November 5, 1968 - Richard Nixon Wins the Presidential Election

Nixon’s presidential victory relates to the factors his campaign was directed and established on. After serving as vice-president for eight years, Richard Nixon ran for president against John F. Kennedy in 1962; however, Kennedy won the majority of the popular vote by 0.17% (1). Two years after losing the presidential election, Richard Nixon ran for governor of California against Edmund G. Brown, but Brown won the election by 5% (2). However, failing again was not the end of Nixon’s political career as many political critics believed. By February 1968, Nixon’s political career recovered in the Republican Party and he announced his candidacy for president (3). Eventually in 1938, Richard Nixon won the presidential election against Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and George Wallace of the American Party (3).

Firstly, foreign policy was one of the major factors in Nixon’s election (4). Through Nixon’s diplomatic achievements during Dwight Eisenhower’s administration garnered him public trust and support, and his claim that to stop the war in Vietnam was soothing to the ears of the people who were tired of the anti-war protests and its controversy (5). Therefore, Vietnam War played a vital role in the election of 1938. It also gave Nixon the chance to direct his campaign towards the “silent majority” of the middle class and the working class (6). Unlike the Democrats, the Republican candidates were careful to craft an image of moderation and dignity, which stood in contrast to the disorder in the Democratic Party. Lyndon Johnson, the sitting president and a Democrat, lost the public relations war to the North Vietnamese, and he dropped out of the race as he struggled in the primaries. Also, Robert Kennedy (a new forerunner) was murdered in June after the primary election in California, leaving the party in disarray (7).

Richard Nixon won about 31.8 million popular votes, while Humphrey won 31.3 million votes. In the Electoral College, Nixon received 301 votes, Humphrey won 191 votes and George Wallace won 46 votes (8). According to some critics, Nixon’s victory was a result of the division in the Democratic Party, rather than to strong support for himself or his platform. He was a president by default, without a mandate or a strong constituency, and that many Americans felt they had corrected a mistake (9). From another perspective, one might conclude that perhaps Nixon won the election because of his perseverance, as Julie Andrews once said, “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th."

- Teledalase O. and Lindsay T.




(1) “United States presidential election, 1960” Wikipedia, accessed on November 1, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1960

(2) “California gubernatorial election, 1962” Wikipedia, accessed on November 1,2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_gubernatorial_election,_1962

(3) “Richard Nixon elected President” History .com, accessed on November 1,2013 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/richard-nixon-elected-president

(4) “Nixon and Foreign Policy”, accessed on November 1, 2013, http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/nixon-and-foreign-policy/

(5) “Nixon and Foreign Policy”

(6) “Nixon and Foreign Policy”

(7) “Richard Nixon Back Again: 1968”, accessed on November 1, 2013, http://www.examiner.com/article/richard-nixon-back-again-1968

(8) “Nixon and Foreign Policy”

(9) “Richard Nixon Back Again: 1968”