Give Peace A Chance: The Presidency of Eugene McCarthy

[The Lethargic Lett]

“The country wants to move in a different direction. We want to deal with our own problems within our own country, and we want peace in Vietnam. I congratulate Senator McCarthy and those who have been associated with him in their efforts that they have started in New Hampshire and carried through to the primary here in the state of California.”

• Senator Robert Kennedy, in the aftermath of the Democratic California Primary, 1968

The time had come for the California primary.

Both McCarthy and Kennedy had mobilized, highly motivated, and highly funded campaigns.

Both McCarthy and Kennedy appealed to the California voting base.

Both McCarthy and Kennedy absolutely hated each other.

But a California win was only essential for Kennedy, considering he had promised to drop out if he lost. McCarthy, for his part, had already planned for a possible defeat. In the event of losing California, McCarthy hoped to follow up with winning the endorsement of the New York delegation slate. Despite holding his senatorial seat there, Bobby Kennedy was considered something of a Massachusetts carpetbagger by many New Yorkers. McCarthy thought that by mobilizing the large minority of anti-war delegates from the state's slate and running a public relations campaign in New York, he could win their endorsement out from under Kennedy. With a New York win, McCarthy hoped to cripple Kennedy’s credibility while setting himself up as the Democratic Convention’s compromise candidate.

McCarthy had never been much of a politician, and his campaigning showed it. He would often go off on wild tangents on his days as a school superintendent when he was supposed to be giving a speech to college students about Vietnam. He would never decline to give a speech, no matter how small the audience (during the Indiana primary, he lectured three Hoosiers in a shed when his motorcade was running behind schedule), but when a large audience did emerge, he would often keep them waiting, such as the time he composed a poem about wolverines while a packed town hall was waiting for him during the Oregon primary. Yes, he actually did that.

McCarthy was the complete opposite to Bobby Kennedy in the sense that while Kennedy used his popularity to push forward his political ideals, McCarthy’s popular ideals caused his followers to ignore how uninspiring a man he really was. The phenomenon was described by a journalist as such: "McCarthy's indifference to accolades and disdain for grandstanding... struck older supporters as Stevensonian and younger ones as Zen [1]." It seemed that the only thing keeping Gene McCarthy in the race was the fact that Bobby Kennedy wanted to be President, and he couldn’t abide a second Kennedy in the White House...

With the California primary closing in, both candidates canvassed the state. McCarthy’s visits to college campuses were treated as the return of the conquering hero, while Kennedy drew massive crowds in the inner cities. A series of televised political forum debates were held between the two men in early June. Each candidate had their own discussion panel, followed by an informal debate between the two candidates. Throughout the debate, McCarthy came off as somewhat petty in his rebuttals, and Kennedy used McCarthy’s own statements against him to make him appear soft on Communism, as well as implying that if McCarthy became President, he would move black families into predominantly white counties. ‘After all,’ Kennedy seemed to say, ‘what God-fearing, patriotic American would want the races to mix and the Viet Cong to be allowed to join the South Vietnamese government?’

Afterwards, McCarthy complained that the informal debates he agreed to were not in official debate format.

Although many viewers considered the debates to be a tie, it still made a difference. The next day, Robert Kennedy narrowly won California, with forty-six percent to McCarthy’s forty-two. On top of that, Kennedy won South Dakota with a solid lead. McCarthy’s only saving grace was that he had won New Jersey. Despite the close race in California, and the chance of victory in the Illinois primary and swaying the New York delegation, the McCarthy campaign had all but deflated.

After giving a rousing victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Robert Kennedy was escorted from the premises. While leaving, he was approached and fired upon with a .22 caliber pistol by Sirhan Sirhan, a twenty-four year old Jordanian-Palestinian immigrant, who had targeted Kennedy for his support of Israel.

Two of the bullets struck Kennedy: one passed through his chest, while the second was lodged in his spine. A third bullet nearly hit Kennedy in the back of the head, but Karl Uecker, the maitre d’ who Kennedy was following out of the building, knocked the gun aside in a split-second, knee-jerk reaction [2]. A fourth bullet went wild before Sirhan was restrained by several bystanders [3].

Kennedy was rushed to the hospital shortly after, passing in and out of consciousness. He was informed that there was a slim chance for survival due to the placement of the bullet lodged in his upper spine, and a priest was brought in to perform last rites.

Gene McCarthy didn’t endear himself to anyone, when, after hearing of the attack on Kennedy, derisively claimed that he had, “brought it on himself, demagoguing to the last.” With Kennedy effectively out of the running, McCarthy had a clear path to being the peace candidate of the Convention, but he would need a political miracle to get the Kennedy delegates to rally to his side.

McCarthy on his way to visit the Kennedy family at the Good Samaritan Hospital, with Bobby Kennedy in intensive surgery.
​

At which point, a political miracle happened.

Kennedy’s Press Secretary, Frank Mankiewicz, came out the following day, and announced to the assembled press that after being made aware of his chances before going into the surgery, Robert Kennedy had endorsed Eugene McCarthy for the candidacy, and requested that his delegates and supporters vote for McCarthy at the Democratic Convention, and in the election. This announcement shocked everyone, most of all McCarthy himself, who had expected Kennedy to endorse Humphrey.

After an eight hour surgery, it was all the doctors could do keep Kennedy breathing. His body had largely shut down and he was in a coma, but he was alive. For the time being, Robert Kennedy was alive.

McCarthy isolated himself in his room for days afterward, in what could best be described as a crisis of faith. Later in life, McCarthy would confide to his friends and family that he felt responsible for the attack on Kennedy, due to the amount of mudslinging that came from their primary battles. McCarthy's family had never seen him so upset [4].

Giving a public address in Los Angeles, Gene McCarthy reaffirmed his commitment to be the candidate of peace, as well as giving his heartfelt condolences to the Kennedy family, promising with God as his witness that California would be his last mudslinging campaign.

Well you know politicians when it comes to promises...


“I have, uh, a short..... I have a short announcement to read, which I will read, uh..... at this time. Senator Kennedy is in critical condition, but alive. After being made aware of his, uh, condition, and meeting with a man of the cloth, he has, uh, endorsed Gene McCarthy for the Democratic nomination. Our prayers go out to Mr. Kennedy and his family.”

• Press Secretary Frank Mankiewicz, on the condition of Senator Robert Kennedy, 1968

[1] A quote from by Louis Menand in his 2004 article for the New Yorker, called Mean to Gene.

[2] And here we have our Point of Divergence. Instead of getting shot three times, Robert Kennedy is shot twice, with the most lethal of the three bullets missing.

[3] IOTL, the fourth bullet passed through Kennedy’s jacket without harming him.

[4] IOTL, McCarthy genuinely felt incredibly guilty over RFK’s assassination. He fell into a deep depression, secluded himself from his campaign for weeks on end, and had a nervous breakdown shortly after the election. ITTL, with Kennedy’s endorsement, his guilt is being channeled into self-determination rather than self-loathing.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

“Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.”

• Vice President Hubert Humphrey, most definitely not on the 1968 Democratic Convention

Directly after the California primary, Hubert Humphrey had five-hundred and sixty-one delegates, Robert Kennedy had three-hundred and ninety-three, and Eugene McCarthy had two-hundred and fifty-eight. The amalgamated peace vote had six-hundred and fifty-one delegates, theoretically out-numbering the Humphrey vote, but that didn’t mean that was how many delegates McCarthy had after Kennedy’s endorsement. In reality, a little under half of Kennedy’s delegates found their way to McCarthy’s camp, and most of them half-heartedly. The rest hadn’t forgotten the vicious primary battles, and either intended to vote for Kennedy regardless, vote for Humphrey, or vote for a throwaway candidate. As a result, a week after the California primary, Hubert Humphrey had six-hundred and twenty-three delegates (gaining sixty-two), Eugene McCarthy had four-hundred and forty-two delegates (gaining one-hundred and eighty-four), Bobby Kennedy had fifty-nine remaining diehards, and the other eighty-eight had declared themselves unpledged.

McCarthy had actually won the popular vote in the primaries, winning the states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey, and Illinois, but many of the high value states on the eastern seaboard and the South still had used an appointed delegate slate, and remained up in the air for who they would support. The New York delegation split in McCarthy’s favour, but otherwise, a mad dash emerged to clinch the nomination by courting the unpledged delegates.

Although McCarthy had technically won the primaries, it remained an uphill battle against Hubert Humphrey and President Johnson's influence to try and claim the Democratic nomination.​

In the meantime, Bobby Kennedy remained hospitalized and in critical condition. After a grueling surgery, the second bullet had been removed from Kennedy’s spine, but complications emerged from his lung being punctured by the first bullet, which had passed through his body, and Kennedy remained in a coma. Some of Kennedy’s supporters refused to bow to Gene McCarthy, and tried to find a short notice replacement.

In an odd twist, the anti-war Kennedy supporters were trying to create a Dump McCarthy Movement.

Their first thought was to draft Ted Kennedy as their candidate with a ‘fratricide vote,’ but Ted refused to consider the idea unless a draft developed naturally, as opposed to being orchestrated by his supporters. Ironically, if the youngest Kennedy brother had followed up with the idea, he would’ve discovered that a sizable number of both the Humphrey and McCarthy camps would’ve found him acceptable, perhaps acceptable enough to have been nominated. Instead, Ted Kennedy stuck to his brother's wishes, and worked to keep Kennedy delegates in the McCarthy column throughout the Convention.

Their second choice was George McGovern, one of the many politicians who had been approached by the original Dump Johnson Movement. But, like before, McGovern didn’t have the nerve to run, and refused to divide the peace vote against the wishes of the Kennedys. It seemed that the Convention would truly come down to the two frontrunners [1].

And with that, the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago began.

McCarthy and Humphrey at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, along with Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, and Speaker of the California State Assembly Jesse 'Big Daddy' Unruh. McGovern and Unruh both supported McCarthy after Bobby Kennedy's endorsement.​

Ever since dropping out of the race, Lyndon Johnson had been working behind the scenes to secure the nomination for Humphrey (while also hoping in his heart of hearts he would be drafted by the Convention). Every favour was called in and every threat made to get delegates to pledge for Humphrey, and Johnson worked with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to do everything they could to tip the scales in Humphrey’s favour. This process was met with only mixed success; Daley had been instrumental in getting Kennedy elected in 1960, but didn’t hold the same clout as he did eight years ago. Over the course of the Convention, Daley’s unpopularity only grew, due to his use of heavy-handed police tactics, the roughing up of journalists, and his yelling of insults at Senator Abraham Ribicoff, who had compared the Chicago Police to the Gestapo. In remains up to debate what insults he said [2]…

On the other side of the Democratic divide were peace protesters, hippies, and most importantly, the Yippies. The Youth International Party, more commonly known as ‘the Yippies,’ had organized a counter-culture “Festival of Life” to counter the “Festival of Death” that had been the Vietnam War and the Democratic establishment. Many of the younger voters who had gotten ‘Clean for Gene’ back in New Hampshire had made their way to support McCarthy in their own disorganized way, and while the “moderate” protesters vouched for McCarthy on the streets of Chicago, the absurdist Yippies nominated a pig for President.

As the convention was beginning, the first of many riots broke out between peace protesters and the police. One of the biggest clashes was in front of the Hilton Hotel that the Democratic nominees were staying in, with both Humphrey and McCarthy noticing the tear gas and pepper spray wafting up to their hotel rooms. McCarthy, overlooking the violence, compared the fighting below to the Battle of Cannae of Roman antiquity, much to the bemusement of his aides. However, as the violence continued in the streets, McCarthy's sense of righteous indignation grew, as the police continued to rough up "his kids." McCarthy seriously considered going down to join the protests, a demurred, not wanting to be associated with the more radical protesters.

In short order, those more radical peace protesters, such as the Yippies, the Black Panthers, and the Communist Party USA congregated in Lincoln Park, while the relatively moderate protesters, mostly pacifist groups and pro-McCarthy college students, organized in Grant Park as the only protest recognized and licensed by the city, though there were plenty of overlapping protests and events between the groups.

Once the Convention began in earnest, the candidates made their speeches. Humphrey touted his record as Vice President, as well as the fragility of international relations that would be destabilized by any radical changes in policy. Affirming his support for the War on Poverty, the Great Society, and the Civil Rights Movement, Humphrey steered clear of any direct mention of Vietnam.

McCarthy, for his part, emphasized his connection with the common man, as well as those opposed to the Vietnam War. Without particularly mentioning the hippie movement, McCarthy portrayed himself as the candidate of peace, the candidate against corruption, and the candidate for social and economic reform.

Both candidates gave rousing speeches for their respective factions, but Humphrey had made a critical misstep in the aftermath of his nomination speech. He had taken for granted the largest uncommitted voting bloc at the Convention: The Solid South.

Although all but the most extreme segregationists in the Democratic Party had supported Lyndon Johnson in 1964, they had a much dimmer outlook on their Vice President. Before joining the Democratic ticket, Humphrey had been a perennial candidate for President going all the way back to 1952. He inevitably was passed over the nomination each time due to his reputation of being too strong a supporter of Civil Rights: a position that was popular with northern Democrats, but guaranteed he would never be selected as the Democratic nominee for fear of a Southern walkout such as the one Harry Truman faced in 1948. As a result, the Southern delegates informally agreed that if they could block Humphrey by nominating someone more receptive to Southern interests, then they would nominate that person.

To that end, Governor John Connally of Texas came into play [3].

Discreetly contacting the McCarthy campaign, Connally broached the subject of getting the unpledged South to back McCarthy in exchange for making him the Vice Presidential nominee [4]. It wasn’t the most unusual combination; McCarthy had worked very closely with both Russell Long of Louisiana and J. William Fulbright of Arkansas during his time as a Senator, and would often sit with Southern Democrats at party luncheons when his Minnesota constituents weren’t available. Additionally, both McCarthy and Connally had ties to the oil industry: an industry that certainly had the money to make campaign donations.

Although he initially balked at the idea, McCarthy was talked into agreeing to the offer by his family and staff.

Governor John Connally of Texas (centre) with the Mayor of Abilene, Texas, Ralph Hooks (right). Connally approached McCarthy with the offer of an unorthodox alliance, and a guarantee of Southern support.
​

At the same time these backroom machinations fell into place, McCarthy loyalists tried to break Johnson’s stranglehold on who made up the state delegations. Most of the state delegations had been selected beforehand, and were stacked with pro-war Johnson supporters, while the delegations that couldn’t be swayed to support the war were seated at the back of the convention hall. Humphrey had fumbled the situation by repealing the convention rule stating that delegation leaders could dictate how their delegates voted, and soon enough, McCarthy was prying off undecided delegates. New delegate slates of barely eligible pro-McCarthy supporters were put forward to be amalgamated into - or entirely replace - the Johnson-assembled slates. In this way McCarthy was able to flip some entire slates in the North, while using Connally and his friends in Dixie to peel of individual delegates from the South, all under Humphrey’s nose [5].

As the Convention went on, Humphrey knew something was up, but he and his staff were in the dark. Johnson rarely informed Humphrey of anything, and if he did phone up the Vice President, it was to tell him what to say.

On the Convention floor, first there were whispers.

Then there were rumblings.

Then there was a stampede.

The South pulled the rug out from Humphrey: most of them couldn't stomach Humphrey, and the ones who couldn’t stomach McCarthy bolted the party and went off to join George Wallace. Humphrey held on to some Johnson loyalists in the South, but little else. The Midwest was split evenly between both sides. The Northern delegations cannibalized themselves as fistfights broke out on the convention floor over which way their state should vote. New England was unaccounted for and had pledged to both sides at different times, the plain states had gone silent, and the West Coast had gone rogue and committed themselves entirely for McCarthy.

The New Left locked horns with the Old, and only one could come out on top.

And so, much to the surprise of Hubert Humphrey, and to the eternal delight of the protesters outside, McCarthy narrowly won the nomination on the first ballot.

As the New Deal Coalition crumbled away, in the wreckage stood Senator Eugene Joseph McCarthy of Minnesota: Democratic nominee for President.

McCarthy narrowly won the Democratic nomination by sweeping most of the South, and winning over close to half of the delegates of the Midwest. Humphrey's power-base in the Midwest won a majority of the delegate's votes of those states, but it wasn't enough to offset losing the South. ​

“To err is human. To blame someone else is politics.”

• Vice President Hubert Humphrey, on the 1968 Democratic Convention

[1] IOTL, George McGovern ran against McCarthy following the assassination of Robert Kennedy, further dividing the peace vote.

[2] Either “Fuck you, you Jew son of a bitch” or “you faker” depending on who you ask.

[3] The same John Connally who was in the car with JFK when he was assassinated.

[4] IOTL, Connally actually did approach McCarthy with this offer, but McCarthy felt it wasn’t worth it due to his dislike of Connally, his post-(Robert) Kennedy Assassination depression, and his low chances of clinching the nomination regardless of Southern support, as the Peace Delegates were split between himself and George McGovern.

[5] This was McCarthy’s last ditch effort IOTL, but the plan fell through when he couldn’t flip any slates.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

@Igeo654, so basically the opposite of Channing Phillips.

 

[Igeo654]

@Igeo654, so basically the opposite of Channing Phillips.

Be that as it may, everything seems to be going in the Democrats' favour so far. Hopefully, Connally won't be too bad a VP.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

“Let Us Begin Anew.”

• “McCarthy for President” 1968 Campaign Slogan

When Eugene McCarthy was declared the Democratic nominee, the Festival of Life burst into celebrations.

Or at least some of them did.

The more radical Lincoln Park protesters were banking on a Humphrey win to convince the moderate Grant Park protesters that you couldn’t successfully operate within the system, but McCarthy actually winning threw a monkey wrench into their aspirations. While the more extreme elements of the groups were still protesting, the majority had either dispersed, or gone to Grant Park to celebrate. As a result, the Chicago Police largely backed down [1].

In the greatest party convention upset since Wendell Willkie’s nomination by the Republican Party in 1944, things could have gone better, but they could have gone a lot worse.

After getting over the initial shock, Hubert Humphrey, to his credit, endorsed Eugene McCarthy [2]. McCarthy, after spending a few days gloating to anyone who would listen, was corralled into hitting the campaign trail by his staff.

While the Democrats had been fighting amongst themselves, Richard Nixon had been preaching to the ‘silent majority’ to win the election. Nixon pledged to restore stability to the United States, courting the blue collar, white working class, as well as Catholic voters: namely Hispanics, Italians, and Poles. Nixon also carried over his ‘Southern Strategy’ from the Republican Convention in Miami, in which he had focused on (white) Southern issues, and portrayed himself as a staunch conservative to prevent an eleventh hour coup by the choice of the party's right wing: California Governor Ronald Reagan. Hoping to expand on his success in the South in 1960, Nixon focused on social issues with conservative talking points to try and get the South to vote Republican. With Southern support for the Democrats quickly eroding, Nixon hoped that the vote would split three ways in his favour between himself, McCarthy, and third party, Alabama Governor George Wallace in the South, tipping the election in his favour. Nixon was seemingly successful in balancing his personal support for civil rights, while at the same time exaggerating his own conservatism.

Promises were made to oppose mandatory busing to desegregate schools and appoint less ‘energetic’ Supreme Court Justices, a none-too-subtle criticism of progressive Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. On top of that, Nixon pledged to restore "Law and Order" to the country, crack down on rising crime, and achieve a victorious “Peace With Honour” in Vietnam; a promise that was popular with conservatives, moderates, and even some liberals, but was otherwise vague on details, and undermined by the fact that his opponent was opposed to the Vietnam War.

Gene McCarthy came into the race trailing Nixon by about 9% [3], which wasn’t insurmountable, but was definitely an early challenge. Before the Democratic Convention, McCarthy had been leading Nixon by a few percentiles, but the events of Chicago didn’t endear anyone with a ‘D’ next to their name to the voting public.

Despite a strong dislike for their own candidate amongst the higher ups, the Democratic party machinery began chugging along across the country. While McCarthy occupied his time campaigning on the coasts and the Midwest (and bragging to journalists on his convention masterstroke), John Connally was busy canvassing the South. With Allard Lowenstein heading to New York to run for a seat in the House of Representatives, Midge Miller became McCarthy’s chief campaign handler, making sure he remained on schedule and message. The main theme of the campaign continued to be ending the Vietnam War, but McCarthy expanded into economic issues as well. Even though Johnson’s name was mud, his welfare plans were still popular with a majority of Americans, despite growing opposition. McCarthy capitalized on this by promising a continuation of the War on Poverty, the establishment of better social services, low-income housing, and a minimum income for the unemployed (promises aimed at capturing the African American vote), but also guaranteeing he wouldn't spend 'beyond America's means.' McCarthy struck a vague balance between his social democratic disposition, and a moderate fiscal conservatism. When it came to social issues, McCarthy was pressured into playing it silent, allowing people to make their own assumptions. His young liberal supporters assumed that he would continue the expansion of civil rights that they (begrudgingly) admitted that Johnson and Humphrey had been championing, while the nomination of John Connally as the Vice Presidential nominee allowed a nudge and a wink to conservative Democrats to reassure them that the accelerated pace of Civil Rights legislation would at least be slowed by a McCarthy Presidency. Throughout the election, McCarthy was campaigning almost as much against Lyndon Johnson as he was against Richard Nixon.

A crowd gathers in front of McCarthy's National Campaign Headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.
​

And then there was George Wallace. George “Segregation Forever” Wallace. With the Democrats beginning to shift decidedly in favour of the Civil Rights Movement, the Governor of Alabama became the standard bearer of segregationism and the populist right. Wallace used the chaos of 1968 to launch a presidential campaign under the banner of the American Independent Party, hoping to split the vote and force the election into the House of Representatives, allowing the conservative congressmen of the South to squeeze concessions out of whoever the next President would be. Wallace had come to the conclusion that all working class white Americans were, at their heart, ‘Southern,’ and no matter where they lived or how outwardly sympathetic to civil rights they might be, at the end of the day would vote for their own economic security before equality for someone else. That political prediction would be put to the test: With a platform that was a mix of traditional New Deal Democrat economic positions, a regression of social policies, and pulling out of Vietnam if it proved, “unwinnable in the first ninety days of the administration,” Wallace and the AIP had been gaining in the polls.

​

Wallace also put a lot of thought into who would be the second name on his ballot. The names at the top of the list were former general Curtis LeMay, former Kentucky Governor Happy Chandler, House Armed Services Chairman L. Mendel Rivers, and fried chicken mogul Colonel Harland Sanders. His first choice was Chandler as, as one of Wallace’s aides put it, “We have all the nuts in the country; we could get some decent people…” Wallace offered the slot to Chandler, but they couldn’t reconcile their differences; Wallace’s supporters decried the potential nomination of Chandler, who had used the state guard to desegregate Kentucky, and had supported Jackie Robinson’s hiring to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Not wanting to have a military man on the ticket during an election year where one candidate promised a quick victory and the other supported withdrawal, Wallace skipped over LeMay and inquired with Rivers. Rivers was receptive, but didn't dare run for fear of losing his House Chairmanship. Wallace eventually recruited the apolitical Colonel Sanders on to the ticket, by appealing to his sense of Southern honour and dignity. Although Sanders' frequent swearing provided a drag in the media, he proved to be a capable campaigner. Sanders didn’t accomplish much for the Wallace ticket (besides a mild boost in the polls in Kentucky), but he wasn’t a major liability either [4].

Governor George Wallace of Alabama. Wallace had also intended to run as a third party candidate in 1964, but decided against it when the self-described "radical" conservative Barry Goldwater won the Republican nomination.

​

Nixon decided to avoid debates with McCarthy like the plague, likely in an attempt to avoid a repeat of his poor performance in the 1960 televised Presidential debate, which may well have been the deciding factor that may have made John Kennedy the President. Ironically, this likely benefited McCarthy more than it did Nixon, as he was quite possibly the only man worse than Nixon at televised debate.

Meanwhile, the man in the Oval Office was not a happy camper.

All of Lyndon Johnson’s fears of his legacy being cast aside had come to life. His obsession with the possibility of Bobby Kennedy being the grand challenger to his Presidency blinded him to the opponent right in front of him, and he had been unable to pull enough strings to orchestrate a Draft Johnson Movement at the Democratic National Convention, or even get Humphrey nominated. It didn’t make Johnson any happier that his protégé, John Connally, had fallen in with McCarthy. Johnson’s antipathy was so strong, in fact, that he gave campaign advice to Richard Nixon on how to proceed with the Vietnam War. Although Johnson would hear word that Nixon had a back-channel to South Vietnam, asking them to drag their feet on the negotiations, he didn’t follow up [5]. The rumour persists to this day that when Johnson was alone in the voting booth, he had chosen Nixon over McCarthy.

While the good-natured Humphrey had largely forgiven McCarthy, the cantankerous Texan entertained no such notions. He wouldn’t let some no-name, head-in-the-clouds two-bit Senator who never accomplished anything in his nineteen years on Capitol Hill tell Lyndon Baines Johnson what to do. Refusing to admit defeat through a policy change, Johnson declared in October that bombing would continue in Vietnam until the final day of his administration.

There would be no peace.

McCarthy, in a rare display of seizing the initiative, called for a complete bombing halt in response to the President’s declaration to make negotiations with North Vietnam possible. While Wallace scrambled to make an announcement along the same lines, Nixon, paralyzed by the notion of making such a controversial declaration so close to election day, failed to make a similar statement. In lock-step, McCarthy’s approval ratings rapidly climbed while Johnson’s plummeted, and by November, McCarthy had just barely scrambled ahead of Nixon in the polls.

It was time, finally, for election night.


“Nixon’s the One!”

• “Nixon for President” 1968 Campaign Slogan

[1] While the infamous part of the protests have still happened, the week of violence following the nomination of Hubert Humphrey has been butterflied away.

[2] IOTL a reticent McCarthy didn’t endorse Humphrey until late October. Humphrey supporters to this day claim that McCarthy’s delayed endorsement cost him the election.

[3] Due to his ties with the Johnson Presidency and his support for the Vietnam War, Humphrey was trailing Nixon by 16% in August and 12% in early September.

[4] Curtis LeMay won’t be loudly declaring his support for the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam while on the AIP ticket as he did OTL. John Connally has similar opinions to Curtis LeMay, but he’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut on the campaign trail...

[5] An inversion of the October Surprise; due to Johnson not trying to help Humphrey win, Nixon doesn’t have an opportunity to sabotage any meaningful peace talks. In this world, the Chennault Affair and Richard Nixon’s borderline treason will never be discovered, as Johnson isn’t looking for peace.

 

[20thCenturyBoy]

As someone who is writing a 1968 timeline of my own, I approve.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

Election Night: 1968!​

Join us at 8:00PM EST for your election coverage!​

 

[20thCenturyBoy]

I’ve been having a pretty s#!% day so this’ll cheer me up.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

“From CBS News headquarters in New York, this is the CBS evening news, with Walter Cronkite...”

“Good evening, the day is Tuesday, November 5th, 1968, and the time is 8:00PM. This is Walter Cronkite, reporting to you live from New York, covering this year’s Presidential election. We have Democratic nominee, Senator Eugene McCarthy, Republican nominee and former Vice President Richard Nixon, and former Governor George Wallace of the American Independent Party. This has been a closely fought election, and at this point, it’s anyone’s game.

Let’s turn to the popular vote board. Two percent of the vote is in. The result at this moment: Nixon first, McCarthy second, Wallace third. That being said, we can already project that the definite winner in Mississippi and Alabama will be Wallace, but the question remains if Mr. McCarthy or Mr. Nixon will gain second place in those states, to give an indicator of how the election will shape up. However, we are sure Wallace will carry those states.

In New England, fragmentary results are coming in, but we have projected the Nixon is the winner in Vermont. Elsewhere, it’s looking to be a toss-up. In Ohio, two percent of the vote is in, and those figures are gradually climbing, with Nixon having nearly fifty percent. As these early results are coming in, Nixon has been declared the winner in Delaware.

Fragmentary returns from the Upper South, but it appears that in Virginia and West Virginia, McCarthy is in the lead, but Nixon has won in Kentucky. At this point there are no decisive signs for Nixon or McCarthy, and there are no indicators at this time to determine who will win the popular vote.

Florida is a three way race, with Nixon narrowly in first. In Tennessee, the votes are coming in, with Nixon in first, and Wallace in second, but Wallace coming up fast. In North Carolina, Wallace is ahead, but in the other border states he is far behind, and it seems unlikely that Wallace will sweep the South. We can now project that Nixon will carry the state of Kansas. Nixon is leading in Florida, Arkansas, and the Carolinas, and has taken the lead in Virginia from McCarthy.

The first Senate results are coming in from Florida, where the Democrat, Collins, is projected to win over the Republican, Gurney; In Ohio, the Republicans are in the lead with Saxbe, but the Democrats with Gilligan may pull ahead if he gets sufficient support from the unions; In Indiana, the Democrat, Bayh, is leading over the Republican challenger Ruckelshaus; Finally, in South Carolina, the very first votes are coming in, but Hollings, the incumbent Democrat, is leading over Parker, the Republican challenger. In Georgia, the incumbent Senator Talmadge has won re-election.

With the first results coming in in the Gubernatorial races, with have the first results from Indiana, with the Republican challenger Whitcomb, threatening the Democratic hold with Rock; In Kansas, the Democrat incumbent Docking holds the lead over Hartman. In New Hampshire, the Republican challenger Peterson is in a solid lead over Bussiere. In North Carolina, it’s neck-and-neck between the two candidates. In New Hampshire, Governor Davis holds a narrow lead; West Virginia, like North Carolina, it’s neck-and-neck.

So far, there have been no gains in the House of Representatives on either side.

Counted votes have Nixon in the lead, but McCarthy has won his first state in West Virginia. New projections show that after gaining over Nixon, Wallace has narrowly taken Tennessee.

As we continue to get results, polling is still open in the western states, and I would like to remind viewers that as of now these are only initial returns, but it seems that George Wallace hasn’t achieved the breakthrough he would’ve liked in the Upper South.

Going over to our board, we can now say with certainty that Nixon has won the hotly contested state of Florida.

Some more returns coming in: In Georgia, Wallace has a solid lead, having more votes than both of the other candidates combined. In both Virginia and Indiana, Nixon is in the lead. North Carolina, Nixon, again, is leading.

We’ll be back in a moment with more election coverage.”

“Welcome back. We can now project with some certainty that Nixon has won Indiana. Thirteen electoral votes there. That means Nixon has won six states, but he still has a long way to go. With the popular vote coming in, Nixon has over a million votes, with McCarthy close behind in the nine hundred thousands. George Wallace, at this hour, is at a strong third with over six hundred thousand. There is still nothing to indicate a clear winner in the popular vote, and it seems very possible that no one will win the necessary majority in the Electoral College.

The first results are coming in from the industrial north, specifically Pennsylvania. There, McCarthy is in the lead. In Ohio, Nixon continues to hold the lead. In Maine, McCarthy holds a quite possibly uncatchable lead, and is also winning in New Hampshire, with Nixon close behind. Connecticut just closed a half hour ago, but has brand-new voting machines, so results should be coming in quickly. McCarthy has a solid lead there. We have been informed they’ve just closed in Oklahoma, but Nixon is well in the lead there.

Judging from the results from the precincts, McCarthy has won the District of Columbia. We can also project that McCarthy has won Connecticut. New results coming in, we have a close race in New Jersey, neck and neck between McCarthy and Nixon. McCarthy is in the lead in Michigan. Nixon continues to lead in Ohio. In both Oklahoma and Maryland, Nixon is in the lead.

The first votes are in from Texas, which is, of course, the home of Governor Connally on the McCarthy ticket. The McCarthy-Connally ticket is ahead with a solid but not insurmountable lead there, with the other half of the vote split between Nixon and Wallace. CBS can now project that, on the basis of certain precincts in that state, that Gene McCarthy has won in Massachusetts.

It seems that while organized labour has not entirely come out in force for McCarthy, the majority of the labour vote is still voting primarily Democrat. Hubert Humphrey’s endorsement and campaigning for McCarthy may well have something to do with that, as Humphrey enjoyed widespread union support during the Democratic Primaries, at the Democratic Convention, and throughout his political career. Regardless, McCarthy may well have made up the difference with the suburban vote, and amongst new voters and independents. Throughout this election cycle, Senator McCarthy's Catholicism has been a non-issue, unlike in the Election of 1960 between Jack Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

Going to the board, thus far, McCarthy now has thirty-two electoral votes, Nixon has fifty-seven, and Wallace, seventeen, with four-hundred and thirty two still up for grabs. Looking at the popular vote, Nixon is at forty-one percent, while McCarthy is at thirty-eight percent, meaning that McCarthy is closing in. Meanwhile Wallace is holding strong at twenty percent.

I have been asked to go to a quick break."

 

[20thCenturyBoy]

Will the next results be up at 8:30 like an actual election?

 

[Seandineen]

We can hope.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

Will the next results be up at 8:30 like an actual election?

Election updates will be posted every hour and a half. I've decided to spread it out a bit, so it isn't too repetitive while we "wait for the results to come in" as it were. I won't be posting past midnight however, and I'll 'skip forward' in coverage when I post the final results tomorrow morning.

This election coverage is in actuality based off the results as they were posted by NBC on election night, whose coverage had the most surviving footage on the Internet. Even then, the surviving NBC has some fairly sizable gaps. I switched it to CBS and Walter Cronkite as an artistic license.

Here's the full, nearly six hours of surviving footage that I've condensed. You can watch it if you're as crazy as I am.

 

[20thCenturyBoy]

Election updates will be posted every hour and a half. I've decided to spread it out a bit, so it isn't too repetitive while we "wait for the results to come in" as it were. I won't be posting past midnight however, and I'll 'skip forward' in coverage when I post the final results tomorrow morning.

This election coverage is in actuality based off the results as they were posted by NBC on election night, whose coverage had the most surviving on footage on the Internet. Even then, the surviving NBC has some fairly sizable gaps. I switched it to CBS and Walter Cronkite as an artistic license.

Here's the full, nearly six hours of surviving footage that I've condensed. You can watch it if you're as crazy as I am.

I’m having a pretty bad day. I’d say I’m crazy enough.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

Election Night: 1968!

Join us at 9:30PM EST for more election coverage!​

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

I’m having a pretty bad day. I’d say I’m crazy enough.

Maybe this'll cheer you up:​

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

“I swear to God, Hubert, if you were our man, you would have Nixon’s dick in a sling. That slippery son of a bitch McCarthy better not screw this up.”

• President Lyndon Johnson to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, election night, 1968

“Hello, this is Walter Cronkite. The time is 9:30PM, and we’re back in election central.

Let’s take a look at Michigan. In Michigan we have projected that the winner in that state, in the race for President, is Gene McCarthy. It has been our assumption from the beginning that Michigan would be very close indeed.

Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, not a single seat has changed hands. For Gubernatorial races, the Republicans have had a net gain of two over the Democrats, who have only been able to hold one, in Texas. Senate results continue to come in from all over the country.

Let’s take a look at North Carolina. In North Carolina, McCarthy is doing poorly, he’s in third, while Nixon is ahead of Wallace, but just barely. In South Carolina, Wallace is ahead there, but it’s neck and neck in South Carolina, which is the home of Senator Strom Thurmond, who hopes to deliver the state for Nixon. In Ohio, one of the big industrial states, Nixon is leading at the moment, with forty-eight percent. In Missouri, thirteen percent of the vote has been counted, but McCarthy is in a fairly substantial lead in this early stage.

Returns from some more states: Nixon leads in Maryland, the home state of his running mate, Governor Spiro Agnew. In Georgia, Wallace has a strong lead with forty-eight percent of the vote. The popular vote continues to climb, Nixon is still leading, but McCarthy has closed another few percentage points, only two percent behind Nixon. At this time, the election remains very close, with the key states being New York, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. If McCarthy is able to win in all or most of these states, he would be able to offset the victories Nixon has had in the other states thus far.

In the meantime, the state of Louisiana has called for Wallace. Not a surprise there, it had been a state expected to go to him from the beginning. In New Hampshire, it’s too close to call between Nixon and McCarthy. In Maine, the vote is in, and we project that McCarthy is the winner in Maine. In Maryland, Nixon continues to lead.

Now, if we take a look back at union support, there is cause for concern for the Democrats. The Democrats gained a solid majority of the union vote back in 1964. While it was expected that union support would not be as strong this election, it seems that McCarthy will be lucky to get a majority of union support. The Democrats have a similar problem with the negro vote. There have been a significant increase in registration of negro voters in the South, but there has been little change for negro voter turnout and registration in the Midwest, where McCarthy needs it most. It’s been the hope of the McCarthy campaign to make up these expected differences in both the suburban vote, as well as that of voters who don’t identify with either party. That being said, McCarthy has enjoyed widespread support from leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and the negro community, such as from the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Mr. Julian Bond, and Reverend Jesse Jackson among others.

Now, back to the states.

Let’s look first at Minnesota, Senator McCarthy’s home state. In Minnesota, precincts have reported McCarthy the winner in his home state. Rhode Island; even though we don’t have the numbers on the board, the precincts are in, and they show McCarthy as the winner in Rhode Island. In New Hampshire, where McCarthy first made his splash on the political scene, we have McCarthy winning in New Hampshire in a very close race with Nixon. In Illinois, votes are still coming in, and while McCarthy is in the lead at the moment, it is, as yet, too close to call. In Ohio, McCarthy has taken the lead - McCarthy has taken the lead in Ohio, but it is still too close to call.

In Georgia, Wallace is in the lead, but in Virginia, we can declare Nixon the winner.

In the Congress races, most prominent politicians have retained their seats, but there have also been some changes in McCarthy’s political orbit. In Missouri, newcomer Tom Eagleton, a McCarthy supporter, has been elected, while in Pennsylvania, incumbent Joe Clark, a McCarthy supporter, has been defeated by Republican newcomer Richard Schweiker.

Let’s pick up the popular vote. Nixon still leading with forty-one percent, McCarthy with forty percent, and Wallace has slipped to nineteen percent. These numbers are very likely to change as more states report in, especially for George Wallace, who enjoys only very limited supported outside the South. Now, we’ll be back in just a minute.”

We’re back. Let’s look at some more states. In New Jersey, Nixon is in the lead, but McCarthy is trailing close behind. In New York, not even one percent of the vote is in, but Nixon is leading with forty-eight percent, to McCarthy’s forty-six. Pennsylvania; the vote in Pennsylvania is mounting, the vote being in Nixon’s favour, but, again, McCarthy close behind. We have a projected winner in Colorado: six more electoral votes go for Nixon. South Carolina; Nixon has pulled ahead of Wallace, and is now in the lead. In Arizona, CBS news projects that Nixon will carry Arizona with fifty-one percent of the vote. In that very state, Senator Barry Goldwater is making a comeback, and is likely to win reelection.

As we continue to pay special attention with those who are strongly opposed to the war in Vietnam, Senator Fulbright of Arkansas has won reelection, and in South Dakota, George McGovern, also opposed to the war, is in the lead. In Wisconsin, another early opponent of the war, Gaylord Nelson, is in the lead against his Republican opponent. It’s interesting to see Vietnam’s effect on the election. In Iowa, for example, Governor Hughes, who nominated Gene McCarthy at the convention in Chicago, is currently trailing, but votes coming in indicate he will pull ahead. In the state of Connecticut, Senator Abraham Ribicoff has been projected the winner, and was also opposed to the war in Vietnam. Senator Ribicoff had this to say:

Back to the states, we can now project that Arkansas will be carried by George Wallace. From Maryland, the vote continues to come in. Nixon has managed to retain his lead all evening, but hasn’t been able to clinch the state. In North Carolina, Nixon leads, followed by Wallace, and, third place, McCarthy. In Wisconsin, the first votes are coming in, but it’s a close one thus far. McCarthy slightly in the lead in votes. In Texas, McCarthy is still in the lead, and is holding the lead now. In Iowa, we have projected Nixon as the winner. In Nebraska, Nebraska is Nixon country, and he will win there with sixty-one percent. In Pennsylvania, McCarthy’s share of the vote continues to come from the cities, but not in Philadelphia, where the vote has yet to be counted.

Nevertheless, McCarthy has taken the lead in the popular vote, as the votes from the large, industrial states continue to come in. However, we have a problem in Texas. Word has come in that in Dallas, a computer has broken there that counts the votes, so we won’t have the results from there until tomorrow. In Congress, we are projecting that Democrats will retain a majority in the House.

In New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, the vote is mounting, but not decisively for either candidate. A new one, in Idaho, it is our projection that Nixon will take the state. Also, in North Dakota, Nixon is projected to win. In South Dakota, we can also say with certainty that Nixon is to be the winner. Now, all the polls have closed in the continental US. In New Mexico, Nixon is in the lead, while in Illinois, McCarthy continues to hold his lead which he’s had from the beginning. One of our first reports from Wisconsin, McCarthy is in the lead, but in Utah, Nixon has a substantial lead. CBS now projects Nixon as the winner in Utah. On top of that Nixon is also the winner in North Carolina and Oklahoma. The Ohio vote continues to go back and forth.

We’ve got a big one coming in, McCarthy has been confirmed as the winner in New York. It would’ve been an indicator that the Democrats would’ve been in big trouble if they had lost New York, so it seems that we have a long night ahead of us. We can also project that Wallace has won in Georgia, but Nixon has won in South Carolina.

With the results in from almost all of the Southern states, it seems that George Wallace has failed to take enough states to split the vote, with Nixon taking about half of the South.

Some more results coming in from the western states, Nixon is the winner in both New Mexico and Nevada.

We’ll be back with more coverage soon.”

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

Election Night: 1968!

Join us at 11:00PM EST for more election coverage!​

 

[20thCenturyBoy]

Love the update. I like the use of ads. It adds a sense of realism. Also, I find Johnson’s comments about Humphrey are pretty funny considering what actually happened in real life.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

Love the update. I like the use of ads. It adds a sense of realism. Also, I find Johnson’s comments about Humphrey are pretty funny considering what actually happened in real life.

Thanks! I always like a healthy dose of timeline irony myself. Speaking of which, I've got a real doozy of a historic irony planned for the late 1980s.

 

[The Lethargic Lett]

"To unify this nation means to inspire it, to encourage the development of common purposes and shared ideals, and to move toward establishing an order of justice in America."

• Except from the Eugene McCarthy campaign brochure, ‘Portrait of a Leader in His Own Words,’ 1968

“Hello, this is Walter Cronkite. The time is 11:00PM, and we’re back with more election coverage. It has been a long night so far for our candidates, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any shorter.

One of the states still undecided is Missouri. Eighty-eight percent of the vote is in, but it’s still too close to call. McCarthy has a small lead with forty-three percent compared to Nixon’s forty-two. In Montana, also too close. We have a fourth of Montana’s vote in, and Nixon is ahead, but not by much.

In the state of Washington, the vote is in, and the winner there, McCarthy. Likewise, McCarthy is the winner in Oregon. In New Jersey, one of the key industrial states, the vote is getting closer, but Nixon is still in the lead. In Illinois, another one of the key states, McCarthy is still holding on, but it’s still too close. In Pennsylvania, another one that is very important, McCarthy has a lead, but not by much.

In other news, Allard Lowenstein, the leader of the Dump Johnson movement, has won election to the House of Representatives in New York’s Fifth District.

In the state of Maryland, the home state of Nixon running mate Spiro Agnew, we project a victory for McCarthy. In the popular vote, McCarthy has passed Nixon, but the percentage vote is tied, forty-two percent to forty-two percent. The first results are coming in from California. The results are close to tied, with Nixon holding a one percent lead. Although it is Nixon’s home state, McCarthy has created a very broad base of support there. In Pennsylvania, McCarthy still leads. In Illinois, McCarthy and Nixon are virtually tied. In Ohio, Nixon continues to lead. In both Missouri and Texas, McCarthy retains his lead. In Hawaii, it has gone into the McCarthy column. We can also project that Wisconsin will go to McCarthy.

Some more results coming in, Nixon is leading in Alaska, McCarthy has a slight advantage in California, Missouri, Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Some more results from the upper states, we can declare that Nixon is the winner in both Wyoming and Montana.

It seems more and more that the final results of this election will be decided by California.

As we return to the popular vote, it remains a tie, with each both McCarthy and Nixon holding forty-two percent, but McCarthy holds a numbers advantage. George Wallace has dropped to sixteen percent.

It is still too close to call in any of the remaining states. McCarthy maintains a small lead in Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Nixon leads in California, Ohio, Alaska, and New Jersey. Now this is interesting, because if both candidates win all the states that are leaning towards them, neither candidate would have a majority of the electoral college, and it would have to go to the House of Representatives. One of the candidates is going to have to hope for a last minute swing in their direction in one of the big states. Nixon’s best hope is to swing Illinois, while McCarthy’s is to swing California.

In the middle of all these theories, CBS News now projects, McCarthy to be the winner in Pennsylvania. This election is looking more and more like it will come down to California… This just in, not only that, but McCarthy is the projected winner in New Jersey as well. On the opposing side, Alaska has fallen into the Nixon column.

It’s still too close to call in California, Ohio, Illinois, Texas and Missouri. California and Ohio continue to lean Nixon, while Illinois, Texas, and Missouri continue to lean towards McCarthy. If McCarthy wants to win, he’ll have to swing one of Nixon’s states. For Nixon to win, he will not only have to win all his remaining states, but gain Texas and Illinois as well.

Looking at Congress, the Democrats have been guaranteed a majority in the House and the Senate, but they have lost a few seats in the making of it. This is a bitter disappointment for the Republicans, as it seems that this election is having little effect on the makeup of the House. It seems this election is going to go well into the night to tomorrow morning…”