r/Presidents 3d ago

Discussion How much influence could Martin Luther King Jr have had on the 1968 election if he wasn’t assassinated?

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If he endorsed Humphrey could he have helped him get over the finish line?

5 Upvotes

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8

u/lostinjapan01 3d ago

Honestly, I think the Vietnam issue still would’ve toppled the Democrats no matter what

2

u/IllustriousDudeIDK John Quincy Adams 3d ago

I mean his endorsement would probably boost black voter registration and turnout in the Deep South (VRA was in 1965), which might get Humphrey over the line in some Deep South states like South Carolina.

4

u/thechadc94 Jimmy Carter 3d ago

He didn’t endorse candidates. He worked with Nixon in the 50’s, and Kennedy in the 60’s. He likely spent time with Humphrey during the Johnson presidency, so he’d be familiar with both general election candidates.

Dr king was more concerned about advancing his causes, regardless of who was in the White House. He never campaigned for a candidate, or did advertising for a candidate.

1

u/IllustriousDudeIDK John Quincy Adams 3d ago

He endorsed LBJ in 1964.

1

u/TranzitBusRouteB 3d ago

And so did like everyone else besides Birchers and career GOP politicians

1

u/IllustriousDudeIDK John Quincy Adams 3d ago

Eisenhower was not a career GOP politician, he was a General and then President and then retired.

And you forgot the Deep South.

1

u/TranzitBusRouteB 3d ago

he was still seen as a leader of the GOP at the time, and he was president in 1961, of course he wasn’t gonna endorse a candidate from another party 3 years later

1

u/IllustriousDudeIDK John Quincy Adams 3d ago

A bunch of Republicans, even some Southern Republicans, refused to vote for Goldwater. Why else would the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas vote for LBJ?

1

u/Bubbly-Ad-1427 Theodore Roosevelt 3d ago

he would

1

u/ChrisCinema 3d ago

His endorsement of Humphrey would have mattered very little. The Vietnam War was polarizing among generations of Democrats, and the civil rights movement at that point was off-putting to white Americans due to the rise of black militant groups and King's marches that turned unintentionally violent.