Word: planked
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...lacked courage, as he is all too ready to recall. As mayor of Minneapolis at the age of 34 (he is 57 now), he cleaned up the police force, reduced crime and upgraded schools. He risked everything for principle when he forced a strong civil rights plank on a reluctant Democratic Convention in 1948, prompting a walkout by Strom Thurmond's Dixiecrats. He showed foresight when he crusaded for Medicare 15 years before it became law and proposed a Peace Corps nine months before it was established. His peace credentials, validated in the struggle for enactment of the Limited Nuclear...
...under way next afternoon, it led to an unusually free and searching exchange of views. Many war critics wanted above all a kind of ritual sacrifice?an admission by the Johnson Administration that its involvement in Viet Nam had been a grave error. Doves generally characterized the majority plank as a charter for more of the same...
Supporters of the plank argued that it left several options open to a future President, rather than unwisely committing him in advance to a specific course of action. Moreover, warned Missouri's Governor Warren Hearnes, an unconditional bombing halt could endanger U.S. servicemen. Boggs cited a statement by U.S. Viet Nam Commander Creighton Abrams to the effect that a bombing halt would mean a fivefold increase in enemy strength in the area of the Demilitarized Zone within two weeks. Many military experts consider Abrams' estimate an exaggeration...
...doves received the loudest ovations for their statements. But the pro-Administration forces, dominated by Southerners who were determined to prevent a repudiation of Johnson's policies though not particularly interested in how the plank might damage Humphrey, received the most votes. When Albert read the final tally, it stood at 1,567¾ for the majority plank, 1,041¼ for the minority. Even before he finished reading the results, a chant of lament began in the New York delegation: "We shall overcome, we shall overcome . . ." From the galleries: "Stop the war! Stop...
...Muskie does not bring youth to this year's Democratic ticket, although his forceful, low-key manner will be attractive to many of the young. He is most knowledgeable in federal-state relations and problems of the cities. Even though he led the convention fight for the majority plank on Viet Nam, he has seldom spoken out on the war and privately has serious reservations about current American policy in Southeast Asia...