US Democrats in 1968

Question 1

What happened to the democrats in 1968? How did a party, which won landslide in 1964, lose to a once battered republican party?

The democrats in the USA presidential elections lost to the republicans by a large margin where the president Nixon was selected president after the withdrawal of the president Johnson from the office of the president.

The democrats won the 1964 presidential elections by a landslide that has been a record in the history of the United States. Nearly all the population supported the subsequent selection of the president Johnson (Phillips, 2002). The overall social atmosphere of the USA in that time was tumultuous and Vietnam War was strongly criticized by the citizens of America. The black power movement and the rise of the hippie counter culture had a significant impact on the American way of living and this created the social disturbances that eroded the power base for the democrats. The assassination of the Martin Luther King Jr. who was a popular figure in the civil rights movement and the assassination of the Robert Kennedy who was the democratic candidate for presidency was the final incident that sealed the fate of the democrats in the elections.

Question 2

Describe the republican comeback after the 1964 debacle. Who led the way in 1966 and 1968?

The republican candidate Barry Goldwater lost the landslide against the president in 44 stated where Johnson got 486 votes. This created the largest democrat majority in the house but also led to a movement that helped the republicans regain their lost footing. The Goldwater inspired conservatives’ movement allowed the republicans to gain back 47 seats in the house, 4 seats in the senate and 8 governorships from the democrats in 1966 (McDougall, 1985).

The black power movement that was used by the black priests who led the way of the reform used biblical references to inspire the African American population to fight back against white oppression in America, leaders like the Martin Luther King Jr and Abernathy led the way to the black civil rights movement that upset the social balance at that time and had significant role in the democrat’s fall in the 1968 elections.

Question 3

Why is the rise of Ronald Regan important in the 1960s? Chart is career in California to 1968.

The rise of Ronald Reagan in the 1960s is important as his image of being on the conservatives camp and the as an embodiment of being the American good boy image that helped him in his career as a politician (Kuklick, 2009). His transformation from an actor to a politician was also achieved in this period and his rise in popularity in the California is the most important change in his life. The rising support of him among the conservatives’ camp that was Goldwater inspired was also a mentionable fact that helped in the staircase to his rise to presidency.

His career as an actor began in 1937 but his popularity began to rise in the 1942 movie kings row. His career in military as a second lieutenant in cavalry began in the 1937. Later after WW2, he became a member of the screen actors’ guild and thus began his rise in popularity. He entered the mainstream politics in 1962 as he finally moved to the republican camp and in 1964 became the most popular speaker in the Goldwater inspired conservatives camp. He became the governor of California in 1967 that paved the path to presidency.

 

Question 4

Explain the success of George Wallace in building a credible third party campaign in 1968.

George Wallace ran as a presidential candidate for the American independent party in 1968 that had no real chance of winning the elections. His pro-segregation policies had the support of the rural southerners who were believers in the segregation (Abraham, 1974). His support was from the one region only which he hoped to use to influence strongly in the representatives that would be the case if he managed to stop any other candidates from gaining a majority. The Deep South states supported him in the first but the success was limited as Nixon managed to sway many southerners to vote for him in the interest of not letting Humphrey win the elections that would have led to more disturbance and anti-war movements. The assassination of Martin Luther King and the subsequent riots and black activists were what led to the success of Wallace in running a successful third party campaign.