1968

A turbulent year remakes the electorate

Richard Nixon won a narrow victory in a tumultuous year marked by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago, and the Vietnam War. Nixon appealed to the 'Silent Majority' and promised a secret plan to end the war. Alabama Governor George Wallace ran on the American Independent Party ticket, winning five Deep South states and 46 electoral votes, nearly throwing the election to the House. Humphrey surged late after partially distancing himself from Johnson's Vietnam policy.