1964 United States presidential election
The 1964 United States presidential election happened on November 3, 1964. It was between Democrat Lyndon Johnson, President of the United States, and his running mate Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, against Republican Barry Goldwater, a Senator from Arizona, and his running mate, Congressman William Miller of New York.
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 Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Goldwater/Miller, Blue denotes those won by Johnson/Humphrey. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Johnson (his vice president) became president of the United States.
Lyndon Johnson campaigned to continue many of Kennedy's policies and ideas such as civil rights. He supported a series of programs called the "Great Society" to improve the quality of living for poor people which included programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and environmental programs.
Barry Goldwater had the opposite belief that the government should be smaller and he was against government programs. During his campaign, actor Ronald Reagan made a famous speech called "A Time For Choosing" in support of Goldwater. Goldwater, during the campaign, was portrayed as an extremist who condoned the actions of the KKK and would cause nuclear war. His beliefs were radical at the time, but they would later influence many libertarian and conservative politicians.
Lyndon Johnson won the election by a landslide, and this was the last presidential election where Democrats carried any of 8 particular states.
Candidates
Democratic Party
- Democratic candidates:
- Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States from Texas
- George Wallace, governor of Alabama (campaign)
- Pat Brown, governor of California
Candidates gallery
Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona
Ambassador to South Vietnam and former Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. of Massachusetts
Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine
Senator Hiram Fong of Hawaii
former Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota
Congressman John W. Byrnes of Wisconsin's 8th congressional district
Republican Party
- Republican candidates:
- John W. Byrnes, U.S. representative from Wisconsin
- Hiram Fong, U.S. senator from Hawaii
- Barry Goldwater, U.S. senator from Arizona
- Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., former U.S. senator and 1960 vice-presidential nominee from Massachusetts
- Richard Nixon, former vice president and 1960 presidential nominee
- Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor and candidate for the 1960 nomination from New York
- Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. senator from Maine
- William Scranton, governor of Pennsylvania
- Harold E. Stassen, former Minnesota Governor and candidate for the 1944, 1948 and 1952 nominations, running from Pennsylvania
1964 United States Presidential Election Media
President and Mrs. Kennedy in the Dallas motorcade
Democratic Party (United States)
Photo portrait of President Lyndon B. Johnson in the Oval Office, leaning on a chair in black and white.
Hubert Humphrey's vice presidential portrait
Johnson Humphrey 1964 campaign logo
Republican Party (United States)
Photograph shows head-and-shoulders portrait of Goldwater.
Miller in 1964
Goldwater Miller 1964 campaign logo
Photograph of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater in 1960
Full "Daisy" advertisement
