Predsjednički izbori Sjedinjenih Država 1968. Vlada Sjedinjenih Država

Predsjednički izbori Sjedinjenih Država 1968., američki predsjednički izbori održani 5. studenoga 1968., na kojima je republikanac Richard M. Nixon pobijedio demokrata Huberta H. Humphreyja.

pozadina

Uoči izbora 1968. transformirana je 1967. godine kada je demokratski senator Minnesote, Eugene J. McCarthy, izazvao Demokratskog predsjednika. Lyndon B. Johnson o svojim ratnim politikama u Vijetnamu. Johnson je naslijedio mjesto predsjednika 1963. godine, nakon atentata na Johna F. Kennedyja i bio je neodoljivo izabran 1964. Početkom svog mandata bio je neizmjerno popularan, ali američka uključenost u Vijetnam, koja je nevidljivo eskalirala tijekom predsjedničkih administracija i Dwight D. Eisenhower i Kennedy, postali su vrlo vidljivi s naglo porastom broja smrtnih slučajeva u SAD-u, a kao što je i ratovala nepopularnost, kao i Johnsonova.

Izbori 1966. vratili su republikance kao veliku manjinu u Kongresu, a socijalno zakonodavstvo je usporilo, nadmetajući se s ratom u Vijetnamu za raspoloživi novac. Unatoč Zakonu o građanskim pravima (1964.) i Zakonu o biračkim pravima (1965.), mnogi Afroamerikanci postali su nezadovoljni napretkom u građanskim pravima. Tako je nastao pokret "Crne sile", koji je pogodio Johnsonovu popularnost čak i među Afroamerikancima. Općenito povećanje kriminala i sporadično nasilje u gradovima potaknuli su zabrinutost u bijelim zajednicama. Poziv na „red i zakon“ bio je odgovor i postao je ne samo pitanje, nego su, mnogi su vjerovali, kodna riječ za afroameričku represiju.

Početkom 1968., republička vlada u Michiganu George Romney najavila je svoju kandidaturu za predsjedništvo. Mnogi su vjerovali da će guverner New Yorka, Nelson Rockefeller, također biti izazivač, a George Wallace, bivši demokratski guverner Alabame i segregacioner za vrijeme svog mandata, počeo je nagovještavati svoje zanimanje za ured. Mirovne frakcije i crni militanti razgovarali su o nominaciji vlastitih kandidata, a ponavljanje četveronožne utrke 1948. činilo se mogućim.

Primarni

In this setting, McCarthy, whose criticism of the administration on its Vietnam policies had become increasingly caustic, announced his candidacy for president and entered the New Hampshire primary—the first of the presidential primaries. Rockefeller denied that he was a candidate but said that he would accept a draft; 30 Republican leaders endorsed him. At this time Nixon, who had been Eisenhower’s vice president and who had narrowly lost to Kennedy in 1960, declared that new leadership could end the war; he announced his candidacy and entered the New Hampshire primary.

McCarthy was the only major Democrat on the New Hampshire ballot, but, shortly before the March 12 voting, Democratic regulars, alarmed by the effectiveness of McCarthy’s legion of young amateur campaign workers, mounted a desperate write-in campaign for the president. Johnson won 48 percent of the vote, but McCarthy, with 42 percent, won 20 of the 24 delegates. Nixon won the Republican primary; Romney, with polls indicating that he had little hope of winning, had withdrawn from the primary and the presidential race.

A few days later Robert F. Kennedy announced that he would enter the race on the Democratic side. On March 31 President Johnson stunned the country by announcing an end to the bombing of most of North Vietnam—and his decision not to seek reelection. Two days later McCarthy won a somewhat diluted triumph over the president in the Wisconsin primary.

The following Thursday, April 4, African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Grief and shock among African Americans turned to anger, which found expression in rioting and violence in more than 100 cities, leading many white voters to look more closely at Wallace, who was stressing “law and order” and promising to be on the ballot in 50 states.

After King’s funeral, McCarthy, unopposed, won a preferential primary but no delegates in Pennsylvania. However, he took all the delegates in the Massachusetts primary. The upset Republican winner in Massachusetts was Rockefeller, for whom a hasty write-in campaign had been contrived. Rockefeller beat Gov. John Volpe, who was on the ballot, and Richard Nixon, who was not, and reversed his decision not to run.

Johnson’s vice president, Hubert Humphrey, took four weeks to assess his chances after Johnson’s withdrawal. Humphrey then declared his candidacy and hurriedly assembled an organization to hunt delegates. In the Indiana primary Kennedy defeated both McCarthy and Indiana Gov. Roger Branigan. He also won in Washington, D.C., and trounced McCarthy in Nebraska. In Oregon McCarthy won his only primary victory over an active opponent who was on the ballot, handing Kennedy his first election defeat and winning 45 percent of the vote to Kennedy’s 39 percent. The next week, on June 4, Kennedy scored a solid victory over McCarthy in California, but shortly after midnight, as the votes were still being counted, Kennedy was fatally shot.

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Nixon, meanwhile, won every Republican primary he entered; the Massachusetts write-in effort for Rockefeller was his only reverse. Rockefeller intensified his efforts and in mid-July finished a 44-state tour as his $3 million advertising campaign reached a peak.

Humphrey entered no primaries, but he was able to gain enough delegates in those states without primaries to give him apparent control over the convention. However, dissenters were taking an increasingly hard line against him and the administration. To ardent liberals, Humphrey—until recently denounced by rightists as a dangerous radical—was becoming the very image of the establishment.