story by Mark W. Buyck, III
In the last several articles, we have described how South Carolina evolved from a solid Democrat state to a swing state in the period following World War II. South Carolina was again a swing state during the 1968 Presidential Election.
1968 was a tumultuous year in US history. It was the deadliest year for Americans fighting in Vietnam and public support for the war was waning. The civil rights movement was at an inflection point as federal courts were desegregating schools all over the country and many blacks were registering for their first Presidential Election following passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, and Robert F. Kennedy was mortally wounded on June 5, 1968, at a victory party after he had just won the California Democrat Presidential Primary.
Most everyone believed that Lyndon Johnson would receive the Democrat nomination and win re-election for a second full term. What they were overlooking, however, was the dissatisfaction with the war in Vietnam, particularly among Democrat voters. On March 12th, LBJ narrowly defeated an anti-war candidate, Senator Eugene McCarthy, in the New Hampshire Democrat primary. Four days later, Senator Robert F. Kennedy entered the race. By the end of March, President Johnson had announced that he would not seek re-election. Senator Hubert Humphrey entered the race after Johnson’s announcement and garnered most of Johnson’s former support. The 1968 Democrat National Convention in Chicago is infamous as thousands of anti-war activists gathered around the convention hall to protest the war. A riot broke out on national television when Chicago police officers beat and bludgeoned protestors. Senator Humphrey was nominated even though he had not contested a single primary.
By the time the Republican Convention met in Miami in early August, it was apparent that Alabama Governor George Wallace would run for President as a third party candidate, just as Strom Thurmond had done 20 years earlier. California Governor Ronald Reagan had actively traveled the country, appealing to Conservatives, particularly in the South and West, but avoided declaring he was a candidate. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller contested several primaries but trailed Nixon by a large margin of delegates.
Reagan made an effort to sway the convention delegates prior to the convention. His main push was with the Southern delegates who approved of his conservative positions. Nixon turned to Strom Thurmond to keep his Southern support in line. Thurmond viewed Nixon as the most electable Republican. His admonishment to Southern delegates was a vote for Reagan is the same as a vote for the liberal Nelson Rockefeller. Nixon’s support held and he was nominated on the first ballot.
Nixon and Thurmond then began concentrating on the general election where Wallace would appear on the ballot and draw Southern conservative support. The general election was hotly contested. Thurmond campaigned throughout the South in support of Nixon. His slogan now became a “Vote for Wallace is a Vote for Humphrey.” Many of the Southern states were viewed as toss-ups between all three candidates. Nixon won a plurality of the vote in South Carolina, getting 254,062 (38.09%) to Wallace’s 215,430 (32.30%). Humphrey was third in the state with 197,486 (29.61%). Nixon carried Florence County by an even narrower margin winning 36.19% of the vote to Humphrey’s 32.79% and Wallace’s 31.02%.
Nixon and Thurmond’s efforts in the South were successful. In addition to South Carolina, Nixon carried Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Wallace won his home state of Alabama and four other deep South states. The only Southern state Humphrey won was LBJ’s home, Texas. The national returns were also very close. Nixon received only 500,000 more votes than Humphrey and received a plurality of 43.4% of the vote to Humphrey’s 42.7%. Nixon narrowly carried Ohio, Illinois, and California and won 301 electoral votes and 32 states.
The transformation of the South from Solid Democrat to reliably Republican in national elections was nearly complete. Beginning with the 1968 election, Republicans would win 5 of 6 Presidential elections. South Carolina would vote for the winning candidate in all 6.
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