A Clean Sweep

Teal text on white banners on a light yellow background and an illustration of a donkey

This button is from the 1968 presidential campaign. 1968 was a tumultuous year in American politics. The year was marked by widespread anti-Vietnam War protests and the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King’s assassination caused riots across America. Richard Nixon had the Republican nomination for president, Hubert Humphrey had the Democrat nomination, and George Wallace ran for the Independent Party. Nixon won by less than 1% of the popular vote but swept the Electoral College. His victory marked the end of the New Deal coalition which had maintained power since 1932. It also marked the rise of the “Southern strategy” where Republicans courted the vote of traditionally Democrat-voting Southern states. 1968 was also the last election where a third party candidate captured all the electoral votes of a state.