Leading the Change: Joe Duffey and the 1970 Connecticut Campaign for the Senate

This exhibit showcases the materials created during a political race that “galvanized a generation of campus liberals.” Managed in part by individuals who would later become national political leaders (Bill Clinton, Tony and John Podesta, Michael Medved, Larry Kudlow, Joe Lieberman, and Sam Gejdenson) and supported by major cultural figures (Paul Newman, Alexander Calder, William Styron, and Thornton Wilder), the campaign placed Joe Duffey at its center. A coal miner’s son, minister, professor, and antiwar and civil rights activist, Duffey brought a message that resonated widely. 

Although he did not win the 1970 race for U.S. Senate, Duffey energized Connecticut politics and inspired a generation “desperately hungry for honesty and conviction.”