Congressman Roman Pucinski pushed me off the elevator
Walt, what do you remember about our experiences at the 1968 Democratic Party convention?
Since this story from our teenage years appears prominently on Family History Machine, let's add some content to it by recording some of our memories.
I don't recall how we got the assignment to serve as messengers for the Eugene McCarthy campaign in its offices in the Chicago Hilton Hotel on Michigan Avenue. We had both done door-knocking in Illinois and Wisconsin for the candidate during the primary campaign. Our mother, Helga, was active in DuPage County Democratic Party politics, so she probably had something to do with getting us the gig.
The main work I remember was simply delivering messages and packages to different suites in the hotel. My most vivid memory of the early part of the week was when I stepped into an elevator car just before the doors began to close. I immediately recognized that the two men already inside were Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale and a local Chicago Congressman Roman Pucinski, a Mayor Daley loyalist.
I turned my back to them and waited for the doors to close. Then I received a strong shove from behind me and I stumbled out of the car. It was Pucinski who pushed me. He didn't want me listening to his private conversation with Mondale.
This was early in the week at the Hilton, before all hell broke loose on Wednesday. As I said, most of our errands were inside the hotel. But at one point, possibly on Tuesday, we were sent on a mission to the convention hall, which was in the Chicago Stockyards in southwest Chicago.
I guess we probably took a cab to the Stockyards, or else maybe you had use of the family car. Your memories about what happened next are better than mine. I'll let you pick up the story.
