1/ We’re taking a moment during this convention week to recall one of the stranger characters from American political history: Pigasus the Immortal, the pig who would be president. #LessonsFromHistory 
2/ At the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, amid protests against the Vietnam War and violent clashes with police, members of the Youth International Party, known as Yippies (Abbie Hoffman was a founder), brought a pig to a demonstration and announced its candidacy.
3/ When another YIP founder, Jerry Rubin, attempted to give an acceptance speech on behalf of the porcine politician, the police confiscated Pigasus and arrested his handlers, charging them with disorderly conduct.
4/ After President Nixon took office in 1969, eight YIP members were charged with federal crimes, including crossing state lines to incite a riot. The trial of the Chicago Seven, as they came to be known, was followed closely by TV news and activists alike.
5/ The trial took on a circus-like atmosphere. One defendant was so disruptive he was ordered bound and gagged. At one point a Yippie defendant, the folk singer Phil Ochs, was asked by his lawyer: “Were you informed by an officer that the pig had squealed on you?”
6/ The story of Pigasus lived on as an enduring piece of political theater that would pave the way for joke candidates like Vermin Supreme, who wears a boot on his head and whose platform promises everyone a free pony.
7/ For more on the history of political conventions, check out our playlist:
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