1964 Viva Kennedy!!!

The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic President John F. Kennedy defeated Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee, and George Wallace of the American Independent Party in a landslide victory.

Kennedy took office in 1960 and emphasized a new kind of American liberalism. He easily defeated a primary challenge by Governor George Wallace of Alabama, to win the nomination to a full term. At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Kennedy selected his Vice President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate again. After Wallace was defeated, he left the Democrats to form the American Independent Party, championing racial segregation and southern Democrat policies. In the Republican contest Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, a leader of his party's conservative faction, defeated Nelson Rockefeller of New York and Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania.

Kennedy championed his passage of the Civil Rights Act, and advocated a series of anti-poverty programs collectively known as the New Frontier. Goldwater espoused a low-tax, small-government philosophy. Wallace championed escalation in the Vietnam War along with opposing Civil Rights. Democrats successfully portrayed Goldwater as a dangerous extremist, most famously in the "Daisy advertisement". The Republicans were divided between its moderate and conservative factions, with Rockefeller and other moderate party leaders refusing to campaign for Goldwater. Kennedy led by wide margins in all polls during the campaign.

Kennedy carried 29 states and the District of Columbia, which voted for the first time in this election. Goldwater won his home state and many states in the Midwest.

Kennedy's victory coincided with the defeat of many conservative Republican congressmen. The subsequent 89th Congress would pass major legislation such as the Social Security Act of 1965 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 1964 election marked the beginning of a major, long-term re-alignment in American politics, as Goldwater's and Wallace's unsuccessful bid significantly influenced the modern conservative movement. The movement of conservatives to the Republican Party continued, culminating in the 1980 United States presidential election of Ronald Reagan. Additionally, many southern Democrats were dissatisfied with the changes that Kennedy made after the election and during it, and some like Strom Thurmond would switch to the Republican party, drawn by Goldwater and his traditional conservative values.

Candidates
The only candidate other than President Kennedy to actively campaign was then-Alabama Governor George Wallace, who ran in a number of northern primaries, though his candidacy was more to promote the philosophy of states' rights among a northern audience; while expecting some support from delegations in the South, Wallace was certain that he was not in contention for the Democratic nomination. Johnson received 1,106,999 votes in the primaries.

After Kennedy´s nomination, Southern delegates from Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana walked out in protest, led by Governor George Wallace. After this walkout, Wallace announced his bid for the Presidency as an independent and founded the American Independent Party to promote state´s rights and to challenge Goldwater and Kennedy. Wallace hoped to win enough Electoral votes to prevent a majority, thus forcing the election into the House. There, he expected to gain legislation reversing some of the Civil Rights laws passed.

Convention
The 1964 Republican National Convention, July 13–16 at Daly City, California's Cow Palace arena, was one of the most bitter on record. The party's moderates and conservatives openly expressed their contempt for each other. Rockefeller was loudly booed when he came to the podium for his speech; in his speech, he roundly criticized the party's conservatives, which led many conservatives in the galleries to yell and scream at him. A group of moderates tried to rally behind Scranton to stop Goldwater, but Goldwater's forces easily brushed his challenge aside, and Goldwater was nominated on the first ballot. The presidential tally was as follows:


 * Barry Goldwater 883
 * William Scranton 214
 * Nelson Rockefeller 114
 * George W. Romney 41
 * Margaret Chase Smith 27
 * Walter Judd 22
 * Hiram Fong 5
 * Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. 2

The vice-presidential nomination went to little-known Republican Party Chairman William E. Miller, a Representative from western New York. Goldwater stated that he chose Miller simply because "he drives [President] Johnson nuts". This would be the only Republican ticket between 1952 and 1976 that did not include Nixon.

In accepting his nomination, Goldwater uttered his most famous phrase (a quote from Cicero suggested by speechwriter Harry Jaffa): "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." For many GOP moderates, Goldwater's speech was seen as a deliberate insult, and many of these moderates would defect to the Democrats in the fall election.

American Independent Party nomination
After Wallace's walkout, Southern Democrats began to plot to run a third party to prevent Kennedy from winning the Election. The American Independent Party, which was established in 1964 by Bill and Eileen Shearer and Wallace, nominated Wallace – whose pro-racial segregation policies had been rejected by the mainstream of the Democratic Party – as the party's candidate for president. The impact of the Wallace campaign was substantial, winning the electoral votes of several states in the Deep South. He appeared on the ballot in all fifty states, but not the District of Columbia. Although he did not come close to winning any states outside the South, Wallace was the 1964 presidential candidate who most disproportionately drew his support from among young men. Wallace also proved to be popular among blue-collar workers in the North and Midwest, and he took many votes which might have gone to Kennedy. In establishing the parties platform, Wallace took care to reject both parties, arguing that the Democrats were "negro-lovers" while Republicans did not go far enough. Wallace also advocated high escalation in Vietnam, with his running mate Curtis LeMay even advocating for using nuclear weapons.

The Attempted Assassination of John F. Kennedy
On November 22nd, 1963, on a tour of Dallas, Texas, Lyndon Johnson's home state, Kennedy was almost killed. Shortly after the attempted assassination, authorities apprehended Lee Harvey Oswald, and while in custody, he implicated the Italian Mafia was behind the shooting. The Warren Commission established after the failed assassination discovered the Philadephia Mafia led by Angelo Bruno was behind the failed shooting, as Kennedy failed to get the Mob into Cuba after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.

Bruno and 37 other members in the gang were arrested, tried, and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Jimmy Hoffa was also investigated, but was found innocent due to Mafia enforcer Frank Sheeran testifying Hoffa had no idea of the assassination, despite Hoffa's grudge with Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy

Despite the trials, conspiracy theories about the failed attempts continued. Some of these included that Lyndon Johnson was involved, and others included that J. Edgar Hoover arranged the shooting via the Philadelphia mob.

Campaigning
Although Goldwater had been successful in rallying conservatives, he had difficulty broadening support for the general election. Shortly before the Republican Convention, he had alienated moderate and liberal Republicans by his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which Kennedy supported and signed into law. While a staunch supporter of racial equality, having voted in favor of the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts bills and the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, Goldwater felt that desegregation was primarily a states' rights issue, rather than a national policy, and believed the 1964 act to be unconstitutional. Goldwater's vote against the legislation helped cause African-Americans to overwhelmingly support Johnson. Goldwater had previously voted in favor of the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts, but only after proposing "restrictive amendments" to them. Goldwater was famous for speaking "off-the-cuff" at times, and many of his former statements were given wide publicity by the Democrats. In the early 1960s, Goldwater had called the Eisenhower administration "a dime store New Deal", but despite this Eisenhower and Nixon both reluctantly campaigned with him. Additionally, in response to his failed nomination, Nelson Rockefeller endorsed Kennedy, hurting any chance Goldwater had at winning Northeastern Republicans.

Kennedy-Goldwater Debates
Goldwater and Kennedy were friendly during their time in the U.S. Senate. Both quickly realized that they were going to be the nominees for both of their parties. Early in Kennedy's presidency, both he and Goldwater agreed to do Lincoln-Douglas-style debates. In total, 7 were held, the first being in New York City at Madison Square Garden. The other ones were held in Florida, Texas, Virginia, California, Indiana, and Arizona. Most of the audience agreed that Kennedy won, but Goldwater did manage to win over key midwestern states and Southern support with his state's rights conservatism.

Ads and slogans
The 1964 Election was known for its mostly positive campaigning. From the onset, Goldwater and Kennedy both agreed to run a "no-smear" campaign. However, despite Kennedy attempting to convince Johnson otherwise, Lyndon Johnson did negatively campaign against Goldwater. Famously, he commissioned an advertisement where he succeeded in portraying Goldwater as an extremist. The "Daisy" ad negatively used Goldwaters past statements of him not rejecting the use of nuclear weapons. This ad helped sway favor officially for Kennedy, despite Kennedy protesting it. Goldwater had slightly effective campaigning as well. Both former President and Vice President Eisenhower and Nixon promoted him. Additionally, Goldwater ran TV endorsements from celebrities like John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. However, his endorsements from the KKK and John Birch Society hurt him, and Johnson would famously use these to declare Goldwater an "extremist" and even called him "a fucking fascist".

Wallace's campaign mainly focused on Southern states, though they did try to court Blue-Collar Northern Workers and drew some away from Kennedy and Goldwater.

Results
The election was held on November 3, 1964. Kennedy beat Goldwater in the general election, winning over most of the popular vote. George Wallace managed to take 2 southern states, while Goldwater swept the midwestern states.

Consequences
Although Goldwater was defeated, along with segregationist George Wallace, some political pundits and historians believe Goldwater laid the foundation for the conservative revolutions to follow. Among them is Richard Perlstein, historian of the American conservative movement, who wrote of Goldwater's defeat: "Here was one time, at least, when history was written by the losers." Ronald Reagan's speech on Goldwater's behalf, grass-roots organization, and the conservative takeover (although temporary in the 1960s) of the Republican party would all help to bring about the "Reagan Revolution" of the 1980s. After the election, Goldwater would not seek to run for President again, and retired from the Senate in 1984. George Wallace attempted to seek the Presidency again in 1968 under the Dixiecrats with Strom Thurmond, but he was assassinated on June 2nd, 1967. Kennedy went from his victory in the 1964 election to launch the New Frontier program at home, signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and starting the New Frontier. He also decreased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which boosted his popularity. By 1968, Kennedy's popularity had was at an all time high with an approval rating of 89%. However, his support of civil rights for blacks helped split white union members and Southerners away from Franklin D. Roosevelt's Democratic New Deal Coalition, which would later lead to the phenomenon of the "Reagan Democrat". Of the 14 presidential elections that followed up to 2020, Democrats would win only six times, although in eight of those elections, the Democratic candidate received the highest number of popular votes. The election also furthered the shift of the black voting electorate away from the Republican Party, a phenomenon which had begun with the New Deal. Since the 1964 election, Democratic presidential candidates have almost consistently won 80–95% of the black vote in each presidential election.