1960s America

Presidential Candidates

Republican Nominee
Candidate:Richard Nixon
Running Mate:Spiro Agnew

Democratic Nominee
Candidate:Hubert Humphrey
Running Mate:Edmond Muskey

American Independant
Candidate:George Wallace
Running Mate:Curtis Lemay

Primaries&Main Candidates

Democratic Primaries
Winner:Hubert Humphrey
The Demcratic Primaries had 6 main candidates these people were Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, Channing E Philips, Lester Maddox, Robert F Kennedy, & Lyndon B Johnson(LBJ). But by the end of August, 3 of the candidates withdrawn from the race.

•Lyndon Johnson
He may have won 63% in 64. Though 4 years can make a difference, The main subject that doomed his relection was the Vietnam War. Though America had already been involved in Vietnam with Dwight Eisenhower sending cash & Kennedy sending more than 500 Military advisors. It had had been limited. LBJ had escalated the war enacting conscription, sending more aid to South Vietnam, and a large bombing campaign. Though it had initially popular, later it went the more unpopular it became, for many years the Government said "Victory was just around the corner". Though by 1968 there were more than 500.000 Soldiers, & with the the Tet Offensive it had became obvious "Victory was just around the corner" was not exactly true. There was also a "Credibility Gap". Which was a term used by Journalists, which describe what the government was telling them & what as actually happening. It had created a distrust between the people & what their government was saying. This caused a dent in LBJ's campaign as it was obvious LBJ knew most of these secrets and was keeping it away from the public. Lyndon Johnson later withdrawn on March 31st after not doing well in the Massachusetts Primary.

•Robert F Kennedy
Orginally he had not planned running in the Primaries. Though with the coming of the Tet Offensive & talks with close close advisors & friends he had chose to run. Kennedy ran on a platform of racial and economic justice, non-aggression in foreign policy, and social change. RFK had done very well in the primaries with his ideals & being the brother of John F Kennedy. Many people had believed RFK would have been the candidate for the 1968 election, though he would be assinated on June 6 in Los Angeles. Shot several times by Sirhan Sirhan, and died several hours after being brought to a hospital.

•Eugene McCarthy
McCarthy platform was similar if not, identical to RFK's platform. Which would cause you to think there would not be much agression between the 2. But McCarthy was bothered how he was one of the few senators to challenge LBJ's decision to escalate the War back in 1964, & now Kennedy is taking all the credit. After the assination of RFK, RFK supporters switch to McCarthy. Though he would not have enough votes to win the primaries.

•Hubert Humphrey
Like RFK, Humphrey did not orginally planned running in the primaries. Only after LBJ withdrawn his bid. His platform was mostly similar to the other candidates. Though Humphrey unlike McCarthy & RFK. Still supported the efforts in Vietnam. This would make you think he would be a unpopular candidate. Though his reputation as a experience politican & backing from major nation wide Labor Unions, kept his campaign afloat. He would later win the democratic ticket for the Presidential Election.

Republican Primaries & Main Candidates
Winner:Richard M Nixon
The Republican Primaries had 7 main candidates Richard M Nixon, Ronald Reagan , Jim Rhodes, Harold Stassen, Nelson Rockefeller, & George W Romney. Though the only real competition was between 3 candidates Nixon, Reagan, & Romney.

•Richard M Nixon
Nixon had always been the frontrunner of the Republican Party, it would be really hard to combat his campaign. Though he was polarizing, he was still very popular. His campaign was threatened by 2 strong candidates which were George W Romney & Ronald Reagan. Though Nixon was able to still win the primary due to his experience as a politician, being a Repersenitive, Senator, & Vice President. His platform focused heavily on Law & Order & the Vietnam War, blaming much of the problems on the current leadership. His experience & platform were the main things that help him win the primary. "Just Barely"

•Ronald Reagan
Reagan was a very popular candidates in the Primaries being the Governor of California & Actor. His platform also focused on Law & Order & the Vietnam War. He was a very popular candidate & almost beat Nixon in the primaries though in the ending he did not have enough votes to beat Nixon.

•George W Romney
Romney's Platform is very similar to Reagan & Nixon. Though he may had not been as experience as Nixon, & have a celebrity status like Reagan. He was still seen as a very powerful candidate. Though he had 2 great weaknesses expertise on Foreign Policy & difficulty on being articulate(Being Fluent). Romney was not clear about his Foreign Policy & didn't have a clear position. This heavily damage his populariy due to one of the biggest debates & problems being about foreign policy(Particularly Vietnam). Not being articulate(Fluent), most likely steming from his former career as a industry executive. Whenever he gave his answer or spoke on an issue it was often lengthy & not forthright. These were the 2 main problems were the reasons why he would was not a popular candidate, and was "Favorite Son Candidate". Romney would withdraw his bid in Feburary.

American Independant

•George C Wallace
AIP was a fairly new political party being founded in 1967. Due to the Party being fairly new, & with it not having any strong candidates(Excluding Wallace). Wallace secured the ticket unopposed. Running on a segregationist Platform against Nixon & Humphrey.

Presidential Election

•Hubert Humphrey
Humphrey campaigned on expanding the Great Society programs started by LBJ, and the "War on Poverty".Though he was not very vocal about the Vietnam War unlike Nixon. Due to the fact he was supported the war & was the Vice President of LBJ. He would stay unvocal about the war especially after the 1968 Chicago Convention. His popularity rised in the "October Surprise" when LBJ said he would halt bombing and would start negotiations about a cease fire. Luck would also turn more in his favor when Wallace started taking away votes from Nixon in the South.

•Richard M Nixon
Nixon used the "Southern Strategy" targeting Southern States which was not difficult due to Johnsons stance on Civil Rights and his Great Society Programs. His main focus early in his campaign was restoring "Law & Order" which gain support from many people due to many frustrations about the riots happening around the country. Though later in the campaign during the "October Surprise" when Humphrey got a surge in the polls. He than promoted his idea of a "Secret Plan" to end the Vietnam War as well as Ending the draft. Its believe Nixon had also sabotage peace talks between LBJ, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam, which help discredit LBJ's peace talks and damaging Humphrey's campaign.

•George C Wallace
Like Nixon, Wallace offered "Law & Order", and was rising in the polls. Even in Northern States like Maryland & Ohio, even though he was often seen as a racist(& he was). Though his popularity would decline. After his running mateCurtis LeMay commented about Nuclear War. Tension between Wallace & LeMay, was also shown on television and speeches. This would cause many of his supporters to vote Nixon instead of Wallace. Though Wallace still ran a strong campaign in the end getting 13.5% of the vote. Becoming one of the strongest third party candidates in the 20th century.

Turnouts

Republican Nominee
Candidate:Richard Nixon
Running Mate:Spiro Agnew
Turnout:43.4%

Democratic Nominee
Candidate:Hubert Humphrey
Running Mate:Edmond Muskey
Turnout:42.7%

American Independant
Candidate:George Wallace
Running Mate:Curtis Lemay
Turnout:13.5%