1964 United States presidential election (Camelot)

The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic United States President John F. Kennedy defeated Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee, in a landslide. Kennedy won 53.6% of the popular vote, the highest percentage won by a Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.

Kennedy easily defeated a primary challenge by Governor George Wallace of Alabama, to win the nomination to a second term. Despite rumors that Kennedy would replace Johnson, at the 1964 Democratic National Convention Johnson was renominated as Kennedy's running mate. In the Republican contest Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, a leader of his party's conservative faction, defeated liberal Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York and Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania.

Kennedy campaigned for the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which during the election was still in Congress. he also campaigned for his New Frontier policies. Goldwater espoused a low-tax, small-government philosophy. Although he supported previous attempts at enacting civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960, Goldwater would reluctantly come out in opposition to the Civil Rights Act, saying it violated individual liberty and states' rights. While Kennedy refrained from harsh attacks against Goldwater, Lyndon B. Johnson went hard against Goldwater, portraying him as an extremist and a dangerous candidate. The Republicans were divided between its moderate and conservative factions, with Rockefeller and other moderate party leaders refusing to campaign for Goldwater. Johnson led by wide margins in all polls during the campaign.