page_title: 1968 United States presidential election
section_title: Johnson withdraws
hierarchical_section_title: 1968 United States presidential election / Democratic Party nomination / Johnson withdraws
caption_attribution_description: L-R: Vice President Hubert Humphrey, President Lyndon Johnson, and General Creighton Abrams in a Cabinet Room meeting, 27 March 1968. This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 192616. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing. English&#160;| Español&#160;| Français&#160;| Italiano&#160;| Македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| Polski&#160;| Português&#160;| Русский&#160;| Slovenščina&#160;| Türkçe&#160;| Українська&#160;| Tiếng Việt&#160;| 中文（简体）&#160;| 中文（繁體）&#160;| +/− Creator: President (1963-1969: Johnson). White House Photograph Office. (1963 - 1969) ( Most Recent) Type of Archival Materials: Photographs and other Graphic Materials Level of Description: Item from Collection LBJ-WHPO: White House Photo Office Collection, 11/22/1963 - 01/20/1969 Location: Lyndon Baines Johnson Library (NLLBJ), 2313 Red River Street, Austin, TX 78705-5702 PHONE: 512-721-0212, FAX: 512-721-0170, EMAIL: johnson.library@nara.gov Production Date: 03/27/1968 Access Restrictions: Unrestricted Use Restrictions: Unrestricted
context_page_description: 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 the Democratic nominee, incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey. Analysts have argued the election of 1968 was a major realigning election as it permanently disrupted the New Deal coalition that had dominated presidential politics since 1932.
  Incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson had been the early front-runner for the Democratic Party's nomination, but withdrew from the race after narrowly winning the New Hampshire primary. Eugene McCarthy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Humphrey emerged as the three major candidates in the Democratic primaries until Kennedy was assassinated. Humphrey won the nomination, sparking numerous anti-war protests. Nixon entered the Republican primaries as the front-runner, defeating Nelson Rockefeller, Ronald Reagan, and other candidates to win his party's nomination. Alabama governor George Wallace ran on the American Independent Party ticket, campaigning in favor of racial segregation.
context_section_description: On March 31, 1968, following the New Hampshire primary and Kennedy's entry into the election, the president 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 startled the nation 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." Not discussed publicly at the time was Johnson's concern he might not survive another term—Johnson's health was poor, and he had suffered a serious heart attack in 1955 while serving in the U.S. Senate. Indeed, he died on January 22, 1973, only two days after the new presidential term concluded. Bleak political forecasts also contributed to Johnson's withdrawal; internal polling by Johnson's campaign in Wisconsin, the next state to hold a primary election, showed the President trailing badly.
  Historians have debated just why Johnson quit a few days after his weak showing in New Hampshire. Jeff Shesol says Johnson wanted out of the White House but also wanted vindication; when the indicators turned negative he decided to leave. Lewis L. Gould maintains that Johnson had neglected the party, was hurting it by his Vietnam policies, and underestimated McCarthy's strength until the very last minute, when it was too late for Johnson to recover. Randall Bennett Woods said Johnson realized he needed to leave in order for the nation to heal.  Robert Dallek writes that Johnson had no further domestic goals, and realized that his personality had eroded his popularity.  His health was not good, and he was preoccupied with the Kennedy campaign; his wife was pressing for his retirement and his base of support continued to shrink.  Leaving the race would allow him to pose as a peacemaker.  Anthony J. Bennett, however, claims Johnson "had been forced out of a re-election race in 1968 by outrage over his policy in Southeast Asia".
  It has also been reported that Johnson decided to wind down his re-election bid after popular and influential CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite turned against the president's policy in Vietnam and recommended peace negotiations during a CBS News editorial which aired on February 27.  After later watching Cronkite's editorial, Johnson allegedly exclaimed "if I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."  Issues surrounding reports of this allegation have raised questions about its accuracy, such as the fact that Johnson was attending Texas Governor John Connally's birthday gala in Austin, Texas, when Cronkite's editorial aired and thus was unable to see the original broadcast.  However, Cronkite and CBS News correspondent Bob Schieffer defended reports that the remark had been made and claimed that members of Johnson's inner circle who had watched the editorial with the president, including presidential aide George Christian and journalist Bill Moyers, were able to confirm its accuracy to them at a later time. Schieffer, who was serving as a reporter for the Star-Telegram's WBAP television station in Fort Worth, Texas, when Cronkite's editorial aired, acknowledged reports that the president saw the editorial's original broadcast were inaccurate, but claimed the president was able to watch a taping of it the morning after it aired and then made the remark. However, Johnson's January 27, 1968 phone conversion with Daley also revealed that he and the Chicago Mayor were also secretly feeding Robert Kennedy's ego so he would stay in the race, even making him convinced that the Democratic Party was undergoing a "revolution," and help him at the Convention, possibly earning him a spot as vice president. 
  With Johnson's withdrawal, the Democratic Party 
caption: Vice President Hubert Humphrey, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and General Creighton Abrams in a Cabinet Room meeting in March 1968
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