Nation: Death of an American Original

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Humphrey fought desperately to stay alive as long as he could. He submitted to experimental, vastly painful and debilitating drugs in the hope that if they were of no use to him, they might eventually benefit others. Once it was clear that his cancer was inoperable and therefore terminal, he returned to Washington from Waverly last October. He was greeted by the most spontaneous outpouring of affection for a politician in living memory. It was as if his obituary were being written collectively by a country that had finally learned to appreciate him at his full worth. Parties were held in his honor even if he could not attend. A new HEW building was named after him, and funds were collected to start a Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Old foes forgot their grievances or were ashamed of them. A man wrote apologizing for his "rude and inconsiderate behavior" in disrupting a Humphrey speech in Boston in 1968. He could be sure that all was forgiven—and probably long ago. Republican Senator Robert Dole said that it was easy to disregard the political differences. "You look at all the pluses of Humphrey, and they are endless. He has that certain quality that brings out the best in everyone."

Humphrey was the latest in a distinguished line of Senators, from Henry Clay and Daniel Webster to Robert La Follette and Arthur Vandenberg, whose impact on public life was greater than that of most Presidents. He did not achieve his lifelong dream of the presidency, but he inspired and sustained the dreams of many others for a better America. "The good old days were never that good, believe me," he once said. "The good new days are today, and better days are coming tomorrow. Our greatest songs are still unsung." Yet many of them were sung by Hubert Horatio Humphrey.