1968 United States presidential election

===Republican Convention===
{{Main|1968 Republican National Convention}}
{{See also|1968 Miami riot}}
As the [[1968 Republican National Convention]] opened on August 5 in [[Miami Beach, Florida]], the [[Associated Press]] estimated that Nixon had 656 delegate votes – 11 short of the number he needed to win the nomination. Reagan and Rockefeller were his only remaining opponents and they planned to unite their forces in a "stop-Nixon" movement.

Because Goldwater had done well in the [[Deep South]], delegates to the [[1968 Republican National Convention]] included more Southern conservatives than in past conventions. There seemed potential for the conservative Reagan to be nominated if no victor emerged on the first ballot. Nixon narrowly secured the nomination on the first ballot, with the aid of South Carolina Senator [[Strom Thurmond]], who had switched parties in 1964.{{sfn|Perlstein|2008}}{{page needed|date=March 2013}} He selected [[dark horse]] Maryland Governor [[Spiro Agnew]] as his running mate, a choice which Nixon believed would unite the party, appealing to both Northern moderates and Southerners disaffected with the Democrats.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1968/1968-Presidential-Election/12303153093431-2/ | title=1968 Year In Review | publisher=UPI | access-date=June 17, 2010}}</ref> Nixon's first choice for running mate was reportedly his longtime friend and ally [[Robert Finch (American politician)|Robert Finch]], who was the [[Lieutenant Governor of California]] at the time. Finch declined that offer, but later accepted an appointment as the [[United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare|Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare]] in Nixon's administration. With Vietnam a key issue, Nixon had strongly considered tapping his 1960 running mate, [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]], a former U.S. senator, ambassador to the UN, and ambassador twice to [[South Vietnam]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+The Republican Convention Tally<ref>{{cite web|url=https://presidentialcampaignselectionsreference.wordpress.com/overviews/20th-century/1968-overview/ |title=1968 &#124; Presidential Campaigns & Elections Reference |publisher=Presidentialcampaignselectionsreference.wordpress.com |date= 2011-07-05|access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref>
|-
! President !! (before switches) !! (after switches)!! Vice President !! Vice-Presidential votes
|-
![[Richard Nixon]] !!692!!1238!! [[Spiro Agnew]] !!1119
|-
![[Nelson Rockefeller]] !!277!!93!! [[George W. Romney]] !!186
|-
![[Ronald Reagan]]!!182!!2!![[John V. Lindsay]] !!10
|-
![[Ohio]] governor [[James A. Rhodes]]!!55!!—!![[Massachusetts]] senator [[Edward Brooke]]!!1
|-
![[Michigan]] governor [[George W. Romney]]!!50!!—!![[James A. Rhodes]]!!1
|-
![[New Jersey]] senator [[Clifford Case]]!!22!!—!! not voting !!16
|-
![[Kansas]] senator [[Frank Carlson]] !!20!!—!!—!!
|-
![[Arkansas]] governor [[Winthrop Rockefeller]] !!18!!—!!—!!
|-
![[Hawaii]] senator [[Hiram Fong]] !!14!!—!!—!!
|-
![[Harold Stassen]]!!2!!—!!—!!
|-
!New York City mayor [[John V. Lindsay]]!!1!!—!!—!!
|}

As of the 2020 presidential election, 1968 was the last time that two siblings (Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller) ran against each other in a [[United States presidential primary|presidential primary]].