The Election of 1968
The presidential election of 1968 was full of surprises right from the start. At first, it was expected that incumbent President Lyndon Johnson would be seeking re-election, following his landslid victory in 1964. A little problem called Vietnam changed that. Then it looked as if Robert Kennedy was destined for the White House. An assassin's bullet changed that. It looked as if Richard Nixon political career was dead and buried after Nixon's loss of the election to become Governor of California in 1962, but Nixon had a surprise for those who had written his political obituary.
The election came at a trying time for the nation. It took place during a very violent year that included the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and subsequent race riots across the nation, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, mounting casualties in Vietnam, widespread opposition to the Vietnam War across university campuses, and violent confrontations between police and anti-war protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The election also featured the strongest third party effort in over half a century by former Alabama Governor George Wallace. This also was the last election in which New York had the most votes in the electoral college. (After the 1970 census, California gained the most electoral votes and has remained the most populous state since then).
In the 1964 election, incumbent Lyndon Johnson had won the largest popular vote landslide in U.S. Presidential election history over Republican Barry Goldwater. During the presidential term that followed, Johnson was able to achieve many political successes, including the passage of his sweeping Great Society domestic programs (also known as the "War on Poverty"), landmark civil rights legislation, and the Apollo moon program, with a manned flight to the moon expected in the near future. But the country also suffered race riots in the streets of many large cities, as the rise of New Left activism, and the emergence of the Black Power movement created national tensions. Every summer since 1964, major cities experienced massive race riots that left hundreds dead or injured and destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars in property. On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, igniting further mass rioting and chaos. In Washington, D.C. there was rioting within just a few blocks from the White House and machine guns were stationed on the steps of the Capitol.
Johnson's popularity fell significantly due to the Vietnam War, which he escalated during his time in office. By late 1967, over 500,000 American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam. Draftees made up 42 percent of the troops in Vietnam, and they also made up 58% of the casualties. Nearly 1000 Americans a month were killed and many more were injured. The national news media began to focus on the situation and on the prospect of defeat. In early January 1968, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara stated that the war would be winding down because the North Vietnamese were losing their will to fight. Shortly thereafter, they launched the Tet Offensive, in which the North Vietnamese and Communist Vietcong forces launched simultaneous attacks on all government strongholds in South Vietnam. Thus led many Americans to question whether they could not trust their government's assessment and reporting of the war. Johnson's approval ratings fell below 35%, and the Secret Service refused to let the president make public appearances on the campuses of American colleges and universities. They also prevented Johnson from appearing at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, because it could not guarantee his safety.
It was widely assumed when 1968 began that President Johnson would run for another term, and that he would have little trouble winning the Democratic nomination. At first it looked as if no prominent Democratic candidate would run against a sitting president of his own party. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, an outspoken critic of Johnson's, initially declined to run against Johnson. When the Tet Offensive broke out. and confidence in the government's war effort took a hit, Johnson's support declined significantly.
Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota was the first to challenge Johnson openly. He ran as an anti-war candidate in the New Hampshire primary, hoping to pressure the Democrats into publicly opposing the Vietnam War. McCarthy poured most of his limited resources into the state. On March 12, McCarthy finished second with 42 percent of the primary vote to Johnson's 49 percent, a strong showing against an incumbent president. This gave McCarthy's campaign legitimacy and momentum. Sensing Johnson's vulnerability, Senator Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy four days after the New Hampshire primary.
On March 31, 1968, following the New Hampshire primary and Kennedy's entry into the election, Johnson announced to the nation in a televised speech that he was suspending all bombing of North Vietnam in favor of peace talks. Johnson concluded his speech and by announcing:
"With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office—the presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."
Following Johnson's withdrawal, the Democratic Party quickly split into four distinct factions. Labor unions and big-city party bosses made up one faction. After Johnson's withdrawal this group rallied to support Hubert Humphrey, Johnson's vice-president. The second faction was composed of college students, intellectuals, and upper-middle-class whites who were activists against the war in Vietnam. They supported McCarthy, The third group was primarily composed of Catholics, African-Americans and other minorities as well as several antiwar groups, supported Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The fourth group consisted of white Southern Democrats. Many of these supported the third-party campaign of Alabama Governor George C. Wallace
Kennedy was successful in four state primaries (Indiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and California) and McCarthy won six (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey, and Illinois). However, in primaries where they campaigned directly against one another, Kennedy won three primaries (Indiana, Nebraska, and California) and McCarthy won one (Oregon). Humphrey did not compete in the primaries, leaving that job to favorite sons who were his surrogates. Instead, Humphrey concentrated on winning the delegates in non-primary states, where party leaders such as Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley controlled the delegate votes in their states. The California primary was seen as crucial to both Kennedy and McCarthy. McCarthy campaigned the state's many colleges and universities, where he had support for being the first presidential candidate to oppose the war. Kennedy campaigned in the ghettos and barrios of the state's larger cities, where he was mobbed by enthusiastic supporters. On June 4, Kennedy narrowly defeated McCarthy in California, 46%–42%. Kennedy was shot shortly after midnight on June 5 buy assassin Sirhan B. Sirhan. He died twenty-six hours later. Kennedy had just given his victory speech in a crowded ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He and his aides then entered a narrow kitchen pantry on their way to a banquet room to meet with reporters. In the pantry Kennedy and five others were shot by Sirhan, a Christian Palestinian who was opposed to Kennedy's support for Israel.
Kennedy's death altered the dynamics of the race. Humphrey was now the favorite, bit he was also unpopular with many of the anti-war delegates because he had not spoken out against Johnson on the war. Some of Kennedy's support went to McCarthy, but many remembered their bitter primary battles with McCarthy. These delegates rallied around the last minuteg candidacy of Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. This splitting of the anti-war votes at the Democratic Convention made it easier for Humphrey to win the nomination.
When the 1968 Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago, thousands of young activists from around the nation gathered in the city to protest the Vietnam War. On the evening of August 28, in a clash which was covered on live television, Americans were shocked to see Chicago police brutally beating anti-war protesters in the streets of Chicago. Protesters chanted "the whole world is watching" as police used clubs and tear gas to beat back or arrest the protesters, leaving many of them bloody and injured. The tear gas wafted into numerous hotel suites, including one where Vice President Humphrey was watching the proceedings on television. The police said that their actions were justified because numerous police officers were being injured by bottles, rocks, and broken glass that were being thrown at them by the protestors. Chicago's mayor Richard J. Daley was seen on television angrily berating Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut, who made a speech at the convention denouncing the excesses of the Chicago police. In the end, Humphrey handily beating McCarthy and McGovern on the first ballot., but the violence was the main news story out of the convention.
After the delegates nominated Humphrey, delegates selected Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine. Edward Kennedy was Humphrey's first choice, but Kennedy turned him down. The publicity from the anti-war riots crippled Humphrey's campaign.
The front-runner for the Republican nomination was former Vice President Richard Nixon, who had began campaigning in January 1968. Nixon had worked tirelessly behind the scenes and by working for Republican candidates in the 1966 midterm elections. But while many labelled Nixon as unelectable, he was always clearly the front runner throughout the contest because of his superior organization, and he easily defeated the rest of the field. Nixon's first challenger was Michigan Governor George W. Romney. When Romney, after a fact finding trip to Vietnam, told a news reporter that he had been "brainwashed" by the military and the diplomatic corps into supporting the Vietnam War, the remark proved to be his downfall. Senator Charles Percy of Illinois was considered another potential challenger to Nixon, but Percy declined to have his name presented on the ballot for the Illinois presidential primary.
Nixon won a resounding victory in the important New Hampshire primary on March 12, with 78% of the vote. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the leader of the Republican Party's liberal wing, received 11% of the vote as a write-in candidate, and he became Nixon's main challenger. Nixon led Rockefeller in the polls throughout the primary campaign. Rockefeller defeated Nixon in the Massachusetts primary on April 30, but otherwise fared poorly in state primaries and conventions. By early spring, California Governor Ronald Reagan, the leader of the Republican Party's conservative wing, had become Nixon's chief rival. In the Nebraska primary on May 14, Nixon won with 70% of the vote to 21% for Reagan and 5% for Rockefeller. Nixon won the next primary of importance, Oregon, on May 15 with 65% of the vote and won all the following primaries except for California (June 4), where only Reagan appeared on the ballot.
The 1968 Republican National Convention was held in Miami Beach, Florida. The Associated Press estimated that Nixon had 656 delegate votes, just 11 short of the number he needed to win the nomination. Reagan and Rockefeller, who were planning to unite their forces in a "stop-Nixon" movement. But Nixon narrowly secured the nomination on the first ballot. He surprised many by choosing Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew as his running mate. Nixon believed Agnew would appeal to both Northern moderates and Southerners.
The American Independent Party, established in 1967, nominated former Alabama Governor George Wallace as the party's candidate for president. Although Wallace did not expect to win the election, his strategy was to prevent either major party candidate from winning a preliminary majority in the Electoral College, which would then give him bargaining power to determine the winner. Wallace's running mate was retired U.S. Air Force General Curtis LeMay. LeMay caused controversy in the fall by suggesting that nuclear weapons could be used in Vietnam.
Also on the ballot in two or more states was African-American activist Eldridge Cleaver (who was ineligible to take office, because he would be 33 years of age on January 20, 1969) for the Peace and Freedom Party. Comedians Dick Gregory and Pat Paulsen also ran as write-in candidates.
Nixon developed a "Southern strategy" that was designed to attract to conservative white southerners, who traditionally voted Democratic, but were alienated by Johnson and Humphrey's support for the civil rights movement. In the end Wallace won over many of these voters Nixon. Humphrey was well behind Nixon in the polls as the campaign began. He challenged Nixon to a televised debate, and he often compared his campaign to the successful underdog effort of President Harry Truman, predicting that he, like Truman, would surprise the experts and win an upset victory.
Nixon campaigned on a theme to restore "law and order" which appealed to many voters upset over the hundreds of violent riots that had taken place across the country in the previous few years. Following the murder of Dr. King in April 1968, there was severe rioting in Detroit and Washington, D.C., and President Johnson had to call out the U.S. Army to protect lives and property as smoke from burning buildings a few blocks away drifted across the White House lawn. Humphrey criticized the "law and order" issue, claiming that it was a subtle appeal to white racial prejudice. Nixon also opposed forced busing to desegregate schools. Nixon also used the decisions of Chief Justice Earl Warren as a target of his attack. Many conservatives were critical of the Warren court and its promotion of liberal policies in the fields of civil rights, civil liberties, and the separation of church and state. Nixon promised that if he were elected president, he would appoint justices who would take a less-active role in creating social policy.
Nixon also pledged to end the draft. Nixon also saw ending the draft as an effective way to undermine the anti-Vietnam war movement, since he believed affluent college-age youths would stop protesting the war once their own possibility of having to fight in it was gone.
Humphrey promised to continue and expand the Great Society welfare programs started by President Johnson, and to continue the Johnson Administration's "War on Poverty." He also promised to continue the efforts of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and the Supreme Court, in promoting the expansion of civil rights and civil liberties for minority groups. Humphrey was reluctant to voice opposition to the Vietnam War policies of President Johnson, due to his fear that Johnson would undermine his campaign. As a result, Humphrey often found himself the target of anti-war protesters, who heckled and disrupted his campaign rallies.
In order to distance himself from Johnson, Humphrey stopped being identified in ads as "Vice-President Hubert Humphrey". He attacked Wallace as a racist bigot who appealed to the worst in Americans. Wallace had been rising in the polls, but his momentum stopped after he selected LeMay as his running mate. As election day approached and Wallace's support in the North and Midwest began to wane, with those voters going to Humphrey , who began to climb in the polls. In October, Humphrey was rising sharply in the polls due to the collapse of the Wallace vote. He began to distance himself publicly from the Johnson administration on the Vietnam War, calling for a bombing halt. When President Johnson officially announced a bombing halt the weekend before the election, this gave Humphrey's campaign a badly needed boost. By election day the polls were reporting a dead heat.
Nixon countered by asking Anna Chennault to be his channel to South Vietnamese Premier Thieu in order to advise him to refuse participation in peace talks. Thieu was promised a better deal under a Nixon administration. Chennault agreed to do so. Johnson was outraged at Nixon, and said that Nixon had "blood on his hands". Johnson made this information available to Humphrey, but at this point Humphrey believed he was going to win the election, so he did not reveal the information to the public. Humphrey later regretted this as a mistake. The South Vietnamese government withdrew from peace negotiations, and Nixon publicly offered to go to Saigon to help the negotiations.
The election on November 5, 1968, proved to be extremely close, and it was not until the following morning that the television news networks were able to call Nixon the winner. The key states proved to be California, Ohio, and Illinois, all of which Nixon won by three percentage points or less. Had Humphrey carried all three of these states, he would have won the election. Had Humphrey carried any two of them, or California alone, George Wallace would have succeeded in his aim of preventing an electoral college majority for any candidate, and the decision would have been given to the House of Representatives, at the time controlled by the Democratic Party. Nixon won the popular vote with a plurality of 512,000 votes, or a victory margin of about one percentage point. In the electoral college Nixon's victory was larger, as he carried 32 states with 301 electoral votes, to Humphrey's 13 states and 191 electoral votes and Wallace's five states and 46 electoral votes.
The election came at a trying time for the nation. It took place during a very violent year that included the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and subsequent race riots across the nation, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, mounting casualties in Vietnam, widespread opposition to the Vietnam War across university campuses, and violent confrontations between police and anti-war protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The election also featured the strongest third party effort in over half a century by former Alabama Governor George Wallace. This also was the last election in which New York had the most votes in the electoral college. (After the 1970 census, California gained the most electoral votes and has remained the most populous state since then).
In the 1964 election, incumbent Lyndon Johnson had won the largest popular vote landslide in U.S. Presidential election history over Republican Barry Goldwater. During the presidential term that followed, Johnson was able to achieve many political successes, including the passage of his sweeping Great Society domestic programs (also known as the "War on Poverty"), landmark civil rights legislation, and the Apollo moon program, with a manned flight to the moon expected in the near future. But the country also suffered race riots in the streets of many large cities, as the rise of New Left activism, and the emergence of the Black Power movement created national tensions. Every summer since 1964, major cities experienced massive race riots that left hundreds dead or injured and destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars in property. On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, igniting further mass rioting and chaos. In Washington, D.C. there was rioting within just a few blocks from the White House and machine guns were stationed on the steps of the Capitol.
Johnson's popularity fell significantly due to the Vietnam War, which he escalated during his time in office. By late 1967, over 500,000 American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam. Draftees made up 42 percent of the troops in Vietnam, and they also made up 58% of the casualties. Nearly 1000 Americans a month were killed and many more were injured. The national news media began to focus on the situation and on the prospect of defeat. In early January 1968, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara stated that the war would be winding down because the North Vietnamese were losing their will to fight. Shortly thereafter, they launched the Tet Offensive, in which the North Vietnamese and Communist Vietcong forces launched simultaneous attacks on all government strongholds in South Vietnam. Thus led many Americans to question whether they could not trust their government's assessment and reporting of the war. Johnson's approval ratings fell below 35%, and the Secret Service refused to let the president make public appearances on the campuses of American colleges and universities. They also prevented Johnson from appearing at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, because it could not guarantee his safety.
It was widely assumed when 1968 began that President Johnson would run for another term, and that he would have little trouble winning the Democratic nomination. At first it looked as if no prominent Democratic candidate would run against a sitting president of his own party. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, an outspoken critic of Johnson's, initially declined to run against Johnson. When the Tet Offensive broke out. and confidence in the government's war effort took a hit, Johnson's support declined significantly.
Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota was the first to challenge Johnson openly. He ran as an anti-war candidate in the New Hampshire primary, hoping to pressure the Democrats into publicly opposing the Vietnam War. McCarthy poured most of his limited resources into the state. On March 12, McCarthy finished second with 42 percent of the primary vote to Johnson's 49 percent, a strong showing against an incumbent president. This gave McCarthy's campaign legitimacy and momentum. Sensing Johnson's vulnerability, Senator Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy four days after the New Hampshire primary.
On March 31, 1968, following the New Hampshire primary and Kennedy's entry into the election, Johnson announced to the nation in a televised speech that he was suspending all bombing of North Vietnam in favor of peace talks. Johnson concluded his speech and by announcing:
"With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office—the presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."
Following Johnson's withdrawal, the Democratic Party quickly split into four distinct factions. Labor unions and big-city party bosses made up one faction. After Johnson's withdrawal this group rallied to support Hubert Humphrey, Johnson's vice-president. The second faction was composed of college students, intellectuals, and upper-middle-class whites who were activists against the war in Vietnam. They supported McCarthy, The third group was primarily composed of Catholics, African-Americans and other minorities as well as several antiwar groups, supported Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The fourth group consisted of white Southern Democrats. Many of these supported the third-party campaign of Alabama Governor George C. Wallace
Kennedy was successful in four state primaries (Indiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and California) and McCarthy won six (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey, and Illinois). However, in primaries where they campaigned directly against one another, Kennedy won three primaries (Indiana, Nebraska, and California) and McCarthy won one (Oregon). Humphrey did not compete in the primaries, leaving that job to favorite sons who were his surrogates. Instead, Humphrey concentrated on winning the delegates in non-primary states, where party leaders such as Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley controlled the delegate votes in their states. The California primary was seen as crucial to both Kennedy and McCarthy. McCarthy campaigned the state's many colleges and universities, where he had support for being the first presidential candidate to oppose the war. Kennedy campaigned in the ghettos and barrios of the state's larger cities, where he was mobbed by enthusiastic supporters. On June 4, Kennedy narrowly defeated McCarthy in California, 46%–42%. Kennedy was shot shortly after midnight on June 5 buy assassin Sirhan B. Sirhan. He died twenty-six hours later. Kennedy had just given his victory speech in a crowded ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He and his aides then entered a narrow kitchen pantry on their way to a banquet room to meet with reporters. In the pantry Kennedy and five others were shot by Sirhan, a Christian Palestinian who was opposed to Kennedy's support for Israel.
Kennedy's death altered the dynamics of the race. Humphrey was now the favorite, bit he was also unpopular with many of the anti-war delegates because he had not spoken out against Johnson on the war. Some of Kennedy's support went to McCarthy, but many remembered their bitter primary battles with McCarthy. These delegates rallied around the last minuteg candidacy of Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. This splitting of the anti-war votes at the Democratic Convention made it easier for Humphrey to win the nomination.
When the 1968 Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago, thousands of young activists from around the nation gathered in the city to protest the Vietnam War. On the evening of August 28, in a clash which was covered on live television, Americans were shocked to see Chicago police brutally beating anti-war protesters in the streets of Chicago. Protesters chanted "the whole world is watching" as police used clubs and tear gas to beat back or arrest the protesters, leaving many of them bloody and injured. The tear gas wafted into numerous hotel suites, including one where Vice President Humphrey was watching the proceedings on television. The police said that their actions were justified because numerous police officers were being injured by bottles, rocks, and broken glass that were being thrown at them by the protestors. Chicago's mayor Richard J. Daley was seen on television angrily berating Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut, who made a speech at the convention denouncing the excesses of the Chicago police. In the end, Humphrey handily beating McCarthy and McGovern on the first ballot., but the violence was the main news story out of the convention.
After the delegates nominated Humphrey, delegates selected Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine. Edward Kennedy was Humphrey's first choice, but Kennedy turned him down. The publicity from the anti-war riots crippled Humphrey's campaign.
The front-runner for the Republican nomination was former Vice President Richard Nixon, who had began campaigning in January 1968. Nixon had worked tirelessly behind the scenes and by working for Republican candidates in the 1966 midterm elections. But while many labelled Nixon as unelectable, he was always clearly the front runner throughout the contest because of his superior organization, and he easily defeated the rest of the field. Nixon's first challenger was Michigan Governor George W. Romney. When Romney, after a fact finding trip to Vietnam, told a news reporter that he had been "brainwashed" by the military and the diplomatic corps into supporting the Vietnam War, the remark proved to be his downfall. Senator Charles Percy of Illinois was considered another potential challenger to Nixon, but Percy declined to have his name presented on the ballot for the Illinois presidential primary.
Nixon won a resounding victory in the important New Hampshire primary on March 12, with 78% of the vote. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the leader of the Republican Party's liberal wing, received 11% of the vote as a write-in candidate, and he became Nixon's main challenger. Nixon led Rockefeller in the polls throughout the primary campaign. Rockefeller defeated Nixon in the Massachusetts primary on April 30, but otherwise fared poorly in state primaries and conventions. By early spring, California Governor Ronald Reagan, the leader of the Republican Party's conservative wing, had become Nixon's chief rival. In the Nebraska primary on May 14, Nixon won with 70% of the vote to 21% for Reagan and 5% for Rockefeller. Nixon won the next primary of importance, Oregon, on May 15 with 65% of the vote and won all the following primaries except for California (June 4), where only Reagan appeared on the ballot.
The 1968 Republican National Convention was held in Miami Beach, Florida. The Associated Press estimated that Nixon had 656 delegate votes, just 11 short of the number he needed to win the nomination. Reagan and Rockefeller, who were planning to unite their forces in a "stop-Nixon" movement. But Nixon narrowly secured the nomination on the first ballot. He surprised many by choosing Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew as his running mate. Nixon believed Agnew would appeal to both Northern moderates and Southerners.
The American Independent Party, established in 1967, nominated former Alabama Governor George Wallace as the party's candidate for president. Although Wallace did not expect to win the election, his strategy was to prevent either major party candidate from winning a preliminary majority in the Electoral College, which would then give him bargaining power to determine the winner. Wallace's running mate was retired U.S. Air Force General Curtis LeMay. LeMay caused controversy in the fall by suggesting that nuclear weapons could be used in Vietnam.
Also on the ballot in two or more states was African-American activist Eldridge Cleaver (who was ineligible to take office, because he would be 33 years of age on January 20, 1969) for the Peace and Freedom Party. Comedians Dick Gregory and Pat Paulsen also ran as write-in candidates.
Nixon developed a "Southern strategy" that was designed to attract to conservative white southerners, who traditionally voted Democratic, but were alienated by Johnson and Humphrey's support for the civil rights movement. In the end Wallace won over many of these voters Nixon. Humphrey was well behind Nixon in the polls as the campaign began. He challenged Nixon to a televised debate, and he often compared his campaign to the successful underdog effort of President Harry Truman, predicting that he, like Truman, would surprise the experts and win an upset victory.
Nixon campaigned on a theme to restore "law and order" which appealed to many voters upset over the hundreds of violent riots that had taken place across the country in the previous few years. Following the murder of Dr. King in April 1968, there was severe rioting in Detroit and Washington, D.C., and President Johnson had to call out the U.S. Army to protect lives and property as smoke from burning buildings a few blocks away drifted across the White House lawn. Humphrey criticized the "law and order" issue, claiming that it was a subtle appeal to white racial prejudice. Nixon also opposed forced busing to desegregate schools. Nixon also used the decisions of Chief Justice Earl Warren as a target of his attack. Many conservatives were critical of the Warren court and its promotion of liberal policies in the fields of civil rights, civil liberties, and the separation of church and state. Nixon promised that if he were elected president, he would appoint justices who would take a less-active role in creating social policy.
Nixon also pledged to end the draft. Nixon also saw ending the draft as an effective way to undermine the anti-Vietnam war movement, since he believed affluent college-age youths would stop protesting the war once their own possibility of having to fight in it was gone.
Humphrey promised to continue and expand the Great Society welfare programs started by President Johnson, and to continue the Johnson Administration's "War on Poverty." He also promised to continue the efforts of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and the Supreme Court, in promoting the expansion of civil rights and civil liberties for minority groups. Humphrey was reluctant to voice opposition to the Vietnam War policies of President Johnson, due to his fear that Johnson would undermine his campaign. As a result, Humphrey often found himself the target of anti-war protesters, who heckled and disrupted his campaign rallies.
In order to distance himself from Johnson, Humphrey stopped being identified in ads as "Vice-President Hubert Humphrey". He attacked Wallace as a racist bigot who appealed to the worst in Americans. Wallace had been rising in the polls, but his momentum stopped after he selected LeMay as his running mate. As election day approached and Wallace's support in the North and Midwest began to wane, with those voters going to Humphrey , who began to climb in the polls. In October, Humphrey was rising sharply in the polls due to the collapse of the Wallace vote. He began to distance himself publicly from the Johnson administration on the Vietnam War, calling for a bombing halt. When President Johnson officially announced a bombing halt the weekend before the election, this gave Humphrey's campaign a badly needed boost. By election day the polls were reporting a dead heat.
Nixon countered by asking Anna Chennault to be his channel to South Vietnamese Premier Thieu in order to advise him to refuse participation in peace talks. Thieu was promised a better deal under a Nixon administration. Chennault agreed to do so. Johnson was outraged at Nixon, and said that Nixon had "blood on his hands". Johnson made this information available to Humphrey, but at this point Humphrey believed he was going to win the election, so he did not reveal the information to the public. Humphrey later regretted this as a mistake. The South Vietnamese government withdrew from peace negotiations, and Nixon publicly offered to go to Saigon to help the negotiations.
The election on November 5, 1968, proved to be extremely close, and it was not until the following morning that the television news networks were able to call Nixon the winner. The key states proved to be California, Ohio, and Illinois, all of which Nixon won by three percentage points or less. Had Humphrey carried all three of these states, he would have won the election. Had Humphrey carried any two of them, or California alone, George Wallace would have succeeded in his aim of preventing an electoral college majority for any candidate, and the decision would have been given to the House of Representatives, at the time controlled by the Democratic Party. Nixon won the popular vote with a plurality of 512,000 votes, or a victory margin of about one percentage point. In the electoral college Nixon's victory was larger, as he carried 32 states with 301 electoral votes, to Humphrey's 13 states and 191 electoral votes and Wallace's five states and 46 electoral votes.