Elections With Incumbents: The Election of 1964
When the 1964 election came around, Lyndon Johnson had been an "incumbent" for less than a year. But in that time he had achieved a lot, following up on the legacy of his predecessor John F. Kennedy, accomplishing more than Kennedy would likely have been able to achieve. Following Kennedy's death on November 22, 1963, Republican leaders called for a political moratorium, as a sign of respect for the fallen president. As such, little politicking was done by the candidates of either major party until January 1964, when the primary season officially began. In the remainder of Kennedy's first term, Johnson used his Congressional know-how in order to achieve a remarkable legislative record, especially in bringing about passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It would lead to his goal of bringing about a legislative package known as the "Great Society", comprising legislation that would civil rights, bring about Medicare and Medicaid, and other programs that were part of what Johnson termed his "War on Poverty".
For the Democrats, Johnson's nomination was a given, but he wanted to control the convention and avoid a public fight over civil rights. Johnson faced challenges from both sides of the civil rights issue. Segregationist Governor George Wallace of Alabama ran in a number of northern primaries against Johnson. Wallace did surprisingly well in primaries in Maryland, Indiana, and Wisconsin against favorite son candidates who were surrogates for Johnson, but all favorite-sons won their primaries.
Johnson also faced trouble from Robert F. Kennedy. The relationship between the two men was troubled for a considerable time. At the 1960 Democratic National Convention, Robert Kennedy had tried to prevent Johnson from becoming his brother's running mate, a move that deeply embittered both men. Days after John Kennedy's assassination, Johnson opted to call Robert Kennedy to ask the bereaved brother to remind him the exact language of the constitutional oath of office. In early 1964, despite his personal animosity for the president, Kennedy had tried to force Johnson to accept him as his running mate. Johnson became concerned that Kennedy might use his scheduled speech at the 1964 Democratic Convention to create a groundswell of emotion among the delegates to make him Johnson's running mate so he prevented this by deliberately scheduling Kennedy's speech on the last day of the convention, after his running mate had already been chosen. Johnson chose Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota as his running mate.
The Republican Party was divided in 1964 between its conservative and moderate-liberal factions. Former Vice-President Richard Nixon decided not to run. In his absence Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, was the champion of the conservative wing. Goldwater's chief opponent for the Republican nomination was Nelson Rockefeller, the Governor of New York and the longtime leader of the GOP's liberal-moderate faction.
Initially, Rockefeller was considered the front-runner, ahead of Goldwater. However, in 1963, two years after Rockefeller's divorce from his first wife, he married Margarita "Happy" Murphy, a woman 15 years younger who had just divorced her husband and gave custody of her four children to him. This led to rumors that Rockefeller had been having an extramarital affair with her, which angered many social conservatives and female voters in the GOP. After his remarriage, Rockefeller's lead among Republicans lost 20 points overnight. Senator Prescott Bush of Connecticut, the father of President George H.W. Bush and grandfather of President George W. Bush, was among Rockefeller's critics on this issue: "Have we come to the point in our life as a nation where the governor of a great state-one who perhaps aspires to the nomination for president of the United States-can desert a good wife, mother of his grown children, divorce her, then persuade a young mother of four youngsters to abandon her husband and their four children and marry the governor?"
Goldwater lost the New Hampshire primary to Henry Cabot Lodge, but won the Illinois, Texas, and Indiana primaries with little opposition, and Nebraska's primary after a stiff challenge from a draft-Nixon movement. Goldwater also won a number of state caucuses and gathered even more delegates. Rockefeller won the West Virginia and Oregon primaries against Goldwater, and William Scranton won in his home state of Pennsylvania. Both Rockefeller and Scranton also won several state caucuses, mostly in the Northeast. The two leaders squared off in the California primary. Rockefeller led Goldwater in most opinion polls in California, and he appeared headed for victory when his new wife gave birth to a son, Nelson Rockefeller, Jr., three days before the primary. His son's birth brought the issue of adultery front and center, and Rockefeller suddenly lost ground in the polls. Goldwater won the primary by a narrow 51-49% margin, all but clinching the nomination. In accepting his nomination, Goldwater uttered his most famous phrase: "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
In the election campaign, Goldwater was unable to broaden his base of support. He had alienated many moderate Republicans by his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which Johnson championed and signed into law. The Johnson camp used this to paint Goldwater as a racist despite the fact that Goldwater supported the civil rights cause in general, and voted in favor of the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts. (Ironically, Johnson as then-Senate Majority Leader was strongly opposed to and helped weaken both bills at the time). Goldwater argued that it was a matter for the individual states rather than federal legislation.
Goldwater was famous for speaking "off-the-cuff" at times, and in the early 1960s, Goldwater had called the Eisenhower administration "a dime store New Deal", and Eisenhower never fully forgave him and offered lukewarm support in the election. Many prominent moderate Republicans like Governors Nelson Rockefeller of New York and George Romney of Michigan refused to endorse Goldwater and did not campaign for him.
Fact Magazine published an article polling psychiatrists around the country about Goldwater's sanity. 1,189 psychiatrists appeared to say that Goldwater was "emotionally unstable" and unfit for office, though none of the members had actually interviewed Goldwater. The article received heavy publicity. In a libel suit, Goldwater was ultimately awarded $75 000 in compensation.
A prominent Hollywood celebrity who campaigned for Goldwater was Ronald Reagan. Reagan gave a well-received televised speech supporting Goldwater. It was so popular that Goldwater's advisors had it played on local television stations around the nation. Many consider this speech to mark the beginning of Reagan's transformation from an actor to a political leader. In 1966, Reagan would be elected Governor of California in a landslide.
Johnson positioned himself as a moderate and succeeded in portraying Goldwater as an extremist. Goldwater had a habit of making blunt statements about war, nuclear weapons, and economics that could be turned against him. Most famously, the Johnson campaign broadcast a television commercial on September 7 dubbed the "Daisy Girl" ad, which featured a little girl picking petals from a daisy in a field, counting the petals, which then segues into a launch countdown and a nuclear explosion. Voters increasingly viewed Goldwater as a right wing fringe candidate-his slogan "In your heart, you know he's right" was successfully parodied by the Johnson campaign into "In your guts, you know he's nuts", or "In your heart, you know he might" (as in push the nuclear button). Following is the ad in question:
Johnson defeated Goldwater in the general election, winning over 61 percent of the popular vote. Goldwater won his native state of Arizona and five Deep South states. This was the best showing in the South for a GOP candidate since Reconstruction. This was a major transition point for the South. Conversely, Johnson was the first Democrat ever to carry the state of Vermont in a Presidential election.
The Johnson campaign broke two American election records previously held by Franklin Roosevelt: the most number of Electoral Collegiate votes won by a major-party candidate running for the White House for the first time (with 486 to the 472 won by FDR in 1932) and the largest share of the popular vote under the current Democratic/Republican competition (Roosevelt won 60.8% nationwide, Johnson 61.1%). This record was exceeded when Ronald Reagan won 489 votes in 1980. Johnson retains the highest percentage of the popular vote as of the 2020 election.
For the Democrats, Johnson's nomination was a given, but he wanted to control the convention and avoid a public fight over civil rights. Johnson faced challenges from both sides of the civil rights issue. Segregationist Governor George Wallace of Alabama ran in a number of northern primaries against Johnson. Wallace did surprisingly well in primaries in Maryland, Indiana, and Wisconsin against favorite son candidates who were surrogates for Johnson, but all favorite-sons won their primaries.
Johnson also faced trouble from Robert F. Kennedy. The relationship between the two men was troubled for a considerable time. At the 1960 Democratic National Convention, Robert Kennedy had tried to prevent Johnson from becoming his brother's running mate, a move that deeply embittered both men. Days after John Kennedy's assassination, Johnson opted to call Robert Kennedy to ask the bereaved brother to remind him the exact language of the constitutional oath of office. In early 1964, despite his personal animosity for the president, Kennedy had tried to force Johnson to accept him as his running mate. Johnson became concerned that Kennedy might use his scheduled speech at the 1964 Democratic Convention to create a groundswell of emotion among the delegates to make him Johnson's running mate so he prevented this by deliberately scheduling Kennedy's speech on the last day of the convention, after his running mate had already been chosen. Johnson chose Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota as his running mate.
The Republican Party was divided in 1964 between its conservative and moderate-liberal factions. Former Vice-President Richard Nixon decided not to run. In his absence Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, was the champion of the conservative wing. Goldwater's chief opponent for the Republican nomination was Nelson Rockefeller, the Governor of New York and the longtime leader of the GOP's liberal-moderate faction.
Initially, Rockefeller was considered the front-runner, ahead of Goldwater. However, in 1963, two years after Rockefeller's divorce from his first wife, he married Margarita "Happy" Murphy, a woman 15 years younger who had just divorced her husband and gave custody of her four children to him. This led to rumors that Rockefeller had been having an extramarital affair with her, which angered many social conservatives and female voters in the GOP. After his remarriage, Rockefeller's lead among Republicans lost 20 points overnight. Senator Prescott Bush of Connecticut, the father of President George H.W. Bush and grandfather of President George W. Bush, was among Rockefeller's critics on this issue: "Have we come to the point in our life as a nation where the governor of a great state-one who perhaps aspires to the nomination for president of the United States-can desert a good wife, mother of his grown children, divorce her, then persuade a young mother of four youngsters to abandon her husband and their four children and marry the governor?"
Goldwater lost the New Hampshire primary to Henry Cabot Lodge, but won the Illinois, Texas, and Indiana primaries with little opposition, and Nebraska's primary after a stiff challenge from a draft-Nixon movement. Goldwater also won a number of state caucuses and gathered even more delegates. Rockefeller won the West Virginia and Oregon primaries against Goldwater, and William Scranton won in his home state of Pennsylvania. Both Rockefeller and Scranton also won several state caucuses, mostly in the Northeast. The two leaders squared off in the California primary. Rockefeller led Goldwater in most opinion polls in California, and he appeared headed for victory when his new wife gave birth to a son, Nelson Rockefeller, Jr., three days before the primary. His son's birth brought the issue of adultery front and center, and Rockefeller suddenly lost ground in the polls. Goldwater won the primary by a narrow 51-49% margin, all but clinching the nomination. In accepting his nomination, Goldwater uttered his most famous phrase: "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
In the election campaign, Goldwater was unable to broaden his base of support. He had alienated many moderate Republicans by his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which Johnson championed and signed into law. The Johnson camp used this to paint Goldwater as a racist despite the fact that Goldwater supported the civil rights cause in general, and voted in favor of the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts. (Ironically, Johnson as then-Senate Majority Leader was strongly opposed to and helped weaken both bills at the time). Goldwater argued that it was a matter for the individual states rather than federal legislation.
Goldwater was famous for speaking "off-the-cuff" at times, and in the early 1960s, Goldwater had called the Eisenhower administration "a dime store New Deal", and Eisenhower never fully forgave him and offered lukewarm support in the election. Many prominent moderate Republicans like Governors Nelson Rockefeller of New York and George Romney of Michigan refused to endorse Goldwater and did not campaign for him.
Fact Magazine published an article polling psychiatrists around the country about Goldwater's sanity. 1,189 psychiatrists appeared to say that Goldwater was "emotionally unstable" and unfit for office, though none of the members had actually interviewed Goldwater. The article received heavy publicity. In a libel suit, Goldwater was ultimately awarded $75 000 in compensation.
A prominent Hollywood celebrity who campaigned for Goldwater was Ronald Reagan. Reagan gave a well-received televised speech supporting Goldwater. It was so popular that Goldwater's advisors had it played on local television stations around the nation. Many consider this speech to mark the beginning of Reagan's transformation from an actor to a political leader. In 1966, Reagan would be elected Governor of California in a landslide.
Johnson positioned himself as a moderate and succeeded in portraying Goldwater as an extremist. Goldwater had a habit of making blunt statements about war, nuclear weapons, and economics that could be turned against him. Most famously, the Johnson campaign broadcast a television commercial on September 7 dubbed the "Daisy Girl" ad, which featured a little girl picking petals from a daisy in a field, counting the petals, which then segues into a launch countdown and a nuclear explosion. Voters increasingly viewed Goldwater as a right wing fringe candidate-his slogan "In your heart, you know he's right" was successfully parodied by the Johnson campaign into "In your guts, you know he's nuts", or "In your heart, you know he might" (as in push the nuclear button). Following is the ad in question:
Click to viewJohnson defeated Goldwater in the general election, winning over 61 percent of the popular vote. Goldwater won his native state of Arizona and five Deep South states. This was the best showing in the South for a GOP candidate since Reconstruction. This was a major transition point for the South. Conversely, Johnson was the first Democrat ever to carry the state of Vermont in a Presidential election.
The Johnson campaign broke two American election records previously held by Franklin Roosevelt: the most number of Electoral Collegiate votes won by a major-party candidate running for the White House for the first time (with 486 to the 472 won by FDR in 1932) and the largest share of the popular vote under the current Democratic/Republican competition (Roosevelt won 60.8% nationwide, Johnson 61.1%). This record was exceeded when Ronald Reagan won 489 votes in 1980. Johnson retains the highest percentage of the popular vote as of the 2020 election.