United States Presidential Election of 1968

Nixon won 301 electoral votes in a three-way race decided by 0.7 percent.

Overview

Vietnam, the assassinations of King and Kennedy, and urban disorder made 1968 the angriest campaign of the century. Nixon's silent majority and law and order message edged Humphrey, tarred by LBJ's war yet surging late after his Salt Lake speech, 301 to 191, with Wallace taking 46 electors and five southern states. The popular margin was 0.7 percent. The election began the Republicans' majority-building era, ended the New Deal coalition's unity, and made the southern strategy a permanent electoral calculus.