1968 United States Presidential Election (Nixon '56)

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1968 U.S. Presidential Election
November 5, 1968
Turnout		62.5% ▼ 0.3 pp
Nominee		Robert F. Kennedy	Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.	George Wallace
Party		Democratic	Republican	States' Rights
Home state		New York	Massachusetts	Alabama
Running mate		Ralph Yarborough	Gerald Ford	Ezra Taft Benson
Electoral vote		340	121	77
States carried		23 + DC	19	8
Popular vote		34,428,163	31,194,594	11,064,205
Percentage		44.9%	40.8%	14.3%
Electoral College results
President before election Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Republican Elected President Robert F. Kennedy Democratic

The 1968 United States presidential election was the 46th quadrennial presidential election and was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1968. Incumbent president Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. was defeated by Senator from New York Robert F. Kennedy in a very close race between the two, that also included Governor George Wallace running as a part of the States' Rights Party.

After winning a nose-to-nose primary season against Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy became the first Democratic nominee to win an election since Harry S. Truman in 1948, after 16 years of Republican rule over the nation. Kennedy's campaign strategy was mostly based on calling for "new blood" after many years of Republican rule over the nation, but also emphasizing on the many defeats of the Lodge administration regarding foreign policy, including the San Juan protests that developed during most of the previous year. These defeats contributed the defeat of Cabot Lodge, despite his initial popularity and mostly supported economic policies. The first televised presidential debates were an important aspect of the election and were also relevant to determine its result.

The States' Rights Party once again ran in a segregationist platform, now with Governor of Alabama George Wallace as the nominee. Despite aligning himself with the Dixiecrats, Wallace remarkably spoke against the Ku Klux Klan in many occasions, which went against most members of the party, including previous candidate Orval Faubus.

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination

Democratic Party (United States) 1968 Democratic Party ticket
Robert F. Kennedy	Ralph Yarborough
for President	for Vice President
U.S. Senator from New York (1965-1969)	U.S. Senator from Texas (1957-1969)
Campaign

Robert F. Kennedy had only been recently elected to the Senate in 1964, but had already become a prominent figure within the divided Democratic Party. As a Senator from New York (one of the strongest Democratic strongholds in the Union), he made efforts regarding human rights and poor neighborhoods in the state, which gave him a good image both socially and economically. He was especially popular with Hispanic minorities across the United States, and spoke against the 1965 U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic.Despite his popularity, many still opposed Kennedy's campaign, as he was considered "too liberal" even for Democratic standards, and for his Roman Catholic religion, which he addressed on a famous speech. Senator and nominee in the 1960 election Hubert Humphrey appeared as the first other contestant to the nomination, but had quickly lost momentum thanks to his poor perfomance in the early polls and the first primary of the year realized in New Hampshire. Although he was seen as a better alternative to Kennedy, Humphrey was still distrusted by the general population for his defeat against Richard Nixon, with his base of support mostly limited to the Midwest and his home state of Minnesota. Because of this, Humphrey was persuaded by his acquaintance and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson to retire from the race and instead endorse his own campaign for the presidency. Johnson emerged in contrast to Kennedy thanks to their different backgrounds; one coming from humble beginnings in Texas and the other born in a rich family located in the wealthy state of Masachussetts.

Robert's brother Jack Kennedy and Senator Johnson met on multiple occasions during the process to pass the 1963 Civil Rights Act, which both strongly supported

Some sectors of the party proposed that the ticket could involve both Kennedy and Johnson, as both appealed to opposite yet complementing demographics. Despite some effort, the relation between the two was always rather cold, going as far as them putting derogatory nicknames for each other, with Kennedy calling his opponent "Uncle Rufus" in various occasions. Robert's brother, Senator Jack Kennedy, adviced him to reach for a compromise with Johnson and accept the joint ticket with him as Vice President, something that Robert denied. This hostility remained prominent throughout the race, and both finished first and second on the final results. Even after decisively losing the primaries, Johnson attempted to secure the nomination via the Democratic National Convention, but had to concede to the dislike of many conservatives in the Party. After some more advising to the now candidate, Kennedy proposed to give Johnson a position in his cabinet, but he harshly declined the offer and endorsed Lodge on a public speech. Edmund Muskie from Maine was also a prominent candidate by the late stages of the race, but he was forced to retire during the Convention.

The selection of an effective running mate was one of the most important things in Kennedy's campaign, his main objective being attracting the remaining southern vote that did not side with the States' Rights Party. Former Governor of North Carolina Terry Sanford was his initial pick for the position, but he ultimately declined the offer. George McGovern was also considered, but he was eventually content with being made Secretary of Agriculture under Kennedy's administration. Other options included his brother-in-law Sargent Shriver, Mayor of San Francisco Joseph Alioto, Fred R. Harris from Oklahoma and Senator Muskie. Howver, at the end he would decide to go with Ralph Yarborough, a Senator from Texas that could help his campaign win his home state, that had been competitive in the last election and could now be influenced by Johnson's negative remarks regarding Kennedy as a candidate. As Vice President, Yarborough sided with Bobby on most issues.

Republican Party nomination

Republican Party (United States) 1968 Republican Party ticket
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.	Gerald Ford
for President	for Vice President
36th President of the United States (1965-1969)	38th Vice President of the United States (1965-1969)
Campaign

Despite all the chaos that his administration had brought upon the nation regarding foreign policy, both Lodge and Ford were easily re-nominated without major opposition. Governor Wally Hickel ran for the nomination as a favorite son, but saw meaningless results outside his home state of Alaska. Some hardline conservatives in the party called for the liberal Cabot Lodge to step out of the candidacy, but they predictably failed to accomplish this. Those who supported this movement were "disgraced" from the party, including the case of Representative Bill Brock who lost his run for the Tennessee Senate for supporting it.

States' Rights Party nomination

Independent Party (United States) 1968 States' Rights Party ticket
George Wallace	Ezra Taft Benson
for President	for Vice President
45th Governor of Alabama (1963-1967)	15th United States Secretary of Agriculture (1955-1961)
Campaign

The States' Rights Party once again decided to run for the presidency despite their defeat in the past election, but now with a more extensive primary field as two-times nominee Orval Faubus decided not to run. The main contenders for the nomination were Herman Talmadge, Faubus' last running mate and Senator from Georgia and B. Everett Jordan from North Carolina. However, Governor of Alabama George Wallace entered the race as a dark horse candidate, and quickly gained enough popularity to beat the two in the second Convention ever realized for the party. Although he was a staunch supporter of segregation, he was already known to have spoken against the Ku Klux Klan (an organization which most members of the party were a part of), which hurt his reputation with big figures within the Party such as Faubus, who only reluctantly gave Wallace his endorsement.

Wallace picked Ezra Taft Benson, who had served as Secretary of Agriculture during the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations, as his running mate. Contrary to his former allegiance to Nixon, Benson believed the civil rights movement was influenced by communism, even calling it a "Tool of Communist Deception" in a pamphlet published in 1966.

General election

The Assassination of famous civil right activist Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the main themes to be discussed in the election, with both Kennedy and President Lodge making statements shortly after the event. Both had similar results when it came to their campaigns, but they wouldn't be able to stop the riots that took place on April. The latter riots were sometimes shown to be blamed on Lodge, and it did not help the fact that Kennedy had made himself a reputation with minority voters, as his experience as Senator had demonstrated; Lodge's fierce support of the Civil Rights Act while Nixon and other Republicans were reluctant on it was also used as a counterargument for this, but it would not be as effective.

With the economy on a reasonably stable situation, the main criticisms against the Lodge administration were focused on his managment of foreign affairs. A showcase of this were the San Juan protests of 1967, that quickly expanded into D.C. and forced Lodge to negotiate and accept the possibility of giving independence to Puerto Rico, which made him seem weak to many conservatives in his own party. At the same time, the continued occupation of Cuba and the decaying popularity of de-facto President Emilio Núñez Portuondo hurt his reputation with the liberals, that called for free elections in the island nation and for America to stop spending such large portions of its budget into affairs that appeared insignificant to the average citizen. Lastly, Kennedy attacked the intervention in the Dominican Civil War, and quoted 1960 nominee Hubert Humphrey when he said that the United States should "stop meddling" in Latin America and instead focus on itself. Lodge argued that the intervention was necessary as the living conditions of Americans in the Dominican Republic were being threatened by a communist rebellion. Despite both candidates supported the actions taken regarding the conflict in Vietnam, Kennedy ultimately argued to reduce the spending dedicated to economically aid the South Vietnamese Republic, which slightly hurt his campaign.

The first televised debates in American history were realized across the year, only including Bobby Kennedy and Cabot Lodge, as Wallace was denied recognition as an actual candidate. Initially, the first of these three debates benefited Lodge, mostly accredited to his effective communication skills and attacking Kennedy on his lack of experience outside his short stay at the Senate. However, the tables turned after as advised by his campaign managers (including his brother Ted) Kennedy decided to take a more offensive stance against Lodge and the Republican Party, making him seem more passionate and in touch with the general population. Historians agreed that had he refused the second debate as he intended too, Lodge might have had a better chance at winning the election.

Outcome

Robert F. Kennedy's speech on the night of the election

After a close election and tough campaigning, Senator Robert Francis Kennedy became the 37th President of the United States, with 340 electoral votes and 34 million votes, which represented 53.28% of the total percentage. On his acceptance speech, Kennedy would appeal to the legacy of his family and made big promises to keep the economy growing and put an end to the constant menace of Communist influence. Kennedy polemically carried the states of California, Oregon, Ohio and Alaska, all states that seemed to favor Lodge in the polls, his victory in the first mentioned was especially close at less than 3 overall points; Lodge also carried Nevada with a similar difference. Kennedy was the first Democratic president since Harry S. Truman's departure in 1953, the first Catholic President and also the youngest person to be elected to the office at only 42 years old. Lodge's defeat is one of the few not directly accredited to a poor economic management during his administration, but rather, the tiredness of the American people after more than half a decade of Republican nomination in the nation, and his highly capitalized foreign policy defeats.