1968: The Global Revolutions

Eugene McCarthy’s campaign for president in 1968 appealed to youth voters and the peace movement by promising to bring a swift end to the Vietnam War. His strong showing in early primaries demonstrated President Johnson’s weakness, and inspired Robert F. Kennedy to enter the race. Johnson then announced he would not seek re-election and Kennedy was assassinated. McCarthy went on to win the popular vote for the nomination, leaving him and his eventual opponent – Vice President Hubert Humphrey – to fight for delegates at the Democratic Convention. Though McCarthy ran a popular campaign, he never quite succeeded in converting the most militant of student activists, who by 1968 had been disillusioned by all forms of conventional party politics. The Hitler mustache and scrawled word “Fascist” on this poster suggest the view radical protesters held of even the most progressive major party candidates.