page_title: Richard Nixon 1968 presidential campaign
section_title: General election
hierarchical_section_title: Richard Nixon 1968 presidential campaign / General election
caption_attribution_description: English: PNG converted version of Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign slogan, taken from a bumper sticker. It is pure text, no copyright status.
context_page_description: 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.
  En route to the Republican Party's presidential nomination, Nixon faced challenges from Governor George Romney of Michigan, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, Governor Ronald Reagan of California, and Senator Charles Percy of Illinois. Nixon won nine of the thirteen state primaries held that season, although due to the population of his state, Governor Reagan won the popular vote while carrying only California. These victories, along with pledged delegate support from states not holding primaries, secured Nixon the nomination on the first ballot of the Republican National Convention, where he named Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland as his running mate.
  In the general election, Nixon emphasized "law and order", positioning himself as the champion of what he called the "silent majority".
context_section_description: As the general election season began, Nixon focused his efforts on the "big seven" states: California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. He hired Roger Ailes, whom he had first encountered during an appearance on The Mike Douglas Show, to produce one hour television programs to advertise the campaign in strategic regions. The campaign also continued to use televised town hall segments throughout the campaign, which aired live, featuring real voters who were instructed to ask tough questions, following the campaign's belief that Nixon would respond well to such questions. Starting the ground campaign tour, during his first stop in Springfield, Illinois, he discussed the importance of unity, stating that "America [now] needs to be united more than any time since Lincoln." He then traveled to Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania before returning to New York, meeting with Governor Rockefeller. In those Gallup polls following the convention, Nixon led Humphrey 45% to 29% and topped McCarthy 42% to 37%. At the end of the month, Hubert Humphrey narrowly won Democratic presidential nominee over McCarthy at the Democratic convention, which was filled with protest and riots. Analysts saw the Democrat's split, along with lacking "law and order" at the convention, positioning Nixon well. Shortly before the convention and throughout the general election, Nixon received regular briefings from President Johnson on developments in the Vietnam War. The President made it clear to Nixon that he did not want the war to be politicized, to which Nixon agreed, although questioning Humphrey's eventual compliance.
  Following the Democratic convention, Nixon was consistently labeled the favorite, described as "relaxed [and] confident", counter to his "unsure" self from 1960. Even observers speculated as to the President's possible favoring Nixon to Humphrey. In a visit to Chicago shortly after the Democratic convention, Nixon received a large welcome and ticker tape parade, with crowds estimated at several hundred thousand.
  Before his visit, he called upon Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, the highest ranking African American in U.S. government, to campaign with him on trips to Illinois and California. Referring to Brooke as "one of my top advisers," he accompanied campaign stops in Chicago and San Francisco, a move critics described as an attempt to further gain favor within the African American community.
caption: Nixon's campaign slogan, commonly used on posters and bumper stickers
exif: {}