Nixon and Vietnam — Campaign Ad 1968

Below is an ad for Richard Nixon in his campaign for President in 1968.  He was making a comeback of sorts that year as he had lost in a previous bid in 1960 for President and in 1962 for Governor of California.  The content of the ad is designed to make you draw conclusions about the country’s Vietnam policy under President Lyndon Johnson.  Johnson, a Democrat, decided ultimately to not run for re-election.  His Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey ran instead.  Humphrey lost and Nixon went on to getting re-elected in 1972 as well.

Based on its visuals, could an ad like this be run today?

Clip from the Past: Lyndon Johnson

Lyndon Johnson was the 36th President of the United States.  He served from 1963-1969.  Above is a clip from a speech he made right before he told the American people that he would seek nor accept another nomination for President of the United States.  Listen to the Johnson’s words.  Do the words used back in 1968 still hold true in the United States today?

Incumbent Presidential Vote Totals

President Barack Obama, as of this post, received 60,892,345 popular votes in his Presidential re-election bid.  This was down from the 69 million votes+ he received in 2008.  This is not the first time an incumbent President who was   re-elected for another term received fewer popular votes in his next go around than in his previous election.  The last that this happened was in 1944 when Franklin D. Roosevelt received fewer votes in his fourth bid for the Presidency than in his third.  The last time before that?  Roosevelt once again in 1940.  Here are the victorious incumbent Presidents and their popular vote totals in back to back elections.

Andrew Jackson

1828:  642,533; 1832:  701,780

Abraham Lincoln

1860:  1,855,593; 1864:  2,218,388

Ulysses S. Grant

1868:  3,013,790; 1872:  3,598,235

William McKinley

1896:  7,102,246; 1900:  7,228,864

Woodrow Wilson

1912:  6,296,284; 1916:  9,126,868

Franklin D. Roosevelt

1932:  22,821,277; 1936:  27,752,648; 1940:  27,313,945; 1944:  25,612,916

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1952:  34,075,529; 1956:  35,579,180

Richard Nixon

1968:  31,783,783; 1972:  47,168,710

Ronald Reagan

1980:  43,903,230; 1984:  54,455,472

Bill Clinton

1992:  44,909,806; 1996:  47,400,125

George W. Bush

2000:  50,460,110; 2004:  62,040,610

Barack Obama

2008:  69,498,215; 2012:  60,892,345

What accounts for the drop in Obama’s total from 2012 to 2008?