U.S. presidential election, 1964

The U.S. presidential election of 1964 occurred in the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Supporters were saddened by the loss of the charismatic president, while opposition candidates were in the awkward situation of running against the policies of a slain president.

General election

Campaign

Although Goldwater had been successful in rallying conservatives, his charisma seemed to be inadequate for the general election. Shortly before the Republican convention, he had alienated some Republicans by his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which Johnson championed and signed into law. Goldwater argued that it was a matter for the individual states rather than federal legislation. Earlier comments followed Goldwater throughout his campaign. Once he called the Eisenhower administration "a dime store New Deal," and the former president never fully forgave him. In December 1961, he told a news conference that "sometimes I think this country would be better off if we could just saw off the Eastern Seaboard and let it float out to sea." That comment came back to haunt him, in the form of a Johnson television commercial, as did remarks about making Social Security voluntary and selling the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Related Topics:
General election - Republican convention - Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Law - Legislation - Eisenhower - Dime store - New Deal - December - 1961 - Conference - Eastern Seaboard - Television commercial - Social Security - Tennessee Valley Authority

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Eisenhower?s strong backing could have been an asset to the Goldwater campaign, but instead its absence was clearly noticed. When questioned about the Presidential capabilities of Milton S. Eisenhower in July of 1964, Goldwater replied "One Eisenhower in a generation is enough". The former president did, however, agree to appear in one Goldwater television advertisement.

Related Topics:
Milton S. Eisenhower - Advertisement

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Johnson positioned himself as a moderate, and succeeded in portraying Goldwater as an extremist. Goldwater had a habit of making blunt statements about war, nuclear weapons, and economics that could be turned against him. Most famously, the Johnson campaign broadcast a television commercial dubbed the "Daisy Girl" ad, which featured a little girl picking petals from a daisy in a field, counting the petals, which then segues into a launch countdown and a nuclear explosion. The ads were in response to Goldwater's advocacy of "tactical" nuclear weapons use in Vietnam. Another Johnson ad, "Confessions of a Republican", tied Goldwater to the Ku Klux Klan. Voters increasingly viewed Goldwater as a right wing fringe candidate -- his slogan "In your heart, you know he's right" was successfully parodied by the Johnson campaign into "In your guts, you know he's nuts," or "In your heart, you know he might."

Related Topics:
War - Nuclear weapons - Economics - Television - "Daisy Girl" - Launch - Countdown - Vietnam - Ku Klux Klan - Right wing

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The Johnson campaign's greatest concern may have been voter complacency leading to low turnout in key states. To counter this, all of Johnson's broadcast ads concluded with the line: "Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home."

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Related Topics:
October 20 - 1964 - Herbert Hoover - Iowa

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The election was held on November 3, 1964. Johnson crushed Goldwater in the general election, winning over 61 percent of the popular vote, the largest percentage ever recorded (i.e. since the 1824 election). In the end, Goldwater won only his native state of Arizona and five Deep South states that had been increasingly alienated by Democratic civil rights policies. Because states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia had not voted Republican in any presidential election since Reconstruction, this was a major transition point for the South, and an important step in the process by which the Democrats' former "Solid South" became a Republican bastion.

Related Topics:
November 3 - 1964 - 1824 election - Arizona - Deep South - Mississippi - Alabama - Georgia - Reconstruction - Solid South

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Results

Source (Popular Vote): {{Leip PV source 2| year=1964| as of=August 7, 2005}}

Related Topics:
August 7 - 2005

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Source (Electoral Vote): {{National Archives EV source| year=1964| as of=August 7, 2005}}

Related Topics:
August 7 - 2005

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