Hubert Humphrey stared hard out the window. Uncharacteristically quiet, the Democrats' standard bearer was now down to the wire in deciding who would be his running mate in this undoubtedly doomed campaign. He had just gotten some good news, though. Larry O'Brien, the talented party leader, agreed to direct the party's strategies and try and get a handle on the hemorrhaging money supply. Humphrey had narrowed his running mate search down to Senators Edmund Muskie and Fred Harris. Both were thought to be strong potential candidates, though Muskie was bad geographically and Harris was only 37. Humphrey decided to go with Oklahoman Harris. Running this by Fritz Mondale, Humphrey prepared the groundwork for the announcement. Mondale was supportive and Harris, being a southerner, though a liberal one, was thought to try and neutralize the growing appeal of George Wallace.
Richard Nixon's own choice had been uninspired. Spiro Agnew was neither an impressive or charismatic politician and the choice alienated moderates whom Nixon might have hoped to continue courting and also conservatives who very much wanted Ronald Reagan.
The Democratic National Convention had been a disaster and Humphrey did his best to try and heal the rift. Though some of his close advisers markedly noticed Humphrey blowing kisses at the television set as he was nominated, all the while seemingly oblivious to the treatment of many delegates by Mayor Daley's zealous security. Harris was charming and youthfully energetic. Humphrey was statesmanlike and at his extemporaneous best during his acceptance speech. Publicly he was optimistic as always. Privately, he was depressed. Humphrey spent the early part of the 1968 campaign mostly trying lift the flagging Democratic morale. Harris was a helpful presence, and attempted to check Wallace in the south. Meanwhile, Nixon was content to stick to a single stump speech tailored for his specific audiences and to keep a low profile.
GREAT BRITAIN
It had been a rough couple of years for Harold Wilson's government. Devaluation had been necessary, he'd eventually seen that. Wilson was unsuccessful in pawning off the blame on to Jim Callaghan, the Chancellor. Instead, Wilson took considerable heat over his "pound in your pocket" speech. Wilson spent much of the period before 1968 dodging around between issues. His reshuffle in November of 1967 put Roy Jenkins in as Chancellor and got the unpopular Callaghan out. Jenkins was a far better and tougher Chancellor than Callaghan had been. His first budget increased taxes considerably and met with scorn, particularly by Edward Heath, but overall, Jenkins' budget was very well received. Still, as 1968 had gone on, relief was not yet forthcoming...
Wilson, having to deal with an economic crisis was not enough. He was also trapped as the leader of a political party with a lot of talent. Callaghan, Jenkins, Anthony Crosland, Michael Foot, Tony Benn, Denis Healey... All top talent, interested in the top job. On top of that, Wilson also was surrounded with less than loyal subordinates in people like Roy Hattersley, David Owen, Dick Taverne and Peter Shore who were young, ambitious and did not feel personal loyalty to Wilson. Still, he was lucky that he had time... At least for now. Harold Wilson was feeling optimistic that his highly developed political antenna would see him through this. Wilson and Heath dueled the rest of the waning autumn on the economy. Though Heath pressed him hard and the Conservatives felt confidant, Wilson easily avoided any calls of another early election.
AUSTRALIA
Australia was in the midst of a crisis. When Harold Holt disappeared, the Country Party threatened to withdraw support as a coalition partner if the Liberals selected William McMahon, who was Holt's deputy and presumed successor. The Liberals though, ignored the Country Party's threat and elected McMahon over Billy Snedden to become the next Liberal leader and Prime Minister. John McEwen duly withdrew Country's support for the government and McMahon was forced from the start to preside over a minority. Within two months, Gough Whitlam, the formidable Labor leader introduced a Motion of No Confidence that the Liberals lost and Australia set to prepare for an election when McMahon called for a dissolution.
The major issue of the campaign was Vietnam. Whitlam and Labor strongly opposed the War and called to bring an end to conscription. The Liberals were somewhat divided between pro war and anti war camps. The anti war camp boasted names such as Don Chipp, who was sacked from the Liberal frontbench by McMahon. Whitlam, though he had early difficulties in taking control of the party, had by now strongly put his individual stamp on the leadership and McMahon did not have the control he needed on his party to remain competitive. People like the aforementioned Chipp caused issues for McMahon and didn't much care if he won or not, though they wanted to do well individually. The Liberals were near a breaking point as the campaign went on.
CANADA
1968 was a change year for Canada. Lester Pearson, the now aging Prime Minister retired early in the year and the Liberal Party needed to choose a successor as Prime Minister. Pearson was well liked by the public but the Liberals were trailing the Progressive Conservatives in the polls and the PC Party's leader, Robert Stanfield was popular and new. Early on, Paul Martin was regarded as the one to beat, but as time went on, Martin's standing diminished while the campaigns of Mitchell Sharp, Paul Hellyer and Pierre Trudeau were on the rise. Martin unexpectedly found that he had just over 100 delegates in support and was in position to throw his considerable influence behind a candidate. His first choice was Sharp, but Sharp's campaign began to flag on the first day of the convention. The final two candidates to have an outside chance of winning were Trudeau and Hellyer.
Hellyer ran an excellent campaign and pioneered the use of computer calculations to keep track of his delegate strength, but he was hard whereas Trudeau was supple and Hellyer was on the right of the party while Trudeau embodied the fashionable left. Though many doubted whether Trudeau was truly committed to the party, after all, he'd only recently been a member of the CCF, the Liberals went with Trudeau, whom many judged as having the right personal touch with the public. The result devastated Hellyer who did not get along at all with the new leader and Hellyer eventually went over to the PCs. Trudeau did not waste time in calling a general election set for the summer.
Indeed. The idea behind this timeline was to focus on multiple nations at around the same time. Though I will now only do one nation at a time, going forward, I felt the need to set things up for everyone at once. The first U.S. entry will finish off the 1968 campaign. I might also do POV chapters for the individuals I'm setting up to be major players, I haven't fully decided yet.
"I support a halt to the bombing while we work those issues out at the bargaining table."
Though the new left regarded him as at worst a traitor and at best a stooge, Hubert Humphrey took to the 1968 election with courage and energy. Disregarding Johnson's threats after the chaotic Chicago convention, Humphrey came out in favor of a halt to the bombing in North Vietnam and began to call for negotiations handled by an impartial 3rd party. Humphrey figured, almost certainly correctly, that France acting as an arbiter was out of the question. Humphrey also didn't necessarily look favorably on Britain as he was unsure about Harold Wilson, whose gamesmanship he'd been privy to as Johnson's Vice President. Humphrey looked more favorably upon Gough Whitlam, but Whitlam was not a head of state and what's more he was busy with his own campaign. Humphrey might hope for someone like Jim Callaghan...
Humphrey saw his poll numbers boosted from his call for a bombing halt and unsurprisingly, Johnson rebuked him. Having been isolated in the administration, Humphrey pushed back saying he was no one's lapdog and that he was tired of how Johnson treated him. Humphrey was finally looking like the independent spirit he had been as a younger man. Humphrey also loudly called for a debate with Nixon. Nixon's early refusals so damaged his poll numbers that Nixon eventually agreed to a single television debate. Humphrey's campaign was a bit haphazard in the rules negotiations and agreed to strict time constraints, knowing that their chief could not possibly keep to them. The Nixon campaign was banking on strict time limits in order to make Humphrey look like a gabby fool. The thought was the gamble might not work since the public was well aware of Humphrey's talkative nature.
Fred Harris had proved himself an asset. He was skilled in getting past the age question and moved right to the issues. Harris considered his job, such as it was, to help prevent Wallace from bleeding the Democrats too heavily in the south. Harris was a good attack dog. A burly man with a hound dog expression, Harris also moved in the southern circle with ease. He spoke their language, even though he was far more liberal and he knew that poor southerners had been raised since birth on the principles of segregation and the civil rights crusader Humphrey was a long time enemy. Harris was very effective in casual conversations with southern voters and he was a persuasive speaker. Max Kampelman, who at one time opposed the choice of Harris remarked on him favorably after spending a day traveling with him. Senator Russell Long also was impressed by Harris and made sure to press the case of the Oklahoman wherever he could.
Humphrey and Harris pose with Scoop Jackson, Larry O'Brien, Ed Muskie and George McGovern (who joined the campaign as the primary anti-war voice)
NIXON
Richard Nixon's campaign was a rather dull affair compared to the flurry of activity coming out of the Humphrey camp. Nixon desired not to repeat the mistakes of 1960 by running a safe campaign and appearing as the statesman. Nixon had a huge monetary advantage which he put to work early and often. The Nixon campaigned by attacking Humphrey as undisciplined, a charge which certainly could hold weight. However, Humphrey's choice in a running mate was deliberate and calculated. Nixon's could be considered haphazard and ill-conceived. Agnew was such a liability on the campaign with his remarks that Nixon eventually limited access to him. Nixon also refused to travel to every state like he had done in 1960. He focused his efforts on critical swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
As the campaign went on, Humphrey was picking up momentum rapidly and the Nixon team looked for ways to stop it. Nixon's own preference was the leak that Humphrey had affairs, including one with a Soviet spy, while he was Vice President. However, Roger Ailes advised him that it would be risky to make such a move and that they'd be better off focusing on law and order and the tactic of scaring the white working class with subtle implications that that a Humphrey Presidency would coddle "the lazy black man" and he would be soft on communism. Nixon, who hoped to win some black votes, didn't push that strategy as heavily as some of his advisers hoped and instead tried to work out a middle ground, offering help for black small businesses to be created. When poll numbers indicated that Nxon's continued refusal to debate with Humphrey was hurting his polling, Nixon agreed after a stringent set of rules was applied. Nixon prepared with his television experts and used actors to stand in for Humphrey. He also would heavily cake himself with makeup, now terrified of appearing as he had against Kennedy. The 1968 Presidential debate would produce the fireworks that the networks had hoped for. Not least of all from George Wallace who protested being left out. Nixon was unwilling to give Wallace an open platform and Humphrey outright refused to share the stage with him. Wallace had trouble finding traction, especially after selecting Curtis LeMay as his running mate in an attempt to harden his image. With Humphrey running with Harris and Nixon's successful strategy of relying on people like Strom Thurmond to hold southern Republicans in line, Wallace's campaign continued to flag, held up only by his charisma.
"I believe the greatest asset a head of state can have is the ability to get a good night's sleep."
For Harold Wilson, getting a good night's sleep at No. 10 would be extremely difficult. He had only just had an angry meeting with Jim Callaghan, where the latter accused the former of trying to sabotage his career. It was Callaghan that had been the one demoted. Sent off to become Foreign Secretary, a job that was regarded as the weakest of the Four Great Offices. Callaghan did not embrace the position as a challenge, though he very well could have if he for example took a firm stand for the government on issues like Vietnam or apartheid in South Africa. Things like this little interested Callaghan, who wanted badly to return to being Chancellor in order to restore his reputation, but with Jenkins at the helm, this would be unlikely.
Wilson had less cause to fear Callaghan, who was in effect, neutralized for the time being. He had a great deal to fear from Roy Jenkins who was proving himself a very effective Chancellor after having been a very effective Home Secretary. Jenkins also kept a close political circle of younger MPs around himself. Not only was it because he generally enjoyed the company, but he liked to have younger men as a soundboard for his ideas. Wilson had none of that and on top of everything, he had an unreliable deputy in George Brown. Brown was certainly a talented politician, but he was so fond of alcohol that he frequently became an embarrassment. Wilson very much wanted him out and wanted someone more capable to replace him, but who? He had a few options. He could push the cause of Jenkins, but such a Deputy Leader would certainly put him in peril. He could consider someone like Michael Foot from the left to act as a balance, but Foot's views were often unpopular nationally and he strongly supported unilateral disarmament, something that couldn't be allowed in Wilson's view. He could also have gone with Ted Short, but Short was regarded as something of a lightweight. One option Wilson was keen on was to promote Tony Crosland. Crosland and Jenkins were competing for the same audience and once friends, Crosland was a domineering man and his views influenced the Labour Party to a major degree. Wilson also thought that even though he knew Crosland didn't like him, he could most certainly use him to thwart any Jenkins attempt to usurp his position. Wilson spent much of the winter playing Jenkins and Crosland (who was Secretary of Education and working to end grammar schools) against one another.
Crosland speaking with Wilson while Tony Benn looks on sourly.
HEATH
Edward Heath absolutely loathed Harold Wilson. The two men could not be more diametrically opposed in personality and Heath regarded Wilson as someone filled with low cunning and completely un-statesmanlike. Heath was frustrated that Wilson couldn't be goaded into calling an election after the devaluation, no matter what the Conservatives did. Heath simply didn't see the situation as Wilson did. Wilson still had plenty of time to fix things, he thought and still had a big enough majority to by by-election proof. Heath thought that Wilson could be pushed into asking for a public mandate to right the ship. Heath completely misjudged the political situation.
That Heath still was in good shape himself, despite the veiled threat that losing to Wilson at the next election would mean. Heath had good advisers in people like Iain Macleod. However, he had a major problem child on his hands when in April of 1968, he sacked Enoch Powell as Shadow Defence Secretary after Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech, inciting racial passions. Heath and Powell never got along and Heath was determined that Powell would never serve on the frontbench of the Conservative Party again. The two never spoke again. Heath dealt very well, all things considered, with the backlash. Powell's sacking was regarded very negatively, but press praise for Heath's stand was high, even from Labour papers. Labour backbencher Andrew Faulds, a problem child in his own right, attempted several times to goad Powell into a fight in the House. The tension rose in public as well, as racial rioting began to hit in tense cities such as Birmingham and in inner London. The British public closed 1968 in serious internal turmoil. In the meanwhile, the Liberal Party, now led by the colorful Jeremy Thorpe would have a success in the next by-election...
Gough Whitlam began the 1968 campaign with great buoyancy and major momentum. As with the United States, Australia had experienced a rise in the left through the mid-to-late 1960s. Not only that, but with Country's refusal to back a Liberal government with McMahon at the helm, Whitlam had the strength to be able to say that only a vote for Labor could stabilize the country. Whitlam also had the strength of the "new" on his side. Whitlam had outmaneuvered and ousted old fashioned's like Arthur Calwell, a man who still supported the old White Australia policy that the new leadership people like Whitlam despised.
From the onset of the campaign, things went swimmingly. The Liberals had no momentum and the "social" and "classic" Liberals were at open odds with one another. The classics, like William McMahon, argued that the party should be more pro-business and that conscription was necessary and brought pride to an individual to serve in the military. The socials were almost an entirely different party. Socials like Don Chipp, whose profile was increasing exponentially, opposed conscription, favored libertine social policy and though not as eager to back government action as Labor, were much more interventionist than the Liberal leadership.
Whitlam surrounded himself with able men. 35 year old Bill Hayden, a young parliamentarian who strongly advocated for universal health care. Lional Bowen, a quiet and talented politician who kept the party organization in order. Bob Hawke, not in parliament, but a charismatic union leader, brought the earthy appeal to the average voter. As the campaign closed, Whitlam had every right to feel encouraged.
Gough Whitlam campaigns
The Result
The 1968 Australian Federal Election played out much as one would have expected it to. William McMahon went down to defeat after one of the shortest government stints in the history of the country. Labor won a sizable majority, gaining 28 seats. The social Liberals led by Chipp and Andrew Peacock wanted another leadership spill, but exhausted and demoralized after the campaign, there wasn't enough support for one. McMahon, instead offered to resign in favor of Malcolm Fraser, who vowed to work out the issues with the Country Party, also reeling after leader John McEwen lost his seat to Labor. Fraser promised a united Coalition to combat Labor in the next parliament, but Chipp and the more left leaning social Liberals opposed working with the Country Party. (Some even desired to work with Labor, though they'd never admit it)...
The Whitlam Government began in a very easy position at home, but he'd soon find himself dealing with difficulties in foreign policy...
