1964: LBJ beat Goldwater

At the end of the night, the results were a huge landslide for President Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded President Kennedy the year before.    

The numbers went like this:  LBJ got 61% of the popular vote and 486 electoral votes!

In a couple of years, the great landslide of 1964 fell apart because of Vietnam.    LBJ avoided the subject of Vietnam in 1964.   In fact, he promised not to send troops.   He also ran a very effective campaign against Goldwater by painting him as dangerous and unfit to be president.

The GOP made a huge comeback in the 1966 mid-terms and the Democrats were in disarray in 1968.    LBJ did not seek reelection and was followed by Richard Nixon.

In the end, LBJ won big but the GOP went on to win 7 of the next 10 elections.

And last, but not least, we met future Governor and President Reagan during the campaign.  On October 27, 1964, Mr. Reagan gave his famous “A time for choosing” speech.  It opened the door to his 1966 victory in California and set the table for the presidency.

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