Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson delivers remarks on the stage unveiling forward of the Democratic Nationwide Conference (DNC) on the United Heart on Thursday in Chicago.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photographs
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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photographs
The NPR Community will likely be reporting stay from Chicago all through the week bringing you the newest on the Democratic Nationwide Conference.
The Democratic Nationwide Conference is in Chicago, Monday, Aug. 19, by means of Thursday, Aug. 22.
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The best way to watch
NPR could have stay video from the United Heart every evening of the conference beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
On Wednesday and Thursday evening, NPR will likely be internet hosting stay protection on video with reporters in Chicago and in Washington, D.C.
The historical past of the DNC in Chicago
Chicago has hosted plenty of social gathering conventions — most just lately the DNC in 1996, and maybe most notably the DNC in 1968.
As NPR senior editor and correspondent Ron Elving places it, “Chicago ‘68 has been repeatedly conjured because the epitome of catastrophe just like the sinking of the Titanic, or the inventory market crash of ‘29.”
On the time, President Lyndon Johnson had introduced he was not operating for reelection, and Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. Vice President Hubert Humphrey was then left to battle it out for the nomination with anti-war Sen. Eugene McCarthy.
Large crowds of demonstrators got here to Chicago in 1968 for the DNC, protesting U.S. involvement within the Vietnam Conflict, pushing for racial equality and an finish to poverty.
Protesters and police ended up clashing, with violent photos on TV for the nation to see.
However past the conference location, there have been plenty of echoes of 1968 enjoying out in 2024. (And never simply within the political world: Each years additionally noticed new Planet of the Apes films, Summer season Olympics and U.S. moon missions, as NPR’s Rachel Treisman notes.)
In April, historian Keith Orejel summed it up in a publish on X, previously Twitter:
“I imply okay, Columbia has unrest and there is widespread anti-war activism, that could be coincidence. However there’s a man named Robert Kennedy operating for president and the [Democratic National Convention] is in Chicago. Like is that this a bit?”
A number of months later we had one other 1968 parallel: President Biden introduced he is not going to be looking for the nomination.
However whereas the shadow of 1968 looms over this week’s conference, particularly because it pertains to protesters and safety, the conference itself is extra of a formality than it was in 1968 — we all know who’s going to be the nominee.
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Reside updates from the conference
Beginning Monday, observe NPR’s stay weblog for the newest updates, evaluation, reality checking and colour; take heed to and watch NPR’s particular protection on many public radio stations.
➡️ NPR’s full protection of Election 2024