Why did Richard Nixon win the presidential election in November 1968?

Richard Nixon’s scant win in the election of 1968 by a mere 500,000 votes marked the end of one of America’s most tumultuous years. The assassinations, revolutions, riots, and the Vietnam War all made 1968 a year to remember in American history and the presidential race was no different. Though Nixon actually received fewer votes than he did in the 1960 election, he was able to take the presidency and begin America’s move towards conservatism. Although Nixon did make some right decisions to win the presidency, the bigger story in this election were the trials and tribulations in the Democratic camp and how they essentially sabotaged themselves. Nixon’s rise to the Republican representative began with Barry Goldwater’s smashing defeat in the 1964 election to the hands of Lyndon Johnson. Goldwater’s extreme antics had put a bad taste in the mouths of many in the GOP and Nixon used this to capture the middle and essentially the Republican nomination. Many people of America became disillusioned with the liberal programs of the Great Society and Nixon vowed to reduce such social programs and to encourage individual initiative and entrepreneurship. In attacking the welfare programs, Nixon established the Republicans as the party of white America, a tactic that helped him woo many Southerners who had become frustrated with the divided Democratic party. Nixon called out to “the forgotten Americans, those who did not indulge in violence, those who did not break the law, people who pay their taxes and go to work.” This approach appealed to many Americans who were tired of the counterculture and were ready to go the more conservative route. The Democrats were divided from the beginning. You had three very different candidates with three very different perspectives on how to run America if