Part of Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson and 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries | |
Date | March 31, 1968 |
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Location | White House |
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On March 31, 1968, then-incumbent US President Lyndon B. Johnson made a surprise announcement during a televised address to the nation that began around 9 p.m., [1] declaring that he would not seek re–election for another term and was withdrawing from the 1968 United States presidential election. Johnson stated, "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President." [2] [3]
At first Johnson's only significant challenger in the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries was Eugene McCarthy, an anti-war senator from Minnesota. Johnson's announcement to drop out of the race came after McCarthy nearly won the New Hampshire primary and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, another critic of the war and the brother of the late President John F. Kennedy, entered the race.
Johnson's decision opened the door for Vice President Hubert Humphrey to become the Democratic Party's nominee. The 1968 Democratic National Convention, held in Chicago, was marked by significant protests and clashes between demonstrators and police, [4] reflecting the deep divisions within the nation.
The 1968 election saw Republican Party candidate Richard Nixon emerge victorious, defeating Humphrey and third-party candidate George Wallace. Nixon's campaign capitalized on themes of law and order and a promise to end the Vietnam War conflict and United States involvement, which resonated with many voters. [5]
1968 U.S. presidential election | |
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Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, assumed office following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. [6] Johnson was subsequently elected in a landslide victory in the 1964 United States presidential election. [7] His presidency was marked by significant legislative achievements, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ratification of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Amendment, and the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid. [8]
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Senator from Texas 37th Vice President of the United States 36th President of the United States
First term
Second term
Presidential and Vice presidential campaigns
Post-presidency
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Historically, most sitting US presidents who completed one full term chose to run for a second. The following presidents were eligible for reelection after completing one full term in office, but chose not to run: [9]
The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (passed by Congress in 1947 and ratified by the states in 1951) imposes a limit of two terms on presidents. [lower-alpha 1] Prior to the term limit, an informal two-term tradition was generally followed by many presidents after a precedent set by President George Washington, who chose not to run for reelection after serving two terms.
President Joe Biden would withdraw from the 2024 race, [10] marking the third time an incumbent US president withdrew from the presidential election.
Johnson's tenure, however, wound up being overshadowed by various conflicts of interests, such as resistance to escalation of U.S. involvement in the conflict. Public opinion turned increasingly against the war with Anti-War movements spreading across the country. [11] The Tet Offensive in early 1968 further eroded support for the war and Johnson's handling of it. [12]
As the 1968 election approached, Johnson began to lose control of the Democratic Party, which was splitting into four factions. The first group consisted of Johnson and Humphrey, labor unions, and local party bosses (led by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley). The second group consisted of antiwar students and intellectuals who coalesced behind Senator Eugene McCarthy in an effort to "dump Johnson." The third group included Catholics, Hispanics and African Americans, who rallied behind Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The fourth group consisted of traditionally segregationist white Southerners like Governor George Wallace. [13]
Johnson's approval ratings had declined significantly by 1968, with his approval rating at the time of his withdrawal being 36 percent. [14] Despite Johnson's growing unpopularity, conventional wisdom held that it would be impossible to deny re-nomination to a sitting president. Johnson won a narrow victory in the New Hampshire presidential primary on March 12, against McCarthy 49–42%, [15] but this close second-place result dramatically boosted McCarthy's standing in the race. Kennedy announced his candidacy on March 16. [16]
Historians such as Jeff Shesol say that Johnson wanted out of the White House but also wanted vindication; when the indicators turned negative he decided to leave. [17] Historians state that Johnson realized he needed to leave in order for the nation to heal. [18] Robert Dallek wrote that Johnson had no further domestic goals, and realized that his personality had eroded his popularity. [17] Johnson's health was deteriorating, and he was preoccupied with the Kennedy campaign; his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, urged for his retirement as his base of support kept shrinking. Leaving the race would allow him to pose as a peacemaker. [19] Author Anthony J. Bennett says Johnson "had been forced out of a reelection race in 1968 by outrage over his policy in Southeast Asia." [20] Johnson may also have hoped that the convention would ultimately choose to draft him back into the race. [21]
Johnson's fellow Democrats expressed a mix of respect, disappointment, and understanding towards his announcement. Former Presidents and key figures within the party praised Johnson's presidency and his decision to step aside. Former President Harry S. Truman commended Johnson's service, highlighting his belief that Johnson acted in the best interests of the country and the Democratic Party. Democratic leaders struggled to figure out how to respond to Johnson's sudden withdrawal. [22] This led to bitter battle for succession among Democrats. [23] Some Democrats were worried that a new nominee, selected by the convention, would lack legitimacy since they would have secured the nomination without direct input from Democratic voters around the country. [24]
Many anti-war activists rejoiced at the news. Some of them concluded that their movement had forced Johnson to alter his war policy and to decide that he could not win another term. [25] [26] Antiwar protesters chanted outside the White House, "Hey, hey, LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?" [27] After Johnson's withdrawal, many Republicans underwent an anguished reappraisal concerning Richard Nixon's chances for winning the election in November. [28]
South Vietnamese officials viewed Johnson's withdrawal with concern, mainly with the threat of an anti-war candidate unwilling to support them and threating to withdraw troops. [29] During this time, South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was eagerly anticipating the results of the American election, believing he could secure a more favorable agreement with Republican candidate Nixon than with the incumbent administration. Messages implying this were secretly communicated to Thieu's representatives by Nixon's associates. President Johnson, enraged and appalled, discovered evidence of this through phone taps, intercepts, and surveillance, considering it a potentially treasonous act. [15]
Johnson's decision was seen as a victory by anti-war activists around the world. His withdrawal was viewed by some as a sign that public and international pressure could influence the policies of powerful nations. [30]
Within the week of Johnson's announcement, American civil rights activist and oppositionist to the Vietnam War; Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Motel. [31] Many US cities were convulsed in rioting following King's death. [32] Johnson was in the Oval Office that evening, planning a meeting in Hawaii with Vietnam War military commanders. After press secretary George Christian informed him at 8:20 p.m. of the assassination, he canceled the trip to focus on the nation. He assigned Attorney General Ramsey Clark to investigate the assassination in Memphis. He made a personal call to King's wife, Coretta Scott King, and declared April 7 a national day of mourning on which the U.S. flag would be flown at half-staff. [33] RFK’s assassination came within a month later, further deepening the sense of tragedy that hung over presidential politics that year. After Johnson's withdrawal, Vice President Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic Party's nomination following the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, leaving McCarthy as Humphrey's only major opponent before George McGovern entered the race. Humphrey would end up losing the election to the antiwar Republican Richard Nixon, who portrayed himself as a figure of stability during this period of national unrest and upheaval. [34]
The defeat left Humphrey in a state of depression. To stay active, his friends helped him get hired [35] as a professor at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota. The perceived failures of the Vietnam War nurtured disillusionment with government, and the New Deal coalition fell apart in large part due to tensions over the Vietnam War and the 1968 election. [36] [37] Republicans won five of six presidential elections after Johnson left office. Ronald Reagan came into office in 1981 vowing to undo the Great Society, though he and other Republicans were unable to repeal many of Johnson's programs. [36] [38] [39] [40]
The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Republican Senator Barry Goldwater in a landslide victory. Johnson was the fourth and most recent vice president to succeed the presidency following the death of his predecessor and win a full term in his own right. Johnson won the largest share of the popular vote for the Democratic Party in history, 61.1%, and the highest for any candidate since the advent of widespread popular elections in 1824.
The 1968 United States presidential election was the 46th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1968. The Republican nominee, former vice president Richard Nixon, defeated both the Democratic nominee, incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey, and the American Independent Party nominee, former Alabama governor George Wallace.
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making the purpose of the convention to select a new presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine were nominated for president and vice president, respectively.
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. was an American politician and statesman who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Minnesota from 1949 to 1964 and again from 1971 to 1978. As a senator he was a major leader of modern liberalism in the United States. As President Lyndon B. Johnson's vice president, he supported the controversial Vietnam War. An intensely divided Democratic Party nominated him in the 1968 presidential election, which he lost to Republican nominee Richard Nixon.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served as the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963. A Democrat from Texas, Johnson also served as a U.S. representative and U.S. senator.
This section of the timeline of United States history concerns events from 1950 to 1969.
The Robert F. Kennedy presidential campaign began on March 16, 1968, when Kennedy, a United States Senator from New York, mounted an unlikely challenge to incumbent Democratic United States President Lyndon B. Johnson. Following an upset in the New Hampshire primary, Johnson announced on March 31 that he would not seek re-election. Kennedy still faced two rival candidates for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination: the leading challenger United States Senator Eugene McCarthy and Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Humphrey had entered the race after Johnson's withdrawal, but Kennedy and McCarthy remained the main challengers to the policies of the Johnson administration. During the spring of 1968, Kennedy led a leading campaign in presidential primary elections throughout the United States. Kennedy's campaign was especially active in Indiana, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, California, and Washington, D.C. After declaring victory in the California primary on June 4, 1968, Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He died on June 6, 1968 at Good Samaritan Hospital. Had Kennedy been elected president, he would have been the first brother of a former U.S. president to win the presidency himself.
Lyndon B. Johnson's tenure as the 36th president of the United States began on November 22, 1963, upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and ended on January 20, 1969. He had been vice president for 1,036 days when he succeeded to the presidency. Johnson, a Democrat from Texas, ran for and won a full four-year term in the 1964 presidential election, in which he defeated Republican nominee Barry Goldwater in a landslide. Johnson did not run for a second full term in the 1968 presidential election because of his low popularity. He was succeeded by Republican Richard Nixon. His presidency marked the high tide of modern liberalism in the 20th century United States.
The 1968 presidential campaign of Eugene McCarthy was launched by United States Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota in the latter part of 1967 to vie for the 1968 Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States. The focus of his campaign was his support for a swift end to the Vietnam War through a withdrawal of American forces. The campaign appealed to youths who were tired of the establishment and dissatisfied with government.
From March 8 to June 7, 1960, voters and members of the Democratic Party elected delegates to the 1960 Democratic National Convention through a series of caucuses, conventions, and primaries, partly for the purpose of nominating a candidate for President of the United States in the 1960 election. The presidential primaries were inconclusive, as several of the leading contenders did not enter them, but U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts emerged as the strongest candidate and won the nomination over Lyndon B. Johnson at the convention, held from July 11 to 15 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
From March to July 1968, Democratic Party voters elected delegates to the 1968 Democratic National Convention for the purpose of selecting the party's nominee for president in the upcoming election. Delegates, and the nominee they were to support at the convention, were selected through a series of primary elections, caucuses, and state party conventions. This was the last time that state primary elections formed a minority of the selection process, as the McGovern–Fraser Commission, which issued its recommendations in time for the 1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries, would dramatically reform the nomination process to expand the use of popular primaries rather than caucuses.
Electoral history of Lyndon B. Johnson, who served as the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969), the 37th vice president (1961–1963); and as a United States senator (1949–1961) and United States representative (1937–1949) from Texas.
The 1968 presidential campaign of Hubert Humphrey began when Vice President of the United States Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota decided to seek the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States following President Lyndon B. Johnson's announcement ending his own bid for the nomination. Johnson withdrew after an unexpectedly strong challenge from anti-Vietnam War presidential candidate, Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, in the early Democratic primaries. McCarthy, along with Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, became Humphrey's main opponents for the nomination. Their "new politics" contrasted with Humphrey's "old politics" as the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War intensified.
The 1968 presidential campaign of Richard Nixon, the 36th vice president of the United States, began when Nixon, the Republican nominee of 1960, formally announced his candidacy, following a year's preparation and five years' political reorganization after defeats in the 1960 presidential election and the 1962 California gubernatorial election.
The 1968 United States elections were held on November 5, and elected members of the 91st United States Congress. The election took place during the Vietnam War, in the same year as the Tet Offensive, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and the protests of 1968. The Republican Party won control of the presidency, and picked up seats in the House and Senate, although the Democratic Party retained control of Congress.
The 1968 United States presidential election in New Mexico took place on November 5, 1968. All fifty states and The District of Columbia, were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose four electors to represent them in the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. District of Columbia voters chose three representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1960 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. West Virginia voters chose eight representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The United States foreign policy during the 1963-1969 presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson was dominated by the Vietnam War and the Cold War, a period of sustained geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. Johnson took over after the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, while promising to keep Kennedy's policies and his team.
The 1964 presidential campaign of Lyndon B. Johnson was a successful campaign for Johnson and his running mate Hubert Humphrey for their election as president and vice president of the United States. They defeated Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater and vice presidential nominee William Miller. Johnson, a Democrat and former vice president under John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as president upon Kennedy's assassination. In 1964, Johnson did not look optimistically upon the prospect of being elected president in his own right. Despite Johnson's uncertainty about running, he was seen as the most likely candidate to get the nomination. He entered the primaries starting with New Hampshire and won the state by almost 29,000 votes. Johnson's main opponent in the primaries was Alabama Governor George Wallace, who had announced his intention to seek the presidency even before Kennedy's assassination.
WASHINGTON, March 30 — President Johnson will address the nation at 9 P.M. tomorrow to deal 'rather fully' with the situation in Vietnam, including further troop build-ups, the possibility of reserve call-ups and the additional costs thereof.