The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making the purpose of the convention to select a new presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. The keynote speaker was Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine were nominated for president and vice president, respectively. The most contentious issues of the convention were the continuing American military involvement in the Vietnam War and voting reform, particularly expanding the right to vote for draft-age soldiers (age 18) who were unable to vote as the voting age was 21. The convention also marked a turning point where previously idle groups such as youth and minorities became more involved in politics and voting.

The convention of 1968 was held during a year of riots, political turbulence, and mass civil unrest. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April of that year inflamed racial tensions to an unprecedented level. King's assassination led to riots in more than 100 cities and marked the end of the Civil Rights Era. The convention also followed the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5. Robert Kennedy's assassination derailed the convention, paving the way for Hubert Humphrey. Both Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota had been running for the Democratic nomination at the time. The Humphrey-Muskie ticket would be defeated in the general election by the Republican ticket of Nixon and Agnew.