The History Buff - Presidents Of The United States: 1968 Presidential Election

Choosing who to nominate for your party to run for President of the United States has to be done very strategically if you want your candidate to win.

Early in any election season, everyone throws their hats into the ring hoping to emerge victorious. Most of them know they will not be win the nomination, but putting their name into consideration helps to gauge the opinion of the party members and helps deflect votes from opponents to make their numbers show badly. The results can be very enlightening, but also very devastating.

From August 5 to August 8, 1968, the Republican Party held their convention at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach Florida to select their party's Presidential nominee for the Republican ticket.

The names nominated before and after switches for the Republican Party were:

Former Vice President (under Dwight D Eisenhower) Richard Nixon from California - Votes before: 692 -Votes after: 1238

<img src="Richard Nixon.png" alt="1968">

Richard Nixon, election pin

Governor of California Ronald Reagan -Votes before: 182 - Votes after: 2

Governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller - Votes before: 277 - Votes after: 93

Governor of Michigan George Romney - Votes before: 50 - Votes after: 0

Governor of Ohio James A Rhodes - Votes before: 55 - Votes after: 0

Senator from New Jersey Clifford Case - Votes before: 22 - Votes after: 0

Senator from Kansas Frank Carlson - Votes before: 20 - Votes after: 0

Senator from Hawaii Hiram Fong - Votes before: 14 - Votes after: 0

Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller - Votes before: 18 - Votes after: 0

Former Governor of Minnesota Harold Stassen who was the lead candidate in 1948. - Votes before: 2 - Votes after: 0

Former Governor of Massachusetts John Anthony Volpe - Votes before and after: 0

New York City Mayor John V Lindsay - nominated by Ronald Reagan - Votes before: 1 - Votes after: 0

Whomever the Republican Party chose had to win against whomever the Democratic Party chose for their candidate. Since the Republicans met August 5 to 8th, and the Democrats met from August 26 to 29, the Democrats knew before they made their choice of candidate exactly who was the Republican candidate they had to win against.

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The Democratic National Convention was held from August 26 to August 29, 1968 at the International Amphitheater in Chicago, Illinois. And they had a big problem. Democrats controlled the House, the Senate and the White House, but when Senator Eugene McCarthy entered the race in November 1967 to challenge President Lyndon B Johnson, it brought others out of the woodwork.

President Lyndon B Johnson decided he was not going to run for re-election. He had been sworn in after the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963 to finish Kennedy's term. He ran and won the election in 1964 and his term as President was up January 20, 1969. Under the 22nd Amendment, Johnson was permitted to run one more time since he didn't serve a full term after taking over for Kennedy.

Senator Robert F Kennedy entered the race in March 1968 and less than three months later, he was assassinated on June 5, 1968 while campaigning in Los Angeles, California. This came shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968.

<img src="Bobby Kennedy.png" alt="1968">

Robert F Kennedy on the day of his assassination
on the campaign trail at The Ambassador Hotel
Los Angeles, CA

The Democratic Party had to select a new candidate to run for President of the United States.

The names nominated by the Democratic Party for President were:

Vice President Hubert Humphrey (from Minnesota) under President Lyndon Johnson from 1965 to 1969 - Votes: 1759

<img src="Hubert Humphrey.png" alt="1968">

Hubert Humphrey, 1968 elections

Senator from Minnesota Eugene McCarthy - Votes: 601

Senator from South Dakota George S McGovern - Votes: 146

Baptist Minister and Civil Rights Leader from Washington DC Channing E Phillips - first black man to "be nominated" for President by a major political party. - Votes: 67.5

Governor of North Carolina Daniel K Moore - Votes: 17.5

Senator from Massachusetts Edward M Kennedy - Votes: 12.75

University of Alabama Football Coach Paul W "Bear" Bryant - Votes: 1.5

Georgia Democratic Chairman James H Gray - Votes: 0.5

Governor of Alabama George Wallace - ultimately ran as an Independent - Votes: 0.5

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The names nominated for Vice President at the Democratic National Convention were:

Senator from Maine Edmund S Muskie - Votes: 1942.5

Senator Edmund Muskie

Civil Rights Leader Horace Julian Bond - Votes: 48.5

Senator from Massachusetts Edward M Kennedy - Votes: 3.5

Senator from Minnesota Eugene McCarthy - Votes: 3.0

New Hampshire Delegation Leader David Hoeh - Votes: 4

Votes cast for miscellaneous write in names - 16.25

Those who did not cast a vote: 604.25

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Names of Presidential Candidates (both parties) who ran in their local primaries, mostly to control local delegations. Each party says they never were serious about seeking nomination by their party. Withdrawal dates and number of votes they received:

Withdrawal from nomination date: April 24, 1968
(D) Joseph Y Resnick (Rep NY) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: April 30, 1968
(R) John Volpe (Gov MA) - 31,465 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: May 7, 1968
(D) Roger D Branigin (Gov IN) - 238,700 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: May 16, 1968
(R) Howard Baker (Sen TN) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: May 27, 1968
(D) Warren E Hearnes ( Gov MO) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: June 4, 1968
(D) Thomas C Lynch (Atty Gen CA) - 380,286 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: June 30, 1968
(R) John Tower - (Sen TX) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: July 12, 1968
(R) Claude R Kirk Jr (Gov FL) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 4, 1968
(R) Dewey F Bartlett (Gov OK) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 5, 1968
(R) Spiro Agnew (Gov MD) - 0 votes - chosen as VP Candidate

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 6, 1968
(R) Daniel J Evans (Gov WA) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 8, 1968
(R) Frank Carlson (Sen KS) - 0 votes
(R) Clifford Case (Sen NJ) - 0 votes
(R) Hiram Fong (Sen HI) - 0 votes
(R) Jim Rhodes (Gov OH) - 614,492 votes
(R) Winthrop Rockefeller (Gov AR - 0 votes
(R) George W Romney (Gov MI) - 4,447 votes
(R) Wally Hickel (Gov Alaska) - 0 votes
(R) Strom Thurmond (Sen SC) - 0 votes
(R) Harold Stassen (Gov MN) - 31,665 votes
(R) Nelson Rockefeller (Gov NY) - 164,340 votes
(R) Ronald Reagan (Gov CA) - 1,696,632 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 15, 1968
(D) Harold Hughes - (Gov Iowa) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 16, 1968
(D) Stephen M Young (Sen OH) - 549,140 votes
(D) Birch Bayh (Sen IN) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 22, 1968
(D) Edmund Muskie (Sen ME) - 0 votes - chosen as VP Candidate

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 27, 1968
(D) Channing E Phillips (Minister DC) - 0 votes
(D) Robert E McNair (Gov SC) - 0 votes
(D) Buford Ellington (Gov TN) - 0 votes
(D) John Connally (Gov TX) - 0 votes

Withdrawal from nomination date: August 29, 1968
(D) George Smathers (Sen FL) - 236,242 votes
(D) John McKeithen (Gov LA) - 0 votes
(D) Richard Hughes (Gov NJ) - 0 votes
(D) Mills Godwin - (Gov VA) - 0 votes
(D) Eugene McCarthy (Sen MN) - 2,914,933 lost nomination
(D) George McGovern (Sen SD) - 0 votes - lost nomination
(D) Lester Maddox (Gov GA) - 0 votes - endorsed George Wallace

Special notice:
(D) Robert F Kennedy (Sen NY) - 2,305,148 votes -assassinated June 6, 1968
(D) Lyndon B Johnson (President) - withdrew March 31, 1968 with 383,590 votes (as write-in)

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270 Electoral Votes are needed to win
The 1968 Presidential Election results were:

Republican Ticket: (red states)
Nixon/Agnew - 301 electoral votes, carrying 32 states winning 43.4%. Popular votes: 31,783,783