. Television and radio had made of the political convention a forum open to the world. In 1964, 100 million Americans would watch and listen from their homes. For them, the arena would become a familiar stage, upon it the legendary figures of national politics. William Nolan, former Senate Majority Leader, Chairman of the California Goldwater Delegation. Everett Dirksen, current Republican leader in the Senate. Senator Jacob Javits of New York, liberal, hopeful of withholding the nomination from Goldwater. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Failing in his own bid for the nomination, he had thrown his support to Scranton. Chuel began with a rap of a gavel and the voice of Representative William Miller, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The convention will come to order. The colors will be presented by the... A time on a tradition of the ceremonial first day is the keynote speech. It is an American tribal harangue, a proud challenge thrown out to the enemy. At San Francisco, it was delivered by the governor of the state of Oregon, Mark Hatfield. We meet here to nominate the next president of the United States. We cannot afford the luxury of the hand-fittered in the parlor. We need laborers in the vineyard come November. The Republican Party is a victory for all Americans and it is to them that we present the invitation to set out again on a pilgrimage of faith. Day of the platform vote, another tradition. The chieftain of the past stepping briefly back into the light of the present to accept veneration, to exhort, perhaps to advise. Throughout the spring, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower had refused to indicate his preference for a presidential candidate. Under increasing pressure from both sides, Dwight had remained neutral. Now it would become clear he intended to preserve that neutrality to the last. On my terms, before giving you the last few words that I have here, let them down. I want to tell you, I am forever and shall forever be sensitive to the great honor that was twice bestowed upon me by a body such as this. It is the highest ambition that any American can have and by your generosity and by your action, I was permitted for a former boy from Kansas to enjoy it. So I... The easy way. The reading of the text of the Republican platform was mainly for television. The delegates, having already examined it, awaited the coming confrontation. Moderates and conservatives would disagree over wording on three issues. Political extremism, control of nuclear weapons, and civil rights. The fight over amendments on these issues would inevitably be a test of Goldwater's strength and a chance for the Scranton forces to turn the tide. To lead the attack for the First Amendment, condemning the extreme right-wing birch society, came Nelson Rockefeller. In the Republican Party, for such talkers of hate, such purveyors of prejudice, there is no place in this Republican Party for those who would infiltrate its ranks, distort its aims, and convert it into a cloak of apparent respectability for a dangerous extremism. And make no mistake about it, the hidden members of the Jan Birch society and others like them are out to do just that. The voters of Barry Goldwater would counterattack with vigor, strongly opposing any change in the language of the platform. It's dangerous, it's demeaning, and it has no place in a Republican platform. The vote on whether or not to revise the platform was to come late in the evening. Now a voter counter-86 votes no. Votes yes, 24, 22 votes no. Votes yes, 22 votes no. New York, 92 votes. Chairman, New York has 86 votes, years, six votes. The government would lose. The language of the platform would be accepted without change. The pattern of power had been established. Wednesday, the day of nomination. The name of Barry Goldwater would be presented to the convention by Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois. To command your portion, beyond the rough terrain of the intervening months before November, there lies the sweet green valley of victory. And I'm honored indeed and I'm proud to nominate my colleagues from Arizona to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States. We started working for Barry Goldwater. They said it couldn't be done. In the vast majority of people's minds, we were crazy, but we started working hard and we kept working. We carried Los Angeles County, we won in the state of California and that's how we're going to carry the country. And Barry Goldwater will make a wonderful president and he will be president. Before the final showdown, time for a ritual within a ritual. The placing into token nomination of honored and beloved Republican. President of Maine, Senator Margaret J. Smith. Since the evening, Eisenhower name was again presented to the convention. Ike's younger brother, Dr. Milton Eisenhower, placed the name of William Scranton in nomination. Our nation and the free world needs the man I now nominate, William Warren Scranton of Pennsylvania. The dates had been nominated. Their views were known. The time had come for the delegates to choose. Secretary will call the roll. Alabama. Chairman, Alabama is proud to cast its 20 votes for Senator Barry Goldwater. House 86 votes for Senator Goldwater. Illinois, 58 votes. Chairman, 56 votes. Iowa, 24 votes. Mr. Chairman, Iowa cast 14 votes for Senator Goldwater, 10 votes for Governor Scranton. Mr. Chairman, the state of Maine cast 14 votes for Senator Margaret J. Smith. Five votes for Goldwater. 57 votes for Senator Goldwater. In accordance with custom, William Scranton emerged not to protest his loss, but to proclaim his allegiance. As I have always pledged to do, I shall work for and fully support the ticket chosen by this convention. Mr. Chairman, if it is within the rules, may I say to you that I have the privilege to move that we make the nomination of Senator Goldwater unanimous. It is traditional for the presidential nominee to select his running mate. And on Thursday, the final session of the convention, Barry Goldwater's choice was confirmed. He would be New York congressman, William Miller. The great honor for you to have been stoned upon me here. Your nomination for the vice presidency of the United States. Thank you very much. Barry Morris Goldwater, accompanied by his wife, Peggy, appeared on the platform at the Cow Palace, there to make his acceptance, to claim his victory. Chairman, we will go forward together, dedicated to the ultimate and undeniable greatness of the whole man, together with a deep sense of humility, of leading this. It was August, and on another ocean, another convention. Here in Atlantic City, there was little suspense. The only Democratic candidate was the president of the United States. The 2,944 delegates had come primarily to celebrate. Yet serious issues did exist. A vice presidential nominee would have to be selected, and it was still the summer of civil rights. An integrated group from Mississippi calling themselves Freedom Democrats was challenging the official delegation from that state. Their leaders, Dr. Aaron Henry and the Reverend Edwin King, would fight to be seated. For the newest men of the world who sought them out, the cause of the Freedom Democrats was the number one story of the convention. Except the state law. So if you make all the unique of the law in there. It would be up to the committee on credentials to decide which group to seat. The Mississippi Freedom Democrats or the official delegation. It was a controversy which could rip open the convention. Pennsylvania's David Lawrence, chairman of the committee, heard testimony from witnesses of both sides, including the Reverend Martin Luther King. Most state in the union has gone to such extremes to prevent the participation of Negro citizens in political life as a state of Mississippi. Now white and Negro citizens of goodwill have come to the National Democratic Party in a desperate moral appeal for recognition and representation. You who must sit here judging their validity as delegates to this convention cannot imagine the anguish and suffering they have undergone to get to this point. But they come not to complain of their suffering. They come seeking the fulfillment of that dream for democracy in Mississippi. The attacks made upon the people of Mississippi were avidly conceived from without its quarters, including attacks as we have shown from Fidel Castro and will be shown by the assistant attorney general. Now the acts provide when you come up to register, you should furnish the name of your executive committeemen, the chairman and secretary thereof, and that the should be filed after the convention showing who all your people are, your presidential electors, your state executive committee, and what have you. Now here was filed for the Secretary of State of the State of Mississippi. It says this, Honorable Hebel as the Secretary of State of the State of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi. But in 1964, not all southerners viewed civil rights in the same terms. The moderate governor of Georgia, Carl Sanders, had made headlines by appointing two Negroes to the Georgia delegation, the first such act by a Southern governor since the turn of the century. In a TV interview for his home state, he made clear his position. As leading southerner on the platform committee, he would endorse the new civil rights bill, but would work to make a language of that endorsement acceptable to southerners. Still, if a Southern walkout did occur, Carl Sanders might, no matter how reluctantly, be forced to join in. Six men at Atlantic City were cast in the role of possible vice presidential nominees. There was Hubert Horatio Humphrey, son of a South Dakota drugist, senior senator from Minnesota. Eugene McCarthy, Humphrey's colleague in the Senate, liberal but less well known. Mike Mansfield of Montana, Senate Majority Leader. Soft spoken, widely respected. Robert Wagner, mayor of New York, the nation's largest city, a highly successful gatherer of votes. Pat Brown, governor of the country's most populous state, California. For a nation still in mourning, the choice of a vice presidential candidate had special meaning. Weeks ago, Lyndon Johnson had ruled out any member of his cabinet. Still, many felt that Robert Kennedy, the attorney general of the United States, remained a strong contender. His personal popularity had never been higher, and the Kennedy name remained magical. The political convention, the presidential election, the presidential election, the political convention is not always easily understood by foreign visitors. Adley Stevenson, ambassador to the United Nations and twice Democratic presidential nominee, came to Atlantic City in the role of host to brief visiting diplomats in this peculiar and peculiarly American phenomenon. Monday, August 24, the first day, outside convention hall, the famous Atlantic City boardwalk filled with the curious. Here too, civil rights pickets would keep 24-hour vigil. The keynote address was delivered by Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island, a first-generation Italian American. An attack on the Republican presidential nominee, a defining of Democratic position, it was in effect the opening barrage of the Democrats' 1964 campaign. The sincerity of my soul, I say that God did bless America. On that day four years ago, in Los Angeles, when John F. Kennedy said, I need you, Lyndon Johnson. And on November 3, the American people will echo that call. We need you, President Johnson. The civil rights section of the platform and the seating of the Mississippi delegations were still unresolved. But by Tuesday, the possibility of a southern walkout over the platform had receded. The language of the passage dealing with the civil rights bill was forthright but restrained. The result? A platform broad enough to bridge the historic gulf between Democratic North and South. The civil rights act of 1964 deserved and required full observance by every American and fair, effective enforcement if there is any default. For Mississippi too, the answer was compromise amid confusion. The official Mississippi delegates were seated only if they pledged to support the party's nominees. The party pledged itself to reject any future delegations in which racial discrimination existed. The freedom Democrats were invited to remain as honored guests and their leaders made delegates at large with voting privileges. With most of the official delegates refusing to sign the pledge of support, the freedom Democrats symbolically claimed their places. For them, the ordeal had ended in real victory. They had dramatized their position to the nation and through peaceful means altered the course of the political party of their choice. On Wednesday, the convention settled down to the business at hand. Tomorrow would be Lyndon Johnson's 56th birthday. The delegates had long before decided upon a suitable gift. Mine is the honor of sharing the nomination of this convention of the leader of our nation, a great leader of his party and his people, the President Lyndon Baines Johnson. The delegates had come to Atlantic City to reaffirm their faith in Lyndon Johnson to dance the sweet dance of political battle and finally to learn from Johnson flanked by his family his choice for Vice President. He has been tested and proven in our democratic process of political campaign and election. He has had long and distinguished experience in public life as an executive and as a legislator. I hope that you will choose as the next Vice President of the United States my close, my long time, my trusted colleague, Senator Hubert Umprey of Lyndon Johnson. It had determined the direction of the Democratic Party, but before embarking upon the future there would be time for a sorrowing and poignant look into the past. He traveled to Convention Hall there to speak in tribute to his late brother, John F. Kennedy. On a platform, the delegates began to respond spontaneously, movingly. For 16 minutes, the convention came to a halt as they hailed the memory of the fallen president. In their own way, the delegates were marking the end of an era. They were saying farewell. It was 1964 and on this final night for the thousands in the arena and the millions watching at home, the last scene of the drama of Atlantic City was taking place. My fellow Americans, your nomination. It had been a time of agreement and disagreement, of ambition and of struggle. Now it was the time for going home. By mid-morning of the next day most of the many thousands of Democrats who had descended upon Atlantic City would be gone. Gone to the legions of television of the spoken and the written word. The story of Atlantic City had been recorded. Now the country's attention would move elsewhere. There were news stories waiting to be told. Ed laid the long autumn of persuasion, the election campaign. The summer of the conventions was over. It had produced the men and the issues. And in November, on a Tuesday, the people of a nation would decide.