1968 Republican National Convention

The Miami Beach Convention Center was the site of the 1968 Republican National Convention.

Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon, emerged as the frontrunner again for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination. Nixon had been the Republican Party nominee in the 1960 presidential election, and lost to Democratic Party candidate John F. Kennedy.

The so-called "New Nixon" in the 1968 presidential election devised a "Southern strategy," taking advantage of the region's opposition to racial integration and other progressive/liberal policies of the Democratic Party and President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Nixon was nominated on the first ballot with 692 votes to 277 votes for Nelson Rockefeller, 182 votes for California Governor Ronald Reagan and the rest scattered. He was able to secure the nomination to the support of many Southern delegates, after he and his subordinates made concessions to Strom Thurmond and Harry Dent on civil rights, the Supreme Court, and the selection of a Vice-Presidential candidat.[1]

Nixon decided not to re-select his 1960 running mate Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., and House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan proposed New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay for vice president. Nixon turned instead to another perceived moderate, Maryland Governor Spiro T. Agnew. Agnew, former Baltimore County Executive in the Baltimore City suburbs (1963–1967), and since Governor of Maryland, had come to Republican leaders and Nixon's attention when he summoned several Black civic, religious, and political leaders in Baltimore to the local State Office Building complex, following the disastrous April 1968 riots which enveloped Black sections of East and West Baltimore in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. Agnew complained of the Black leaders' lack of support after a number of what he perceived to be positive projects, programs and support by his Republican administration for the minority communities in the city. Agnew's biting comments caused many in the audience to walk out. Agnew was seen as a candidate who could appeal to Rockefeller Republicans, was acceptable to Southern Conservatives, and had a solid law-and-order record.[2]

In his acceptance speech, Nixon deplored the state of the union and urged a return to law and order both at home and abroad:

When the strongest nation in the world can be tied down for four years in Vietnam with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world can't manage its own economy, when the nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented racial violence, when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home, then it's time for new leadership for the United States of America.[3]

Nixon also said that he had "a good teacher", referring to Eisenhower, and made the delegates happy with the statement "Let's win this one for Ike!" Eisenhower was not present during Nixon's speech nor during any part of the convention. Due to failing health, he was under doctor's orders not to travel, but addressed the convention by telephone. He died the following March.

The following were placed into nomination:

Results by state

Nixon supporters at the convention

Rockefeller supporters at the convention

Reagan supporters at the convention

The balloting by state was as follows:[5][6][7]

State	Nixon	N. Rockefeller	Reagan	Rhodes	Romney	Case	Carlson	W. Rockefeller	Fong	Stassen	Lindsay
Alabama	14		12
Alaska	11	1
Arizona	16
Arkansas								18
California			86
Colorado	14	3	1
Connecticut	4	12
Delaware	9	3
Florida	32	1	1
Georgia	21	2	7
Hawaii									14
Idaho	9		5
Illinois	50	5	3
Indiana	26
Iowa	13	8	3
Kansas							20
Kentucky	22	2
Louisiana	19		7
Maine	7	7
Maryland	18	8
Massachusetts		34
Michigan	4				44
Minnesota	9	15								1	1
Mississippi	20
Missouri	16	5	3
Montana	11		3
Nebraska	16
Nevada	9	3
New Hampshire	8
New Jersey	18					22
New Mexico	8	1	5
New York	4	88
North Carolina	9	1	16
North Dakota	5	2	1
Ohio	2			55						1
Oklahoma	14	1	7
Oregon	18
Pennsylvania	22	41	1
Rhode Island		14
South Carolina	22
South Dakota	14
Tennessee	28
Texas	41		15
Utah	2				6
Vermont	9	3
Virginia	22	2
Washington	15	3	6
West Virginia	11	3
Wisconsin	30
Wyoming	12
District of Columbia	6	3
Puerto Rico		5
U.S. Virgin Islands	2	1
Total	692	277	182	55	50	22	20	18	14	2	1

• History of the United States Republican Party
• List of Republican National Conventions
• United States presidential nominating convention
• 1968 Democratic National Convention
• 1968 United States presidential election
• Richard Nixon 1968 presidential campaign
• 1968 Miami riot

• Troy, Gil; Schlesinger, Arthur M.; Israel, Fred L. (2012). History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008. Vol. 3 (4 ed.). New York City: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-8220-9.

• Republican Party platform of 1968 at The American Presidency Project
• Nixon nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project
• Video of Nixon nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC from C-SPAN (via YouTube)
• Audio of Nixon nomination acceptance speech for President at RNC
• Video of Agnew nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at RNC (via YouTube)