THE MAKING OF A NATION - October 24, 2002: Election of 1968
By Jeri Watson
VOICE 1:
This is Stan Busby.
VOICE 2:
And this is Rich Kleinfeldt with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the
history of the United States.
(Theme)
VOICE 1:
Nineteen-sixty-eight was a presidential election year in the United States. It was also one of the saddest and most
difficult years in modern American history. The nation was divided by disputes about civil rights and the war in
Vietnam.
VOICE 2:
President Lyndon Johnson had helped win major civil rights legislation. Yet he had also greatly expanded
American involvement in the war in Vietnam. By early nineteen-sixty-eight, it was almost impossible for him to
leave the white house without facing anti-war protesters. Johnson wanted to run for another four-year term. But
his popularity kept dropping as the war continued. He understood that he no longer had the support of a majority
of the people. In March, he announced that he would not be a candidate.
VOICE 1:
One reason Johnson decided not to run was a senator from Minnesota, Eugene McCarthy. McCarthy competed
against Johnson in several primary elections. The primaries are held months before a political party holds its
presidential nominating convention. Delegates to the convention often are required to vote for the candidate their
party members chose in the primary. Thousands of college students helped the McCarthy campaign before the
primary election in New Hampshire. They told voters all over the state that their candidate would try to end the
war. McCarthy received almost forty-two percent of the votes in New Hampshire. Johnson received less than
fifty percent. For a president in office, the vote was an insult.
VOICE 2:
After McCarthy's success, senator Robert Kennedy of New York decided to enter the campaign, too. He was a
brother of president John Kennedy, who had been murdered in nineteen-sixty-three. Robert Kennedy had served
as attorney general, the nation's highest legal officer, in his brother's administration. Many people were pleased
when Robert Kennedy announced his decision. They liked his message. He said: "I run to seek new policies to
end the bloodshed in Vietnam and in our cities. I seek to lessen the differences between black and white, between
rich and poor, between young and old, in this country and around the world."
((Music Bridge))
VOICE 1:
On April fourth, nineteen-sixty-eight, the nation's top civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, was shot to death in
Memphis, Tennessee. Robert Kennedy spoke about king's death to a crowd of black citizens.
KENNEDY: "What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred.
What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom. And compassion
toward one another. And a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be
white or whether they be black."
VOICE 2:
No words, however, could calm the anger of America's black community. Martin Luther King had led the civil
rights movement with peaceful methods. Yet his death lead to violence in almost one-hundred-thirty cities in
America. Soldiers were called to crush the riots. Hundreds of people were killed or injured. After the riots,
another man decided to campaign for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. The new candidate
was Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Traditional Democrats supported him. ((music Bridge))
VOICE 1:
The primary elections continued. Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy tried to show how different they were.
Many voters, however, saw little difference between their positions on major issues. Both men opposed the war
in Vietnam. Both sought social reforms. Both sought improvement in civil rights in America. Kennedy defeated
McCarthy in primaries in Indiana and Nebraska. McCarthy defeated Kennedy in Oregon. The next big primary
was in California. Kennedy said that if he did not win this important contest, he would withdraw. He won.
VOICE 2:
Perhaps Robert Kennedy might have won his party's nomination for president. Perhaps he might have defeated
the Republican Party candidate in the national election. The nation would never know. Kennedy made his
California victory speech at a hotel in Los Angeles. As he was leaving the hotel, he was shot. He died a few hours
later. The man who shot him was Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. He was a Palestinian refugee. He said he blamed Robert
Kennedy for the problems of the Palestinians.
((Music Bridge))
VOICE 1:
The nation's two major political parties held their nominating conventions in the summer of nineteen-sixty-eight.
The Republicans met first. It was soon clear that Richard Nixon would control the convention. Nixon had run for
president in nineteen-sixty. He lost to John Kennedy. Eight years later, he won several primary elections. He was
a strong candidate to win the Republican nomination again. The other candidates were Ronald Reagan, governor
of California, and Nelson Rockefeller, governor of New York. On the first ballot, Nixon got more than two times
as many votes as Rockefeller. Reagan was far behind. Most of the delegates then gave their support to Nixon, and
he accepted the nomination. The delegates chose the governor of Maryland, Spiro Agnew, to be their vice
presidential candidate.
VOICE 2:
The convention of the Democratic Party was very different from the convention of the Republicans. The
Democrats were the party in power. Protests against the war in Vietnam were aimed at them. Thousands of antiwar protesters gathered in the city of Chicago during the political convention. The city's mayor, Richard Daley,
had ordered the police to deal severely with all protesters. Many of the young people were beaten. Much later, the
federal government ordered an investigation. The report said that the riots in Chicago were a result of the actions
of the police themselves.
VOICE 1:
Inside the convention building, the delegates voted for their presidential candidate. They did not choose the man
who had done so well in the early primary elections, Eugene McCarthy. Instead, they chose the more traditional
candidate, Hubert Humphrey. For their vice presidential candidate, they chose Edmund Muskie, a senator from
Maine.
VOICE 2:
The two men running for president, Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, supported American involvement in
Vietnam. Yet during the campaign, both spoke about finding ways to end the conflict. Both also spoke about
finding ways to end social unrest in the United States. Many voters saw little difference between the two
candidates. About six weeks before election day, public opinion studies showed that the contest was even.
VOICE 1:
Nixon's major problem was his past. He had made enemies during his early political life. These people now tried
to renew public fears about his record as a man who made fierce, unjust attacks on others. Vice President
Humphrey's major problem was that he was vice president. He had to defend the administration's policies, even
the unpopular ones. If he said anything that was different, another member of the administration intervened.
VOICE 2:
Once, for example, Humphrey said the United States would stop dropping bombs on north Vietnam. But
President Johnson did not act for a month. He gave the order to stop only four days before the election. Later,
Humphrey said the delay harmed his campaign so badly that he could not recover from the damage.
VOICE 1:
On election day, Richard Nixon won -- but not by much. He received a little more than forty-three percent of the
votes. Hubert Humphrey received just a half a percent less. Nixon was about to become president. It was the
position he had wanted for a long time. It was to be a presidency that would change American government for
years to come.
(Theme)
VOICE 2:
This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson.
This is Rich Kleinfeldt.
VOICE 1:
And this is Stan Busby. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of
the United States.
Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version |