Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. (1911–1978) was the 38th Vice President of the United States, serving under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Humphrey was a US Senator from Minnesota and the Democratic Majority Whip. Humphrey also served as mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1945–1949. In 1968, he was the Democratic Party nominee in the Presidential Election, but lost to the Republican candidate, Richard Nixon.
Humphrey was known as a strong proponent of social welfare and civil rights, credited with introducing the three bills that created the Peace Corps Volunteers in 1957 under President John F. Kennedy. He also introduced the first attempt at comprehensive employment legislation.
After leaving the Vice Presidency, Humphrey taught at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota and served as chairman of the Board of Consultants for the Encyclopedia Britannica. Then, in 1976, he returned to political life as a US Senator. He remained in office until his death in 1978. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medial and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Vice President Humphrey met a student group for a Q&A session and attended a political science class, as well as giving two Compton lectures:
- “Youth and Politics,” April 15, 1969
- “Urban Ills,” April 17, 1969, with Boston Mayor John Collins, Willard Johnson, and Alvin Drake; moderated by MIT Provost Jerome Wiesner
Below, a 1948 speech on civil rights:
- 2011 piece in the New York Times on Vice President Humphrey’s career in politics
- Obituary in the New York Times
- Further background at the US Senate
