Humphrey Muskie Photo 1968

Black and white photographs of Humphrey and Muskie split by a curled ribbon illustration with the colors of the US flag and a shield containing stars and stripes in color. Blue text in lower. All on white background.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey and his running mate, former Governor of Maine, Edmund Muskie, ran on the Democratic ticket in 1968. The primary was a contentious one, with Humphrey securing the lead after Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. During the 1968 election, Humphrey suffered several setbacks that lead to his defeat and Richard Nixon securing the Presidency.

Humphrey’s biggest challenge was that he was Vice President for Lyndon B. Johnson who shockingly decided to not run for reelection. Lyndon’s unpopular views about continuing the war in Vietnam haunted Humphrey throughout his run. Compounding this issue was the Democratic Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, who ran on a third-party ticket and siphoned votes that would otherwise go to Humphrey. All this led to a Nixon win who secured 301 electoral college votes to Humphrey’s 191.