This was a very complicated election. President Johnson refused to run again for the presidency, leaving space for a new democratic candidate. This race for the presidency boiled down to foreign policy, especially in Vietnam. Candidates declared their stance on the war and people supported them based off of that. In the beginning of the campaigning season the primary democratic candidates were Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, and Eugene McCarthy who all claimed to be against the war in Vietnam. However shortly after winning California in 1968, Kennedy was assassinated by a Palestinian man who disagreed with his support of Israel, and McCarthy lost in the primaries leaving Humphrey as the final democratic candidate. On the other hand republican Richard Nixon swept all the primaries and ended up as the Humphrey’s opponent. Due to the instability of the Democratic Party the majority of the nation voted republican and in January of 1969 Richard Nixon was sworn into office. Even though the new president was republican, Democrats still controlled both houses of congress. This election was very significant, especially for the future of the Vietnam War. People voted for Nixon due to the division of the democrats, not necessarily because of Nixon’s self-promotion or what he claimed to do for the country. He barely adjusted Johnson’s foreign policy programs, did not really help the economy, and failed to propose any new and significant legislation. Nixon chose to focus on Vietnam though there were many other pressing issues, such as the economy, which badly needed to be addressed. He believed that containment was the best way to deal with communism and therefore supported the expansion of US troops in Vietnam. He believed that defeat in Vietnam would only invite larger problems so he decided to slowly withdraw troops while supporting the South Vietnamese with arms and training so that they would soon be able to fight the Viet Cong by themselves.
Link to President Nixon's first inaugural speech:
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres58.html
Link to President Nixon's first inaugural speech:
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres58.html