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.

Kenndy 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 Amendments 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, and some like Strom Thurmond would switch to the Republican party, drawn by Goldwater and his traditional conservative values.