1964 United States presidential election

The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic United States President John F. Kennedy defeated Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee. With 60.8% of the popular vote, Kennedy won the largest share of the popular vote of any candidate since the largely uncontested 1820 election. Kennedy easily defeated a primary challenge by segregationist Governor George Wallace of Alabama. At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Kennedy also renominated Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate. United States Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, a leader of his party's conservative faction, defeated moderate Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York and Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania at the 1964 Republican National Convention.

Kennedy championed his passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, though many say it was still inadequate, he also advocating a series of anti-poverty programs collectively known as the Great Society. Goldwater espoused a low-tax, small-government philosophy. Although he supported previous attempts to pass civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 as well as the 24th Amendment outlawing the poll tax, Goldwater opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as he felt that Title II violated individual liberty and states' rights. Democrats successfully portrayed Goldwater as a dangerous extremist, most famously 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. Kennedy led by wide margins in all opinion polls conducted during the campaign, although his lead continued to dwindle throughout.

Kennedy carried 44 states and the District of Columbia, which voted for the first time in this election. Goldwater won his home state and swept the states of the Deep South, most of which had not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the end of Reconstruction in 1877. Kennedy's landslide victory coincided with the defeat of many conservative Republican Congressmen. The subsequent 89th Congress would pass major legislation such as the Social Security Amendments of 1965 and the Voting Rights Act. Goldwater's unsuccessful bid significantly influenced the modern conservative movement. The long-term realignment of conservatives to the Republican Party continued, though it was held back by moderates and liberals like Nelson Rockefeller and George Romney.

The last election : 1960 Presidential election

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