Hubert Humphrey: A Biography by Carl Solberg (1984; Borealis Books. ISBN 0-87351-473-4)
Not once in the 572 pages of this exhaustive but thoroughly documented and well written book did the author, Mr. Solberg, reference the label that I recall being applied by the press and public to Vice President Humphrey: “The Happy Warrior”. The title, a bow to Humphrey’s seemingly unfailing optimism and bounding joy, whatever the situation, originally appeared as a title to a poem about a battle weary WWI solider by Herbert Read. Having read the poem, I understand why Solberg avoids the reference: It simply doesn’t apply to the buoyantly affable Minnesota politician. Solberg does a fine job of giving us insight into who Humphrey was and the origins of his, as the author calls it, “Plains Progressivism” but I found one glaring failing in the story: Muriel Humphrey is given very short shrift and, from all appearances, her role, in supporting HHH’s numerous quixotic quests for the White House (at least three), and more importantly, her role in forming him as a young man and father, is a part of the story that deserved more ink.
The best (and most disheartening) section of the biography is the depiction of Humphrey’s near teat-suckling relationship with the president he served, Lyndon Johnson. As brought to life by Solberg’s typewriter, LBJ comes off as the quintessential bully: A man who, after befriending the open and honest Humphrey, does everything in his power to belittle and diminish the man. Why? Solberg never really answers that crucial question, nor does he probe this, or any other issue, with then-alive witnesses to Humphrey’s rise as a political whirlwind. This deficiency is, in my estimation, one of the largest holes in the organizational structure of the book: There are no interviews with Mondale, Freeman, Heaney, Fraser, Spannus, or any of a host of other old DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor; the party HHH helped create) icons.
In addition, while Solberg chronicles the details of Humphrey’s agonizing role as loyal supporter of the Vietnam War and other unpopular policies of the Johnson presidency, the author never really answers the question that haunts this crucial section of the book: Why did a man of Humphrey’s immense integrity cow-tow to Johnson: scraping, bowing, and “yes-sirring” his way to political defeat in his own race for the White House in 1968? Solberg reiterates HHH’s own version of the “why”: The Vice President followed the company line out of loyalty; it was Johnson who pulled him from obscurity and placed him in the second highest office of the land and HHH felt duty bound to honor the man who gave his political aspirations second wind. But this explanation, coupled with Solberg’s assertion that “there was just something in Humprhey’s nature” that led a principled man to vacate his principles in a quest for power seems trite and inadequate in answering the most important question of HHH’s career.
There’s also no afterword dealing with Muriel’s ascending the throne (she accepted appointment to HHH’s U.S. Senate seat upon his death) or an in-depth discussion of how Humphrey managed the news that the urinary difficulties he’d battled for years suddenly became terminal. While the facts are there, the human equation (What sort of man of faith was Humphrey? How did he handle the issue of sudden mortality?) really aren’t fleshed out.
Still, this book is an invaluable read for anyone interested in Minnesota political history. When read in conjunction with Mr. Environment: The Willard Munger Story (my own attempt at biography which chronicles the rise of Minnesota’s best loved state legislator and the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota), this well paced biography will give the casual historian a nearly-complete view of Liberal, Progressive politics in Minnesota.
3 and 1/2 stars of 5.
