Editing Michael Dukakis (section)

=== Primaries ===
[[File:Dukakis1988rally.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Michael Dukakis at a campaign rally in [[UCLA]]'s [[Pauley Pavilion]], the night before the US presidential election of 1988 (Mon, November 7, 1988).]]
Using the phenomenon termed the "[[Massachusetts Miracle]]" to promote his campaign, Dukakis sought the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] nomination for [[President of the United States]] in the [[1988 United States presidential election]], prevailing over a primary field that included [[Jesse Jackson]], [[Dick Gephardt]], [[Paul Simon (politician)|Paul Simon]], [[Gary Hart]], [[Joe Biden]] and [[Al Gore]], among others. Composer [[John Williams]] wrote "Fanfare for Michael Dukakis" in 1988 at the request of Dukakis's father-in-law, Harry Ellis Dickson. The piece was premiered under the baton of Dickson (then the Associate Conductor of the [[Boston Pops]]) at that year's [[1988 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]]. Dukakis won the Democratic nomination, with 2,877 out of 4,105 delegates. He chose [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Lloyd Bentsen]] of Texas to be his [[Vice President of the United States|vice presidential]] running mate. Dukakis was pro-choice on the issue of abortion.<ref>{{cite news |last=Goldman |first=Ari L. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/07/us/dukakis-s-ties-to-orthodox-church-stay-warm-despite-abortion-stance.html |title=Dukakis's Ties to Orthodox Church Stay Warm Despite Abortion Stance |newspaper=NYTimes.com |date=September 7, 1988 |access-date=April 5, 2015 |archive-date=May 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525082752/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/07/us/dukakis-s-ties-to-orthodox-church-stay-warm-despite-abortion-stance.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Dukakis made history as the first non-[[White Americans|Western European American]] nominated for president by a major party, and was, until President Obama's nomination in 2008, the only major presidential nominee in history with [[Ancestral background of presidents of the United States|ancestry from outside]] [[Northwestern Europe]]. Every United States presidential nominee except for Martin van Buren (who was of entirely Dutch ancestry) has had ancestry from the [[British Isles]].<ref name="AAP">{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Gary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1FNnAAAAMAAJ |title=Ancestors of American Presidents |date=1995 |publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society |isbn=0-936124-19-9 |page=8 |access-date=April 4, 2021}}</ref> As the first [[Greeks|ethnic Greek]] nominated for the Presidency by a major party, Dukakis enjoyed strong support among the [[Greek Americans|Greek American]] community. The Associated Press reported in April 1988 that there was an "outpouring of pride in Dukakis", which was especially strong and sentimental among older generations of Greek Americans.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Ethnic Excitement About Dukakis: 'He's Greek' |url=https://apnews.com/article/db93e9942413d98892e8a8472107b771 |access-date=June 26, 2023 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref> Dukakis stressed his working-class background as the son of impoverished immigrants, and his fluency in [[Greek language|Greek]] among several other languages. Touching on his immigrant roots, Dukakis used [[Neil Diamond]]'s ode to immigrants, "[[America (Neil Diamond song)|America]]", as the theme song for his campaign. This was seen as a sharp departure from his previous political campaigns in heavily white Massachusetts, in which the ''[[The Washington Post|Washington Post]]'' reported that Dukakis rarely, if at all, made a point of his ethnicity (hence the reported colloquial saying "I knew Michael Dukakis before he was Greek").<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Stark |first=Steven D. |date=September 25, 1988 |title=WHY DUKAKIS' ETHNIC PITCH MAY NOT PLAY AT THE POLLS |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1988/09/25/why-dukakis-ethnic-pitch-may-not-play-at-the-polls/3139d0d2-5fb3-482f-b7f1-2efd1c5a9845/ |access-date=June 26, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Although George H.W Bush's campaign did not make a point of it in their [[attack ad]]s, researchers and pollsters often discussed the vulnerability of Dukakis embracing his heritage. Conservative analyst [[William Schneider Jr.]] said that Dukakis' Greekness was the "great unspoken issue" of the election.<ref name=":0" /> The ''Post'' assessed that Bush's desirability as a [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestants|WASP]] would inevitably make a victory more difficult for Dukakis in the long run.<ref name=":0" />

Regardless of community support, Dukakis had trouble with the personality that he projected to the voting public. His reserved and stoic nature was easily interpreted to be a lack of passion; Dukakis was often referred to as "[[Zorba the Greek|Zorba the Clerk]]".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1988/10/23/how-history-would-vote/07e891bd-f38c-4c36-a40b-e76b92115e4f/|title=HOW HISTORY WOULD VOTE|date=October 23, 1988|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 22, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123010156/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1988/10/23/how-history-would-vote/07e891bd-f38c-4c36-a40b-e76b92115e4f/|url-status=live}}</ref> Nevertheless, Dukakis is considered to have done well in the first presidential debate with George H.W. Bush, with ''The New York Times'' reporting, "Democratic and Republican analysts generally agreed that Mr. Dukakis had turned in the better performance in the first of two Presidential debates, frequently managing to put Mr. Bush on the defensive."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dionne |first1=E.J. Jr. |title=After The Debate; Round One Undecisive &#91;sic&#93; |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/27/us/after-the-debate-round-one-undecisive.html |work=The New York Times |date=September 27, 1988 |access-date=July 15, 2019 |archive-date=February 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217133532/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/27/us/after-the-debate-round-one-undecisive.html?searchResultPosition=7 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the second debate, his performance was poor and played to his reputation as being cold.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/presidential-debates-errors-mistakes-gaffes-biggest-history-214279|title=The 8 Biggest Unforced Errors in Debate History|last=Zelizer|first=Julian E.|website=POLITICO Magazine|date=September 24, 2016 |language=en|access-date=January 22, 2019|archive-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123011841/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/presidential-debates-errors-mistakes-gaffes-biggest-history-214279|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the campaign, Dukakis's mental health became an issue when he refused to release his full medical history and there were, according to ''The New York Times'', "persistent suggestions" that he had undergone psychiatric treatment in the past.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/04/us/dukakis-releases-medical-details-to-stop-rumors-on-mental-health.html?pagewanted=all "Dukakis Releases Medical Details To Stop Rumors on Mental Health"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305063750/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/04/us/dukakis-releases-medical-details-to-stop-rumors-on-mental-health.html?pagewanted=all |date=March 5, 2016 }}, ''The New York Times'', August 4, 1988.</ref>  The issue gained further traction after a White House press conference, during which President [[Ronald Reagan]] flippantly referred to Dukakis as an "invalid".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_krr3Zs0D8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211103/6_krr3Zs0D8| archive-date=November 3, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Dukakis' mental health questioned| date=March 16, 2016|via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the 2008 film ''[[Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story]]'', journalist [[Robert Novak]] revealed that Republican strategist [[Lee Atwater]] had personally tried to get him to spread these mental health rumors.<ref name=BoogieMan>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/atwater/etc/script.html ''Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021171256/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/atwater/etc/script.html |date=October 21, 2017 }} transcript, [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]], director: [[Stefan Forbes]], 2008.</ref> Editors at ''The Washington Times'' contributed to these rumors when they ran a story headlined "Dukakis Kin Hints at Sessions", suggesting that a member of the Dukakis family had said "it is possible" that Dukakis saw a psychiatrist. A week later the reporter, [[Gene Grabowski (communications strategist)|Gene Grabowski]], revealed that ''Times'' editors had taken the full quote out of context. The full quote was "It's possible, but I doubt it."<ref>{{Cite news|title = Reporter Quits in Dispute Over Dukakis Story|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-13-mn-192-story.html|newspaper = Los Angeles Times|date = August 13, 1988|access-date = January 8, 2016|issn = 0458-3035|language = en-US|archive-date = January 25, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160125185346/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-08-13/news/mn-192_1_straight-story|url-status = live}}</ref>

Dukakis's general election campaign was subject to several criticisms and gaffes on issues such as [[Capital punishment in the United States|capital punishment]], [[the pledge of allegiance in schools]], and a [[Michael Dukakis tank photograph|photograph of Dukakis in a tank]] which was intended to portray him as a sound choice for [[commander-in-chief]] but which was widely perceived to have backfired. Like the allegations of psychiatric problems, these were vulnerabilities which Atwater identified and exploited. In 1991, shortly before his death from a brain tumor, Atwater apologized to Dukakis for the "naked cruelty" of the 1988 campaign.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gravely Ill, Atwater Offers Apology |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/13/us/gravely-ill-atwater-offers-apology.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 13, 1991 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-date=May 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502045245/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/13/us/gravely-ill-atwater-offers-apology.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="TNY20080505">{{cite magazine |author=Dorothy Wickenden |title=Going Positive |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=May 5, 2008 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/05/05/080505taco_talk_wickenden |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-date=May 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501040315/http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/05/05/080505taco_talk_wickenden |url-status=live }}</ref>