Hubert Humphrey Biography

Hubert Humphrey was an American statesman who served as the 38th Vice President of the United States, from 1965 to 1969, in the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson. Highly recognized as an orator, Humphrey was among the nation’s most prominent liberal politicians of his time who debated tirelessly for laws addressing issues of civil rights and nuclear disarmament. Born to a pharmacist in South Dakota, Humphrey studied in public schools and later earned a pharmacist’s license from the Capitol College of Pharmacy in Denver. After running his family drugstore with his father for few years, he graduated from the University of Minnesota and then completed his masters in political science from the Louisiana State University. While working as a college instructor, he also led several wartime government agencies and soon gravitated towards politics. Later, Humphrey became the Mayor of Minneapolis, serving until he was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1948. He served as a Senator until 1964 when he was chosen to be the U.S. Vice President on the ticket headed by President Lyndon Johnson. After serving a full four-year term, Humphrey made a run for the president but lost by a narrow margin to Richard Nixon. Thereafter, Humphrey returned to the U.S. Senate in 1971 where he served for the next eight years until his death from cancer. Humphrey was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his remarkable contributions to national as well as international politics.