State Political Conventions (1968)

Duration: 6:12

Year Published: 1968

Sound: sound

Description: This news segment for Houston’s KPRC-TV captures the scene at the three main state political conventions before the 1968 election. The Texas Democratic Convention takes place at Austin’s Palmer Auditorium on September 16 and 17, 1968. In attendance are Governor John Connally, Lieutenant Governor Preston Smith, Speaker of the Texas House Ben Barnes, Texas Attorney General Crawford Martin, and State Senator Barbara Jordan. State Republicans gather at the GOP Convention at Fort Worth’s Hotel Texas on September 17. Maryland Governor and vice presidential nominee Spiro Agnew gives the keynote address. Then Congressman George H. W. Bush and gubernatorial nominee Paul Eggers also speak. The state convention for the American Independence Party occurs the same day at the Memorial Auditorium in Dallas. Third-party presidential candidate George Wallace speaks to the attending delegates. Some portions are silent and would have been voiced over by the anchorperson during a live broadcast.