1968 United States Presidential Election (The Kennedy Legacy)

The 1968 United States presidential election was the 46th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 5, 1968. The Democratic nominee, Robert F. Kennedy, defeated the Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, and the American Independent nominee, George Wallace, in a tightly contested election.

The incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson initially entered the race for the Democratic Party's nomination, but withdrew following a series of losses to New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the younger brother of the late John F. Kennedy. At the Democratic National Convention, Robert F. Kennedy was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate while Eugene McCarthy was nominated as the Democratic vice presidential candidate. Nixon entered the race for the Republican Party's nominee, defeating Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan. Former Alabama Governor George Wallace ran with Curtis LeMay as the candidates for the American Independent Party, campaigning mainly on the issue of racial segregation.

The election year was marked by turmoil across the country, marked by events such as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the intense riots following the event, and the nationwide protests against the Vietnam War. Robert F. Kennedy ran on an anti-war campaign and pledged his support to continue Johnson's social policies. As a result, Democrat George Wallace, opposed to the civil rights movement, ran on a third-party campaign gaining significant support in the South. Nixon, formerly the vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower, ran on a campaign of law and order attempting to attract more moderate voters whom he referred to as the "silent majority". Nixon held a solid lead in polls at the beginning of the election cycle, but his lead continued to lade as Kennedy picked up more momentum. Following the collapse of Wallace's campaign and Johnson's suspension of bombing in Vietnam, Kennedy took the lead in polls and maintained his lead heading into election day.

On election day, Kennedy managed to win 315 electoral votes, more than the 270 needed to win, compared to Nixon's 177 electoral votes and Wallace's 45 electoral votes. Kennedy won 43.4% of the popular vote, a 0.7% margin over Nixon's 42.7% of the popular vote and far more than Wallace's 13.5% of the popular vote. Even though Wallace underperformed the other candidates, he had the best performance by a third-party candidate since the 1912 presidential election. This election was the second time Nixon was defeated by a Kennedy in a presidential election, the previous time being his loss to John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election. This election also marked the first presidential election since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, allowing many minorities to regain their right to vote.