That question – "who ran for president in 1968?" – seems straightforward, right? But man, if you scratch beneath the surface, 1968 was anything but simple. It wasn't just names on a ballot; it was a year that felt like America was tearing itself apart. Vietnam War protests exploding, cities burning after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, Bobby Kennedy gunned down... finding out who ran for president in 1968 is like opening a door to understanding one of the most chaotic chapters in American politics. Let's dig into who threw their hat in the ring and why that race still echoes today.

I remember my history professor calling 1968 the year "the center didn't hold." He wasn't wrong. People were furious, scared, and desperate for change – or, for some, desperate to slam the brakes on it. That desperation fueled the candidates.

The Big Names: Nixon, Humphrey, and Wallace

These were the guys actually competing for electoral votes nationwide. The names most people remember when they think about who ran for president in 1968.

Richard Nixon (Republican)

Yeah, *that* Nixon. After losing to JFK in 1960 and then getting trounced in the California governor's race in 1962 ("You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore"), everyone thought he was done. Shows what they knew. He pulled off this crazy political comeback.

Nixon's whole pitch was about "law and order." Sounds good, right? But in '68, that phrase packed a punch. Cities felt chaotic after riots. Anti-war protests were constant and loud. Nixon tapped into that fear, big time. He wasn't subtle about appealing to the "silent majority" – folks he felt were forgotten by all the shouting and upheaval. He also promised he had a "secret plan" to end the Vietnam War. Spoiler: It wasn't that secret, and the war dragged on for years. Looking back, that promise feels pretty hollow.

Hubert Humphrey (Democratic)

Humphrey was Lyndon Johnson's Vice President. LBJ, drowning in the Vietnam mess, shocked everyone by announcing he wouldn't run for re-election. That threw the door open, and Humphrey stepped in. Poor guy had an impossible job.

He was stuck. The Democratic Party was shattered. Anti-war activists saw him as LBJ's puppet, responsible for the war they hated. They wanted Eugene McCarthy or Bobby Kennedy (until he was killed). The old-school party bosses and labor unions backed Humphrey. Watching him campaign felt painful sometimes. He genuinely believed in progressive causes (he was a civil rights champion way before it was cool), but he couldn't fully break from Johnson's war policy without looking disloyal. That doomed him with the activist wing. His slogan "The Politics of Joy" felt tragically out of touch with the anger in the streets.

George Wallace (American Independent Party)

Now here's where things got really interesting, and frankly, ugly. Wallace wasn't playing for second place in the major parties; he built his *own* party, the American Independent Party (AIP). Wallace was the governor of Alabama, infamous for standing in the schoolhouse door to block integration. His message was pure, unfiltered backlash.

He railed against the federal government "shoving" integration down people's throats. He attacked "pointy-headed intellectuals" who didn't know how real people lived. He promised to crack down hard on protesters. His rallies were intense, sometimes violent. He wasn't subtle – his appeal was explicitly racial and anti-elitist, targeting white working-class voters, particularly in the South but also surprisingly in Northern industrial cities. It worked frighteningly well. He didn't win, but he scared the heck out of Nixon and Humphrey and proved a potent third-party force. You can see echoes of his playbook even now. When people ask who ran for president in 1968, Wallace is the wildcard everyone remembers.

Man, seeing footage of Wallace speeches now is jarring. The anger in the crowds... it feels volatile.

The Ones Who Didn't Make the November Ballot (But Mattered)

The story of who ran for president in 1968 isn't complete without the contenders who shaped the race but fell short of the general election. Their fights defined the atmosphere.

The Democratic Primaries: McCarthy, Kennedy, and the Chaos

The Democratic side was pure, unadulterated drama.

• Eugene McCarthy: This Minnesota Senator was the first brave soul to challenge LBJ directly over Vietnam. He was this quiet, almost poetic intellectual. College kids adored him – they shaved their beards (the "Clean for Gene" movement) and flooded New Hampshire to canvass for him. His surprisingly strong second-place finish there was the shockwave that convinced LBJ to quit. But McCarthy had flaws. He could be aloof, didn't seem to relish the political fight.
• Robert F. Kennedy: Bobby jumped in after McCarthy proved LBJ was vulnerable. He had the magic – charisma, the Kennedy name, a passionate coalition of Black voters, Latinos, working-class whites, and young people. He connected the civil rights struggle, the anti-war movement, and the fight against poverty like no one else. He won Indiana and Nebraska, then the huge prize of California on June 4th. And then... he was assassinated in that hotel kitchen. It's impossible to overstate the gut punch that was. The hope just drained out of the anti-war movement. Would he have beaten Humphrey for the nomination? Many think so. Would he have beaten Nixon? We'll never know. His death fundamentally changed the answer to who ran for president in 1968.

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago became a disaster. Anti-war protesters gathered. Mayor Daley's police responded with brutal violence, live on TV, while inside the convention hall, Humphrey was nominated. It looked chaotic and out of touch. Humphrey was saddled with that image from day one of his general election campaign. The party was broken.

The Republican Primaries: Nixon's Smooth(er) Ride

Compared to the Democrats, the Republicans were a walk in the park for Nixon, but not without bumps.

• Nelson Rockefeller: The liberal Governor of New York. The East Coast establishment favorite. He dithered too long about running, entered late, and couldn't overcome Nixon's delegate lead. His support was concentrated but not broad enough in the GOP of '68.
• Ronald Reagan: The Governor of California was the darling of the rising conservative wing. He challenged Nixon from the right, winning some primaries late (including California). He pushed Nixon to take harder lines on law and order and states' rights. Reagan was testing the waters for his own future.
• George Romney: Michigan's Governor (Mitt's dad). He was an early frontrunner! But then he made a fatal gaffe, saying he'd been "brainwashed" by generals during a trip to Vietnam about the war's progress. That killed his campaign instantly. Politics was brutal then too.

Nixon secured the nomination relatively smoothly by appealing to the party's mainstream and conservative factions, positioning himself as the unity candidate against the backdrop of Democratic chaos.

The Wild Cards & Minor Players: Beyond the Usual Suspects

Seriously, the list of who ran for president in 1968 gets wild. These folks didn't stand a chance, but they reflected the sheer breadth of discontent.

• Eldridge Cleaver (Peace and Freedom Party): The fiery spokesperson for the Black Panthers. His candidacy was a protest against the system itself. He famously said his campaign was "the only one where you won't get fooled again." Radical, controversial, and aimed squarely at highlighting racial injustice and opposition to the war from a revolutionary perspective.
• Dick Gregory (Write-in/Peace and Freedom): The brilliant comedian and civil rights activist. He ran as a write-in candidate focused on peace and civil rights. More symbolic than a serious bid for office, but another voice channeling the desire for radical change.
• Fred Halstead (Socialist Workers Party): Representing the Trotskyist socialist viewpoint, calling for immediate withdrawal from Vietnam and workers' revolution. A tiny but consistent radical presence on the ballot.
• Earle Munn (Prohibition Party): Yep, the Prohibition Party was still around! Focusing on banning alcohol, which felt incredibly out of step with the cultural moment of 1968.
• Henning Blomen (Socialist Labor Party): Another long-standing socialist party candidate, advocating for a different path to socialism than the SWP.

Cleaver on the ballot was something else. It showed just how deep the fractures were. While Nixon, Humphrey, and Wallace battled for the mainstream, Cleaver represented voices completely outside that system.

The Final Countdown: Campaign Strategies and Key Issues

Understanding the dynamics helps explain why the race unfolded as it did.

Nixon's Masterclass in Leveraging Division

Nixon's team was sharp. They saw the chaos on the left (Democrats + Wallace splitting the traditional New Deal coalition) and exploited it ruthlessly.

• The Southern Strategy: This wasn't invented in '68, but Nixon perfected it. He signaled opposition to busing and federal enforcement of integration, appealing to white Southerners furious over Civil Rights Act/Voting Rights Act. He didn't need to be as crude as Wallace; subtle nods worked. Wallace scared voters in the North, Nixon offered a more "respectable" alternative for those uncomfortable with Wallace's extremism but uneasy with integration and unrest. It was cynical and brilliant.
• Law and Order: Constant refrain. Ads showed scenes of riots and protests. Nixon promised to restore peace, implicitly blaming liberal policies for the chaos.
• The Silent Majority: Painting his supporters as the decent, hardworking Americans drowned out by vocal minorities and elite media.

Humphrey's Impossible Balancing Act

Humphrey was campaigning with one hand tied behind his back until late September.

• Tied to LBJ: He couldn't fully repudiate Vietnam without alienating the party establishment and LBJ himself. Only in late September did he break somewhat, calling for a bombing halt. It helped him surge, but was it too late?
• Chicago's Shadow: The images of police brutality at the convention he was nominated at haunted him. He struggled to unite the fractured party – the unions and old guard vs. the furious anti-war youth and liberals.
• The Economy & Great Society: He emphasized continuing Johnson's social programs and strong economic management, but Vietnam overshadowed everything.

Wallace: Channeling the Backlash

Wallace wasn't trying to win 50%+1. He was aiming to win enough states to throw the election to the House of Representatives, where he could broker deals. Spoiler was his goal.

• States' Rights & Racial Resentment: This was the core. Opposition to federal desegregation efforts, busing, and civil rights legislation. Coded, and often not-so-coded, racial appeals.
• Populist Anger: Railing against Washington bureaucrats, judges, and intellectuals. "Stand up for America!" was a powerful call to white working-class voters feeling left behind economically and culturally.
• Law and Order (Extreme Version): Promising to crack down harshly on protesters, criminals, and "anarchists."

The Results: A Narrow Win, A Lasting Legacy

So, who actually won after all this?

A few things jump out:

1. Incredibly Close Popular Vote: Nixon only beat Humphrey by about half a million votes nationally – less than 1%. Wallace took a massive chunk.
2. Electoral College Margin: Nixon dominated the electoral college, winning comfortably despite the slim popular vote margin. Winning big states like California, Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey sealed it.
3. Wallace's Impact: 13.5% nationally and 46 electoral votes! He permanently reshaped the Deep South, winning five states that had been solidly Democratic for generations. Without Wallace, many of his votes would likely have gone to Humphrey, potentially changing the outcome.
4. Humphrey's Late Surge: He closed a huge gap late in the campaign after breaking with LBJ on Vietnam. If the campaign had been a week or two longer... who knows?

The legacy is huge. Nixon's victory ushered in an era of Republican dominance (with a Watergate-shaped interruption). It cemented the Southern Strategy, realigning the South from Democratic to Republican for decades. Wallace showed the potency of white populist resentment and racial backlash in national politics. The Democratic Party was fundamentally transformed by the chaos of '68, leading to major reforms in how nominees were chosen (more primaries, less boss control). When someone asks who ran for president in 1968, the answers explain a lot about the political landscape we still live in. That year broke something, and it never quite got put back together the same way. Wallace's voters didn't disappear; their concerns got absorbed and repackaged within the major parties. The "law and order" theme? Still potent.

Why Does Knowing Who Ran for President in 1968 Still Matter?

It's not just trivia. Understanding who ran for president in 1968 gives you a roadmap for modern politics.

• The Blue Wall Cracks: Wallace's success showed cracks in the Democrats' "Solid South" that Nixon exploited and Reagan later cemented into a Republican stronghold.
• Third-Party Spoilers: Wallace proved a strong third-party candidate could fundamentally alter the outcome (see Perot '92, arguably Nader '00). It makes strategists sweat.
• The Power of Backlash: Wallace tapped into white, working-class resentment over cultural change and perceived loss of status – sentiments that continue to drive significant voting blocs.
• "Law and Order" as a Winning Message: Nixon proved the electoral power of this theme during social unrest. It remains a core Republican strategy.
• Party Realignment: 1968 was a pivotal moment in the decades-long shift of the South from Democrat to Republican and the transformation of the Democratic Party's base.
• The Primary System Revolution: The chaotic Democratic process led directly to the McGovern-Fraser Commission reforms, making primaries the dominant way nominees are chosen, diminishing party boss control.

It's eerie sometimes how familiar it feels. The deep divisions, the anger at institutions, the racial tensions, the populist fury... 1968 wasn't the start of it all, but it was a massive, ugly explosion that still shapes the political fault lines. Knowing who ran isn't just about names; it's about understanding why American politics looks the way it does today.

Frequently Asked Questions About the 1968 Election

So, there it is. Figuring out who ran for president in 1968 is way more than memorizing Nixon, Humphrey, and Wallace. It's about a country at war with itself, a political system cracking under pressure, and choices that still ripple through our politics half a century later. It was messy, painful, and incredibly consequential. Understanding it helps make sense of the arguments we're still having today. What a year.