How did the vietnam war affect the election of 1968?
1 Answer
It affected it in a number of ways.
Explanation:
Firstly the pressures of the war led Lyndon Johnson to withdraw from seeking or accepting the nomination of the Democratic Party for the election.
Secondly there were violent clashes particularly at the Democratic Convention in Chicago.
Thirdly the race was very close. The Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey looked as though he would win and he had secured an agreement from South Vietnamese President Thieu for a ceasefire. However Nixon, the Republican candidate covertly persuaded Thieu to withdraw from the agreement thus undermining Humphrey's campaign.
Johnson knew of this and spoke to Nixon about it> Nixon denied any wrong doing and Johnson accepted his denials even though he knew he was lying. However he was unwilling to expose him as it would have revealed phone tapping. Nixon duly won by a very narrow margin.
