Vietnam & The 1968 Election

Robert Kennedy Eugene McCarthy Hubert Humphrey

The Impact of Vietnam on Domestic Politics:
The Election of 1968

The Democrats Nomination Fight

1968 was a most chaotic year. It started with the siege of Khe Sahn in January and continued with the TET offensive in February. In that same month, a relatively unknown Democrat Senator from Minnesota scored a dramatic "victory" in the New Hampshire presidential primary. Senator Eugene McCarthy, mobilizing college students and running as an anti-war candidate, received 41.9% of the vote. Lyndon Johnson, anticipating no challenge for the nomination, was not on the ballot. He received 49.6% of the vote in write-in balloting. But the story was McCarthy whose surprise showing vaulted him into the national limelight.

Shortly thereafter, Robert Kennedy announced that he too would be a candidate for the Democrat nomination. And on March 31st, President Johnson withdrew from the race. Hubert Humphrey, Vice President and former Senator from Minnesota, then announced his candidacy. For the duration of the primary campaign, Humphrey was cast in the role of "defender" of administration policy while McCarthy and Kennedy waged campaigns critical of administration policy. The Democrats, as the year would prove again and again, were hopelessly divided over the Vietnam War.

The spring of 1968 brought more shock and turmoil. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968. In the wake of his death, a wave of violence broke out in numerous American cities.

That evening, Robert Kennedy was campaigning in Indiana and paused to talk to an audience, many of whom had not heard of King's death. The following is a recording of Kennedy's statement:

[Robert Kennedy on the death of Martin Luther King]

Thereafter, Kennedy and McCarthy engaged in an increasingly competitive and testy battle for votes in the primary. The difficulty faced by both candidates was that most delegates to the convention would not be selected in primaries. Instead, they would be chosen by state party leaders. Rather than compete in primaries, Hubert Humphrey worked the party apparatus (which he had served for four years as vice president). Thus, as the campaign progressed, Kennedy and McCarthy played the role of "insurgents" while Humphrey remained the "party loyalist."

For the insurgents, the showdown primary occurred on June 4 in California. Kennedy won the primary with 46.3% of the vote to McCarthy's 41.8%. That evening, Kennedy faced his supporters and network cameras in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. As he finished his statement, he flashed a peace sign and said "On to Chicago and let's win there." (Theodore White, Making of the President 1968, p. 183). It was shortly after midnight on June 5. Kennedy's route from the stage took him through the kitchen of the hotel. There, 22 year-old Sirhan Sirhan opened fire with a .22 caliber pistol. Several people were injured; Kennedy was shot three times and died less than 24 hours later. Sirhan Sirhan was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. When California abolished the death penalty, Sirhan's sentence was changed to life in prison.

[Excerpts from Robert Kennedy's eulogy given by his brother, Edward]

The Democratic National Convention of 1968

Delegates attending the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago were bitterly divided over the war in Vietnam and other issues. These divisions would lead the party that won an overwhelming victory in 1964 to self-destruct before a prime time national television audience. Forces allied with Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern (who inherited much of Kennedy's support) challenged the credentials of several state delegations on the grounds of racial discrimination as well as loyalty to the party. There was bitter debate over a minority resolution that would have, in effect, repudiated the policy of Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam. The convention became most divisive when, in nominating George McGovern for president, Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut declared that "with George McGovern as president of the United States, we wouldn't have to have Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago" (Guide to U.S. Elections, p. 90).

Ribicoff was referring to the outbreak of violence between anti-war demonstrators and the Chicago police. Footage of this violence was shown by the television networks throughout the convention. Thousands of demonstrators traveled to Chicago to protest the war and, if possible, disrupt the convention. Although accounts vary, it is clear that some demonstrators sought to provoke the police and that the police responded in an excessively violent manner.

The Democratic debacle in Chicago had three consequences. First, the prospects for victory in 1968 were severely damaged. The Democrats were more divided than ever and the perception of the party, based on the convention, was negative. Thus, the ticket of Vice President Humphrey and Edward Muskie, a Senator from Maine, would begin the campaign having to "defend" a weakened administration and national party.

The Democratic ticket: Hubert Humphrey & Edwin Muskie

Second, in an effort to heal party wounds, Vice President Humphrey agreed to appoint a special commission to reform the party rules governing delegate selection and presidential nominations. Humphrey's nomination was viewed by many as the product of the "back room" politics practiced by old-line party leaders. The commission, headed by Senator George McGovern of South Dakota and Representative Donald Fraser of Minnesota, would adopt substantial reforms and create the modern day marathon of primaries and caucuses.

Third, eight people were indicted for violating the anti-Riot Act of 1968. The specific charges were crossing state lines with the intent to incite, organize, promote, encourage, participate in, and carry on a riot and to commit acts of violence in furtherance of a riot. The defendants included Abbie Hoffman (leader of the Youth International Party or "Yippies"), Jerry Rubin (co-founder of the "Yippies"), David Dellinger (described as an evangelical Christian Socialist and anti-war activist), Tom Hayden (co-founder of Students for a Democratic Society), Rennie Davis (a national organizer for the SDS), John Froines and Lee Weiner, both activists. The trial judge eventually severed the trial of the last defendant, Bobby Seale (co-founder of the Black Panther Party) from the other defendants. Thus was born the Chicago 7.

The trial of the "Chicago 7" was a circus. Bobby Seale, when still a defendant, was bound to a chair and gagged for his outbursts. The team of Hoffman and Rubin effectively "made a joke" of the ordeal. The jury acquitted Froines and Weiner who were charged not with conspiracy but with making incendiary devices ("stink bombs"). Hoffman, Rubin, Davis, Dellinger, and Hayden were found guilty but their convictions were later overturned by a Federal Appeals Court.

The Wallace Factor

The campaign of 1968 also featured a credible third party candidate, Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who vaulted into the national limelight in the 1962 desegregation incident at the University of Alabama. His candidacy injected much uncertainty into the campaign. Democrats feared he would attract normally reliable Democratic voters in the South. Republicans worried that he would attract conservative voters that would otherwise be won by Nixon.

The Wallace candidacy, given its third party status, was doing surprisingly well in the polls as the general election campaign began. On October 3, George Wallace announced his selection of a vice presidential candidate, retired Air Force General, Curtis LeMay. LeMay was a hero in World War II and served as Air Force Chief of Staff during the Kennedy Administration. His nickname was "Old Ironpants" and, at the press conference announcing his selection, LeMay -- to the chagrin of George Wallace -- spoke critically about the public's fear of nuclear weapons and his willingness, if necessary, to use such weapons.

The American Independent Party: George Wallace and Curtis LeMay

[Excerpts from the press conference of General Curtis LeMay]

After the selection of LeMay, the Wallace candidacy lost the momentum it had been building. His standing in the polls crested at this point (with over 20% of voters expressing a preference) and then declined. No doubt, some were concerned about LeMay's statements. Others, however, either saw Nixon as a more viable alternative; some Democrat loyalists, while uneasy with Humphrey, did "return to the fold."

The Republicans: The Return of Richard Nixon

1968 was also heralded the year of the "New Nixon." This "New Nixon" was reported to be calmer, more reflective, and more at ease with himself. As a candidate, Nixon had only to point to the domestic unrest and violence along with the war in Vietnam to argue that it was a time for change. His largely media-based campaign emphasized how the country had deteriorated since 1965 while Nixon spoke of "peace with honor" and "law and order." He had little, if any, difficulty in winning the Republican nomination. As his running mate, Nixon chose a relatively unknown governor of Maryland, Spiro Agnew.

Nixon's position and statements on Vietnam were studiously ambiguous. He promised new leadership that "will end the war and win the peace." He asserted that the "war must be ended. It must be ended honorably." Although he referred to a plan, Nixon, as Page and Brody argue, "refused to explain how he would end the war on the grounds that an explanation might interfere with the efforts of the Johnson administration to achieve a settlement or would weaken his own bargaining position if he became President" (Benjamin Page and Richard Brody, "Policy Voting and the Electoral Process: The Vietnam War Issue," American Political Science Review,1972 (66), p. 987).

Privately, however, Nixon was acting more assertively on the Vietnam issue. Over the course of the campaign, Nixon grew increasingly concerned about President Johnson's negotiations with the North Vietnamese. Word was "out" that LBJ would be proposing a bombing halt of North Vietnam provided the South Vietnamese were permitted to participate in the ongoing peace talks in Paris. To blunt the possibility of a late campaign "Peace Offensive" by the Democrats, Nixon developed a "back channel" to persuade President Thieu of South Vietnam not to cooperate with President Johnson. The line of communication went from Nixon to John Mitchell (who would be named Attorney General) to Anna Chenault, a strong Nixon support who was close to a number of South Vietnamese officials, including President Thieu. Nixon's message was subtly delivered but unambiguous. Thieu should refuse to join the peace talks in 1968 because the South Vietnamese would be treated better by a Nixon rather than a Humphrey Administration. Thieu ultimately followed Nixon's suggestion and did not participate in the peace talks during the fall of 1968 (see, Steven Ambrose, Nixon: Triumph of a Politician, pp. 206-218).

The closing weeks of the campaign saw Nixon's lead in the polls narrow. On September 30th, Hubert Humphrey delivered a speech from Salt Lake City, broadcast nationally, in which he broke from the Johnson Administration and argued that a unilateral halt in the bombing would be an acceptable risk for peace. Humphrey was also helped by Johnson who, on October 31st, called a full bombing halt of North Vietnam.

The momentum gained by Humphrey in the closing weeks of the campaign was not sufficient to win. Nxion won a razor-thin popular vote victory with 43.42% to 42.72% for Humphrey and 13.53% for Wallace. Because Nixon carried the key states of California, Illinois and Ohio and Florida, he won more decisively in the Electoral College with 301 votes to 191 for Humphrey and 46 for Wallace.

Nixon was magnanimous in victory. Facing the press the day after the election, he recalled a sign held by a girl in Ohio and noted that his great objective would be to "bring us together." His inaugural address spoke of "black and white together, as one nation, not two." He urged Americans to "lower our voices," to "listen to 'the better angels of our nature,'" and to "build a great cathedral of the spirit." Noting that the "greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker," Nixon explained that "the peace we seek to win is not victory over any other people, but the peace that comes 'with healing in its wings.'"