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 Presidential election results map.Blue denotes states won by Johnson/Humphrey andred denotes those won by Goldwater/Miller. Numbers indicateelectoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Presidential elections were held in theUnited States on November 3, 1964, less than a year following theassassination ofJohn F. Kennedy, who won the previous presidential election. TheDemocratic ticket of incumbentPresidentLyndon B. Johnson and SenatorHubert Humphrey defeated theRepublican ticket of SenatorBarry Goldwater and CongressmanWilliam E. Miller in alandslide victory. Johnson won 61.1% of the popular vote which, to date, remains thehighest popular vote percentage of any candidate since the advent of widespread popular elections in 1824.
Johnson took office on November 22, 1963, following Kennedy's assassination, and generally continued his policies, except with greater emphasis on civil rights. He easily defeated aprimary challenge from segregationist Alabama GovernorGeorge Wallace to win the nomination. At the1964 Democratic National Convention, Johnson selected liberal Minnesota SenatorHubert Humphrey as his running mate. In the narrow Republican contest,conservativeArizona SenatorBarry Goldwater defeatedliberal New York GovernorNelson Rockefeller and Pennsylvania GovernorWilliam Scranton.
Johnson championed a series of anti-poverty programs, collectively known as theGreat Society, and his passage of theCivil Rights Act of 1964. Goldwater espoused a low-tax, small-government philosophy with an aggressive foreign policy. Although he personally opposed segregation and previously supported theCivil Rights Act of 1957 and1960, Goldwater opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, saying it was unconstitutional. Democrats successfully portrayed Goldwater as a dangerous extremist, most infamously in the "Daisy" television advertisement. The Republican Party was divided between its moderate and conservative factions, with Rockefeller and other moderate party leaders refusing to campaign for Goldwater. During the campaign, theCIA was ordered to collect information on the Goldwater campaign and theRepublican National Committee.
Johnson became the fourth and most recent vice president to succeed the presidency following the death of his predecessor and win a full term in his own right. After leading in all the polls during the campaign, Johnson carried 44 states and theDistrict of Columbia, whichvoted for the first time in this election. Goldwater won his home state and swept the five states of theDeep South, due to theDemocratic Party's strong support ofcivil rights and desegregation. Except for Louisiana, the Deep South states had previously never voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the end ofReconstruction in 1877.
This was the last election in which the Democratic Party won a majority of the white vote, with 59% of white voters casting their ballot for Johnson over Goldwater. This was the last election in which the Democratic nominee carriedIdaho,Utah,Wyoming,North Dakota,South Dakota,Nebraska,[a]Kansas, orOklahoma, and the only election ever in which the Democrats carriedAlaska. This marked the first presidential election in history in which the Democrats carriedVermont, and conversely, the first in which the Republicans carriedGeorgia. As of 2024, this marks the last time that a Democratic presidential candidate has won more than 400 electoral votes, as well as 40 or more states.
This was also the last election until1988 in which the Democrats carriedIowa orOregon,1992 in which the Democrats carriedCalifornia,Colorado,Illinois,Montana,Nevada,New Mexico,New Jersey,New Hampshire, or Vermont, and2008 in which the Democrats carriedVirginia orIndiana. As such, this was the most recent presidential election in which the entireMidwestern region voted Democratic. This is also the only election between1952 and1972 in whichRichard Nixon did not appear on the Republican ticket.
On November 22, 1963, PresidentJohn F. Kennedy wasassassinated inDallas, Texas, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president immediately following the assassination under the presidential succession line.
Kennedy's death shocked and saddened many Americans, while opposing candidates were put in the awkward position of running against Johnson following JFK's assassination.[2]
During the national period of mourning, Republican leaders called for a political moratorium, so they would not appear to be disrespectful to Kennedy or Johnson.[3][4] As such, little political activities were done by the candidates of either major party until January 1964, when the primary season officially began.[5] At the time, most politicalpundits saw Kennedy's assassination as leaving the nation politically unsettled.[2]
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37th Vice President of the United States 36th President of the United States
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| 36th President of the United States (1963–1969) | U.S. Senator fromMinnesota (1949–1964) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Until around the time of the convention, President Johnson insisted that he was undecided about seeking a second term, leading supporters in primaries to either write him in as a candidate or vote forFavorite sons. All of these "favorite sons" ultimately endorsed Johnson. This led to Johnson ultimately receiving 88.41% of the vote through his surrogates despite formally receiving only 17.8% of the vote.
The only candidate other than President Johnson to actively campaign was then-Alabama GovernorGeorge Wallace, who ran in a number of northern primaries, though his candidacy was geared more towards promoting the philosophy ofstates' rights among a northern audience. While expecting support from delegations in the South, Wallace had "no illusions" that he was in contention for the presidency.[6]
At the national convention, the integratedMississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) claimed the seats for delegates for Mississippi, not on the grounds of Party rules, but because the official Mississippi delegation had been elected by awhite primary system. The national party's liberal leaders supported an even division of the seats between the two Mississippi delegations; Johnson was concerned that, while the regular Democrats of Mississippi would probably vote for Goldwater anyway, rejecting them would lose him the South. Eventually,Hubert Humphrey,Walter Reuther, and the black civil rights leaders, includingRoy Wilkins,Martin Luther King Jr., andBayard Rustin, worked out a compromise: The MFDP took two seats; the regular Mississippi delegation was required to pledge to support the party ticket; and no future Democratic convention would accept a delegation chosen by a discriminatory poll.Joseph L. Rauh Jr., the MFDP's lawyer, initially refused this deal, but they eventually took their seats. Many white delegates from Mississippi and Alabama refused to sign any pledge, and left the convention; and many young civil rights workers were offended by any compromise.[7] Johnson biographers Rowland Evans and Robert Novak claim that the MFDP fell under the influence of "black radicals" and rejected their seats.[8] Johnson would later loseLouisiana,Alabama,Mississippi,Georgia, andSouth Carolina in the general election.
Johnson also faced trouble fromRobert F. Kennedy, President Kennedy's younger brother and theU.S. Attorney General. Kennedy and Johnson's relationship was troubled from the time Robert Kennedy was a Senate staffer. Then-Majority Leader Johnson surmised that Kennedy's hostility was the direct result of the fact that Johnson frequently recounted a story that embarrassed the family patriarch,Joseph P. Kennedy, formerly the ambassador to the United Kingdom. According to his recounting, Johnson and PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt misled the ambassador, upon a return visit to the United States, to believe Roosevelt wished to meet in Washington for friendly purposes; in fact, Roosevelt planned to — and did — fire the ambassador, due to the latter's well-publicized views.[9] The hostility between Johnson and Robert Kennedy was rendered mutual in the 1960 primaries and the1960 Democratic National Convention, when Kennedy tried to prevent Johnson from becoming his brother's running mate.
In early 1964, despite his personal animosity for the president, Kennedy tried to force Johnson to accept him as his running mate. Johnson eliminated this threat by announcing that none of his cabinet members would be considered for second place on the Democratic ticket. Johnson also became concerned that Kennedy might use his scheduled speech at the 1964 Democratic Convention to create a groundswell of emotion among the delegates to make him Johnson's running mate; he prevented this by deliberately scheduling Kennedy's speech on the last day of the convention, after his running mate had already been chosen. Shortly after the 1964 Democratic Convention, Kennedy decided to leave Johnson's cabinet and run for the U.S. Senate inNew York; he won the general election in November. Johnson choseUnited States SenatorHubert Humphrey fromMinnesota, a liberal and civil rights activist, as his running mate.
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| Barry Goldwater | William Scranton | Margaret Chase Smith | Nelson Rockefeller | Hiram Fong | Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. | George W. Romney | Walter Judd | |||
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| U.S Senator from (1953–65, 1969–87) | Governor ofPennsylvania(1963–67) | U.S. Senator fromMaine (1949–73) | Governor ofNew York(1959–73) | U.S Senator fromHawaii(1959–77) | Ambassador to theUnited Nations (1953–60) | Governor ofMichigan(1963–69) | FormerRepresentative fromMinnesota (1963–69) | |||
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| 2,267,079votes 1,220PD | 245,401votes 50PD | 227.007votes 22PD | 1,304,204votes 6PD | 5PD | 386,661votes 3PD | 1,955votes 1PD | 1PD | |||
| Harold Stassen | Jim Rhodes | John W. Byrnes | ||||||||
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| Former Governor ofMinnesota(1939–43) | Governor ofOhio(1963–71, 1975–83) | Representative fromWisconsin (1945–73) | ||||||||
| 114,083votes | 615,754votes | 299,612votes | ||||||||
The Republican Party (GOP) was badly divided in 1964 between itsconservative andmoderate-liberal factions. Former vice presidentRichard Nixon, who had been beaten by Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election, decided not to run. Nixon, a moderate with ties to both wings of the GOP, had been able to unite the factions in 1960; in his absence, the way was clear for the two factions to engage in a hard-fought campaign for the nomination. Barry Goldwater, aSenator fromArizona, was the champion of the conservatives. The conservatives had historically been based in the AmericanMidwest, but beginning in the 1950s, they had been gaining in power in the South and West, and the core of Goldwater's support came from suburban conservative Republicans. The conservatives favored a low-tax, small federal government which supported individual rights and business interests, and opposedsocial welfare programs. They also supported an internationalist and interventionist foreign policy. The conservatives resented the dominance of the GOP'smoderate wing, which was based in theNortheastern United States. Since 1940, the Eastern moderates had defeated conservative presidential candidates at the GOP's national conventions. The conservatives believed the Eastern Republicans were little different from liberal Democrats in their philosophy and approach to government. Goldwater's chief opponent for the Republican nomination wasNelson Rockefeller, theGovernor of New York and the long-time leader of the GOP's liberal faction.
In 1961, a group of twenty-two conservatives, headed by Ohio RepresentativeJohn M. Ashbrook, lawyer andNational Review publisherWilliam A. Rusher, and scholarF. Clifton White, met privately in Chicago to discuss the formation of a grass-roots organization to secure the nomination of a conservative as the 1964 Republican candidate. The main headquarters for the organization were established at Suite 3505 of the Chanin Building in New York City, leading members to refer to themselves as the "Suite 3505 Committee". Following the1962 mid-term elections, they formally backed Goldwater, who notified them that he did not want to run for the presidency. In April 1963, they formed theDraft Goldwater Committee, chaired by Texas Republican Party ChairmanPeter O'Donnell. The committee solidified growing conservative strength in the West and South, and began working to gain control of state parties in the Midwest from liberal Republicans. Throughout the rest of the year, speculation about a potential Goldwater candidacy grew, and grass-roots activism and efforts among conservative Republicans expanded.[citation needed]
Initially, Rockefeller was considered the front-runner, ahead of Goldwater. However, in 1963, two years after Rockefeller's divorce from his first wife, he was remarried toMargaretta "Happy" Murphy, who was nearly 18 years his junior and had just divorced her husband and surrendered her four children to his custody.[10] The fact that Murphy had suddenly divorced her husband before marrying Rockefeller led to rumors that Rockefeller had been having an extra-marital affair with Margaretta. This angered manysocial conservatives and female voters within the GOP, many of whom called Rockefeller a "wife stealer".[10] After his remarriage, Rockefeller's lead among Republicans lost 20 points overnight.[10] SenatorPrescott Bush ofConnecticut, the father of future PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush and grandfather of future PresidentGeorge W. Bush, was among Rockefeller's critics on this issue: "Have we come to the point in our life as a nation where the governor of a great state — one who perhaps aspires to the nomination for president of the United States — can desert a good wife, mother of his grown children, divorce her, then persuade a young mother of four youngsters to abandon her husband and their four children and marry the governor?"[10]
In the first primary, in New Hampshire, both Rockefeller and Goldwater were considered to be the favorites, but the voters instead gave a surprising victory to write-in candidate U.S.ambassador toSouth Vietnam,Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who was Nixon's running mate in1960 and a formerMassachusettssenator. He went on to win theMassachusetts andNew Jersey primaries, before withdrawing his candidacy because he had finally decided he did not want the Republican nomination.[11]
Despite his defeat in New Hampshire, Goldwater pressed on, winning theIllinois,Texas, andIndiana primaries, with little opposition, andNebraska's primary, after a stiff challenge from adraft-Nixon movement. Goldwater also won a number of statecaucuses, and gathered even more delegates. Meanwhile,Nelson Rockefeller won theWest Virginia andOregon primaries against Goldwater, andWilliam Scranton won in his home state ofPennsylvania. Both Rockefeller and Scranton also won several statecaucuses, mostly in the Northeast.
The final showdown between Goldwater and Rockefeller was in theCalifornia primary. In spite of the previous accusations regarding his marriage, Rockefeller led Goldwater in most opinion polls in California, and he appeared headed for victory when his new wife gave birth to a son, Nelson Rockefeller Jr., three days before the primary.[10] His son's birth brought the issue ofadultery front and center, and Rockefeller suddenly lost ground in the polls. Combined with Goldwater conservatives' expanded dedicated efforts and superior organizing,[10] Goldwater won the primary by a narrow 51–48% margin, thus eliminating Rockefeller as a serious contender and all but clinching the nomination. With Rockefeller's elimination, the party's moderates and liberals turned toWilliam Scranton, theGovernor of Pennsylvania, in the hopes that he could stop Goldwater. However, as the Republican Convention began, Goldwater was seen as the heavy favorite to win the nomination. This was notable, as it signified a shift to a more conservative-leaning Republican Party.
Total popular vote
The1964 Republican National Convention, July 13–16 atDaly City, California'sCow Palace arena, was one of the most bitter in Republican history.[citation needed] The party's moderates and conservatives openly expressed their contempt for each other. Rockefeller was loudly booed when he came to the podium for his speech; in his speech, he roundly criticized the party's conservatives, which led many conservatives in the galleries to yell and scream at him. A group of moderates tried to rally behind Scranton to stop Goldwater, but Goldwater's forces easily brushed his challenge aside,[citation needed] and Goldwater was nominated on the first ballot. The presidential tally was as follows:
The vice-presidential nomination went to little-known Republican Party ChairmanWilliam E. Miller, aRepresentative from westernNew York. Goldwater stated that he chose Miller simply because "he drives [President] Johnson nuts". This would be the only Republican ticket from 1952 to 1972 that did not includeNixon.
In accepting his nomination, Goldwater uttered his most famous phrase (a quote fromCicero suggested by speechwriterHarry Jaffa): "I would remind you thatextremism in the defense ofliberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit ofjustice is no virtue."[12] Goldwater's seeming admission of being an extremist alarmed many Moderates who would later vote for Johnson in the general election.
Following the convention many moderates, including Rockefeller, refused to endorse Goldwater.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Lyndon Johnson (D) | Barry Goldwater (R) | Other | Undecided | Margin | |||
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| Election Results | November 3, 1964 | 61.05% | 38.47% | 0.48% | - | 22.58 | |||
| Harris[13] | November 2, 1964[b] | 62% | 33% | - | 5% | 29 | |||
| Gallup[14] | October 25-30, 1964 | 64% | 29% | - | 7% | 35 | |||
| Harris[15] | October 22, 1964[b] | 60% | 34% | - | 6% | 26 | |||
| Gallup[16] | October 8-13, 1964 | 64% | 29% | - | 7% | 35 | |||
| Harris[17] | October 11, 1964[b] | 58% | 34% | - | 8% | 24 | |||
| Gallup[18] | September 18-23, 1964 | 62% | 32% | - | 6% | 30 | |||
| Harris[19] | September 20, 1964[b] | 60% | 32% | - | 8% | 28 | |||
| Harris[20] | September 2, 1964[b] | 59% | 32% | - | 9% | 27 | |||
| Gallup[21] | Aug. 27-Sep. 2, 1964 | 65% | 29% | - | 6% | 36 | |||
| August 24–27: Democratic National Convention | |||||||||
| Roper[22] | August 23, 1964[c] | 67% | 28% | - | 5% | 39 | |||
| Harris[23] | August 14, 1964[b] | 59% | 32% | - | 9% | 27 | |||
| Gallup[24] | August 6-11, 1964 | 65% | 29% | - | 6% | 36 | |||
| Gallup[25] | July 23-28, 1964 | 59% | 31% | - | 10% | 28 | |||
| Harris[26] | July 23, 1964[b] | 61% | 31% | - | 8% | 30 | |||
| July 13–16: Republican National Convention | |||||||||
| Gallup[27] | July 5-10, 1964 | 62% | 26% | - | 12% | 36 | |||
| Gallup[28] | June 25-30, 1964 | 76% | 20% | - | 4% | 56 | |||
| Gallup[29] | June 11-16, 1964 | 77% | 18% | - | 5% | 59 | |||
| Harris[30] | April 6, 1964[b] | 66% | 26% | - | 8% | 48 | |||
| Harris[22] | February 17, 1964[b] | 64% | 26% | - | 10% | 38 | |||
| Gallup[31] | January 2-7, 1964 | 75% | 18% | - | 7% | 57 | |||
| Gallup[32] | December 12-17, 1963 | 75% | 20% | - | 5% | 55 | |||
| Harris[33] | November 29, 1963[b] | 55% | 33% | - | 12% | 22 | |||
| Gallup[34] | November 22-27, 1963 | 78% | 19% | - | 3% | 59 | |||
Although Goldwater had been successful in rallying conservatives, he was unable to broaden his base of support for thegeneral election. Shortly before the Republican Convention, he had alienated moderate and liberal Republicans by his vote against theCivil Rights Act of 1964, which he opposed due to his opinion that it was unconstitutional,[35] and which Johnson had supported following Kennedy's death and signed into law. Although a staunch supporter of racial equality, having voted in favor of the 1957 and 1960 civil rights bills, and the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, Goldwater felt thatdesegregation was primarily a states' rights issue, rather than a national policy. He thus believed the 1964 act to be unconstitutional. Goldwater's vote against the legislation helped lead African-Americans to overwhelmingly support Johnson.[36]
Goldwater was also hurt by the reluctance of many prominent moderate Republicans to support him. GovernorsNelson Rockefeller of New York andGeorge W. Romney of Michigan refused to endorse Goldwater due to his stance on civil rights and his proposal to make Social Security voluntary, and did not campaign for him. On the other hand, former Vice PresidentRichard Nixon and Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania loyally supported the GOP ticket and campaigned for Goldwater, although Nixon did not entirely agree with Goldwater's political stances and said that it would "be a tragedy" if Goldwater's platform were not "challenged and repudiated" by the Republicans. Scranton also felt that Goldwater's proposal of voluntarizing Social Security was the "worst kind of fiscal responsibility".[37] TheNew York Herald-Tribune, a voice for eastern Republicans (and a target for Goldwater activists during the primaries), supported Johnson in the general election. Some moderates even formed a "Republicans for Johnson" organization, although most prominent GOP politicians avoided being associated with it.[38] Republican discontent with Goldwater was the focus of the Johnson campaign's famous advertisement "Confessions of a Republican".
Fact magazine published an article polling psychiatrists around the country as to Goldwater's sanity. Some 1,189 psychiatrists appeared to agree that Goldwater was "emotionally unstable" and unfit for office, though none of the members had actually interviewed him. The article received heavy publicity and resulted in a change to the ethics guidelines of theAmerican Psychiatric Association, now known as theGoldwater rule. In alibel suit, a federal court awarded Goldwater $1 in compensatory damages, and $75,000 in punitive damages.[39][40][41][42][43]
Eisenhower's strong backing could have been an asset to the Goldwater campaign, but instead, its absence was clearly noticed. When questioned about the presidential capabilities of the former president's younger brother, university administratorMilton S. Eisenhower, in July 1964, Goldwater replied: "One Eisenhower in a generation is enough." However, Eisenhower did not openly repudiate Goldwater, and made one television commercial for Goldwater's campaign.[44] A prominent Hollywoodcelebrity who vigorously supported Goldwater wasRonald Reagan. Reagan gave a well-received televised speech supporting Goldwater; it was so popular that Goldwater's advisors had it played on local television stations around the nation. Many historians consider this speech — "A Time for Choosing" — to mark the beginning of Reagan's transformation from an actor to a political leader. In1966, Reagan would be electedGovernor of California.
Goldwater did not have ties to theKu Klux Klan (KKK), but he was publicly endorsed by members of the organization.[45][46]Lyndon B. Johnson exploited this association during the elections,[47] but Goldwater barred the KKK from supporting him and denounced them.[48]
Goldwater was famous for speaking "off-the-cuff" at times, and many of his former statements were given wide publicity by the Democrats. In the early 1960s, Goldwater had called theEisenhower administration "adime storeNew Deal".[citation needed]
In December 1961, he told anews conference that "sometimes, I think this country would be better off if we could just saw off theEastern Seaboard and let it float out to sea", a remark which indicated his dislike of the liberal economic and social policies that were often associated with that part of the nation. That comment came back to hurt him, in the form of a Johnsontelevision commercial,[49] as did remarks about makingSocial Security voluntary (something that even his running mate Miller felt would lead to the destruction of the system)[50] and selling theTennessee Valley Authority. In his most famous verbal gaffe, Goldwater once joked that the U.S. military should "lob one [a nuclear bomb] into the men's room of theKremlin" in theSoviet Union.
Meanwhile, President Johnson was concerned he could lose the election by appearing soft on Communism.[51] On July 10, theUSS Maddox was ordered into theGulf of Tonkin, authorized to "maintain contact with the U.S. military command in Saigon ... and arrange 'such communications ... as may be desired'".[52] On July 30, South Vietnamese commandos tried to attack the North Vietnamese radar station on the island of Hon Me,[53] with the USSMaddox sufficiently close that the North Vietnamese believed it was there to provide cover for that commando raid.[54] North Vietnam filed an official complaint with theInternational Control Commission, accusing the United States of being behind the raid.[53] On August 2, theMaddox reported having been attacked by three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats.[55] Johnson called Soviet Premier Khrushchev, saying the US did not want war and asking the Soviets to convince North Vietnam to not attack American warships.[56] The next day, August 3, South Vietnamese raided Cape Vinhson and Cua Ron.[54] That night, in the middle of a thunderstorm, theMaddox intercepted radio messages that gave them "the 'impression' that Communist patrol boats were bracing for [another] assault". They called for air support from theUSS Ticonderoga. The pilots didn't see anything, but theMaddox and the nearbyUSS Turner Joy started shooting in all directions. However, after the incident, all US personnel involved acknowledged they had neither seen nor heard Communist gunfire. Nevertheless, Johnson and an aide Kenneth O'Donnell agreed that Johnson "would have to respond firmly to defend himself against Goldwater and the Republican right wing". Johnson denounced the attack as "unprovoked" and Congress passed theGulf of Tonkin resolution, giving the president the power to do effectively whatever they felt necessary in Vietnam and began major US involvement in theVietnam War, and left Goldwater looking like an irresponsible hawk.[57]
Johnson positioned himself as a moderate, and succeeded in portraying Goldwater as an extremist. CIA DirectorWilliam Colby asserted thatTracy Barnes instructed the CIA to spy on the Goldwater campaign and the Republican National Committee, to provide information to Johnson's campaign;E. Howard Hunt, later implicated as a ringleader in theWatergate scandal, disputed this, instead claiming the operation had been ordered by the White House.[58] In his memoir Goldwater reported that during his 1964 campaign "our telephones had been bugged" and "our security had been penetrated. The opposition appeared to possess some of the details of our plans and strategies the minute a decision was made".[59]
Goldwater had a habit of making blunt statements aboutwar,nuclear weapons, andeconomics that could be turned against him. Most famously, the Johnson campaign broadcast a television commercial on September 7 dubbed the"Daisy Girl" ad, which featured a little girl picking petals from a daisy in a field, counting the petals, which then segues into alaunchcountdown and a nuclear explosion.[60] The ads were in response to Goldwater's advocacy of "tactical" nuclear weapons use inVietnam.[61] "Confessions of a Republican", another Johnson ad, features a monologue from a man who tells viewers that he had previously voted for Eisenhower and Nixon, but now worries about the "men with strange ideas", "weird groups", and "the head of theKu Klux Klan" who were supporting Goldwater; he concludes that "either they're not Republicans, or I'm not".[62] Voters increasingly viewed Goldwater as aright-wing fringe candidate. His slogan, "In your heart, you know he's right", was successfully parodied by the Johnson campaign into, "In your guts, you know he's nuts", or, "In your heart, you know he might" (as in "he might push thenuclear button"), or even, "In your heart, he's too far right".[63][64]
The Johnson campaign's greatest concern may have been voter complacency leading to low turnout in key states. To counter this, all of Johnson'sbroadcast ads concluded with the line: "Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home."[65][66] The Democratic campaign used two other slogans: "All the way with LBJ";[67][68][69] and, "LBJ for the USA".[70]
The election campaign was disrupted for a week by the death of former presidentHerbert Hoover on October 20, 1964, because it was considered disrespectful to be campaigning during a time of mourning. Hoover died of natural causes. He had been U.S. president from 1929 to 1933. Both major candidates attended his funeral.[71]
Johnsonled in all opinion polls by huge margins throughout the entire campaign.[72]
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The election was held on November 3, 1964. Johnson beat Goldwater in the general election, winning over 61% of the popular vote. In the end, Goldwater won only his native state ofArizona and fiveDeep South states —Louisiana,Mississippi,Georgia,Alabama, andSouth Carolina — which had been increasingly alienated by Democratic civil rights policies, and whereJim Crow laws tended to be still active to varying degrees, before the following year'sVoting Rights Act outlawed them entirely.
The five Southern states that voted for Goldwater swung over dramatically to support him. For instance, in Mississippi, where DemocratFranklin D. Roosevelt had won 97% of the popular vote in1936, Goldwater won 87% of the vote.[73] Of these states, Louisiana had been the only state where a Republican had won even once sinceReconstruction.
The 1964 election was a major transition point for the South, and an important step in the process by which the Democrats' former "Solid South" became a Republican bastion. Nonetheless, Johnson still managed to eke out a bare popular majority of 51–49% (6.307 to 5.993 million) in the eleven former Confederate states. Conversely, Johnson was the first Democrat ever to carry the state ofVermont in a presidential election, and only the second Democrat, after Woodrow Wilson in 1912, when the Republican Party was divided, to carryMaine since the Republican Party was founded in 1854. Maine and Vermont had been the only states that FDR had failed to carry during any of his four successful presidential bids.
Around twenty percent of the people who had voted for Nixon in the 1960 election switched their support to Johnson.[74] Of the 3,126 counties/districts/independent cities making returns, Johnson won in 2,275 (72.77%), while Goldwater carried 826 (26.42%). Unpledged electors carried six counties in Alabama (0.19%). Johnson was the first president whose home state was in the former Confederacy sinceZachary Taylor in 1848. Goldwater was the only Republican presidential candidate between 1952 and 1992 to never have served as president.
Johnson's landslide victory coincided withthe defeat of many conservative Republican congressmen. The subsequent89th Congress would pass major legislation such as theSocial Security Amendments of 1965 and theVoting Rights Act of 1965. The 1964 election marked the beginning of a major, long-term re-alignment in American politics, as Goldwater's unsuccessful bid significantly influenced themodern conservative movement. The movement of conservatives to the Republican Party continued, culminating in the1980 presidential victory ofRonald Reagan.
This was the first election to have the participation of theDistrict of Columbia, under the23rd Amendment to the US Constitution from 1961. The Johnson campaign broke two American election records previously held by Franklin Roosevelt: the most Electoral College votes won by a major-party candidate running for the White House for the first time (with 486 to the 472 won by Roosevelt in1932); and the largest share of the popular vote under the current Democratic/Republican competition (Roosevelt won 60.8% nationwide, Johnson 61.1%). This first-time electoral count was exceeded whenRonald Reagan won 489 votes in1980.
| Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote[75] | Electoral vote[76] | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote[76] | ||||
| Lyndon B. Johnson (incumbent) | Democratic | Texas | 43,129,040 | 61.05% | 486 | Hubert Humphrey | Minnesota | 486 |
| Barry Goldwater | Republican | Arizona | 27,175,754 | 38.47% | 52 | William E. Miller | New York | 52 |
| (unpledged electors) | Democratic | Alabama | 210,732 | 0.30% | 0 | Alabama | 0 | |
| Eric Hass | Socialist Labor | New York | 45,189 | 0.06% | 0 | Henning A. Blomen | Massachusetts | 0 |
| Clifton DeBerry | Socialist Workers | Illinois | 32,706 | 0.05% | 0 | Ed Shaw | Michigan | 0 |
| E. Harold Munn | Prohibition | Michigan | 23,267 | 0.03% | 0 | Mark R. Shaw | Massachusetts | 0 |
| John Kasper | States' Rights | New York | 6,953 | 0.01% | 0 | J. B. Stoner | Georgia | 0 |
| Joseph B. Lightburn | Constitution | West Virginia | 5,061 | 0.01% | 0 | Theodore Billings | Colorado | 0 |
| Other | 13,049 | 0.02% | — | Other | — | |||
| Total | 70,641,751 | 100% | 538 | 538 | ||||
| Needed to win | 270 | 270 | ||||||
| Johnson | 61.05% | |||
| Goldwater | 38.47% | |||
| Others | 0.48% | |||
| Johnson | 90.33% | |||
| Goldwater | 9.67% | |||
Although Goldwater was decisively defeated, some political pundits and historians believe he laid the foundation for the conservativeReagan Revolution to follow. Among them isRick Perlstein, historian of the American conservative movement, who wrote of Goldwater's defeat: "Here was one time, at least, when history was written by the losers."[77]Ronald Reagan's speech on Goldwater's behalf, grass-roots organization, and the temporary conservative takeover of theRepublican Party would all help to bring about the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s.
Johnson used his victory in the 1964 election to launch theGreat Society program at home, sign theVoting Rights Act of 1965, and start thewar on poverty. He also escalated theVietnam War, which eroded his popularity. By 1968, Johnson's popularity had declined, and the Democrats became so split over his candidacy that he withdrew as a candidate. Moreover, his support ofcivil rights for blacks helped split white union members and Southerners away fromFranklin D. Roosevelt's DemocraticNew Deal Coalition, which would later lead to the phenomenon of the "Reagan Democrat".[78] Of the 14 presidential elections that followed up to 2020, Democrats would win only six times, although in eight of those elections the Democratic candidate received the highest number of popular votes. The election also furthered the shift of the black voting electorate away from the Republican Party, a phenomenon which had begun with theNew Deal. Since the 1964 election, Democratic presidential candidates have almost consistently won 80–95% of the black vote in each presidential election.
Source:[79]
| States/districts won byJohnson/Humphrey |
| States/districts won byGoldwater/Miller |
| Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic | Barry Goldwater Republican | Unpledged electors Unpledged Democratic | Other | Margin | State total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | # | |
| Alabama | 10 | - | - | - | 479,085 | 69.45 | 10 | 210,732 | 30.55 | - | - | - | - | −268,353 | −38.90 | 689,817 | AL |
| Alaska | 3 | 44,329 | 65.91 | 3 | 22,930 | 34.09 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 21,399 | 31.82 | 67,259 | AK |
| Arizona | 5 | 237,753 | 49.45 | - | 242,535 | 50.45 | 5 | - | - | - | 482 | 0.10 | - | −4,782 | −1.00 | 480,770 | AZ |
| Arkansas | 6 | 314,197 | 56.06 | 6 | 243,264 | 43.41 | - | - | - | - | 2,965 | 0.53 | - | 70,933 | 12.66 | 560,426 | AR |
| California | 40 | 4,171,877 | 59.11 | 40 | 2,879,108 | 40.79 | - | - | - | - | 6,601 | 0.10 | - | 1,292,769 | 18.32 | 7,057,586 | CA |
| Colorado | 6 | 476,024 | 61.27 | 6 | 296,767 | 38.19 | - | - | - | - | 4,195 | 0.54 | - | 179,257 | 23.07 | 776,986 | CO |
| Connecticut | 8 | 826,269 | 67.81 | 8 | 390,996 | 32.09 | - | - | - | - | 1,313 | 0.11 | - | 435,273 | 35.72 | 1,218,578 | CT |
| Delaware | 3 | 122,704 | 60.95 | 3 | 78,078 | 38.78 | - | - | - | - | 538 | 0.27 | - | 44,626 | 22.17 | 201,320 | DE |
| D. C. | 3 | 169,796 | 85.50 | 3 | 28,801 | 14.50 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 140,995 | 71.00 | 198,597 | DC |
| Florida | 14 | 948,540 | 51.15 | 14 | 905,941 | 48.85 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 42,599 | 2.30 | 1,854,481 | FL |
| Georgia | 12 | 522,557 | 45.87 | - | 616,584 | 54.12 | 12 | - | - | - | 195 | 0.02 | - | −94,027 | −8.25 | 1,139,336 | GA |
| Hawaii | 4 | 163,249 | 78.76 | 4 | 44,022 | 21.24 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 119,227 | 57.52 | 207,271 | HI |
| Idaho | 4 | 148,920 | 50.92 | 4 | 143,557 | 49.08 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5,363 | 1.83 | 292,477 | ID |
| Illinois | 26 | 2,796,833 | 59.47 | 26 | 1,905,946 | 40.53 | - | - | - | - | 62 | 0.00 | - | 890,887 | 18.94 | 4,702,841 | IL |
| Indiana | 13 | 1,170,848 | 55.98 | 13 | 911,118 | 43.56 | - | - | - | - | 9,640 | 0.46 | - | 259,730 | 12.42 | 2,091,606 | IN |
| Iowa | 9 | 733,030 | 61.88 | 9 | 449,148 | 37.92 | - | - | - | - | 2,361 | 0.20 | - | 283,882 | 23.97 | 1,184,539 | IA |
| Kansas | 7 | 464,028 | 54.09 | 7 | 386,579 | 45.06 | - | - | - | - | 7,294 | 0.85 | - | 77,449 | 9.03 | 857,901 | KS |
| Kentucky | 9 | 669,659 | 64.01 | 9 | 372,977 | 35.65 | - | - | - | - | 3,469 | 0.33 | - | 296,682 | 28.36 | 1,046,105 | KY |
| Louisiana | 10 | 387,068 | 43.19 | - | 509,225 | 56.81 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | −122,157 | −13.63 | 896,293 | LA |
| Maine | 4 | 262,264 | 68.84 | 4 | 118,701 | 31.16 | - | - | - | - | 256 | 0.07 | - | 143,563 | 37.68 | 381,221 | ME |
| Maryland | 10 | 730,912 | 65.47 | 10 | 385,495 | 34.53 | - | - | - | - | 50 | 0.00 | - | 345,417 | 30.94 | 1,116,457 | MD |
| Massachusetts | 14 | 1,786,422 | 76.19 | 14 | 549,727 | 23.44 | - | - | - | - | 8,649 | 0.37 | - | 1,236,695 | 52.74 | 2,344,798 | MA |
| Michigan | 21 | 2,136,615 | 66.70 | 21 | 1,060,152 | 33.10 | - | - | - | - | 6,335 | 0.20 | - | 1,076,463 | 33.61 | 3,203,102 | MI |
| Minnesota | 10 | 991,117 | 63.76 | 10 | 559,624 | 36.00 | - | - | - | - | 3,721 | 0.24 | - | 431,493 | 27.76 | 1,554,462 | MN |
| Mississippi | 7 | 52,618 | 12.86 | - | 356,528 | 87.14 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | −303,910 | −74.28 | 409,146 | MS |
| Missouri | 12 | 1,164,344 | 64.05 | 12 | 653,535 | 35.95 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 510,809 | 28.10 | 1,817,879 | MO |
| Montana | 4 | 164,246 | 58.95 | 4 | 113,032 | 40.57 | - | - | - | - | 1,350 | 0.48 | - | 51,214 | 18.38 | 278,628 | MT |
| Nebraska | 5 | 307,307 | 52.61 | 5 | 276,847 | 47.39 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 30,460 | 5.22 | 584,154 | NE |
| Nevada | 3 | 79,339 | 58.58 | 3 | 56,094 | 41.42 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23,245 | 17.16 | 135,433 | NV |
| New Hampshire | 4 | 184,064 | 63.89 | 4 | 104,029 | 36.11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 78,036 | 27.78 | 288,093 | NH |
| New Jersey | 17 | 1,867,671 | 65.61 | 17 | 963,843 | 33.86 | - | - | - | - | 15,256 | 0.54 | - | 903,828 | 31.75 | 2,846,770 | NJ |
| New Mexico | 4 | 194,017 | 59.22 | 4 | 131,838 | 40.24 | - | - | - | - | 1,760 | 0.54 | - | 62,179 | 18.98 | 327,615 | NM |
| New York | 43 | 4,913,156 | 68.56 | 43 | 2,243,559 | 31.31 | - | - | - | - | 9,300 | 0.13 | - | 2,669,597 | 37.25 | 7,166,015 | NY |
| North Carolina | 13 | 800,139 | 56.15 | 13 | 624,844 | 43.85 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 175,295 | 12.30 | 1,424,983 | NC |
| North Dakota | 4 | 149,784 | 57.97 | 4 | 108,207 | 41.88 | - | - | - | - | 398 | 0.15 | - | 41,577 | 16.09 | 258,389 | ND |
| Ohio | 26 | 2,498,331 | 62.94 | 26 | 1,470,865 | 37.06 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1,027,466 | 25.89 | 3,969,196 | OH |
| Oklahoma | 8 | 519,834 | 55.75 | 8 | 412,665 | 44.25 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 107,169 | 11.49 | 932,499 | OK |
| Oregon | 6 | 501,017 | 63.72 | 6 | 282,779 | 35.96 | - | - | - | - | 2,509 | 0.32 | - | 218,238 | 27.75 | 786,305 | OR |
| Pennsylvania | 29 | 3,130,954 | 64.92 | 29 | 1,673,657 | 34.70 | - | - | - | - | 18,079 | 0.37 | - | 1,457,297 | 30.22 | 4,822,690 | PA |
| Rhode Island | 4 | 315,463 | 80.87 | 4 | 74,615 | 19.13 | - | - | - | - | 13 | 0.00 | - | 240,848 | 61.74 | 390,091 | RI |
| South Carolina | 8 | 215,700 | 41.10 | - | 309,048 | 58.89 | 8 | - | - | - | 8 | 0.00 | - | −93,348 | −17.79 | 524,756 | SC |
| South Dakota | 4 | 163,010 | 55.61 | 4 | 130,108 | 44.39 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 32,902 | 11.22 | 293,118 | SD |
| Tennessee | 11 | 634,947 | 55.50 | 11 | 508,965 | 44.49 | - | - | - | - | 34 | 0.00 | - | 125,982 | 11.01 | 1,143,946 | TN |
| Texas | 25 | 1,663,185 | 63.32 | 25 | 958,566 | 36.49 | - | - | - | - | 5,060 | 0.19 | - | 704,619 | 26.82 | 2,626,811 | TX |
| Utah | 4 | 219,628 | 54.86 | 4 | 180,682 | 45.14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 38,946 | 9.73 | 400,310 | UT |
| Vermont | 3 | 108,127 | 66.30 | 3 | 54,942 | 33.69 | - | - | - | - | 20 | 0.01 | - | 53,185 | 32.61 | 163,089 | VT |
| Virginia | 12 | 558,038 | 53.54 | 12 | 481,334 | 46.18 | - | - | - | - | 3,107 | 0.30 | - | 76,704 | 7.36 | 1,042,267 | VA |
| Washington | 9 | 779,881 | 61.97 | 9 | 470,366 | 37.37 | - | - | - | - | 8,309 | 0.66 | - | 309,515 | 24.59 | 1,258,556 | WA |
| West Virginia | 7 | 538,087 | 67.94 | 7 | 253,953 | 32.06 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 284,134 | 35.87 | 792,040 | WV |
| Wisconsin | 12 | 1,050,424 | 62.09 | 12 | 638,495 | 37.74 | - | - | - | - | 2,896 | 0.17 | - | 411,929 | 24.35 | 1,691,815 | WI |
| Wyoming | 3 | 80,718 | 56.56 | 3 | 61,998 | 43.44 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 18,720 | 13.12 | 142,716 | WY |
| TOTALS: | 538 | 43,129,040 | 61.05 | 486 | 27,175,754 | 38.47 | 52 | 210,732 | 0.30 | - | 336,957 | 0.48 | - | 15,951,287 | 22.58 | 70,641,751 | US |
Margin of victory less than 1% (5 electoral votes):
Margin of victory over 1%, but less than 5% (18 electoral votes):
Margin of victory over 5%, but less than 10% (40 electoral votes):
Tipping point:
Counties with highest percent of vote (Democratic)
Counties with highest percent of vote (Republican)
Counties with highest percent of vote (other)
| The 1964 presidential vote by demographic subgroup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic subgroup | Johnson | Goldwater | ||||
| Total vote | 61 | 38 | ||||
| Gender | ||||||
| Men | 60 | 40 | ||||
| Women | 62 | 38 | ||||
| Age | ||||||
| 18–29 years old | 64 | 36 | ||||
| 30–49 years old | 61 | 39 | ||||
| 50 and older | 59 | 41 | ||||
| Race | ||||||
| White | 59 | 41 | ||||
| Black | 94 | 6 | ||||
| Religion | ||||||
| Protestants | 55 | 45 | ||||
| Catholics | 76 | 24 | ||||
| Party | ||||||
| Democrats | 87 | 13 | ||||
| Republicans | 20 | 80 | ||||
| Independents | 56 | 44 | ||||
| Education | ||||||
| Less than high school | 66 | 34 | ||||
| High school | 62 | 38 | ||||
| College graduate or higher | 52 | 48 | ||||
| Occupation | ||||||
| Professional and business | 54 | 46 | ||||
| White-collar | 57 | 43 | ||||
| Blue-collar | 71 | 29 | ||||
| Region | ||||||
| Northeast | 68 | 32 | ||||
| Midwest | 61 | 39 | ||||
| South | 52 | 48 | ||||
| West | 60 | 40 | ||||
| Union households | ||||||
| Union | 73 | 27 | ||||
Source:[80]
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38thVice President of the United States (1965–1969) •U.S. Senator from Minnesota (1949–1964, 1971–1978) | |||||||
| Political career | |||||||
| Electoral history |
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| Legacy | |||||||
| Family and personal life |
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| Political career |  | |
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| Family |
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| Other | ||
