Humphrey, Muskie & McGovern: Shirley Chisholm’s Presidential Rivals Explained

Shirley Chisholm faced fierce political opponents such as Humphrey, McGovern, and Muskie in Shirley. The new Netflix historical biopic follows the true story of Chisholm’s historic rise from becoming the first black American woman in the U.S. Congress to the first black American woman to ever run for President of the United States.

Regina King gives a transformative performance as the titular character, showcasing her fierce resolve and unyielding commitment to make history. The ending of Shirley chronicles the result of the 1972 Democratic Convention and Chisholm eventually dropping out of the race after being betrayed by rival candidate Walter Fauntroy.

Shirley has an outstanding cast led by Regina King, Lucas Hedges, Terrence Howard, and the late actor Lance Reddick, who made one of his final posthumous appearances in the film. Shirley was written and directed by John Ridley, who won an Oscar for his work on 2013’s 12 Years a Slave. Many of the characters in Shirley are dramatized portrayals of real-life political candidates, volunteers, activists, and other significant personnel involved in Chisholm’s trailblazing campaign, including Congresswoman Barbara Lee and prominent attorney Robert C. Gottlieb, both of whom had been early supporters of Chisholm.

Hubert Humphrey Pulled Out Of The Race With Hardly 2% Of All Delegates

Hubert Humphrey is mentioned several times in Shirley but is not ever shown on screen despite being one of Chisholm’s competitors and ultimately supporters at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. Humphrey served as the 38th Vice President of the United States from 1965 to 1969 under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Humphrey also served as a Senator from Minnesota twice, from 1949 to 1964 and from 1971 to 1978. Humphrey was named the Democratic nominee in the 1968 presidential election, which he ultimately lost to the Republican nominee Richard Nixon.

As depicted in Sharley, Hubert Humphrey pulled out of the race at the 1972 Democratic National Convention and kept his word by giving all of his delegates to Chisholm. This was a significant moment for Chisholm’s campaign, as she would have received Humprhey’s 67 pledged delegates, which would have raised her total number of delegates from 152 to 219. Chisholm was relying on all of the help she could get to at least give the heavily favored McGovern a run for his money for the Democratic nomination. Chisholm could then have held some leverage in negotiating with McGovern on policy or even a position for herself before ultimately handing over her delegates.

Edmund Muskie Had A Disastrous Showing At The 1972 DNC

Like Humphrey, Ed Muskie was also one of the Democratic candidates who gave Chisholm his delegates after dropping out of the race at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. Although it wasn’t much, Muskie had a total of 25 pledged delegates at the DNC, which made up just 0.83% of the total number of delegates. Muskie did notably beat out other candidates such as Ted Kennedy, Wayne Hays, and Eugene McCarthy. The Senator from Maine served from 1959 to 1981 and served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981. Muskie was notably the Democratic Party’s nominee for vice president in the 1968 presidential election.

George McGovern Won An Overwhelming Majority of Delegates & Secured The Presidential Nomination

George McGovern had notably won the Massachusetts primary but was heavily trailing George Wallace before an assassination attempt nearly took his life, paralyzed him from the waist down, and forced him to drop out of the race. McGovern emerged as the most popular candidate heading into the Democratic National Convention, but Chisholm maintained her perseverance and kept campaigning. Ultimately, McGovern would come out victorious as the 1972 Democrat nomination after several candidates, including Fauntroy, dropped out and gave their pledged delegates to McGovern over Chisholm.

McGovern scored a major victory at the DNC by clinching the California primary and securing 273 delegates in a “winner-take-all” system, which would have theoretically sealed his Democratic nomination for the Presidency. However, as depicted in Shirley, new rules and credential changes in 1972 caused some confusion that resulted in McGovern losing some of his California delegates and the Democratic nomination. As a result, California delegates were distributed based on popular vote, which awarded Chisholm some of the California delegates that briefly extended her campaign at the Democratic National Convention. After the events of Shirley, McGovern lost the 1972 Presidential election, which had a historically low turnout of 56.2%, to Richard Nixon who earned a dominant 520 votes in the electoral college.