1964 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
1964 Democratic Party presidential primaries
← 1960 March 10 to June 2, 1964 1968 →
 
Candidate Lyndon B. Johnson George Wallace
Home state Texas Alabama
Contests won 9[a] 0
Popular vote 1,106,999[b] 672,984
Percentage 17.8%[c] 10.8%
Gold denotes a state won by Daniel Brewster. Purple denotes a state won by Pat Brown. Green denotes a state won by Lyndon B. Johnson. Blue denotes a state won by Albert S. Porter. Orange denotes a state won by Jennings Randolph. Brown denotes a state won by John W. Reynolds. Pink denotes a state won by Matthew E. Welsh. Black denotes a state won by unpledged delegates. Grey denotes a state that did not hold a primary.
Previous Democratic nominee

John F. Kennedy

 Democratic nominee

Lyndon B. Johnson

From March 10 to June 2, 1964, voters of the

Atlantic City, New Jersey
.

Primary race

Johnson became

presidential primaries for the Democratic Party, Johnson faced no real opposition, yet he insisted until near the time of the Democratic National Convention that he remained undecided about seeking a full term. Johnson's supporters in the sixteen primary states and Washington, D.C. thus ran write-in campaigns or had favorite son
candidates run in Johnson's place.

Only two potential candidates threatened Johnson's attempts to unite the party. The first was Governor

1968 third-party run. The other potential contender was Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who polls showed was a heavy favorite to be Johnson's running mate. Johnson and Kennedy disliked one another intensely, and although Johnson worried he might need Kennedy to defeat a moderate Republican
ticket, he ultimately announced that none of his cabinet members would be selected as his running mate.

As the 1964 nomination was considered a foregone conclusion, the primaries received little press attention outside of Wallace's entry into the race. Despite threats of an independent run in the

1964 Democratic Convention
and went on to win a landslide election against Goldwater in November.

Background

George Wallace (center left) and the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, blocking integration at the University of Alabama.

The goodwill generated by the assassination of Kennedy incident gave Johnson tremendous popularity. He enjoyed strong support against the bitterly divided Republicans; polls in January 1964 showed him leading Republican challengers

War on Poverty".[4]

Despite condemnation from media outlets — in 1965, when reporter Theodore H. White published The Making of the President, 1964, he referred to Wallace as a "narrow-minded, grotesquely provincial man"

Black Power movement further heightened the tension on which Wallace was able to capitalize.[7] Wallace's connection with the alienated workingman would later manifest itself in the concept of the so-called "silent majority".[8]

Primaries

Timeline:[9]
Date State(s)
March 10 New Hampshire
April 7 Wisconsin
April 14 Illinois
April 21 New Jersey
April 28 Massachusetts
May 2 Texas1
May 5 District of Columbia, Indiana, Ohio
May 12 Nebraska, West Virginia
May 15 Oregon
May 19 Maryland
May 26 Florida
June 2 California, North Dakota
1 No primary was authorized on the Democratic side;
the Republicans held their primary as scheduled.[9]

At the time, the transition from traditional party conventions to the modern

struggled to find a candidate and the protests of African Americans over civil rights, the Democratic primaries received relatively scant national attention outside Wallace's entry into the race.[11]

Although Johnson faced no real opposition for the Democratic nomination, a plan had been hatched by a number of southerners to run

third-party run in 1968 would have a similar premise, aiming not to win but to force one of the two major parties to make concessions, and nearly succeeded in throwing the election.[14]

The "Bobby problem"

Robert F. Kennedy

Johnson faced pressure from some within the Democratic Party to name

New Hampshire primary. This movement gained momentum after Governor John W. King's endorsement and infuriated Johnson. Kennedy received 25,094 votes for vice president in New Hampshire, far surpassing Hubert Humphrey, the next highest name and eventual nominee.[16]

The potential need for a Johnson–Kennedy ticket was ultimately eliminated by the Republican nomination of conservative Barry Goldwater. With Goldwater as his opponent, Johnson's choice of vice president was all but irrelevant; opinion polls had revealed that, while Kennedy was an overwhelming first choice among Democrats, any choice made less than a 2% difference in a general election that already promised to be a landslide. When attempts to ease Kennedy out of the running failed, Johnson searched for a way to eliminate him with minimal party discord, and eventually announced that none of his cabinet members would be considered for the position. Kennedy instead mounted a successful run for United States Senate in New York.[17]

Wisconsin

Governor John W. Reynolds ran in Johnson's place in Wisconsin.

Wallace had hinted at a possible run numerous times, telling one reporter, "If I ran outside the South and got 10%, it would be a victory. It would shake their eyeteeth in Washington."

John W. Reynolds, was asked about the prospect of a Wallace run, he jocularly deferred all questions to Dolores Herbstreith, which gave the Herbstreiths newfound publicity and easily allowed them to beat the March 6 filing deadline.[19] On the day of the deadline, Wallace returned to Wisconsin to announce his candidacy, the Confederate flags and "Stand Up For Alabama" slogan on his airplane replaced with American flags and "Stand Up For America".[20]

Reynolds continued to dismiss Wallace's candidacy, which was denounced by media outlets, clergy, trade unions such as the

AFL–CIO, and even Wallace's own party. According to J. Louis Hanson, chair of the state Democratic Party, "Given the state election laws in Wisconsin, any kook—and I consider him a kook—can cause trouble. This man is being supported by extreme right-wing elements who are probably kookier than he is."[21] In an attempt to drum up support for his own cause, Reynolds told a group of supporters at one point that it would be a catastrophe if Wallace received 100,000 votes. Wallace went on to receive 266,000 votes, or one-third of the 780,000 Democratic votes cast, and would later observe that "there must have been three catastrophes in Wisconsin."[22]

Wallace's strong showing was due in part to his appeal to ethnic neighborhoods made up of immigrants from countries such as

the 1980s."[25]

Indiana

Wallace support among Democratic voters in Indiana, from the bottom quartile (lightest) to the top (darkest).[26]

Wallace next appeared on the ballot in

closed primary which technically allowed Republicans to vote for Wallace but required them to sign an affidavit that they would vote for the Democrat in the general election.[30]

As Wallace excoriated what he called "sweeping federal encroachment" on the gradual process of desegregation, described the Civil Rights Act as a "back-door open-occupancy bill", and appeared alongside a popular Catholic bishop in support of a constitutional amendment to allow

Indiana World War Memorial.[32]

Wallace received nearly 30% of the vote, below some expectations but nonetheless startling given the level of opposition.[12][33] The total was 376,023 to 172,646 votes — Wallace's worst showing in any state.[34]

In an article in The British Journal of Sociology, Michael Rogin observed a heavy correlation between significant

Jewish vote.[35] He also found a Bible Belt of moderate-sized cities running through central Indiana where, despite a negligible black population, Wallace similarly dominated the Fundamentalist Christian white vote.[36]

Maryland

Senator Daniel Brewster ran in Johnson's place in Maryland.

Racially polarized Maryland was Wallace's best showing. There the Johnson supporters struggled to find a suitable candidate after Governor

Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. who was the father of future Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and then-City Council President Thomas D'Alesandro III who went onto become Mayor as well in 1967 and campaigned himself in the Italian wards of Baltimore on Brewster's behalf.[39]

Although race played a significant factor in Wallace's support elsewhere,[7] his strength in Maryland came from the galvanized Eastern Shore, where some estimates put his support among whites as high as 90%. Riots in Cambridge had erupted over the repeal of an equal access law, and as the rioters clashed with the National Guard, civil rights leader Gloria Richardson led peaceful demonstrations against the measure.[40] At the behest of aid Bill Jones, Wallace reluctantly kept a speaking engagement in Cambridge, where he was confronted by some 500 black protesters. When a baby was thought to have died from the tear gas used by police, it seemed a public relations disaster to the Wallace campaign, but the coroner's report concluded the baby had died of a congenital heart defect. Opponents nonetheless attempted to use the incident and the neo-Nazi National States' Rights Party's description of Wallace as the "last chance for the white voter" against him, but Wallace continued to gain momentum, and The Baltimore Sun observed the distinct possibility that he would win the state.[38][39]

With voter turnout up by 40%, nearly 500,000 votes were cast, of which Brewster received 53% to Wallace's 43%. Wallace, who won outright among white voters, reportedly said, "If it hadn't been for the nigger bloc vote, we'd have won it all."[41] Indeed, Wallace won 15 of Maryland's 23 counties, and only a combination of double the usual African-American turnout and liberal votes from Montgomery and Prince George's Counties prevented a Wallace victory.[41]

Candidates

The following political leaders were candidates for the 1964 Democratic presidential nomination:

Nominee

Candidate Most recent office Home state Campaign

Withdrawal date

Popular vote Contests won Running mate
Lyndon B. Johnson President of the United States
(1963–1969) 		Texas
Texas
(Campaign)
Secured nomination: August 27, 1964 		1,106,999
(17.8%) 		9 Hubert Humphrey

Other major candidates

These candidates participated in multiple state primaries or were included in multiple major national polls.

Candidate Most recent office Home state Campaign

Withdrawal date

Popular vote Contests won
George Wallace Governor of Alabama
(1963–1967, 1971–1979, 1983–1987) 		Alabama
Alabama 		(Campaign) 672,984
(10.8%) 		0

Results

State
Lyndon Johnson
(including surrogates) 		Robert F. Kennedy George Wallace Unpledged Others
March 10
New Hampshire
 95.26% 1.58% 3.16%
April 7 Wisconsin 66.25% 33.75%
April 14 Illinois 91.63% 3.23% 4.20% 0.94%
April 21 New Jersey 82.30% 8.31% 9.39%
April 28 Massachusetts 72.91% 18.96% 0.68% 7.45%
May 5 Indiana 64.94% 29.82%
Ohio 100.00%
Washington, D.C. 100.00%
May 12 Nebraska 89.30% 1.74% 8.96%
West Virginia 100.00%
May 15 Oregon 99.50% 0.50%
May 19 Maryland 53.14% 42.75% 4.11%
May 26 Florida 100.00%
June 2 California 100.00%
North Dakota 100.00%

Candidates:

Johnson surrogates:

Write-ins:

In the state of California, two slates of unpledged delegates appeared on the ballot. The slate controlled by Pat Brown received 1,693,813 votes (68%), while the slate controlled by Sam Yorty received 798,431 votes (32%). In West Virginia, where Jennings Randolph campaigned on Johnson's behalf, the only option on the ballot was "unpledged delegates at large", which received 131,432 votes (100%). South Dakota and the District of Columbia similarly had unpledged delegates as the only option. Wallace notably received 12,104 votes in Pennsylvania and 3,751 votes in Illinois despite visiting neither state, although Kennedy received a comparable portion of the vote in both states.[9][42]

Vice-presidential choice and Wallace's withdrawal

Further information: 1964 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection
Hubert Humphrey, Johnson's vice presidential running mate

With Robert F. Kennedy out of the way, the question of Johnson's choice of running mate provided some suspense for an otherwise uneventful convention.[43] However, Johnson also became concerned that Kennedy might use a scheduled speech at the 1964 Democratic Convention to create a groundswell of emotion among the delegates to nominate him as Johnson's running mate; Johnson prevented this by scheduling Kennedy's speech on the last day of the convention, by which time the vice-presidential nomination would have been made. Shortly after the convention, Kennedy decided to leave Johnson's cabinet and run for the U.S. Senate in New York, where he won the general election in November. Johnson chose Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, a liberal and civil rights activist, as his running mate.[44]

Meanwhile, the Republicans had nominated the conservative Goldwater, who shared Wallace's opposition to the Civil Rights Act on the basis of states' rights and found considerable support among southerners. This caused a precipitous drop in support for Wallace's threatened general election campaign, and on June 18, Wallace biographer Dan T. Carter notes that Goldwater gave "a brief speech which — in substance if not tone — could have been written by George Wallace."[45] By July 13, Gallup polls showed that Wallace support in a general election match-up had plummeted to below 3% outside the south. Even in the south, he polled third in a three-way race against Johnson and Goldwater. Goldwater reportedly welcomed Wallace's support but firmly refused him a spot as vice-presidential candidate.[46] With a conservative already facing off against Johnson, Wallace stayed his nascent plans for a third-party run until the 1968 election, ending his campaign with an appearance on Face the Nation on July 19; however, he did not endorse Goldwater.[47] In the general election, Goldwater repudiated Wallace and denied courting his vote, which Wallace took as a personal insult.[46]

Convention

Main article: 1964 Democratic National Convention

Despite his insistence that he remained undecided about running, Johnson had meticulously planned the convention to ensure it went smoothly. Aside from a minor controversy over the Mississippi delegation (see

Hello Dolly!" sung by Carol Channing entitled "Hello, Lyndon!" Governors Pat Brown of California and John Connally of Texas formally nominated Johnson.[48]

Johnson went on to win the general election in a landslide, only losing the Deep South states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina, as well as Goldwater's home state of Arizona.[49]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ With surrogates: 15
  2. ^ With surrogates: 5,133,021
  3. ^ With surrogates: 88.41%

References

Specific
  1. ^ Donaldson, p. 78.
  2. ^ Lesher, p. 261.
  3. ^ Carter (p. 197) names the black man as Gordon O. Du Bois II, grandson of W. E. B. Du Bois, while Lesher (p. 263) calls him "a black man of uncertain connections". The exact wording of Wallace's response also varies slightly between sources, but it is agreed that Wallace "brought the house down" in Donaldson's words (p. 101).
  4. ^ Donaldson, p. 102.
  5. ^ White, p. 235. Also quoted in Donaldson, p. 95.
  6. ^ Durr, p. 120.
  7. ^ a b White, pp. 233-235; Kolkey, pp. 162-209; Rogin, pp.33-41. See also White, chapter eight, "Riots in the Streets: The Politics of Chaos".
  8. ^ Donaldson, pp. 95, 225.
  9. ^ a b c d Congressional Quarterly, Inc., pp. 176-178.
  10. ^ White, p. 255. Dallek, (pp. 171-172) describes Johnson's self-doubts and a withdrawal statement drafted as late as August 1964. However, "Most everyone thought he was being too clever by half. There was no chance Johnson wouldn't run. He was playing a political game, or so they believed."
  11. ^ White, p. 271; Donaldson, pp. 93-95.
  12. ^ a b Lesher, p. 295.
  13. ^ Lesher, p. 303.
  14. ^ Carter, p. 369.
  15. ^ Donaldson, p. 184.
  16. ^ Donaldson, pp. 184-187.
  17. ^ Donaldson, pp. 187-193; Savage, pp. 224-228; White, p. 257.
  18. ^ Lesher, p. 273.
  19. ^ According to Lesher (pp. 273–274), the press conference at which Reynolds fielded the question was the first time the Wallace camp had heard of the Herbstreiths, while Carter (pp. 202–204) describes Lloyd Herbstreith phoning Wallace's skeptical staff after he and Dolores had heard Wallace speak.
  20. ^ Carter, pp. 202–204
  21. ^ Lesher, p. 276.
  22. ^ Carter, pp. 204, 208.
  23. ^ Lesher, pp. 282–284.
  24. ^ Carter, pp. 206–208; Savage, p. 216
  25. ^ Lesher, pp. 274–275.
  26. ^ Rogin, p. 31.
  27. ^ Gugin, p. 342
  28. ^ a b Carter, p. 210; Lesher, p. 293.
  29. ^ Gray, p. 393
  30. ^ Savage, p. 219.
  31. ^ Durr, p. 119; Lesher, pp. 289-293.
  32. ^ Gray, p. 394
  33. ^ Bennett, Mark (2008-04-28). "MARK BENNETT: The Indiana Primary carries an interesting background into this". TribStar.com. The Tribune-Star. Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  34. ^ Gugin, p. 343
  35. ^ Rogin, p. 30.
  36. ^ Rogin, p. 32.
  37. ^ Carter, p. 212; Lesher, pp. 296-297.
  38. ^ a b Durr, p. 123.
  39. ^ a b Lesher, pp. 296-301.
  40. ^ Carter, p. 214.
  41. ^ a b Carter, p. 215; Lesher, pp. 303-304.
  42. ^ Lesher, p. 305.
  43. ^ Dallek, p. 174.
  44. ^ Donaldson, p. 200.
  45. ^ Carter, p. 218.
  46. ^ a b Carter, pp. 219-224.
  47. ISBN 0-313-31119-6
    .
  48. ^ Donaldson, pp. 71-105, 227.
  49. ^ Congressional Quarterly, Inc., pp. 179-180.
Bibliography

Further reading
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1964_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries&oldid=1216071190"