1968 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary

none June 2025 January 20251968 Democratic Party presidential primaries 1968 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary New Hampshire 1931 presidential no 1964 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary 1964 1972 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary 1972 1968 03 12 File:37_Lyndon Johnson 3x4.jpg 150x150px Lyndon Johnson (write-in) 3333ff Texas 27,520 49.6% File:1964 Portrait Eugene McCarthy (cropped).jpg Eugene McCarthy 37c837 Minnesota 23,263 41.9% 4 20 275px County resultsJohnson: #b4beec 40-50% #8d9be2 50-60% McCarthy: #a3d5af 40-50% #73bc84 50-60%The 1968 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary was held on March 12, 1968, in New Hampshire as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1968 United States presidential election. Although President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Senator Eugene McCarthy in the non-binding presidential preference primary with 49% of the vote, McCarthy's superior organization allowed him to win twenty of the state's twenty-four pledged delegates; Johnson's poor performance in New Hampshire precipitated his decision not to run for re-election, which he announced on March 31. Background As opposition to President Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War grew in 1967, antiwar Democrats led by Allard Lowenstein and Curtis Gans formed the Dump Johnson movement, which sought to challenge the President's re-election. Their first choice was Robert Kennedy, who had sufficiently established himself as a critic of the war and an effective popular campaigner. He declined, as did a series of lesser-known candidates, including Senator George McGovern. Lowenstein finally found a candidate in October 1967, when Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy agreed to challenge the President. At first, McCarthy merely expressed his interest, telling Lowenstein, "Somebody has to raise the flag."Gould 1993 20-21Sandbrook 2007 188 On November 30, 1967, McCarthy publicly announced his campaign for the nomination. Kennedy continued to demur, despite pressure from his aides to enter the race and worry that antiwar allies, like George McGovern, would begin to make commitments to McCarthy.Thomas 2000 351 On January 30, he again indicated to the press that he had no plans to campaign against Johnson.Thomas 2000 357 In early February 1968, after the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, Kennedy received an anguished letter from writer Pete Hamill, noting that poor people in the Watts area of Los Angeles had hung pictures of Kennedy's brother, President John F. Kennedy, in their homes. Hamill's letter reminded Robert Kennedy that he had an "obligation of staying true to whatever it was that put those pictures on those walls."Thomas 2000 357 There were other factors that influenced Kennedy's decision to enter the presidential primary race. On February 29, 1968, the Kerner Commission issued a report on the racial unrest that had affected American cities during the previous summer. The Kerner Commission blamed "white racism" for the violence, but its findings were largely dismissed by the Johnson administration.Thomas 2000 357 On March 10, Kennedy told his aide, Peter Edelman, that he had decided to run and had to "figure out how to get McCarthy out of it."Clarke Thurston June 2008 The Last Good Campaign http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/06/rfk_excerpt200806 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20141220171610/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/06/rfk_excerpt200806 2014-12-20 31 Dec 2022 Vanity Fair excerpt from Clarke 2008bSchlesinger 1978 884 However, Kennedy hesitated to enter the race with McCarthy still in and agreed to McCarthy's request to delay an announcement of his intentions until after the New Hampshire primary. Campaign Running as an antiwar candidate, McCarthy hoped to pressure the Democrats into publicly opposing the Vietnam War. Trailing badly in national polls and with little chance to influence delegate selection absent primary wins, McCarthy decided to pour most of his resources into New Hampshire. He was boosted by thousands of young college students who volunteered throughout the state, who shaved their beards and cut their hair to "Get Clean for Gene." Results This primary election was a nonbinding vote and described as being a "presidential preference poll".Results of the 15 Presidential Primaries in 1968 https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal68-1282595 August 27, 2024 CQPRESS CandidateNumber of votes% of the voteDelegatesLyndon B. Johnson (write-in)27,24349.4%4Eugene McCarthy23,28042.2%20Richard Nixon (write-in)2,5294.6%Robert F. Kennedy (write-in)6001.1%Nelson Rockefeller (write-in)2480.4%George C. Wallace (write-in)1970.4%Other candidates (write-in)1,0891.9%Total55,186100%24 On March 12, McCarthy was the only person on the ballot, as Johnson had not filed, and was only a write in candidate. McCarthy won 42% of the primary vote to Johnson's 49%, an extremely strong showing for such a challenger which gave McCarthy's campaign legitimacy and momentum.McCarthy nearly upsets LBJ in New Hampshire primary: March 12, 1968 https://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/mccarthy-nearly-upsets-lbj-in-new-hampshire-primary-march-12-1968-220521 PoliticoJOHNSON MARGIN CUT TO 230 VOTES; Narrow Victory in Combined New Hampshire Totals http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1968/03/16/79936839.html?pageNumber=14 2024-02-08 The New York Times enNew Hampshire. Dept. of State http://archive.org/details/manualforgeneral41newh Manual for the General Court 1969 Concord, N.H. : Dept. of State University of New Hampshire Library In addition, McCarthy's superior coordination led to a near sweep of the state's twenty-four pledged delegates; since Johnson had no formal campaign organization in the state, a number of competing pro-Johnson delegate candidates split his vote, allowing McCarthy to take twenty delegates. Aftermath Despite his desire to oppose Johnson directly and the fear that McCarthy would split the antiwar vote, Kennedy pushed forward with his planned campaign. On March 16, Kennedy declared, "I am today announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the United States. I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man, but to propose new policies. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and I feel that I'm obliged to do all I can."Kennedy, Robert F., "Robert F. Kennedy's Announcement of his candidacy for president" https://web.archive.org/web/20120205165914/http://www.4president.org/Speeches/rfk1968announcement.htm 2012-02-05 (speech, Washington, D.C., 1968-03-16). Retrieved 31 Dec 2022.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBk1cUSM7lI 1968 Presidential Election: RFK Announces He's Running en 2024-07-08 However, due to his late entry, Kennedy's name would not appear on a state ballot until the Indiana primary on May 7. thumb|President Lyndon B. Johnson delivers a speech announcing he will not run for re-election on March 31. Johnson now had two strong challengers, both sitting members of the Senate with demonstrated popularity. To make matters worse, polling in Wisconsin showed McCarthy beating Johnson badly, with the latter getting only 12% of the vote.Could Trump Lose the Republican Nomination? Here's the History of Primary Challenges to Incumbent Presidents https://time.com/5682760/incumbent-presidents-primary-challenges/ Time February 3, 2025 December 24, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201224122122/https://time.com/5682760/incumbent-presidents-primary-challenges/ dead Facing declining health and bleak political forecasts in the upcoming primaries,Cook Rhodes United States Presidential Primary Elections 1968–1996: A Handbook of Election Statistics CQ Press 2000 9781568024516 Washington, D.C. 797 Johnson concluded that he could not win the nomination without a major political and personal struggle. On March 31, 1968, at the end of a televised address on Vietnam, he shocked the nation by announcing that he would not seek re-election. By withdrawing, he could avoid the stigma of defeat and could keep control of the party machinery to support Vice President Hubert Humphrey.Christian George 1988-04-01 The Night Lyndon Quit https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/the-night-lyndon-quit/ 2024-02-08 Texas Monthly en As the year developed, it also became clear that Johnson believed he could secure his place in the history books by ending the war before the election in November, which would give Humphrey the boost he would need to win.Dallek 1998 December 2022Woods 2006 December 2022Gould 1993 December 2022 Vice President Hubert Humphrey went on to be nominated after Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in June.2014-05-15 Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, Los Angeles, 1968 https://www.life.com/history/robert-kennedy-assassination-photographs-by-bill-eppridge-june-1968/ 2024-02-08 LIFE en-US References Bibliography Clarke Thurston https://archive.org/details/lastcampaignrobe00clar/ The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America Henry Holt and Co 2008b 978-0805077926 Dallek Robert https://books.google.com/books?id=G_J3PEegwdYC Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973 16 April 1998 Oxford University Press 978-0-19-982670-4 en Gould Lewis L. https://books.google.com/books?id=daKIAAAAMAAJ 1968: The Election that Changed America 1993 Ivan R. Dee 978-1-56663-010-8 en Mills Judie https://archive.org/details/robertkennedy00mill/ Robert Kennedy Millbrook Press 1998 978-1562942502 Sandbrook Dominic https://books.google.com/books?id=wMqSzTPXl7QC&pg=PA188 Eugene McCarthy: The Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism 2007-12-18 Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 978-0-307-42577-5 Schlesinger Arthur M. Robert Kennedy and His Times Houghton Mifflin 1978 book club 2 Boston Thomas Evan https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyhis00thom_0/ Robert F. Kennedy: His Life Simon and Schuster 2000 978-0684834801 New York Woods Randall https://books.google.com/books?id=LMF4AAAAMAAJ LBJ: Architect of American Ambition 1 August 2006 Free Press 978-0-684-83458-0 en New Hampshire 1968 Democratic 1968