Death turned elder Daley against war Advised Johnson to 'fold your cards' in Vietnam

Richard J. Daley never lived down the ugly image of policeofficers clashing with anti-war demonstrators on the streets ofChicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. But he hadmore in common with protesters than anyone could have imagined.

Moved by the death in Vietnam of the Harvard-educated son of aBridgeport neighbor and close friend, Daley had privately turnedagainst the war more than a year before the infamous Chicagoconvention.

"He said, 'What a waste. For what?' " recalled former FederalCommunications Commission chairman and longtime Daley friend NewtonMinow.

"The irony of 1968 is that Daley was perceived as hard-line, buthe agreed with the protesters. History ought to know that he wasagainst the war long before some of the protesters."

Acclaimed presidential historian and native Chicagoan MichaelBeschloss added, "As early as 1966, Daley told President LyndonJohnson in private that, politically, Vietnam was turning into adisaster. He told Johnson what his beloved father, Mike Daley, alwaystold him. He said, 'Mr. President, when you've got a losing hand, youfold your cards.' "

Richard J. Daley's behind-the-scenes -- and unheeded -- advice toJohnson to get out of Vietnam was just one of the many political andhuman insights to emerge from Wednesday's symposium at the Universityof Illinois at Chicago 50 years to the day after the late mayor'sfirst inauguration.

Cried after JFK's killing

There was Daley's decision to ignore his mother's advice and runfor sheriff in 1946, the only election he ever lost, and hisunfulfilled dream of tearing down Soldier Field and replacing it witha Near West Side sports stadium adjacent to the UIC campus he calledhis crowning achievement.

And there was then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy'sprivate pitch to Daley to run for governor in 1960, arguing that thetwo Democrats would "make a great ticket." Daley politely declined,then took Kennedy to school.

"The mayor shook his head and said to Kennedy, 'You've got tounderstand Illinois. If there are going to be two Catholics runningstatewide in Illinois this year, one of them is going to win, andit's not going to be you,' " Beschloss said.

Beschloss said there was "no question" that Kennedy credited Daleywith the Illinois victory that handed him the presidency by a narrowmargin. Some even said the election had been stolen by the vote fraudthat made Chicago famous.

When Kennedy was assassinated, Daley cried for the first timesince the death of his own father, Beschloss said. Before Robert F.Kennedy was shot nearly five years later after claiming victory inthe California primary, the last phone call he made was to Daley.Chicago's mayor had pledged to publicly endorse RFK, a move thatwould have sewn up the Democratic nomination because, as the youngerKennedy often put it, "Daley's the ballgame."

"Just think how different history might have been if RFK had takena different route out of that ballroom that evening or had Johnsontaken Daley's advice" on Vietnam, Beschloss said.

"No mayor of the 20th century had a more important role inadvising presidents than Daley. He was not only a kingmaker, but abrilliant political mind."

'He lit up our house'

Patricia Daley Martino, the oldest of the late mayor's sevenchildren, offered a rare glimpse into the family life that Richard J.Daley guarded so dearly. She said her father was the "happiest man Iever knew" and would often wake up singing, "Good morning Mr. Zip-Zip-Zip with your hair cut just as short as mine."

"We had the happiest of childhoods. He made us feel so loved. Hewas supportive. He was accessible, and he was fun. He lit up ourhouse," Daley Martino said, recalling that the Daley kids wouldchange seats while attending Sox games to be near their father.

But the rosy glow created by a steady stream of Daley tributesover the last week was not enough to erase the ugliness of 1968 when,as the demonstrators chanted, "The whole world was watching."

UIC historian Robert Remini acknowledged that the demonstrations"could have been handled a different way" and that Daley "could have,perhaps, been much more open with the public."

But Remini said, "He did his very best to contain what was rapidlygetting out of control."

Daley Martino made the point her father did during a post-convention interview with then-CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite: No onelost their lives in the Chicago demonstrations, and 51 policeofficers were seriously injured.

"The object was to destroy Chicago. My father's job was to protectChicago and all of its citizens. And that's what he did," she said.