Nixon:
Tricky Dicky:
Background:
• Had gotten a scholarship to Harvard but he could not afford it
• Mother ignored him as a child and had an affair
• Grew up in California- no president had ever been from California before-
ambitious
• Bad with the media
• Poorer background- distrust amongst the wealthy elite
Politics:
• Part of HUAC
• Prosecute Alger Hiss (spy scandals)- makes his name
• Vice President for Eisenhower
• Good will ambassador- experience in foreign policy
• Had originally wanted to continue fighting in the Korean War
• Seen as a white-collar McCarthy
• Checkers speech and the slushy funds
• Attacked political opponents
• Accused political opponent of communism
• Due to Eisenhower's illnesses had sometimes had to act/ stand in as the
president so was experienced
• Accused of fraud in 1956
• Kitchen debate in 1959
,• Had not allowed Eisenhower to campaign for him
• Too ill for the TV debate- attempted to got to all 50 states rather than just the
swing states
• Lost to Kennedy in the 1960 election
• Had not contested to Kennedys win despite electoral fraud of 100,000 votes +
in Illinois, Chicago, Texas
• Nixon was republican
,Did Nixon win or the democrats lose the 1968 election?
• Middle America- average person (worried of violence, riots, Vietnam)
George Wallace:
• - Governor of Alabama
• Segregationist
• University of Alabama
• Denying access to African Americans in the doorway
Democrats
Left Right
• Liberal • Selma- refused protection
• Gains strength • Southern democrats
• Antiwar • Drift towards the republican
• Doves party
• Johnson less inclined towards • Continue with war
the Vietnam war • Harks
• Bobby Kennedy- refused to be • Problem for Johnson- tainted
senator as does not want to split by Vietnam
the party
• Go to Eugene McCarthy
(obscure) and ask him to win the
nomination for democrats. Ran
Johnson close
Key Issues:
• Divisions within the Democratic party
• 1968 Democratic party convention in Chicago
, • Dissatisfaction over Vietnam
• The battle for ‘middle America’
• George Wallace running as an independent
Divisions within the Democratic Party:
• McCarthy Vs Johnson:
• Late 1967- Democrat Liberals within the party wanted a democrat candidate to
challenge Johnson for the presidency in 1968
• New York Senator Bobby Kennedy turned them down for fear of dividing the
party. Bobby Kennedy had turned publicly against the Vietnam war in May 1965
• The liberals within the democratic party persuade Minnesota Senator Eugene
McCarthy to stand against Johnson
• He was an intellectual who appealed to college students
• He ran Johnson close in the New Hampshire Primary in 1968
• This persuaded Johnson not to seek re-election and tempted Bobby Kennedy
to seek nomination
McCarthy vs Kennedy:
McCarthy Kennedy
-January 1968, liberals -Kennedys friend Arthur Schlesinger Jr told him if he ran, he would
persuaded anti-war be criticized. Declared his candidacy on 16th March 1968
Minnesota Senator -Many of the less privileged thought he developed a unique
Eugene McCarthy to run empathy with them and their suffering. African American Kenneth
against Johnson Clark saying that he had grown. Kennedys support of the striking
-Appealed to college Mexican American farmworkers in California impressed their
student who campaigned leader Cesar Chavez and his assistant Dolores Huerta said that
for McCarthy in the
Tricky Dicky:
Background:
• Had gotten a scholarship to Harvard but he could not afford it
• Mother ignored him as a child and had an affair
• Grew up in California- no president had ever been from California before-
ambitious
• Bad with the media
• Poorer background- distrust amongst the wealthy elite
Politics:
• Part of HUAC
• Prosecute Alger Hiss (spy scandals)- makes his name
• Vice President for Eisenhower
• Good will ambassador- experience in foreign policy
• Had originally wanted to continue fighting in the Korean War
• Seen as a white-collar McCarthy
• Checkers speech and the slushy funds
• Attacked political opponents
• Accused political opponent of communism
• Due to Eisenhower's illnesses had sometimes had to act/ stand in as the
president so was experienced
• Accused of fraud in 1956
• Kitchen debate in 1959
,• Had not allowed Eisenhower to campaign for him
• Too ill for the TV debate- attempted to got to all 50 states rather than just the
swing states
• Lost to Kennedy in the 1960 election
• Had not contested to Kennedys win despite electoral fraud of 100,000 votes +
in Illinois, Chicago, Texas
• Nixon was republican
,Did Nixon win or the democrats lose the 1968 election?
• Middle America- average person (worried of violence, riots, Vietnam)
George Wallace:
• - Governor of Alabama
• Segregationist
• University of Alabama
• Denying access to African Americans in the doorway
Democrats
Left Right
• Liberal • Selma- refused protection
• Gains strength • Southern democrats
• Antiwar • Drift towards the republican
• Doves party
• Johnson less inclined towards • Continue with war
the Vietnam war • Harks
• Bobby Kennedy- refused to be • Problem for Johnson- tainted
senator as does not want to split by Vietnam
the party
• Go to Eugene McCarthy
(obscure) and ask him to win the
nomination for democrats. Ran
Johnson close
Key Issues:
• Divisions within the Democratic party
• 1968 Democratic party convention in Chicago
, • Dissatisfaction over Vietnam
• The battle for ‘middle America’
• George Wallace running as an independent
Divisions within the Democratic Party:
• McCarthy Vs Johnson:
• Late 1967- Democrat Liberals within the party wanted a democrat candidate to
challenge Johnson for the presidency in 1968
• New York Senator Bobby Kennedy turned them down for fear of dividing the
party. Bobby Kennedy had turned publicly against the Vietnam war in May 1965
• The liberals within the democratic party persuade Minnesota Senator Eugene
McCarthy to stand against Johnson
• He was an intellectual who appealed to college students
• He ran Johnson close in the New Hampshire Primary in 1968
• This persuaded Johnson not to seek re-election and tempted Bobby Kennedy
to seek nomination
McCarthy vs Kennedy:
McCarthy Kennedy
-January 1968, liberals -Kennedys friend Arthur Schlesinger Jr told him if he ran, he would
persuaded anti-war be criticized. Declared his candidacy on 16th March 1968
Minnesota Senator -Many of the less privileged thought he developed a unique
Eugene McCarthy to run empathy with them and their suffering. African American Kenneth
against Johnson Clark saying that he had grown. Kennedys support of the striking
-Appealed to college Mexican American farmworkers in California impressed their
student who campaigned leader Cesar Chavez and his assistant Dolores Huerta said that
for McCarthy in the
