announcer: you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend, on c-span 3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook at c-span history. thevery week leading up to 2016 elections, "road to the white house rewinds" brings you past election campaigns. this chronicles the race from the first primary in new hampshire to the surprise withdrawal of president lyndon johnson from the race through

robert kennedy's assassination and the national political conventions to richard nixon's victory over hubert humphrey. during the cold war, the u.s. information agency made films for international audiences to promote american society. by law they couldn't be shown in , the u.s. until 12 years after they were produced. this half-hour film is courtesy of the national archives. >> the political situation in new hampshire, the rest of the country is watching us. >> once every four years, the united states turns its attention to choosing a leader, state ina small, snowy the north of the country becomes the political center of the nation. >> new hampshire clearly wants richard nixon to be the next president. >> the final campaigning is underway in the new hampshire presidential primary coming up next tuesday. richard nixon is urging new hampshire republicans to

give him a big sendoff in the quest for the gop nomination. >> new hampshire signals the start of the national campaign by holding the first primary of the year. for the men who then wanted to nixon,ident, richard michigan's governor george romney, and senator eugene , drewhy from minnesota attention to new hampshire, as they started to campaign, hoping these visits would bring them victory in this first voter test, where one man from each political party would win the state's support at a political convention in summer. is a small town in new hampshire, the most popular pastime in winter is dogsled racing. the problems of the other parts of the country may seem far away

but behind its placid landscape, laconia's people were aware of the challenges their country andd in the election-year many became actively involved in the primary campaign. jim wilson lives in laconia. like many of his neighbors he is , a member of the republican party. this year, he is chairman of the laconia chamber of commerce, and he owns the town's camera store. >> if you are familiar with super eight cameras, this is one that loads with a drop-in cartridge. >> jim cares about the future of his country and he is concerned about away the government spends money, including his tax money. he thinks a republican administration can do a better job and jim thinks there is one man who can do it best. jim is a nixon man. >> there is absolutely no advantage for nixon to come and debate, because as long as nixon stays in the background, romney just digs a deeper hole and

buries himself. >> with romney -- >> but his wife is still considering other candidates. >> i think he is that middle-of-the-road candidate that we need. >> he is very liberal, you know? >> eugene mccarthy? >> that's beside the point. we know he is not going to make it. >> there were others in laconia who did not share anne's pessimistic appraisal of senator mccarthy. one was wrong -- ron. like jim, ron owns a business. he runs a family-owned electronic firm. he is a member of the democratic party. in 1964, ron had voted for president johnson. but this year, deeply disturbed by the war in vietnam, he decided to work for the election of senator eugene mccarthy. mccarthy was opposed to the

course of the war and had challenged the president for the democratic nomination. >> but the war has taken so much money out of the economy, taken so much. the war on poverty, what johnson called the great society, so much punch has been taken out of because ofed to do, the war, that it has become a mockery. put somebody else in if you think he is wrong. >> we will do that. [laughter] >> the laconia chamber of commerce wanted a series of breakfast with all the candidates and ron and jim and their wives attended them all. ron got his first close look at the man he wanted to see win. [applause] >> as i see the campaign in 1968, the issue of vietnam

itself is a vital one, of course. you could pass harsh judgment on that war, if it were isolated from any domestic or international consequences. but underneath all of this, i think, is a fundamental judgment we are called upon to make as to what the real role of america is. to what direction do we want to give to america, what influence do we want it to have on the rest of the world. i think this is the fundamental test that we have to face up to in the electoral process of the year 1968. [applause] narrator: richard nixon came to town a few days later and jim had a chance to meet and talk with the man who was his personal choice for the presidency. nixon had the most practical experience of all the candidates. as vice president in the eisenhower administration, he

had been actively involved in running the country for eight years. >> one of everything, i guess. narrator: nixon was a man that republicans had always been able to count on . he attended thousands of dinners and rallies to help the republican cause. the people he helped remembered and appreciated his work. and it was this personal contact with thousands of ordinary americans that was to become the backbone of the nixon campaign. >> it was my pleasure to have mixer nixon -- mr. nixon here as our speaker when i came into office. it's been a wonderful meeting. we have to really promote our sled dogging and winter events around here. narrator: jim was pleased to have nixon as his guest at the world championship dogsled races. >> did it in about an hour and 10 minutes. >> terrific.

>> now i've seen it in alaska, and i've seen it in laconia. >> it was a pleasure to have you here. >> thank you. >> you have my vote. narrator: jim had promised nixon his vote and he went to work to fulfill that promise by working for the nixon campaign in laconia. >> don't we have any other choice, jim? >> there are quite a few choices. >> are you a true johnson democrat? >> all the way. i think he is handling things as well as they can be handled. narrator: the democrats supporting the president had

organized an intense campaign urging voters to endorse the administration by writing president johnson's name on the democratic ballot, in effect asking him to run again. >> i would say there is some work to be done on election day. >> be sure that you write in the name of president johnson. narrator: since many democrats were supporting the president, he began his work on the campaign with few assets. there was little popular support for the senator and even less money. every vote was important. we are glad you stopped in this -- >> we are glad you stopped in this morning. narrator: the mccarthy campaign did have one great asset, young people, many of them students too young to vote. they flocked to new hampshire to

support the senator's cause. at first, it was called the children's crusade, and no one thought they could compete with the professionals in the hard work of organizing a presidential campaign. but leaders of both political parties were to describe this sudden involvement by thousands of young people in the political process as one of the most important benefits of the election year. >> hopefully, we can get a good vote. >> he is a good candidate. narrator: senator mccarthy also got some support from another unorthodox source, actors and actresses lending their names to the cause. paul newman became the political voice of the smash in laconia. >> if you feel your own dissension and your own questioning, then i think it is necessary to get behind the senator now, early in the game, and not sit around and wait till you feel that you are ready to make a political commitment that is convenient to you.

narrator: a few weeks before primary day, the republican race lost a challenger, george want me -- george romney withdrew. romney's withdrawal has helped make richard nixon favor rockefeller. about half favor nixon and half favor rockefeller. >> people like you might write rockefeller's name in. narrator: some people thought governor nelson rockefeller might take romney's place. >> i will vote for any republican candidate that wins in miami at the convention. it will either be nixon or rockefeller. narrator: but no one could really compete with richard nixon in new hampshire. >> there he is.

narrator: by the time nixon made his last campaign speech, he had most of the state's republican votes. according to all predictions he , was already a winner. >> i say this having traveled through this date -- state, having met hundreds of you personally and thousands of you i have spoken to, having looked into your faces, you have given me new hope about america. is new hampshire going to indicate that a change is going to come in november, or is it going to be more of the same? i say to you, turn out. let's get the biggest boat we have ever had -- biggest vote we have ever had. with that vote, you not only will see to it that we will win tomorrow, but that new hampshire will vote for the leadership in -- for new leadership in november and america will get a new president in january. thank you. [applause]

narrator: primary day in new hampshire was quiet. a sharp contrast to the intensity of the campaign. >> are you going to vote? >> i have her to watch the store right now. it seems like a good time. we can get there while there aren't too many crowds. narrator: each voter went to the polls with an obligation to make his choice in this first test as carefully as he would in november. the voting procedure was simple. >> wilson, james r. >> republican or democrat? >> republican. narrator: registered voters receive their party's ballot. they moved to a booth to mark it in private, returned it to the field ballot box, and had their names recorded to prevent fraud.

>> james r. wilson. >> james r. wilson. narrator: ronald voted for mccarthy, but they also had a personal interest in this election. if elected, he would go to chicago to vote for the senator as a representative of his state. would close at 6:00, but, until then, campaign workers for all candidates were busy, urging their neighbors to vote. >> have you voted? >> have you voted yet? >> no, sir. >> thank you. >> yes, this is the nixon headquarters. we wanted to be sure to remind you to vote today. narrator: at nixon headquarters, voters were offered rides to the polls, a common practice in both political parties.

it began to snow in laconia. but that did not stop the voters from going to the polls. mark on ao easy -- a piece of paper. as simple as picking a name out of a hat or selecting fresh vegetables for dinner. but in each voter's mind, there was a feeling that his personal choice of the presidential candidate could make a difference. >> i declare the polls closed. >> now let's take a recap. torator: while ron went shearthy's headquarters,

stayed in laconia and she was finding it hard to wait for the final vote count. >> 316. mccarthy is quite strong with over 50% of the vote. >> 288 votes. narrator: it was an upset. pplause]and a arrator: mccarthy made surprisingly strong showing, and young people suddenly had proof that they could change the national election by working within the framework of the democratic process. ron was amazed and delighted when he found out he had scored a personal victory. he had been elected as a delegate. dotty, of course, was thrilled.

♪ narrator: jim and anne stayed home on primary night to celebrate nixon's overwhelming victory in the public race. and they were convinced that their candidate would win more victories in the future. as the campaign moved out of new hampshire and into other states, ron traveled to nearby vermont to work for mccarthy at that state's democratic convention, which is held instead of a primary to fix that state's presidential choices. now, mccarthy was facing competition from a new candidate. senator robert kennedy had decided to run. >> with the decision made by this convention today -- narrator: there were other unexpected events.

>> with our hope and the world's hope for peace in the balance every day -- narrator: they did not realize that he was about to tell the nation that he was not running for the presidency again. president johnson: accordingly, i shall not seek and i will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. ♪ >> the next president of the united states. >> thank you. narrator: vice president humphrey became the last major democratic candidate to enter the race. as heir to the support that had been given to the president, humphrey required a substantial number of delegate votes for the -- before the national

convention. acquired a substantial number of delegate votes before the national convention. senator robert kennedy ended most of his campaign speeches "ih this campaign phrase, dream of things that never were and ask, 'why not?'" before those dreams could ever become reality, senator kennedy was killed, shot by an assassin in the kitchen of a los angeles hotel. ♪ .he nation mourned for a time, politics were forgotten. although the country had lost a man that many loves, his death

could not destroy the essential stability of the democratic process. had to choose a leader, and, in time, the campaign began again. >> can we have a nixon poster? narrator: jim wilson, working for nixon in laconia, was looking forward to the republican national convention. the choices at the miami beach convention were richard nixon -- >> aren't you having fun? narrator: governor rockefeller of new york, now working hard for the nomination, and california's governor, ronald reagan. ♪ as the republican delegates gathered in this resort city, it soon became clear that nixon was also their choice, by an

overwhelming mandate. >> the next president of the united states, richard nixon. [applause] >> tonight, i again proudly accept that nomination for president of the united states. [applause] >> tonight, i see the face of a child. he lives in a great city. he is black or he is white. he is mexican, italian, polish. none of that matters. he is an american child. he sleeps the sleep a child does. he dreams the dreams of a child. that child, in that great city, is more important than any politician's promise. he is america. i see another child tonight

-- tonight. he hears the train go by at night, and he dreams of faraway places where he would like to go. it seems like an impossible dream, but he is health on his journey through life -- he has help on his journey through life. a father who had to go to work before he finished the sixth grade sacrificed everything he had so his sons could go to college. tonight, he stands before you nominated for president of the united states of america. [applause] ♪ narrator: nixon selected

maryland's governor, spiro agnew , as his running mate for the office of vice president. it was now time for the democratic convention. mccarthy and vice president humphrey were the leaders in the democratic race. ron and dotty went to chicago as part of the new hampshire delegation. there they continued their protests, along with many other delegates who also wanted to see a more detailed plan for peace as the party's main theme. >> ♪ we shall overcome. we shall overcome. we shall overcome someday ♪ narrator: other demonstrators protested against the war in the city streets. these protests erupted into a

confrontation with police that hold the concerned attention -- pulled the concerned attention of many americans. the delegates shared that concern but first, they had to fulfill their obligation to nominate a democrat for the presidency. it became clear that vice president humphrey had the support of the convention. but ron and most of the new hampshire delegates were pledged to vote for mccarthy and they honored that pledge. >> 20 votes for senator eugene j. mccarthy and six votes to vice president humphrey. [applause] narrator: and vice president humphrey won the nomination. ron and dotty went back to laconia and talked about the

convention with their friends. ityou go to the convention, is the very differences of individuals, groups, and everything else. if we all thought the same -- if you believe in democracy, you believe in ration and reason. the other thing is you realize all people don't look at what's right for human society the same way. somehow, you have to -- you will never get the 100%. you will probably end up with 60%. the guy you worked the hardest for -- narrator: it is never easy to accept defeat, but ron endorsed the decision in chicago and supported the democratic nominee realizing humphrey had been , nominated by the rule of the majority. before long, a humphrey poster appeared on the side of ron's house. at the campaign moved into its final week, the nation considers

its choices. vice president humphrey, george wallace, the former governor of alabama, representing a third-party movement, and richard nixon. ♪ narrator: campaigns are always flamboyant. as the candidates moved across the country, they were surrounded by the traditional vote-getting glitter. >> massachusetts. >> massachusetts, good. good to see you. hi. >> mr. nixon.

>> is your daughter here? >> ♪ narrator: but there was a serious effort behind the bands and balloons. each candidate was giving people a chance to evaluate them as a potential president and to look closely at him as a man. [applause] narrator: laconia's people in the fall are part of one of nature's most impressive pageants. the leaves turn. it signals the end of the season with a stillness and grandeur interrupted only by the sound of children returning to school. the people of the united states went to the polls to elect their president, confronted by a decision that could hold the key

to the nation's place in the world. but they knew that whomever the new president would be, he would receive the support of the entire nation as he was given the awesome responsibility of leading the country. >> how different from that morning eight years ago. narrator: in this election year, the nation chose richard nixon, bringing to its final conclusion a democratic process that had started months before in new hampshire. >> i know exactly how he felt. having lost a close 18 years ago and having won -- close one eight years ago and having won one this year, i can say this -- winning is a lot more fun. >> dick nixon when? -- did nixon win? >> yes, needed. >> it's really very exciting. he made a great speech. >> nixon won!

>> were they happy? >> yeah. >> i am glad i voted for next and because i believe he can get things started again. the country wanted a clean sweep and this is what nixon is going to do. is going to get in a whole new bunch of people who will have a different outlook on things. this is what we needed. >> it's just overwhelming. i have never been so pleased at a political outcome. >> naturally, as a democrat, i'm ahappy that he won, but, in sense, i think there was a certain amount of justice and i think that what the american people have done, have told the -- told anybody who might be president now or in the future that they are accountable for their actions. they are accountable for their policy. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> madam secretary, we proudly votes tof our delegate the next president of the united states. ♪ [applause]