How I got into the 1964 Republican National Convention where Barry
Goldwater was nominated
I have told this story many times but never written it down, so now I
will.
In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson was running for President of the United
States. I was a student at the University of California at Berkeley,
majoring in math. I, like most Berkeley students, was opposed to the
War in Vietnam. Lyndon B. Johnson had made it clear that if he was
elected he would continue the war. Traditionally, the Democrats had
been the War Party, with presidents like Wilson, Roosevelt and Truman
getting us into wars, whereas the Republicans had been the Peace Party
with Presidents like Harding, Coolidge, Hoover and Eisenhower, who had
avoided wars.
Therefore, we Berkeley students looked to a possible Republican
Candidate to emerge who would get us out of the War in Vietnam.
Unfortunately, the leading Republican Candidate was Barry Goldwater,
who promised to end the War in Vietnam by the simple expedient of
bombing Hanoi. "Destroy Hanoi!!!", the Goldwater people said. Dropping
a nuclear bomb on Hanoi did not seem like the right way to end the
war.
So, we looked for some other candidate to emerge. "Anybody but
Goldwater" groups were formed.
A new last-minute candidate emerged named William Scranton. Nobody
knew much about him except that he was Governor of Pennsylvania.
Nevertheless, he became the man-of-the-hour for the "Anybody but
Goldwater" groups.
I went over to a Scranton for President rally at the Mark Hopkins
Hotel in San Francisco. I waited in the crowd inside the hotel lobby
and finally the great man arrived. As he waded through the crowd of
well wishers and supporters, I shook his hand.
Back in Berkeley, I was given a flier stating, "If you want to attend
the Republican National Convention, be at the corner of Bancroft and
Telegraph in front of the Student Union Building at 7:00 AM tomorrow."
I wanted to attend the Republican National Convention, so I showed up
at the Student Union building at 7:00 AM as directed.
There were about seven chartered buses lined up in front of the
Student Union Building. I got in line. There were men handing each
person in the line a Scranton hat and a Scranton sign. The flier
announcing this had said nothing about Scranton. However, the men
controlling the buses said that if you wanted to get inside the
Republican National Convention, you had to agree to wear a Scranton
hat, carry a Scranton sign, and demonstrate for Scranton at the
appropriate time during the Republican National Convention inside the
Cow Palace, where the convention was being held.
I had no objection, so I took a Scranton hat and a Scranton sign and
got on the bus.
When we arrived at the Cow Palace, the situation was vastly different
than what we had imagined it would be. We had been told that we would
be given credentials that would enable us to gain admission to the Cow
Palace. However, no credentials were available. We were told by our
leaders to go around to the right side of the Cow Palace and wait.
We waited for a long time. It seemed that no progress was being made.
The crowd was getting restless. I was getting tired. I leaned against
the wall of the Cow Palace.
The Cow Palace was primarily a sporting arena where professional
basketball games and other sporting events were played. There were
doors all around the Cow Palace. Suddenly, the wall I had been leaning
against turned out to be a door. The wall opened. I nearly fell to the
ground. Regaining my balance, I saw that the doors had opened and a
bunch of security guards were rushing towards us. I ran forward, into
the Cow Palace. One of the guards tried to grab me, but I slipped in
between two of the guards. I kept going. At first, I expected one of
the security guards to run after me, grab me and escort me out the
building. However, when I looked behind me, I saw that the guards were
trying to lock arms and to hold back the waves of hundreds of Berkeley
Students behind me who were also trying to get inside the Cow Palace.
As soon as I realized that those security guards would not be able to
come after me, I had only to avoid being stopped, as I had no
credentials to be inside the building.
First thing I did: I got rid of the Scranton Hat and the Scranton
Sign. I knew that having that hat and that sign would brand me as an
interloper. I dropped them on the floor near a wall.
After that, I was fairly safe. As far as I know, none of the other
Berkeley students who had come with me on the buses had made it inside
the Cow Palace.
Then, I had to go some place to avoid being spotted. I found a
stairwell. I took the stairs up to a high balcony. I took a seat. This
gave me a clear view of the entire convention hall. I was looking down
at the speaker's podium from the right side from the point of view of
the speaker.
I sat there all day long. I never moved from that seat. I watched the
great events of history unfold in front of my eyes. Scranton never had
a chance. It had all been decided before hand. The demonstration for
Scranton that the organizers of the buses had hoped would take place
never occurred. I never even saw a Scranton Hat or a Scranton Sign
inside the Cow Palace, except for the ones that I had brought in.
Speaker after speaker spoke. The votes were taken. Goldwater won.
Goldwater came in to give his famous speech which still rings in the
annals of history, where he said, "Extremism in the defense of liberty
is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit
of justice is no virtue." I was there in the room when he uttered
those famous words. I gave it no notice. I found nothing remarkable
about that speech at the time. It was only much later that the speech
became famous.
I saw there all day long and into the evening. I was one of the last
persons to leave the Cow Palace that night. I was still wondering if
somebody would check my credentials when I tried to go out the door.
When I got outside of the Cow Palace, it was dark. Only a few cars
remained in the parking lot. I started asking people for a ride back
to downtown San Francisco. Finally, a man agreed to give me a ride
back.
In his car, as he was driving me back, I asked the man, "Do you
believe that Goldwater has a chance?"
"Yes", the man replied. "Goldwater will be elected".
The man was to be proven wrong. Goldwater fell to a crushing defeat.
As for William Scranton, little was ever heard from him again. The
next news about him was that he had been implicated in some sort of
stock swindle in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His political career was
over.
Sam Sloan
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