1968 United States presidential election

The **1968 United States presidential election** happened on November 5, 1968. Richard Nixon, the Republican candidate and former vice president of the United States, won the election. He defeated the incumbent vice president, Hubert Humphrey, the Incumbent Vice President and a Democrat, and George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, who ran as a member of the American Independent Party

Incumbent United States President Lyndon B. Johnson was able to run, but decided against it. On March 31, 1968, Johnson withdrew his nomination and he said, "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President".

The incumbent Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, brother of former United States President John F. Kennedy was a serious presidential candidate before his assassination on June 5, 1968 by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles after winning the California and South Dakota primaries for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

Richard Nixon won the election by 301 electoral votes. Hubert Humphrey got 191 electoral votes. George Wallace received 46 electoral votes and a faithless elector in North Carolina voted Wallace and running mate Curtis LeMay.

Humphrey did not win the south because he was very liberal and favored civil rights. The only southern state he won was Texas (which he won narrowly).

### Republican Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Richard Nixon|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Spiro Agnew|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1968 Republican Party Ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFD0D7; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFD0D7; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|36th Vice President of the United States <small>(1953-1961)</small>|55th Governor of Maryland <small>(1967-1969)</small>|||
|colspan="2"|**Campaign**|||
|colspan="2"||||
- Republican candidates:
    - Richard Nixon, former Vice President <small>(1953-1961)</small> and 1960 presidential nominee from New York<small>_(Nominee)_</small>
    - Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York and candidate for the 1960 and 1964 nominations
    - Ronald Reagan, Governor of California
    - George Romney, Governor of Michigan and candidate 1964 nomination:: **Romney was also the father of Gov. Mitt Romney, who ran for president in 2012**
    - Harold Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota and candidate for the 1948, 1952 and 1964 nominations

### Democratic Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Hubert Humphrey|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Edmund Muskie|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="29" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1968 Democratic Party Ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|38th Vice President of the United States <small>(1965–1969)</small>|U.S. Senator from Maine <small>(1959-1980)</small>|||
|colspan="2"|**Campaign**|||
|colspan="2"||||
- Democratic candidates:
    - Hubert Humphrey, U.S. vice president from Minnesota <small>(1965-1969) _(Nominee)_</small>
    - Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. senator from New York, brother of former President John F. Kennedy, and former Attorney General (assassinated)
    - Eugene McCarthy, U.S. senator from Minnesota
    - George McGovern, U.S. senator from South Dakota

## American Independent Party nomination

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#ff7f00; width:200px;"|George Wallace|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#ff7f00; width:200px;"|:en:Curtis_LeMay|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big> **1968 American Independent Party ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|45th Governor of Alabama <small>(1963–1967)</small>|Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force <small>(1961–1965)</small>|||
|colspan=2|**Campaign**|||
|colspan=2||||

## Other websites

- 1968 Presidential General Election Results

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 1968 United States presidential election
- **country**: United States
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 1964 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1964
- **next election**: 1972 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 1972
- **votes for election**: 538 members of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **needed votes**: 270 electoral
- **turnout**: 60.9%  1.0 percentage point, pp
- **election date**: November 5, 1968
- **image1**: Richard Nixon presidential portrait (cropped).jpg
- **image size**: x160px
- **nominee1**: **Richard Nixon**
- **party1**: Republican Party (United States)
- **home state1**: California
- **running mate1**: **Spiro Agnew**
- **electoral vote1**: **301**
- **states carried1**: **32**
- **popular vote1**: **31,783,783**
- **percentage1**: **43.4%**
- **image2**: Hubert_Humphrey_in_New_York,_1968_(3x4_crop).jpg
- **nominee2**: Hubert Humphrey
- **party2**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **home state2**: Minnesota
- **running mate2**: Edmund Muskie
- **electoral vote2**: 191
- **states carried2**: 13 + Washington, D.C., D.C.
- **popular vote2**: 31,271,839
- **percentage2**: 42.7%
- **image3**: George Wallace (D-AL) (3x4).jpg
- **nominee3**: George Wallace
- **party3**: American Independent Party
- **home state3**: Alabama
- **running mate3**: Curtis LeMay
- **electoral vote3**: 46
- **states carried3**: 5
- **popular vote3**: 9,901,118
- **percentage3**: 13.5%
- **map image**: ElectoralCollege1968.svg
- **map size**: 350px
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:#CC2200;">Red</span> denotes states won by Nixon/Agnew. <span style="color:darkblue;">Blue</span> denotes states won by Humphrey/Muskie. <span style="color:#ff9955;">Orange</span> denotes states won by Wallace/LeMay, as well as a faithless elector in North Carolina who cast his electoral vote for Wallace/LeMay instead of Nixon/Agnew. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
- **title**: President
- **before election**: Lyndon B. Johnson
- **before party**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **after election**: Richard Nixon
- **after party**: Republican Party (United States)