1968 Democratic National Convention 50 Years Later

The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago has become one of the emblematic events of the decade, a culmination of years of hope and idealism that spiraled into days of rage causing wounds to the party and country scholars say persist to this day.

Five decades after anti-war protestors clashed with Chicago police during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, another wave of activists took to the streets.

This weekend several events marked the 50-year anniversary of violent clashes between police and anti-war protestors at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Two longtime Chicago political activists shared memories of one of the most infamous weeks in Chicago history 50 years later.

By August of 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Anti-War anger was at fever pitch. Protestors came to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago en masse. Mayor Richard J. Daley put the hammer down.

The 1968 Democratic Convention was a chance for Mayor Richard J. Daley to show off Chicago, but any hopes he had for positive media coverage were dashed by the violent protests.

You're 21 and in the National Guard. There's trouble outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel in downtown Chicago. You jump in your jeep with your Military Police unit. Your mission: nobody gets by you into the hotel.

During the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, protesters clashed with police, shouting and arguing against the Vietnam War. But there was one group who didn't have a voice at the time - service members fighting in Vietnam.