Hawk1981
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- Apr 1, 2020
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The 1968 presidential campaign was difficult and tumultuous. President Lyndon Johnson had been the early front-runner for the Democratic Party nomination, but withdrew from the race when anti-Vietnam War candidate Eugene McCarthy came in second place in the New Hampshire primary. McCarthy, Robert Kennedy and Vice President Hubert Humphrey emerged as the three major candidates for the Democrats. Humphrey secured the nomination after Kennedy's assassination. Richard Nixon emerged from the pack of Republicans ahead of Nelson Rockefeller, Ronald Reagan and others to win his party's nomination.
The election year was marked by civil disorder and rioting in the major cities subsequent to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr, and widespread opposition to the Vietnam War on the nation's college campuses. The convention in Chicago to nominate Hubert Humphrey was also marred by rioting.
Mounting a major third party presidential campaign effort as the candidate for the American Independent Party was Governor George Wallace of Alabama. Governor Wallace had made a national reputation as a vocal opponent of racial integration. In his inaugural speech as governor of Alabama in 1963, standing on the same spot where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in 1861, Wallace said, "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Wallace emphasized the connection between state's rights and racial segregation. During his administration as governor, he used speeches and created crises to provoke federal intervention. In the summer of 1963, he took his 'Stand in the Schoolhouse Door' in an attempt to prevent the integration of the University of Alabama. That fall he tried to stop the integration of public schools in Huntsville, Alabama.
Wallace ran for the 1964 Democratic presidential nomination and had some success attracting voters with his opposition to integration and tough approach on crime. He was noted for his strong oratory, and in a memorable speech given in Cincinnati had to quickly move to calm the crowd down when they leaped to their feet after Wallace shouted "When you and I start marching and demonstrating and carrying signs, we will close every highway in the country!"
Wallace carried on an adversarial relationship with the press that was noted in South Carolina where he received an honorary doctorate in the spring of 1964 from Bob Jones University. The citation read at the commencement said, "Men who have fought for truth and righteousness have always been slandered, maligned, and misrepresented. The American press in its attacks upon Governor Wallace has demonstrated that it is no longer free, American, or honest. But you, Mr. Governor, have demonstrated not only by the overwhelming victories in the recent elections in your own state of Alabama but also in the showing which you have made in states long dominated by cheap demagogues and selfish radicals that there is still in America love for freedom, hard common sense, and at least some hope for the preservation of our constitutional liberties."
As the American Independent Party candidate for president in 1968, Wallace hoped to prevent either of the major party candidates from winning an electoral college victory. With the election thrown to the House of Representatives, Wallace could become a power broker and lead the southern states in a drive to end federal efforts at desegregation. The campaign for state's rights and "Law and Order" were understood to symbolize southern resistance to civil rights. The campaign was actively supported by a number of extremist groups, White Citizen's Councils and the white supremacist Liberty Lobby. While not openly seeking the support of these groups, Wallace did not refuse it.
The Wallace platform included generous increases for beneficiaries of Social Security and Medicare. He hoped to appeal to labor, as governor he had actively courted companies to locate plants in his state through the use of tax benefits. His foreign policy positions set him apart from Nixon and Humphrey with his calls to end foreign aid, and demands that America's European and Asian allies pay more for their defense. Wallace pledged an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam if the war was determined to be unwinnable within 90 days of his taking office.
Wallace ran a strong campaign in the Deep South, eventually winning 46 electoral votes. But he was also strong in a number of industrial districts in the North. His appeal to blue collar workers was damaging to Humphrey's campaign in several northern states, including Ohio, New Jersey, and Michigan.
The election resulted in a decisive electoral vote win for Richard Nixon, with a small victory margin in number of voters. The strategy to throw the election to the House of Representatives was not successful due in part to a late surge in voter support for the Humphrey who drew voters away from Wallace when Wallace's running mate, Curtis LeMay made several remarks in favor of the unlimited use of nuclear weapons and advocating non-conservative stands favoring birth control and legal abortion.
The election year was marked by civil disorder and rioting in the major cities subsequent to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr, and widespread opposition to the Vietnam War on the nation's college campuses. The convention in Chicago to nominate Hubert Humphrey was also marred by rioting.
Mounting a major third party presidential campaign effort as the candidate for the American Independent Party was Governor George Wallace of Alabama. Governor Wallace had made a national reputation as a vocal opponent of racial integration. In his inaugural speech as governor of Alabama in 1963, standing on the same spot where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in 1861, Wallace said, "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Wallace emphasized the connection between state's rights and racial segregation. During his administration as governor, he used speeches and created crises to provoke federal intervention. In the summer of 1963, he took his 'Stand in the Schoolhouse Door' in an attempt to prevent the integration of the University of Alabama. That fall he tried to stop the integration of public schools in Huntsville, Alabama.
Wallace ran for the 1964 Democratic presidential nomination and had some success attracting voters with his opposition to integration and tough approach on crime. He was noted for his strong oratory, and in a memorable speech given in Cincinnati had to quickly move to calm the crowd down when they leaped to their feet after Wallace shouted "When you and I start marching and demonstrating and carrying signs, we will close every highway in the country!"
Wallace carried on an adversarial relationship with the press that was noted in South Carolina where he received an honorary doctorate in the spring of 1964 from Bob Jones University. The citation read at the commencement said, "Men who have fought for truth and righteousness have always been slandered, maligned, and misrepresented. The American press in its attacks upon Governor Wallace has demonstrated that it is no longer free, American, or honest. But you, Mr. Governor, have demonstrated not only by the overwhelming victories in the recent elections in your own state of Alabama but also in the showing which you have made in states long dominated by cheap demagogues and selfish radicals that there is still in America love for freedom, hard common sense, and at least some hope for the preservation of our constitutional liberties."
As the American Independent Party candidate for president in 1968, Wallace hoped to prevent either of the major party candidates from winning an electoral college victory. With the election thrown to the House of Representatives, Wallace could become a power broker and lead the southern states in a drive to end federal efforts at desegregation. The campaign for state's rights and "Law and Order" were understood to symbolize southern resistance to civil rights. The campaign was actively supported by a number of extremist groups, White Citizen's Councils and the white supremacist Liberty Lobby. While not openly seeking the support of these groups, Wallace did not refuse it.
The Wallace platform included generous increases for beneficiaries of Social Security and Medicare. He hoped to appeal to labor, as governor he had actively courted companies to locate plants in his state through the use of tax benefits. His foreign policy positions set him apart from Nixon and Humphrey with his calls to end foreign aid, and demands that America's European and Asian allies pay more for their defense. Wallace pledged an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam if the war was determined to be unwinnable within 90 days of his taking office.
Wallace ran a strong campaign in the Deep South, eventually winning 46 electoral votes. But he was also strong in a number of industrial districts in the North. His appeal to blue collar workers was damaging to Humphrey's campaign in several northern states, including Ohio, New Jersey, and Michigan.
The election resulted in a decisive electoral vote win for Richard Nixon, with a small victory margin in number of voters. The strategy to throw the election to the House of Representatives was not successful due in part to a late surge in voter support for the Humphrey who drew voters away from Wallace when Wallace's running mate, Curtis LeMay made several remarks in favor of the unlimited use of nuclear weapons and advocating non-conservative stands favoring birth control and legal abortion.
