Election+of+1968

= = = **1968 Election**  =
 * WELCOME TO THE GLORIOUS**

**Cooper "Groovy" Peters-Wood, Ben "Ragin' Bull" Kue, Seth "Master Chef" Rosen**

Pre-Election Chaos
The election of 1968 occurred in possibly one of the most controversial times in our history. The Vietnam conflict raged on half a world away and the civil rights movement was running its course here at home. The candidates faced a nation whose views on these issues were entirely separate. Citizens had many opinions on how these issues should be handled and the presidential candidates had to try to convince the majority of these people that their ideas would be best. The previous years had been Hell for our country. The people were still recovering from the shock of President Kennedy’s assassination five years earlier in 1963, near the end of his third year as President. Lyndon B. Johnson replaced Kennedy for the Presidency and managed to be reelected in the 1964 election but faced the overwhelming issues that we had to face. The Vietnam Conflict was a one of these major issues. The Vietnam “War” began in the mid 50s and had reached its peak in the late 60s and early 70s. Americans were torn between how this war should be handled. Peace rallies were an everyday occurrence and millions urged the government to end the war. These rallies were huge and protests often were broken up with violent methods. Other Citizens believed we should finish what we had started and continue helping the South Vietnamese fight the Communist north. Perhaps even more controversial was the issue regarding the civil rights movement. African Americans had been discriminated against without end since the country had been founded. They had been fighting for decades to gain equality. Many Americans still strongly believed in total segregation. Racism was rampant in our country and murders and bombings were occurring. The protesters, lead by influential people such as Martin Luther King Jr., marched and rallied peacefully. They organized sit-ins and marches and obtained much abuse from angry anti-civil rights citizens. King was assassinated just six months before the election and was a major hit to the movement and was an extreme example of the violence occurring over the issue. These two issues caused violence and were tearing the views of our nation into pieces. The country was literally falling apart; we needed a leader to fix the damage and address these issues in a way that was for the best of our country. We now know the history and the Issues behind the 1968 election, but who were the presidential candidates?

The Candidates
Overall, there were ten candidates for the presidency (five republicans, four democrats and one independent.) The Candidates fighting for the democratic nomination were Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, Robert Kennedy (Brother of President Kennedy) of New York, Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, and George McGovern of South Dakota. The Republican Candidates were Richard Nixon of New York, Ronald Reagan of California, Nelson Rockefeller of New York, George Romney (Father of Mitt Romney, 2012 republican presidential Candidate) of Michigan, and Harold Stassen of Minnesota. George Wallace of Alabama ran as an independent candidate. President Johnson pulled himself out of the race and publicly stated that he wished to concentrate solely on the issues that the Country Faced. The Democratic Party was partly anti-war partly pro-war and leaned toward ending segregation. McGovern, Kennedy and McCarthy were especially against it and wanted immediate peace and wanted out of the war. Nixon was more for ending the war with honor, by sticking it out a little longer, while moving towards a peaceful removal of American Involvement. All of the democratic candidates, (and also the republicans for the most part) were against segregation and agreed with the ideas of the civil rights movement. The Republican candidates were mostly anti-war. They were not for immediate Peace, but mainly wanted to move quickly towards ending our involvement. The third-party Humphrey was all for the war. He wanted to finish what was started and keep fighting until victory was achieved. He was also an extreme racist and was pro-segregation and ant-civil rights.

Tragedy Hits the Election[[image:grovesapush/sirhan_108.jpg width="108" height="123" align="right" caption="Sirhan Sirhan the assassin of Robert Kennedy"]]
Tragedy struck the Democratic Party when nomination favorite Robert Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan on April 11, 1968. His death can be added to the long list of violent acts occurring during the time of this election. McGovern replaced him as a candidate.

Nominating a Candidate and Troubal at the Convention
Declaring a Republican Nominee was relatively easy. The Republican Convention occurred in Miami Florida, and went down with very little issue. The Favorite among the party, Richard Nixon was given the nomination of the Republican Party. The Democrat’s nomination process was not nearly as clear as the Republican’s. President Johnson unexpectedly announced that he would not attempt re-election and thus would not accept the Democratic Nomination. He said it was to deal with the Country’s issues without distraction from a campaign, but some say he believed that he would not physically survive another term in the presidency. The Death of favorite, Bobby Kennedy added even more trouble to the nomination process. The Remaining Candidates had to fight it out for the nomination The Democratic convention occurred in Chicago and was a complete disaster. Vietnam Protestors rioted at the convention forcing authorities to take action. Ironically these “peace” protestors took the violent option in spreading their ideas. The Election was already not looking good for the democrats; their convention was trashed and they struggled through the nomination process while the Republicans nominated their nominee without much difficulty.

**The Nominees**
Finally, both parties had nominated a candidate for the presidency. The Republicans nominated Richard Nixon and the Democrats nominated Hubert Humphrey. They both had to run against George Wallace, whom was still in the race as an independent. The major deciding factor of the election was the candidates’ pans for peace. Nixon wanted to end the war with honor by continuing until the end. He wanted to slowly reduce our involvement, but he didn’t want to all out end the war immediately. George Wallace on the other hand was not just for continuing the war, but keeping at it as strongly as possible until victory was achieved. Humphrey was the only candidate with a literal peace plan. He wanted to quickly and peacefully end the war once he had become president. He wanted to pull troops out of Vietnam as quickly as possible and end our involvement in the war.

Results and the New President Elect
Election Day came on November 5, 1968, and once the results were in, Richard Nixon had won the Presidency. Nixon won by just over half a million popular votes while safely securing the election with 110 more electoral votes than his competitors. Surprisingly, Wallace won a total of five states. See the chart and Electoral Map bellow to see how the country voted and how Nixon won.


 * Nominee || RIchard Nixon || Hubert Humphery || George Wallace ||
 * Party || Republican || Democratic || Independent ||
 * Home State || New York || Minnesota || Alabama ||
 * VP || Spiro Agnew || Edmund Muskie || Curtis LeMay ||
 * Electoral Vote || 301 || 191 || 46 ||
 * States Carried || 32 || 13 + DC || 5 ||
 * Popular Vote || 31,783,783 || 31,271,839 || 9,901,118 ||
 * Percentage || 43.4% || 42.7% || 13.5% ||

=Importance=

The 1968 election was one of the most important elections in our history. We were deciding who would lead the country through the most terrible and controversial obstacles we faced. The end of the Sixties brought with it the height of the Vietnam Conflict and the raging battle over civil rights. With the election of Nixon brought the eventual end of segregation, and the continued struggle in Vietnam. This election is significant because it came during a vital time in our history, and set the course for future events to come.

Additional Campaign Products
Today, it is said that one must have millions of dollars to run for president, and from whom we see run for the presidency, this saying holds true. Candidates spend millions of dollars on campaign adds, some of which voters listen to. But, was it the same back in 1968? We have selected three adds from the three candidated running for president back then. The comercials obviously were made with different budgets. Keeping in mind the outcome of the elction, watch these three comercials and decide if the amount of money spent had anything to do with the election.

Nixon's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3KoYveOmiQ Humphrey's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3KoYveOmiQ Wallace's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RZ4G251WR4

You may be thinking right now that Nixon's campaign spent much more on their commercial, followed by Humphrey, with Wallace spending the least on his. This just so happens to follow the same pattern as did the results of the election. Also notice the tactics used by the commercials (Dissing the other candidates, stretching the truth...); they match the same tactics used in the campaign adds of today. Did these commericials have anything to do with the election's outcome? If so, perhaps it is why we are forced to watch endless campaign adds come election time.

=** Bibliography **= "1968 Presidential Election." 1968 Presidential Election. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. < http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1968 >. "1968 Presidential Election."

Presidential Election of 1968. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. < http://www.270towin.com/1968_Election/ >.

"Election of 1968." Election of 1968. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. < http://www.historycentral.com/elections/1968.html >.

"George Corley Wallace." - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. < http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/George_Corley_Wallace

"Mobile Library." Election of 1968. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. < http://library.duke.edu/exhibits/sevenelections/elections/1968/index.html >.

"Sirhan Bishara SIRHAN Photos 1 - Murderpedia, the Encyclopedia of Murderers." Sirhan Bishara SIRHAN Photos 1 - Murderpedia, The Encyclopedia of Murderers. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. < http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/sirhan-sirhan-photos-1.htm >. "Webquest." Webquest. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. < http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/wq/jared/Webquest.html >.