Hubert Humphrey

The Conscience of the Country

By: Arnold A. Offner

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

Hubert Humphrey (1911-1978) was one of the great liberal leaders of postwar American politics, yet because he never made it to the Oval Office, he has been largely overlooked by biographers. His career encompassed three well-known high points: the civil rights speech at the 1948 Democratic Convention that risked his political future; his shepherding of the 1964 Civil Rights Act through the Senate; and his nea-victory in the 1968 presidential election, one of the angriest and most divisive in the country's history.

Historian Arnold A. Offner has explored vast troves of archival records to recapture Humphrey's life, giving us previously unknown details of the vice president's fractious relationship with Lyndon Johnson, showing how Johnson colluded with Richard Nixon to deny Humphrey the presidency, and describing the most neglected aspect of Humphrey's career: his major legislative achievements after returning to the Senate in 1970. This definitive biography rediscovers one of America's great political figures.

©2018 Arnold A. Offner (P)2018 Tantor

Interesting Read

I have read several books about țħis time period but I did not know mûch about hhh. I suggest this book

The Story of a Real Public Servant

An enjoyable and informative story of a highly principled hard working world leader. Strongly recommended, but the reader will see how far we have fallen from real public service.

Outstanding Biography

This is a new biography of Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (1911-1978). The book is well written and meticulously researched. The biography appears to be unbiased. The book covers the life of HHH but primarily focuses on his political career.

Offner points out that HHH had a great career, but his mistake was becoming Lyndon B. Johnson’s vice president. I found it interesting to compare in my mind how HHH compares to the situation of our current politics. Offner said HHH stated The Moral Test of any government is the way it treats three groups of citizens: Its children, the needy sick and handicapped and the third is the elderly.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this biography; it brought back memories and I also learned a number of things. Arnold A. Offner is a Professor Emeritus of History. The book is twenty-two hours and eight minutes. Jonathan Yen does an excellent job narrating the book. Yen is a voice actor and an Earphone Award winning audiobook narrator.

RISK OF DEMOCRACY

Arnold Offner offers a biography of Hubert Humphrey, a former Minneapolis, Minnesota Mayor, U.S. Senator, and Vice President of the United States. Offner notes Humphrey ran for President in 1960 but was defeated by John F. Kennedy. Humphrey’s biography is an interesting example of the strength and weakness of American Democracy. On the one hand, one person can change the course of democratic government.  On the other hand, a candidate for President cannot be elected without the support of people and businesses that contribute a lot of money. Money comes with strings. The influence of special interests and the power of elected representatives distort objectivity.

The checks and balances of Democracy fail to protect America from the mistakes of Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan because money and power influence Democratic elections, policies, and Presidents. This is the risk both Republican and Democratic Presidents have noted. (Dwight Eisenhower's comments about the Military/Industrial Complex, and Barack Obama's address to the Senate on campaign finance reform.) However, as Churchill noted in 1947, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."