Chicago– As the American city that has hosted more political conventions than any other, Chicago has seen almost all of it.
Presidential nominees have been formally declared in Chicago more than two dozen times since Abraham Lincoln in 1860, including the infamous 1968 convention, where police clashed with protesters, and Bill Clinton's 1996 renomination.
Now the nation's third-largest city is back on the world stage as it hosts the Democratic National Convention starting Monday, where city leaders, residents and activists are hoping to get time in the spotlight and shape the city's reputation.
Tourism officials are keen to highlight the city’s top sites and attractions, while allaying security concerns about crowds and street violence. Anti-war protesters, who are descendants of the area’s Palestinian population, are preparing to demonstrate. And elected leaders say it’s a historic opportunity to be the city where a woman of color, Vice President Kamala Harris, will lead a presidential ticket for the first time.
“It’s a great testament to who we are as a people, to once again host the world where great history is going to happen by launching the first Black woman of Asian descent into the most powerful office in the world,” Mayor Brandon Johnson told The Associated Press. “Chicago gets a chance to do that.”
But not everyone sees it that way.
Although the conferences have had some successes, such as the one held in 1996, which passed without any notable obstacles, comparisons with the 1968 conference are inevitable, especially as disapproval of US support for the war in Gaza grows.
Lee Weiner, 85, is the last living member of the “Chicago Seven” activists who were tried for organizing an anti-Vietnam War protest outside a 1968 convention, where bloody clashes with police were filmed live.
Weiner said the protests changed his life.
The sociologist has written a memoir about his experiences growing up in Chicago and going through the high-profile trial. Weiner said he believes people are more divided now than ever and that police tactics haven’t really changed.
“The echoes of that period are very much a part of our daily lives now,” Weiner said. “If you’re going to go out on the streets, you have to be careful.”
Chicago has been preparing for more than a year, with extensive police training and security drills ahead of the event, which is expected to attract 50,000 people, including thousands of anti-war activists.
Johnson says his leadership — as a black man and former union organizer — shows that things are different, and that Chicago will embrace First Amendment rights.
But the concern that things could take another turn remains.
Some downtown businesses boarded up their windows this week while Cook County courts added more space and hours in anticipation of mass arrests during the convention.
Chicago has held several large-scale events without problems, including a NATO conference in 2012, said Police Superintendent Larry Snelling. He praised the department's training in constitutional policing and de-escalation tactics as critical to the city's security plan.
The administration faced intense criticism for its lack of preparedness in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, when civil unrest erupted across the country.
But Snelling said the situation is different — Chicago police are prepared for planned protests during the Democratic National Convention — and that the department has learned many lessons.
“We’ve evolved as a department. We’ve evolved in training,” Snelling told The Associated Press this week. “Look back to 1968; I think anyone who’s still around from that time will tell you that the officers didn’t have the training or the preparation to handle that kind of situation.”
Chicago is expected to see protests every day of the conference, with the main message being a call to end the war in Gaza immediately. Activists say Chicago is the ideal location because the demonstrations will start in the city’s southwestern suburbs, home to the largest concentration of Palestinians in the country.
“It is no exaggeration to say that the genocide affects Chicagoans on a very personal level,” said Mohammed Sankari, one of the organizers of the demonstration. “That is why it has become our moral duty to organize ourselves and take our demands to the doorstep of the Democratic Party.”
Some Chicagoans are also hoping to seize the opportunity.
Bradley Johnson leads an anti-violence organization, BUILD Chicago, on the West Side, not far from the United Center where the conference will be held. For months during after-school programs and weekends, his group has used the upcoming conference to teach young people about the democratic process.
He hopes the thousands of party leaders coming to Chicago will learn from the youth, too.
“It's an opportunity for Chicago to prove that even though there have been shootings, that's not who we are,” he said.
Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois said the excitement around the convention — the city's 26th major party convention — was palpable.
Her phone was buzzing with friends and acquaintances looking for tickets since Harris became the presumptive nominee. Adding to the buzz was the fact that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was considered to be Harris’s running mate.
Moseley Braun, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate, said it was fitting that Harris accepted the nomination in Chicago, where former President Barack Obama began his political career.
“We have a tradition in this city of men and women advancing to new heights,” she said.
Tourism officials were also keen to boost revenue.
Similar-sized conventions in other cities have generated as much as $200 million for hotels, restaurants and retailers, according to Choose Chicago, the city's tourism marketing organization.
“We’re like Type A personalities,” said Rich Gamble, interim president of Choose Chicago. “We have expectations for ourselves. If you’re here, we want you to see the best version of yourself and the best behavior.”
