True Believer: Hubert Humphrey's Quest for a More Just America

by James Traub

A celebrated historian recounts Hubert Humphrey’s role as a liberal hero of twentieth-century America
 
Hubert Humphrey was liberalism’s most dedicated defender, and its most public and tragic sacrifice. As a young politician in 1948, he defied segregationists and forced the Democratic Party to commit itself to civil rights. As a senator in 1964, he made good on that commitment by helping pass the Civil Rights Act. But as Lyndon B. Johnson’s vice president, his support for the war in Vietnam made him a target for both Right and Left, and he suffered a shattering loss in the presidential election of 1968.
 
Though Humphrey’s defeat was widely seen as the end of America’s era of liberal optimism, he never gave up. Even after his humiliation on the most public stage, he crafted a new vision of economic justice to counter the yawning political divisions consuming American politics. This biography reveals a deep-dyed idealist willing to compromise and even fight ugly in pursuit of a better society. Elegantly crafted and strikingly relevant to the present, True Believer celebrates Hubert Humphrey’s long struggle for justice for all.
 

Genres: Biography, Politics, History, American History, Nonfiction

528 pages, Hardcover

Published February 13, 2024

Reviews

[Bill Manzi]

Hubert Humphrey was the first Vice President for me as a youngster, as I was too young to remember LBJ in that position. Humphrey, in my view, was one of the most consequential American political figures of the 20th Century. James Traub does a really good job of bringing the Humphrey life out, and does so in a balanced way. Humphrey, like most, was not perfect, but he led a life of consequence and achievement. Traub manages to give us the full story, even when the facts are not so sympathetic to the subject.

Where to start with a review? Before I read the book I confess to a life long empathy for Humphrey, and I always regretted the way that he was treated by many on the “new left” that became ascendant in the Democratic Party. As someone who read and enjoyed Hunter Thompson I would wince when the good doctor launched his vitriolic attacks on Humphrey, but those attacks were largely in line with the thinking of the younger folks that took over the Democratic Party in 1972. I wondered whether Traub would reference Thompson, and sure enough he did.

“Stewart Alsop, a confirmed centrist, like most of the members of the permanent establishment, even quoted the gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson to the effect that Humphrey ‘was a swine in 1968, and he’s a swine now. He should be put in a bottle and sent out with the Japanese current.’ “

Traub, James True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America pg. 420

For a more accurate version of the quote, which is even more brutal than the one above, see the Hunter Thompson classic “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72” pg. 158.

Of course I get ahead of myself. Traub gives us just enough biographical information on Humphrey, showing us how his youth influenced the politician he became. There were some contradictions in that upbringing, and Humphrey became a politician of some of those contradictions. He was a Mayor, of Minneapolis, but struggled to get started. He was a progressive when it was not so fashionable, especially in the mid-west, and a true leader on civil rights when such leadership was not wanted or valued in the Democratic Party. His speech at the 1948 Democratic Convention, calling for the Party to “get out of the shadow of states rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights” both electrified the convention and split the Party, leading to a walk out of the Mississippi delegation. This fissure would eventually lead to the migration of the segregationists to the Republican Party. Humphrey, in his role as Mayor, and eventually as U.S. Senator, was a driving force in the creation of the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) as well as the brains and political force behind the fusion of the Minnesota Democratic Party with the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, creating the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party. In this effort Humphrey established himself firmly as a progressive, but also as a strong anti-communist voice. The party building effort looked to eliminate, or mute, socialist influence where it had existed prior. Humphrey never wavered from this conviction. His leadership in Minnesota was a given, and he mentored much political talent, including Gene McCarthy and Walter Mondale.

Humphrey’s ascent to the Senate brought him to a new level of politics, and one, quite frankly, that he did not take to immediately. His full bore charge ahead on what he considered to be important issues not only brought conflict with his colleagues, but some level of ostracizing from those colleagues. He did not understand the game, but he was soon to get taught by possibly the greatest Senate Leader of all time, Lyndon Johnson. The life story of Hubert Humphrey cannot be told without a pretty big role for LBJ. Coming to know LBJ was both a blessing and a curse to Humphrey, who was brought along by LBJ in the Senate. Johnson helped Humphrey to overcome some of the initial animus of his Senate colleagues by showing him the legislative ropes and lending Humphrey some of his own massive credibility in the Senate. Traub describes Humphrey as a “star pupil” in the “Lyndon Johnson Academy” and gives us a couple of LBJ anecdotes that show what a legislative master he was.

“During the minimum wage debate he was standing by Johnson’s side when the majority leader turned to him and said ‘ I think we’ll pass that minimum wage bill now.’ Johnson had waited until Spessard Holland, who had been leading the opposition, left the floor. He instantly issued a quorum call, which was required for a vote, and then just as rapidly called for a vote before Holland had had a chance to return and rally his troops.”

Traub, James True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America pg. 176

“On the housing bill, Humphrey’s vote was crucial, but his flight from Minnesota, due to land at 2:30 in the afternoon, was delayed. In a tour de force, even by his own standards, Johnson used every parliamentary tactic in his bag of tricks to put off the vote while simultaneously bullying air traffic controllers to get Humphrey’s flight on the ground. The plane landed at 4:45, Humphrey was whisked to the Senate, and he cast the deciding vote to build one hundred thousand units of public housing rather than the thirty-five thousand Ike had called for.”

Traub, James True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America pg. 176-177

Johnson’s influence helped to establish Humphrey in the Senate as a man that could get things done. But in order to achieve legislatively compromise was a necessary part of the process. Humphrey was willing to do what he needed to do to get legislative victories, but compromise was not something that some of his liberal friends were interested in. Humphrey lost some ideological support during this period, and those losses continued right to the very end of his career. Traub described him as “ideologically incoherent” but sincere nonetheless.

Humphrey ran for President in 1960, but was simply trampled by the money and organization of the Kennedy family. LBJ always considered Humphrey as a “bridge” to the northern liberals, and selected Humphrey in 1964 to run with him as his Vice President after the assassination of JFK. As tough as LBJ was as Senate Leader he was even more mercurial as President. Humphrey would feel the LBJ lash continuously, and any independent thoughts he might have had as Vice President were ruthlessly suppressed by President Johnson. His 1965 memo to Johnson on Vietnam, in my view, showed where his head was at all along. After that private memo LBJ essentially froze Humphrey out of everything, forcing the Vice President to heel. Humphrey would suffer with this legacy as people, especially the anti-war activists, simply wrote him off on the war. LBJ, as smart as he was, always believed Humphrey to be “soft” on the war, and I think the 1965 memo is where his head stayed, no matter what came out of his mouth. In the tumultuous political year of 1968 Hubert Humphrey became the Democratic nominee for President without entering a primary. Super delegates indeed. The disaster that was the Chicago nominating convention in 1968 for the Democratic Party hurt Humphrey badly. His Republican opponent, Richard Nixon, had managed to tap into the backlash in the country over civil rights, Vietnam, and the LBJ Great Society, and it appeared that Humphrey’s candidacy was a lost cause after Chicago. Humphrey, despite the bad start and the lukewarm endorsement of LBJ, rallied to close the gap substantially, but not enough. He lost to Nixon by about 500,000 votes (43.4% to 42.7%) but the Electoral College margin was wider (301-191, with George Wallace at 46) The fissure in the Democratic Party started by Humphrey in 1948, and made permanent by the LBJ/Humphrey Civil Rights bills of 1964-65 drove the South away from the Democratic Party permanently. The Nixon “Southern Strategy” was borne out of the ramifications of that fissure.

This book gives you a great view, from Humphrey’s perspective, on some of the most monumental events in American history. After Humphrey’s loss in 1968 he managed to return to the Senate from Minnesota, and his estrangement from the left continued, as Humphrey grappled with the school busing issue, and the issue of crime, which Nixon had gotten such great political mileage out of in 1968. His old base of support blanched at some of his ideas on those matters, and the “Happy Warrior” continued to lose some old friends.

If you do not know much about Huber Horatio Humphrey Jr. this book is a great place to start. He was one of the major players in post World War II America, and one of the impactful participants in the watershed year of 1968. His early leadership on Civil Rights changed forever the Democratic Party, and arguably led to a major realignment in the American two-party system. While Humphrey may have brought on some of the enmity showered on him by the “new left” in the end that treatment, in my mind, was largely unfair, and shortsighted. This book is highly recommended.

[Robert Holmes]

I give this book five stars because it is a rare example of a political biography without an agenda.
The author clearly respects Humphrey and does a great job recreating the ambiguities in this fatally flawed man. Humphrey was in the middle of almost every political fight of the mid 20th century. In the end his beliefs and ideas ended up shaping much of the agenda of the modern Democratic party, but for Humphrey it was never smooth sailing! His fatal flaw was an ambition for higher office. His greatest strengths were his integrity, his passion, and his incredible energy. He never tired of pursuing the liberal goals he believed but he often compromised to "win a crumb." These compromises ultimately cost him the presidency. He often lost friends who saw him as a traitor yet his enemies still treated him as an untrustworthy liberal. This book does a great job of capturing this ambiguity.

For anyone who grew up in the mid 1950's Humphrey was a constant presence in politics. In the 1940's, Humphrey began political life as a New-Deal Democrat and he became the youngest mayor ever elected in Minneapolis. From that position he took on communist infiltration of both Labor Unions and an important Farmer's political party. Success in this fights brought him a senate seat and praise from anti-communists; but when the "Red Scare" politics took over in Washington, liberals turned against Humphrey. Humphrey was an early supporter of civil rights legislation, but his early failure to defeat southern filibusters cost him friends on both sides of the battle. In other fights he was more successful at talking to both sides and this ability won him support from Lyndon Johnson who selected him for vice-president. Once again found himself in the cross fire. Johnson insisted Humphrey support hardline war hawks and heavy bombing campaigns, while his liberal friends were asking for compromise and peace talks. The book does a great job documenting Humphrey's failed attempts to find a compromise on that war.

The 1968 disaster of a Democratic convention resulted in Humphry's nomination for president but it also created the basis for his defeat. As someone who lived through those years, I found that the books does an excellent job of recapturing those days and explaining what was really happening. Similarly Humphrey's return to the Senate and his new fights for liberal causes are well told. All in all this is an important book that should be read by anyone interested in how politics changed in the 20th century.

[Frank Duke]

An otherwise good book is ruined by careless factual errors. Traub is a good writer, but a horrible historian. A few of the glaring errors:

Pg 65 - He describes Truman as a product of the St. Louis (MO) machine; it actually was the Kansas City machine;
Pg 89 - He claims FDR wanted Truman as his running mate in 1944; every historian I have read says he wanted Henry Wallace renominated;
Pg 116 - He identifies Eugene "Bull" Connor as the sheriff of Birmingham; Connor was the City Commissioner responsible for the police and fire departments;
Pg 137 - He identifies Estes Kefauver as a senator from Illinois; Kefauver was from Tennessee;
Pg 186 - He claims Emmet Till was lynched in Alabama; Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi;
Pg 266 - He asserts that George Wallace won the 1964 Maryland Democratic primary; Wallace actually lost the primary to Maryland Senator Daniel Brewster, who took 53% of the votes running as a favorite son stand-in for LBJ;
Pg 317 - He identifies Strom Thurmond as one of two Democratic senators who applauded Humphrey's position on Vietnam in 1966; Thurmond left the Democratic Party in 1964, two years earlier; and,
Pg 338 - He suggests Henry Cabot Lodge was ambassador to South Vietnam at the time of that country's elections in September of 1967; Lodge was replaced by Ellsworth Bunker five months before the elections; and,
Pg 411 - He states Humphrey and John Quinncy Adams were the only two men who served in Congress after serving in the White House; he ignores Andrew Johnson, who served as President from 1865 to 1869 and was subsequently elected to the Senate in 1875.

Traub describes details of Humphrey's career and life I have found nowhere else, and I do admire his writing style. Unfortunately, given the number of demonstrably false statements contained in the book, I have to question the veracity of those things Traub appears to have uncovered.

The blurb on this book describes Traub as an historian. He is, at best, a rank amateur who is careless with the facts. If this book was written as a master's thesis, its author would likely have failed.

[David McNally]

I enjoyed the book. HHH has been of interest to me since I did my 8th grade term paper on him in the 70s.

[Gregory Gentry]

This is the most complex of the Humphrey biographies I've read. Less sentimental and often more scathing than the usual HHH review, I see now why so many biographers gloss over his time as a senator- he was often ineffective and few of his finest moments come from this time. However, I appreciate Traub's analysis of this period precisely because it's so often neglected.

Finally, however, I think this work and Traub's fully realized rendition of Humphrey makes this an essential work for understanding the current moment we find ourselves in politically. The modern parties emerge here, in this book, due to Vietnam and Humphrey pulling civil rights into the political mainstream. Reading this vindicated my gut reaction to the news that Joe Biden was stepping out of the 2024 election and that Kamala Harris would be taking his place- that reaction being "It's over for the Democrats." It didn't work for Humphrey and I don't know why they expected it to work for Harris.

It is easy to see 1968 in 2024. Incumbency was a burden in both elections despite an impressive legislative record. 1968, and Humphrey's refusal to break from Johnson on Vietnam, are reminders that sometimes popular feeling and a feverstorm of rage cannot be pushed away with what Humphrey coined "the politics of joy." For better or worse, the politics of anger are far more persuasive and mobilizing.

[Jean]

I really slogged through this. Many of the chapters are so inside baseball with political negotiations I just couldn't keep track of what was going on. It doesn't help that the author insisted on improving my vocabulary. "Oh, you have never heard the word avoirdupois? You uneducated lowlife. Why are you even reading my book?" But as with every slog through a nonfiction of this ilk, I learn some fascinating things, so it's not all for nothing. I had no idea Hubert Humphrey was a big champion of the Civil Rights Movement. I've known the name all of my life but never known a single thing about him, which is what caused me to pick up the book in the first place. It was educational, and I'm happy for that, but I don't consider writing an educational book in approachable language to be a sin. You could simple say "he shed a few pounds" and people would know what you mean. Also, boy did this author have no interest in Muriel whatsoever. I kept writing the private history of Muriel Humphrey in my mind within every chapter.

[Charles]

Extremely well written. Does not attempt to wallpaper over Humphrey's concessions to pragmatism later in his career, when he deviated from principle to get things done. I thought it was a balanced and fair accounting of Humphrey's political career.

[Estare K. Weiser]

Moving biography of possibly one of the most influential postwar politicians. Traub gives the context for many issues that are still alive. Humprey large personality, importance and ambition comes to life.

[Tom Brennan]

Good book which reflects that our country had gone through hectic times and continues to survive

[Quincy Wheeler]

A good read with a lot of parallels to 2024

[John]

In the pantheon of great American liberals and public servants, stands the Honorable Hubert Humphrey. His life and legacy are finally played out a full-fledged biography that tells the narrative of his life from a child in the depression era, to being a crusader/reformer, to his fall in the election of 1968 due to the Vietnam War, and his rebirth as the one of the last few defenders of liberalism in the era of Nixon and Watergate. This book does its main character justice while also providing some sense of hope of what could have been but also a warning of being a sycophant (in this case, his undying loyalty to President Johnson) or longing for attention in the eyes of people who fail to honor your genius and desire to build a more just America. This biography I believe paints Humphrey in the light we need in the current political era: it is a profile of a good man, who believed in the promise of America, and attempted to build that America regardless of his flaws or insecurities. This book will stand as a good, unbiased narrative of the Senator from Minnesota.

[Isaac Murtha]

Hubert Humphrey never learned how to be mean. He learned how to get things done, he learned how to build a progressive coalition, and he learned how to make a deal for the betterment of Americans at the bottom. For me, there are few human beings I admire as much as I do Hubert Humphrey-- perhaps because of my own determined liberalism, perhaps because I recognize my own foibles in him , perhaps because I can see the progressive successes in him-- I would love to have shook his hand. I loved reading this book, and understood HHH in a way that I have understood few other politicians, even people I have worked for.

As I look toward today's elections, I believe we need more unashamed progressives who believe in making deals to achieve their progressive goals. Not moderates, but men and women who understand how to count votes and achieve results. People who never lose sight of true north, but who understand that one must zig and zag across the map to get there.