Goldwater in '64

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In 1964, US Senator from Arizona, Barry M. Goldwater (1909-1998) was the Republican Party's nominee for US President.  Goldwater's running mate was William E. Miller (1914 -1983) who at the time was Republican National Committee's chairman.  The two ran against Democrats, sitting US President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) and his Vice President, Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. (1911-1978).  Johnson and Humphrey won the November election, receiving over 90 percent of the Electoral College votes.  Goldwater did win six states, his home state and five states in the Deep South.  

Goldwater's southern success was due to is disfavor for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  He oppose the act not because he was for discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, but rather because he viewed it as a federal encroachment on state's and individual rights.  Goldwater had long supported of state's rights over federal rights.  When he first ran for US Senate in 1952, he ran in opposition to the New Deal.  Goldwater also greatly admired former US President Herbert Hoover's (1874-1964) approach during early years of the Great Depression and his focus on government inefficiency.