President Goldwater

In early 1964 it seemed that president Lyndon Johnson would easily be reelected president due to his high popularity. But in November 1964 all predictions were proven wrong when Barry Goldwater pulled an upset and defeated Johnson in the 1964 presidential election. Thus becoming the 37th President of the United States of America.

1964 Republican Nomination
The Republican Party was badly divided in 1964 between its conservative and moderate-liberal factions. Former Vice-President Richard Nixon, who had been beaten by Kennedy in the extremely close 1960 presidential election, decided not to run. Nixon, a moderate with ties to both wings of the GOP, had been able to unite the factions in 1960; in his absence the way was clear for the two factions to engage in an all-out political civil war for the nomination. Barry Goldwater, a Senator from Arizona, was the champion of the conservatives. The conservatives had historically been based in the American Midwest, but beginning in the 1950s the conservatives had been gaining in power in the South and West.

The 1964 Republican National Convention at San Francisco's Cow Palace arena was one of the most bitter on record, as the party's moderates and conservatives openly expressed their contempt for each other. Rockefeller was loudly booed when he came to the podium for his speech; in his speech he roundly criticized the party's conservatives, which led many conservatives in the galleries to yell and scream at him. A group of moderates tried to rally behind Scranton to stop Goldwater, but Goldwater's forces easily brushed his challenge aside, and Goldwater was nominated on the first ballot. The presidential tally was as follows:


 * Barry Goldwater 883
 * William Scranton 214
 * Nelson Rockefeller 114
 * George Romney 41
 * Margaret Chase Smith 27
 * Walter Judd 22
 * Hiram Fong 5
 * Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. 2

After Rockefeller's disastrous Convention Speech in one of the greatest political surprises in history Goldwater caught the entire country off guard by announcing that former vice president and highly popular conservative Richard Nixon would be his running mate. The announcement led to unexpected unity among the Republican party and energized the convention overnight. Moderate conservatives now began to support Goldwater with much more confidence.

In accepting his nomination, Goldwater uttered his most famous phrase: "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice". For many GOP moderates, Goldwater's speech was seen as a deliberate attempt to unite the party.

1964 General Election
After the announcement of Richard Nixon as his running mate Goldwater began to become much more competitive nationally and began leading in California,Utah,Oregon,Florida, North Carolina,Tennessee,Virginia,Colorado,Wyoming,Montana,Idaho,Alaska and Kansas.In September President Johnson suffered a heart attack which raised questions about his health and ability to lead. Johnson saw his lead sink from 20% to 5% over two weeks. In October Johnson's reelection campaign was crippled when U.S marines began to get bogged down throughout Vietnam and casualties sharply increased. With the election only two weeks away Johnson ordered air strikes against North Vietnam which soon proved disastrous after 2 American aircraft are shot down during a bombing raid over Hanoi. Johnson's lead sunk further to a mere two points. In the final week of the campaign little drama occure until election day even though the race was extremely tight. On election night with the results in Goldwater won by one of the closest margins in history winning 270 electoral votes to 268 for Johnson and winning 49.2% of the popular vote to 48.9% for Johnson.

First Term of Presidency
Goldwater began his presidency with a emphasis on ending the conflict in Vietnam and instituting tax cuts. In March 1965 Goldwater ordered the evacuation of all U.S forces from South Vietnam with the exception of Aircraft carriers from the Gulf of Tonkin. After the pullout of U.S troops from Vietnam president Goldwater signs a bill giving 50 billion dollars to the Vietnamese military who soon use these precious dollars on the construction of a more modern military buying thousands of tanks,aircraft and artillery from the United States. With their new technology the South Vietnamese use their new found advantage to hold off the north until a successful insurgency into the north can begin which soon turns the tide of the war in favor of the South Vietnamese. With the success of the war to point to, Goldwater uses his new found popularity to push through legislation to begin the tax payers relief act of 1966 which result in the greatest tax cuts in U.S history. In 1967 Goldwater gained even higher approval ratings when South Vietnamese forces captured the city of Hue which was soon followed by the assassination of Ho Chi Min, and the driving of communist forces into the jungles of the far North. Goldwater ended his first term with the signing of a bill that by law orders the teaching of basic economics and the conservation of personal wealth to American high school students and the unexpected Tet offensive of 1968.

1968 Election
Goldwater entered the 1968 presidential election highly popular. With the recent successes in Vietnam and with taxes at home Goldwater looked like he would easily be reelected come November. Democrats, shaken after the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June nominated former vice president Hubert Humphrey who soon picked George McGovern as his running mate but Democrats were soon caught of guard when George Wallace announced his entrance to the campaign as a independent. Humphrey/McGovern ran on the policies of wealth for all, which Goldwater called "blatant socialism". Though managing to unite the Democratic party public mistrust of the Democrats regarding the entry into the Vietnam War combined with the successes of the Goldwater administration and the bleeding off of votes by Wallace saw the Democrats trail the Republicans by about 11% nationally throughout the campaign. On election night Goldwater/Nixon defeated Humphrey/McGovern by winning 326 electoral votes and by winning 49% of the popular vote to Humphrey/McGovern's 192 electoral votes and 38% of the popular vote and to Wallace/LeMay's 20 electoral votes and 13% of the popular vote.

Second Term of Presidency
After handily winning reelection Goldwater continued his large tax cuts and soon slashed spending on welfare programs. The world was soon shocked when Vice President Nixon was assassinated while giving a speech in Cleveland,Ohio. Goldwater, shocked by the death of his vice president immediately declared weeks of national morning and soon chose California Governor Ronald Reagan as his new vice president. Throughout the later years of his presidency Goldwater drove the United States into a costly arms buildup with the Soviet Union. In 1972 Goldwater declared that the United States would never recognize the Communist regime of the Peoples Republic of China and during the Yom Kippur war ordered a massive airlift of supplies to Israel. Following oil sanctions by Saudi Arabia Goldwater sent thousands of U.S troops to the Persian Gulf. At the end of his presidency Goldwater was nicknamed by many as the Great Reactionary and left office with a 63% approval rating.

1972 Election
After the death of vice president Nixon in 1970 and the approaching end of Goldwater's presidency, vice president Reagan easily attained the Republican nomination after facing only a minor threat for the nomination from former governor of Minnesota Harold Stassen. The Democrats nominated Massachusetts Senator George McGovern, Humphrey's running mate in 1968. In the general election Reagan chose Senator Nelson Rockefeller as his running mate. McGovern's campaign faced disaster in November as Reagan emerged victorious after winning in 49 states. McGovern only won his home state of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

1976 Election
With Reagan highly popular and the country in great shape, Reagan was renominated unchallenged. On the Democratic side several candidates surfaced for the nomination but the favorite was Georgia Governor, Jimmy Carter. After securing the nomination after a brief primary fight with Walter Mondale Carter chose Mondale as his running mate. At both conventions the candidates promised to defeat the other and unite their parties. In the end Carter did slightly better than McGovern in 1972 but was still defeated easily by President Reagan.

1980 Election
In 1980 as the Reagan administration came to an end the country was in generally good shape. Democrats, who were determined to win back the White House after 16 years of Republican control nominated Minnesota senator Walter Mondale and Colorado senator Gary Hart for vice president. Republicans nominated senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina and George H W Bush for Vice President. Mondale ran on a new deal style campaign that he promised would reduce poverty and lead to a surplus while at the same time portrayed Helms as a racist. In the end Mondale managed to get narrowly elected winning with 289 electoral votes to 249 and 51.2% of the popular vote.

Obama's First Term
List of U.S Presidents(President Goldwater)

List of U.S Presidential Elections(President Goldwater)