1968 Presidential Election, Nixon vs. Humphrey vs. Wallace
Hot political issues surrounded this election. Eugene McCarthy from Minnesota almost upset Lyndon B. Johnson in the New Hampshire primary by campaigning against LBJ's Vietnam policies, which caused Johnson to bow out of the race. Humphrey then decided to run. At this point, Robert F. Kennedy threw his hat in the race and was decidedly in the lead when he was assassinated in June, which left Humphrey as the nominee. Nixon had a commanding lead until Humphrey started being critical of Johnson's policies in Vietnam. The war was immensely unpopular with most U.S. citizens by election time and there were extreme racial issues, which outweighed the economic situation at the time. Martin Luther King had been assassinated in April causing black riots. In addition, anti-war demonstrators had brawled with police in Chicago outside of the Democratic convention. Humphrey had too many political obstacles to overcome to beat Nixon who had rallied the American people behind him.