George Wallace 1968 presidential campaign

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George Wallace for President 1968
Campaign	1968 United States presidential election
Candidate	George Wallace Governor of Alabama (1963–1967, 1971–1979, 1983–1987) First Gentleman of Alabama (1967–1968) Gen. Curtis LeMay Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force (1961–1965)
Affiliation	American Independent Party
Status	Announced: February 8, 1968 Lost election: November 5, 1968
Headquarters	Montgomery, Alabama
Slogan	Stand Up for America

Former Governor of Alabama George Wallace ran in the 1968 United States presidential election as the candidate for the American Independent Party against Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. Wallace's pro-segregation policies during his term as Governor of Alabama were rejected by most. The impact of the Wallace campaign was substantial, winning the electoral votes of several states in the Deep South. Although Wallace did not expect to win the election, his strategy was to prevent either major party candidate from winning a majority in the Electoral College. This would throw the election into the House of Representatives, where Wallace would have bargaining power sufficient to determine, or at least strongly influence, the selection of a winner.

Although Nixon ultimately won a majority of 301 electoral votes (270 being a majority), Wallace's effort put the chance of a brokered electoral college relatively close. For example, had Wallace won South Carolina or Tennessee (falling less than 50,000 votes short) and had the Democratic ticket won either Illinois or Ohio (trailing the Republican one by around 100,000 votes in both cases) Nixon would have ended up with a plurality but not a majority, and the election would have been – for the first time since 1824 – brought before to the House of Representatives.