The 1968 Democratic National Convention is one of the biggest political spectacles in United States history. The August convention was marked by a huge mobilization of anti-war protesters in the city of Chicago ready to disrupt convention proceedings and force delegates to take back their commitments to candidate Hubert Humphrey and stand behind candidate Eugene McCarthy. This was a time of great social unrest in the United States for many reasons, mostly due to the presence of American forces in Vietnam. Along with the Tet-offensive, the war being the longest in U.S. history, questionable leadership in President Johnson, and American casualties surpassing the 30,000 mark, many American citizens wanted their troops to come home. Not to mention that many people were still mourning over the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. With the presence of so much hostility in our nation’s communities, many felt the need to expose and halt the near downfall of our country.

The planning stages for a mass demonstration at the Democratic Convention started in January of 1968 when members of the National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE) and the Youth International Party (a.k.a., YIPPIES) met to discuss their objectives. A major conflict of interest would later arise in the two parties plans and objectives for carrying out the demonstration. For instance, MOBE was a rather politically focused group favoring non-violence. On the other hand, the Y.I.P. seemed to support an alternative lifestyle of sex, drugs, and music; much like the stereotypical "hippie" of the sixties. Both groups had different leadership, different agendas, and different forms of demonstration and protest. The Black Panther Party and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.) also wanted members to participate in the upcoming demonstration. Later on MOBE, led by Rennie Davis and Tom Hayden, came up with an overall strategy to attract a large number of protestors to Chicago in order to participate in the anti-war demonstration that would coincide with the 1968 Democratic Convention. Later on in March, the strategy was approved by all parties involved, and a plan was distributed with an emphasis on non-violence. Meanwhile, the Y.I.P. party, led by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, were making plans for a huge party-like event that they called "A Festival for Life". The party called for live music, poetry, and illegal drugs at a local park in Chicago. They planned to camp out in the parks and cause a disturbance for participators at the convention. Little did they know that their request to sleep in the parks past hours of operation would be denied by Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley. The Mayor enforced an 11p.m. curfew and put the city’s entire police force on duty, along with members of the U.S. Army and National Guard. The Y.I.P. decided not to go along with the city’s regulations, as Mr. Hoffman urged to violate the parks curfew. This violation caused law enforcement officials to resort to tear gas in order to remove demonstrators from the park. The next day was to be the long-awaited "Festival of Life", as many demonstrators showed up again to participate in the event. Amongst much illegal activity, the police were again forced to intervene and were met by many angry demonstrators. Many demonstrators began to vandalize area vehicles and buildings while police officers billy-clubbed them to regain control of the area. Demonstrators showed up at the park the next day and were greeted by the hostile YIPPIE leader, Abbie Hoffman, shouting through a megaphone to take hold of the park and counteract with police and the convention. Also, Rennie Davis who was a so-called "non-violent" member of MOBE was calling to fight with police officers. Needless to say, thousands of anti-war demonstrators were attacked by law enforcement officials. In the midst of all the chaos, Tom Hayden, co-founder of Students for a Democratic Society, was the first of the Chicago Seven to be arrested for letting the air out of the tires of a police car. The next day, Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was in the park urging demonstrators to take a violent response to police. This would later pin him up on charges of violating the 1968 Anti-Riot Act. Meanwhile, Hoffman and the rest of the YIPPIES became frustrated with MOBE’s advocacy of non-violence and called in a local street gang, the Blackstone Rangers.

All the civil unrest and violence surrounding the convention reached its limit on Wednesday August 28^th. Abbie Hoffman was arrested for public indecency after having obscenities written on his forehead, while others addressed a crowd of almost 15,000 across from a Chicago hotel where the convention was taking place. The demonstration again resulted in the presence of tear gas and billy clubs and then tapered of into the next day as the city had regained control. The 1968 Democratic Convention resulted in the nomination of Hubert Hunphrey as the Democratic presidential candidate.

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 made it a Federal crime to cross over state borders and attempt to start a riot. Although Congress wanted to do something about the rising number of anti-war protests taking place all over the country, many government officials did not want to prosecute any alleged inciters of the riots, due to the high presence of alleged police brutality that was also involved. The mayor of Chicago was annoyed with these decisions and got a federal judge to put together a grand jury to look into the possibility that the Anti-Riot law may have been violated by certain demonstrators. At this time, Nixon was president with a new administration and an attorney general who wanted to try and prosecute the demonstrators. The grand jury came back with a decision to indict eight demonstrators and eight police officers. The eight indicted demonstrators quickly became known as the "Chicago Eight". The first five were Abbie Hoffman, leader of the Youth International Party, Jerry Rubin, co-founder of Y.I.P., David Dellinger, member of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, Rennie Davis, Director of Students for a Democratic Society, Tom Hayden, co-founder of S.D.S. John Fraines, a chemist, and Lee Weiner, a college professor, were tacked to the group for charges of making incendiary devices. The eighth man was Bobby Seale, co-founder of The Black Panther Party. Seale was later dismissed from the group due to many courtroom outbursts for which he was later bound and gagged and removed from the trial, thus originating the "Chicago Seven".

At the culmination of the Chicago Seven Trial all eight defendants were acquitted from charges of conspiracy, although Dellinger, Davis, Hayden, Hoffman, and Rubin were found guilty of crossing into Illinois borders and inciting a riot. All five defendants received five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Froines and Weiner were acquitted from charges of making incendiary devices. All eight police officers were acquitted from charges of violating the civil rights of demonstrators.

The riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention serve to be a very important event in political communication. While the riots took place the national news media was there to cover everything. They could not have framed the event any better. On one hand, there is presidential hopefuls speaking inside a convention center, while on the other hand people are outside the center protesting against the war in Vietnam. The media captured both sides simultaneously and their reactions to one another. The world was watching law enforcement officials violent display towards anti-war demonstrators. A time for peace and non-violence was turned into a major national crisis at a time when delegates were nominating a Democratic candidate. Many Americans felt confused and did not know what to make out of the situation. The justified reporting of violent anti-war demonstrations continued to divide the nation. The American presence in Vietnam became very unpopular among many U.S. citizens.