Teaching and return to the Senate , in 1976. California Governor
Jerry Brown is at right. After leaving the vice presidency, Humphrey taught at
Macalester College and the
University of Minnesota, and served as chairman of the board of consultants at the
Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation. On February 11, 1969, Humphrey met privately with Mayor
Richard J. Daley and denied ever being "at war" with Daley during a press conference later in the day. In March, Humphrey declined to answer questions on the Johnson administration being either involved or privy to the cessation of bombing of North Vietnam during an interview on
Issues and Answers. At a press conference on June 2, 1969, Humphrey backed Nixon's peace efforts, dismissing the notion that he was not seeking an end to the war. In early July, Humphrey traveled to Finland for a private visit. Later that month, Humphrey returned to Washington after visiting Europe, a week after McCarthy declared he would not seek reelection, Humphrey declining to comment amid speculation he intended to return to the Senate. During the fall, Humphrey arranged to meet with President Nixon through
United States National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, Humphrey saying the day after the meeting that Nixon had "expressed his appreciation on my attitude to his effort on Vietnam." On August 3, Humphrey said that Russia was buying time to develop ballistic missile warheads to catch up with the United States and that security was the "overriding concern" of the Soviet Union. Days later, Humphrey repudiated efforts against Nixon's anti-ballistic missile system: "I have a feeling that they [opponents of the ABM] were off chasing rabbits when a tiger is loose." During October, Humphrey spoke before the AFL-CIO convention delegates, charging Nixon's economic policies with "putting Americans out of work without slowing inflation." On October 10, Humphrey stated his support for Nixon's policies in Vietnam and that he believed "the worst thing that we can do is to try to undermine the efforts of the President." At a December 21 press conference, Humphrey said Nixon was a participant in the "politics of polarization" and could not seek unity on one hand but have divisive agents on the other. On December 26, Humphrey responded to a claim from former President Johnson that Humphrey had been cost the election by his own call for a stop to the bombing in North Vietnam, saying he did what he "thought was right and responsible at Salt Lake City." On January 4, 1970, Humphrey said the United States should cease tests of nuclear weapons during the continued conversations for potential strategic arms limitations between the United States and the Soviet Union while speaking to the National Retail Furniture Association. In February, Humphrey predicted Nixon would withdraw 75,000 or more troops prior to the year's midterm elections and the main issue would be the economy during an interview: "The issue of 1970 is the economy. Some of my fellow Democrats don't believe this. But this is a fact." On February 23, Humphrey disclosed his recommendation that
Larry O'Brien return as Chair of the
Democratic National Committee, a Humphrey spokesman reporting that he wanted the issue of the DNC chairmanship settled quickly. Solberg wrote that Nixon's April 1970
Cambodian Campaign quashed Humphrey's hopes that the war be taken out of political context. In May, Humphrey pledged to do all he could to provide additional war planes to Israel and stress the issue to American leaders. Amid an August 11 address to an American Bar Association luncheon meeting, Humphrey called for liberals to cease defending campus radicals and militants and align with law and order. Humphrey had not planned to return to political life, but saw an opportunity when McCarthy did not seek reelection in
the 1970 midterm elections. (McCarthy recognized that his opposition to Johnson and Humphrey had angered much of his party, making his renomination unlikely.) Humphrey won the nomination, defeated Republican Congressman
Clark MacGregor, and returned to the U.S. Senate on January 3, 1971. Before resuming his duties, Humphrey had a November 16, 1970, White House meeting with Nixon as part of a group of newly elected senators. He was reelected in
1976 and remained in office until his death. In a rarity in politics, Humphrey held both Senate seats from his state (Class I and Class II) at different times. During his return to the Senate he served in the
92nd,
93rd,
94th, and part of the
95th Congress. He chaired the
Joint Economic Committee in the 94th Congress.
Fourth Senate term L. Edward Purcell wrote that upon returning to the Senate, Humphrey found himself "again a lowly junior senator with no seniority" and that he resolved to create credibility in the eyes of liberals. On May 3, 1971, after the
Americans for Democratic Action adopted a resolution demanding Nixon's impeachment, Humphrey said they were acting "more out of emotion and passion than reason and prudent judgment" and that the request was irresponsible. On May 21, Humphrey said ending hunger and malnutrition in the U.S. was "a moral obligation" during a speech to International Food Service Manufacturers Association members. In June, Humphrey delivered the commencement address at the
University of Bridgeport and days later said that he believed Nixon was interested in seeing a peaceful end to the Vietnam War "as badly as any senator or anybody else." On July 14, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Arms Control, Humphrey proposed amending the defense procurement bill to place in escrow all funds for creation and usage of multiple‐missile warheads in the midst of continued arms limitations talks. Humphrey said members of the Nixon administration needed to remember "when they talk of a tough negotiating position, they are going to get a tough response." On September 6, Humphrey rebuked the Nixon administration's wage price freeze, saying it was based on trickle-down policies and advocating "percolate up" as a replacement, while speaking at a
United Rubber Workers gathering. On October 26, Humphrey stated his support for removing barriers to voting registration and authorizing students to establish voting residences in their college communities, rebuking the refusal of
United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell the previous month to take a role in shaping voter registration laws as applicable to new voters. On December 24, 1971, Humphrey accused the Nixon administration of turning its back on the impoverished in the rural U.S., citing few implementations of the relief recommendations of the 1967 National Advisory Commission; in another statement he said only three of the 150 recommendations had been implemented. On December 27, responding to antiwar protesters in
Philadelphia, Humphrey said the Nixon administration was responsible for an escalation of the Southeast Asia war and requested complete cessation of North Vietnam bombing. In January 1972, Humphrey said the U.S. would have been out of Vietnam by that point had he been elected president, saying Nixon was taking longer to withdraw American troops from the country than it took to defeat
Adolf Hitler. On May 20, Humphrey said Nixon's proposal to limit schoolchildren busing was "insufficient in the amount of aid needed for our children, deceptive to the American people, and insensitive to the laws and the Constitution of this nation", in a reversal of his prior stance, while in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During a May 30 appearance in
Burbank, California, Humphrey stated his support for an immediate withdrawal of American forces from South Vietnam despite an invasion by North Vietnam. In January 1973, Humphrey said the Nixon administration was plotting to eliminate a school milk program in the upcoming fiscal year budget during a telephone interview. On February 18, 1973, Humphrey said the Middle East could possibly usher in peace following the Vietnam War ending along with American troops withdrawing from
Indochina during an appearance at the New York Hilton. In August 1973, Humphrey called on Nixon to schedule a meeting with nations exporting and importing foods as part of an effort to both create a worldwide policy on food and do away with food hoarding. After Nixon's dismissal of
Archibald Cox, Humphrey said he found "the whole situation entirely depressing." Three days after Cox's dismissal, during a speech to the AFL-CIO convention on October 23, Humphrey declined to say whether he believed Nixon should be impeached, saying that his congressional position would likely cause him to play a role in determining Nixon's fate. On December 21, Humphrey disclosed his request of federal tax deductions of $199,153 for the donation of his vice-presidential papers to the Minnesota State Historical Society. In early January 1974, Humphrey checked into the
Bethesda Naval Hospital for tests regarding a minute tumor of the bladder. His physician Edgar Berman said the next day that Humphrey "looks fine and feels fine" and was expected to leave early the following week. In an interview conducted on March 29, 1974, Humphrey concurred with Senator
Mike Mansfield's assessment from the prior day that the House of Representatives had enough votes to impeach Nixon. Humphrey was reportedly pleased by Nixon's resignation. In an April 1975 news conference at the spring education conference of the United Federation of Teachers, Humphrey cited the need for a national department of education, a national education trust fund, and a federal government provision for a third of America's educational expenses. He said the Ford administration had no educational policy and noted the United States was the only industrialized country without a separate national education department. In May, Humphrey testified at the trial of his former campaign manager Jack L. Chestnut, admitting that as a candidate he sought the support of Associated Milk Producers, Inc., but saying he was not privy to the illegal contributions Chestnut was accused of taking from the organization. Later that month, Humphrey was one of 19 senators to originate a letter stating the expectation of 75 senators that Ford would submit a foreign aid request to Congress meeting the "urgent military and economic needs" of Israel. In August, after the United States Court of Appeals ruled that Ford had no authority to continue levying fees of $2 a barrel on imported oil, Humphrey hailed the decision as "the best news we've heard on the inflation front in a long time" and urged Ford to accept the decision because the price reduction on oil and oil‐related products would benefit the national economy. In October, after
Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate Ford, Humphrey joined former presidential candidates Barry Goldwater, Edmund Muskie, and George McGovern in urging Ford and other presidential candidates to restrain their campaigning the following year to prevent future attempts on their lives. In October 1976, Humphrey was admitted to a hospital for the removal of a cancerous bladder, predicted his victory in his reelection bid, and advocated for members of his party to launch efforts to increase voter turnout upon his release.
1972 presidential campaign On November 4, 1970, shortly after being reelected to the Senate, Humphrey stated his intention to take on the role of a "harmonizer" within the Democratic Party to minimize the possibility of potential presidential candidates within the party lambasting each other prior to deciding to run in the then-upcoming election, dismissing that he was an active candidate at that time. In December 1971, Humphrey made his second trip to New Jersey in under a month, talking with a plurality of county leaders at the
Robert Treat Hotel: "I told them I wanted their support. I said I'd rather work with them than against them." In 1972, Humphrey once again ran for the
Democratic nomination for president, announcing his candidacy on January 10, 1972, during a twenty-minute speech in Philadelphia. At the time of the announcement, Humphrey said he was running on a platform of the removal of troops from Vietnam and a revitalization of the United States economy. He drew upon continuing support from organized labor and the African-American and Jewish communities, but remained unpopular with college students because of his association with the Vietnam War, even though he had altered his position in the years since his 1968 defeat. Humphrey initially planned to skip the primaries, as he had in 1968. Even after he revised this strategy he still stayed out of New Hampshire, a decision that allowed McGovern to emerge as the leading challenger to Muskie in that state. Humphrey did win some primaries, including those in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, but was defeated by McGovern in several others, including the crucial California primary. Humphrey also was out-organized by McGovern in caucus states and was trailing in delegates at the
1972 Democratic National Convention in
Miami Beach, Florida. His hopes rested on challenges to the credentials of some of the McGovern delegates. For example, the Humphrey forces argued that the winner-take-all rule for the California primary violated procedural reforms intended to produce a better reflection of the popular vote, the reason that the Illinois delegation was bounced. The effort failed, as several votes on delegate credentials went McGovern's way, guaranteeing his victory. After his primary win, McGovern asked Humphrey to be his running mate, but Humphrey declined.
1976 presidential election activities aboard
Air Force One in 1977 On April 22, 1974, Humphrey said that he would not enter the upcoming
Democratic presidential primary for the
1976 presidential election. Humphrey said at the time that he was urging fellow Senator and Minnesotan
Walter Mondale to run, despite believing that
Ted Kennedy would enter the race as well. Leading up to the election cycle, Humphrey also said, "Here's a time in my life when I appear to have more support than at any other time in my life. But it's too financially, politically, and physically debilitating – and I'm just not going to do it." In December 1975, a Gallup poll was released showing Humphrey and
Ronald Reagan as the leading Democratic and Republican candidates for the following year's presidential election. On April 12, 1976, Chairman of the
New Jersey Democratic Party State Senator James P. Dugan said the selection of a majority of uncommitted delegates could be interpreted as a victory for Humphrey, who had indicated his availability as a presidential candidate for the convention. Humphrey announced his choice to not enter the New Jersey primary nor authorize any committees to work to support him during an April 29, 1976, appearance in the Senate Caucus Room. Even after
Jimmy Carter had won enough delegates to clinch the nomination, many still wanted Humphrey to announce his availability for a
draft. However, he did not do so, and Carter easily secured the nomination on the first round of balloting. Humphrey had learned that he had terminal cancer, prompting him to sit the race out. Humphrey attended the November 17, 1976, meeting between President-elect Carter and Democratic congressional leaders in which Carter sought out support for a proposal to have the president's power to reorganize the government reinstated with potential to be vetoed by Congress.
Fifth Senate term Humphrey attended the May 3, 1977, White House meeting on legislative priorities. Humphrey told President Carter that the U.S. would enter a period of high unemployment without an economic stimulus and noted that in "every period in our history, a rise in unemployment has been accompanied by a rise in inflation". Humphrey stated a preventative health care program would be the only way for the Carter administration to not have to fund soaring health costs. In July 1977, after the Senate began debating approval for funding of the
neutron bomb, Humphrey stated that the White House had agreed to release the impact statement, a requirement for congressional funding of a new weapon.
Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate (1977–1978) In 1974, along with
Rep. Augustus Hawkins of California, Humphrey authored the
Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, the first attempt at full employment legislation. The original bill proposed to guarantee full employment to all citizens over 16 and set up a permanent system of public jobs to meet that goal. A watered-down version called the
Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act passed the House and Senate in 1978. It set the goal of 4 percent unemployment and 3 percent inflation and instructed the
Federal Reserve Board to try to produce those goals when making policy decisions. Humphrey ran for
Majority Leader after the 1976 election but lost to
Robert Byrd of
West Virginia. The Senate honored Humphrey by creating the post of
Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate for him. On August 16, 1977, Humphrey revealed he was suffering from terminal
bladder cancer. On October 25 of that year, he addressed the Senate, and on November 3, Humphrey became the first person other than a member of the House or the President of the United States to address the
House of Representatives in session. President Carter honored him by giving him command of
Air Force One for his final trip to Washington on October 23. One of Humphrey's final speeches contained the lines "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", which is sometimes described as the "liberals' mantra". ==Death and funeral==