At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Hubert Humphrey (1911 – 1978), the popular mayor of Minneapolis and a Convention delegate, who had worked tirelessly to fight discrimination against blacks and other minorities in Minnesota, found himself discouraged by his party’s weak support for civil rights:

My friends, to those who say that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years late! To those who say that this civil-rights program is an infringement on states’ rights, I say this: The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and to walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!

His passionate speech helped get President Truman’s civil rights proposals included into the party platform, and propelled him toward his first term as a United States Senator.

Nicknamed The Happy Warrior for his energy, wit and affable demeanor, Humphrey continued to his commitment to social justice and human rights as a Senator.

Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.

During his later term as Vice President, however, Humphrey’s loyalty to the policies of Lyndon Johnson alienated many of his earlier followers, who had hoped he would have had more of an impact in the administration, particularly as it related to the Vietnam War.

Liberalism, above all, means emancipation - emancipation from one's fears, his inadequacies,
from prejudice, from discrimination, from poverty.

In his run for the presidency during the tumultuous 1968 campaign season, Humphrey was unable to shake his association with the pro-war Johnson, or ignite a demoralized liberal base grieving the recent losses of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and lost the election to Richard Nixon.

It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.

Humphrey returned to Minnesota and, in 1971, the Senate, where he served until his death in 1978.

Leadership in today's world requires far more than a large stock of gunboats and a hard fist at the conference table.