Richard Nixon

== 1968 presidential campaign ==
{{Main|Richard Nixon 1968 presidential campaign|1968 United States presidential election}}
[[File:Lyndon Johnson Richard Nixon 1968.jpg|thumb|Nixon and President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] meet at the [[White House]] prior to Nixon's nomination in July 1968]]
[[File:NIXONcampaigns.jpg|thumb|Nixon campaigning for president in [[Paoli, Pennsylvania]], July 1968]]
[[File:ElectoralCollege1968.svg|thumb|[[1968 United States presidential election|1968 electoral vote]] results; the popular vote split between Nixon and Democrat [[Hubert Humphrey]] was less than one percentage point.]]
At the end of 1967, Nixon told his family he planned to run for president a second time. Pat Nixon did not always enjoy public life,{{sfn|Parmet|p=502}} being embarrassed, for example, by the need to reveal how little the family owned in the Checkers speech.{{sfn|Morris|pp=410–411}} She still managed to be supportive of her husband's ambitions. Nixon believed that with the Democrats torn over the issue of the [[Vietnam War]], a Republican had a good chance of winning, although he expected the election to be as close as in 1960.{{sfn|Parmet|p=502}}

An exceptionally tumultuous [[primary election]] season began as the [[Tet Offensive]] was launched in January 1968. President Johnson withdrew as a candidate in March, after an unexpectedly poor showing in the New Hampshire primary. In June, Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]], a Democratic candidate, [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|was assassinated]] just moments after his victory in the California primary. On the Republican side, Nixon's main opposition was Michigan Governor [[George W. Romney|George Romney]], though New York Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]] and California Governor [[Ronald Reagan]] each hoped to be nominated in a [[brokered convention]]. Nixon secured the nomination on the first ballot.{{sfn|Parmet|pp=503–508}} He was able to secure the nomination to the support of many Southern delegates, after he and his subordinates made concessions to [[Strom Thurmond]] and [[Harry S. Dent Sr.|Harry Dent]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Perlstein |first=Rick |author-link=Rick Perlstein |date=2008 |title=Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America |url= |location=New York |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]] |pages=295–303 |isbn=978-0-7432-4302-5}}</ref> He selected Maryland Governor [[Spiro Agnew]] as his running mate, a choice which Nixon believed would unite the party, appealing both to Northern moderates and to Southerners disaffected with the Democrats.{{sfn|Parmet|p=509}}

Nixon's Democratic opponent in the general election was Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]], who was nominated at [[1968 Democratic National Convention|a convention]] marked [[1968 Democratic National Convention protest activity|by violent protests]].{{sfn|Nixon Library, President}} Throughout the campaign, Nixon portrayed himself as a figure of stability during this period of national unrest and upheaval.{{sfn|Nixon Library, President}} He appealed to what he later called the "[[silent majority]]" of [[socially conservative]] Americans who disliked the [[counterculture of the 1960s|hippie counterculture]] and the [[Opposition to the Vietnam War|anti-war]] demonstrators. Agnew became an increasingly vocal critic of these groups, solidifying Nixon's position with the right.{{sfn|Morrow|1996-09-30}}

Nixon waged a prominent television advertising campaign, meeting with supporters in front of cameras.{{sfn|Black|pp=513–514}} He stressed that the crime rate was too high, and attacked what he perceived as a surrender of the United States' nuclear superiority by the Democrats.{{sfn|Black|p=550}} Nixon promised "[[peace with honor]]" in the Vietnam War and proclaimed that "new leadership will end the war and win the peace in the Pacific".{{sfn|Schulzinger|p=413}} He did not give specifics of how he hoped to end the war, resulting in media intimations that he must have a "secret plan".{{sfn|Schulzinger|p=413}} His slogan of "Nixon's the One" proved to be effective.{{sfn|Black|pp=513–514}}

Johnson's negotiators hoped to reach a truce in Vietnam, or at least a cessation of bombings. On October 22, 1968, candidate Nixon received information that Johnson was preparing a so-called "[[October surprise]]", abandoning three non-negotiable conditions for a bombing halt, to help elect Humphrey in the last days of the campaign.<ref name=Monkey-Wrench>{{cite web|url=https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2017/06/misunderstanding-a-monkey-wrench/|title=Misunderstanding a Monkey Wrench|website=Richard Nixon Foundation|access-date=November 12, 2017|date=June 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606192751/https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2017/06/misunderstanding-a-monkey-wrench/|archive-date=June 6, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Whether the Nixon campaign interfered with negotiations between the Johnson administration and the South Vietnamese by engaging [[Anna Chennault]], a fundraiser for the Republican party, remains a controversy.<ref name=Monkey-Wrench/> It is not clear whether the government of South Vietnam needed encouragement to opt out of a peace process they considered disadvantageous.<ref name=New-York-Times-Peter-Baker-January-2-2017>[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/us/politics/nixon-tried-to-spoil-johnsons-vietnam-peace-talks-in-68-notes-show.html?_r=0 Nixon Tried to Spoil Johnson's Vietnam Peace Talks in '68, Notes Show] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307110433/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/us/politics/nixon-tried-to-spoil-johnsons-vietnam-peace-talks-in-68-notes-show.html?_r=0 |date=March 7, 2017}}, ''The New York Times'', Politics Section, Peter Baker, January 2, 2017. See also [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/31/opinion/sunday/haldeman-notes.html H.R. Haldeman's Notes from Oct. 22, 1968] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205221138/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/31/opinion/sunday/haldeman-notes.html |date=February 5, 2017}}, ''The New York Times'', December 31, 2016, which reprints four pages of Haldeman's notes.</ref>

In a three-way race between Nixon, Humphrey, and [[American Independent Party]] candidate [[George Wallace]], Nixon defeated Humphrey by only 500,000 votes, a margin almost as close as in 1960, with both elections seeing a gap of less than one percentage point of the popular vote. However, Nixon earned 301 electoral votes to 191 for Humphrey and 46 for Wallace, a majority.{{sfn|Nixon Library, President}}{{sfn|Black|p=558}} He became the first non-incumbent vice president to be elected president.<ref name="Azari">{{Cite news |last=Azari |first=Julia |date=August 20, 2020 |title=Biden Had To Fight For The Presidential Nomination. But Most VPs Have To. |work=FiveThirtyEight |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/biden-had-to-fight-for-the-presidential-nomination-but-most-vps-have-to/}}</ref> In his victory speech, Nixon pledged that his administration would try to [[Bring Us Together|bring the divided nation together]].{{sfn|Evans & Novak|pp=33–34}} Nixon said: "I have received a very gracious message from the Vice President, congratulating me for winning the election. I congratulated him for his gallant and courageous fight against great odds. I also told him that I know exactly how he felt. I know how it feels to [[1960 United States presidential election|lose a close one]]."{{sfn|UPI 1968 in Review}}