campaign began. the former colorado senator facedle gagss of a extramarital affair with a miami woman named donna rice. in this ten minute event in denver, the former colorado senator continued to deny the affair saying he was quitting the race to spare his family and friends from quote further rumors and gossip. michael dukakis won the 1988 democratic nomination but lost to george h.w. bush in the general election. >> thank you very much. [ applause ] apologize fore being late. there was a little traffic coming down bear creek canyon this morning. i intended, quite frankly, to come down here this morning and read a short carefully worded political statement saying that i was withdrawing from the race, and then quietly disappear from the stage. and then after frankly tossing and turning all night, as i have for the last three or four

nights, i woke up about 4:00 or 5:00 this morning with a start. and i said to myself, hell no! [ cheers and applause ] and i'm not going to do that -- i'm not going to do that because it's not my style, and because i'm a proud man and i'm proud of what i've accomplished. [ applause ] let's hold down the applause. thank you. i appreciate it, but let's get through this. now, clearly, leigm and i have never had a tougher week, but i'm not a beaten man. i'm an angry and defiant man.

i have said that i bend, but i don't broke. and believe me, i'm not broken. so instead of -- instead of getting this over fast, i'm going to just kind of talk a while about this week and the times that we're in. frankly, the hardest part about making this decision has been my children. they are both more angry and confused than i've ever seen them in their lives. and very frankly, they are angry at me, their father. they don't want me to get out of this race. and you know, i believe that there are also a lot of angry and confused voters out around this country. what i have to say here is both for my children and for those voters. since getting into politics a long time ago, there are at least two things i haven't been very good at, talking about myself, and playing the political game. but i've never felt the voters really cared about either one of

those things, frankly. they are smart enough to know who you are without you telling them. you look them in the eye and you talk to them and they decide whether you are telling the truth or not. so i haven't spent a lot of time and effort trying to create an image. i am who i am, take it or leave it. [ applause ] and frankly -- and frankly, i'm pretty happy with who i am. and evidently, some voters have been also. i haven't based my campaigns on the support of politicians even though some of them are my very best friends. with all due respect, most politicians, with the exception of a few with great courage wait to see how political events are breaking before risking their political capital. and i understand that. but what this means together with the rest of it is that i guess i've become some kind of a bear bird, some extraordinary creature that has to be dissected by those who analyze

politics to find out what makes them tick. well, i resist that. and so then i become cool and aloof or elusive or enigmatic or whatnot and then the more people want to talk about me, the more i resist it, and so on. so it gets to be like the cat chasing its tail. now, a number of friends of mine around the country will tell you that in the weeks leading up to this race i gave serious thought to not running for president. in many ways, i didn't want to. it's because i had a to do a number of these profiles and i could see what was happening. i was going to be the issue. now, i don't want to be the issue. and i cannot be the issue. because that breaks the link between me and the voters. and that's what i tried to explain to my children. if someone is able to throw up a smoke screen and keep it up there long enough, you can't get your message across. you can't raise the money to finance a campaign. there is too much static, and

you can't communicate. in the final analysis, the american people decide what qualities are important to govern this country in the national interests. and they haven't been heard from yet. the last public event we did was the night before last in littleton, new hampshire. there were maybe 100, 150 people there, the height of this circus. and not one question about me. people there wanted to know about everything from south africa to aids, to yirld, to day care, to job training, to central america, and the list went on. i doubt any of that got on the evening news. and that's the point. in public life, some things may be interesting, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are important. whether i changed my name or still owe campaign debts may be interesting at least for a while. but for most people in this country that's not what concerns them. for the farmers in amarillo, the

oil field workers in louisiana, the steelworkers in pennsylvania, i can tell you because i've listened to them, they want jobs. their kids want a chance to get an education. and like all of the rest of us they don't want to be killed by some nuclear weapon. but if you are going of to to spend all your time talking about yourself and you are not particularly good about that anyway, then you cannot maintain that link with the voters that lets you listen to their concerns and offer your ideas and proposals. and that's about where we are today. now, clearly, under present circumstances, this campaign cannot go on. i refuse to submit my family and my friends and innocent people and myself to further rumors and gossip. it's simply an intolerable situation. i believe i would have been a successful candidate, and i know i could have been a very good president, particularly for these times. but apparently now we'll never know. i've had the support of some of the most talented people in this

country, particularly young people and i want to say to all of them today, march on. there's a lot of work to do. we're all going to have to seriously question the system for selecting our national leaders that reduces the press of this nation to hunters and presidential candidates to being hunted, that has reporters in bushes, false and inaccurate stories printed. photographers peeking in our windows, swarms of helicoptering hovering over our roof and my very strong wife close to tears because she can't even get in her own house at night without being harass. and then after all that ponder outside pundits wonder why some of the best minds this this country choose not to run for high office. i want those talented people who supported me to insist that this system be changed. too much of it is just a mockery. and if it continues to destroy people's integrity and honor, then that system will eventually

destroy itself. politics in this country, take it from me, is on the verge of becoming another form of athletic competition or sporting match. we all better do something to make this system work or we're all going to be soon rephrasing jefferson to say, i tremble for my country when i think we may in fact get the kind of leaders we deserchlt i say to my children and other frustrated and angry young people, i'm angry, too. i've made some mistakes. i said so. i said i would because i'm human. and i did, maybe big mistakes, but not bad mistakes. but i'm an idealist, and i love this country deeply, and i want to serve this country. events of this week should not deter any of you who are idealistic young people from moving on and moving up. i would say to the young people of this country the torch of idealism burns bright in your hearts. it should lead you into public service and national service.

it should lead service. it should lead you to want to make this country better. and whoever you are and whatever you do in that cause, at least in spirit, i will be with you. thank you very much. [ applause ] tonight you've been watching some of our american history tv programming in primetime. you'll find us here every weekend on c-span 3. we'll take you live to conferences, symposiums and historical sites, on american artifacts go behind the scenes with us to museums and archives. and travel with us to the nation's classrooms, where you'll hear from college and university professors on lectures in history. as the 2016 campaign continues watch past white house campaigns on road to the white house rewind. and journey with us on real america, which showcases documentaries and other archival

films. over the next few weeks watch for our airings of portions from the 1975 church committee hearings, investigating the intelligence activities of the cia, fbi, irs, and nsa. look for all of our programming every weekend on c-span 3. >> every week leading up to the 2016 elections "road to the white house rewind" brings you archival coverage of presidential races. next, a u.s. information agency film on the 1968 campaign. titled "a private decision," it chronicles the race from the first primaries 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 in the general election. during the cold war the u.s. films made films for

international audiences and 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 here in new hampshire. the rest of the country is still watching. >> once every four years when the united states turns its attention to choosing a leader, a small snowy state in the northeastern corner of the country becomes the political center of the nation. >> new hampshire clearly wants richard nixon to be the next president of the united states. >> the final campaigning is under way in the new hampshire presidential primary. on the republican side richard nixon is urging new hampshire republicans to give him a big send-off in his quest for the gop presidential nomination. >> new hampshire signals the start of the national presidential campaign by holding the first primary election of the year. so the men who then wanted to be president, richard nixon,

michigan's governor george romney, and senator eugene mccarthy from minnesota, drew national attention to new hampshire as they started the campaign with road treks through the snow, 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 the political conventions in the summer. laconia is a small town in new hampshire. the most popular pastime in winter is dog sled racing. the problems that concern other parts of the country may seem far away, but behind its placid landscape and its comfortable homes laconia's people were aware of the challenges their country faced in this election year. and many became actively involved in the primary campaign. kim 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're familiar with super 8 cameras, ed, this is the one that loads with the drop-in cartridge. >> he cares deeply about the future of his country and he's concerned about the way the government spends money, including his tax money. he thinks the 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's absolutely no advantage for nixon to come and debate because as long as nixon stays in the background, says nothing, romney just digs a deeper hole and buries himself. >> with romney right now is -- >> but his wife, ann, is still considering other candidates.

>> i think he's middle of the road. >> that's beside the point. >> there were others in laconia who did not show ann's pessimistic appraisal of senator mccarthy. one is ronald callahan. like jim ron is a businessman. he runs a family-owned electronics 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 had decided to work for the election of senator eugene mccarthy. >> clearly, though -- >> 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. the war on poverty. what johnson called the great

society. so much punch has been taken out of what he tried to do because of the war that it's become a marker. >> put somebody else in if you think he's wrong. >> we'll do that. >> the laconia chamber of commerce sponsored a series of breakfasts for all the candidates and ron and jim and their wives ann and dotty attended them all. and ron got his first close look at the man he wanted to see win. [ applause ] >> as i see the campaign in '68 the issue of vietnam itself is a vital one of course and you could pass a harsh judgment on that. or if it were isolated altogether from my domestic consequences or any other international consequences. but underneath all of this i think is a fundamental judgment

that we're called upon to make as to what the real role of america is. to what direction do we want to give america? what influence do we want it to have on the rest of the world? and i say this is the fundamental test we have to face up to in the electoral process of the year 1968. >> 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 eis eisenhower administration he had been actively involved in running the country for eight years. 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 mr. nixon here as speaker when i came into office this past year. >> i know he mentioned being here. >> you know, we have to really promote sled dogging in all our winter events over here. >> jim was pleased to have nixon as his guest at the world championship dog sled races. >> doing about an hour and 10 minutes. >> i've seen it in alaska and i've seen it in laconia. it's a pleasure to have you here again. >> good to see you. >> you have my vote. i want you to know that --

>> he 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? >> well, there are quite a few choices. are you a true johnson democrat? >> all the way. i think that he's handling things as well as they can be handled. >> 74, 67. >> the democrats who were supporting the president had organized an intensive write-in campaign, urging voters tone doris the administration by writing president johnson's name on the democratic ballot. in effect asking him to run again. >> i'd say some more work has to be done on election day to

better this. >> be sure to write in the name of president johnson. >> senator mccarthy was a newcomer to presidential politics. and since many democrats were supporting the president, ron and dottie began work on the mccarthy campaign with few assets. there was little popular support for the senator, a sparse organization, and even less money. every vote was important. >> we're glad you stopped in this morning. send some more of your friends in. >> 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 the sudden involvement by thousands of young people in the political process as one of the most important benefits of the election year. >> he's a good candidate i think. >> senator mccarthy also got some support from another unorthodox source. actors and actresses lent their energy to the cause. and paul newman -- >> if you have areas where you feel your own rumblings and your own dissension and your own questioning, then i think it's necessary to get behind the senator now, early in the game, and not sit around and wait till you feel that you're ready to make a political commitment that's convenient to you. >> a few weeks before primary day the republican race lost a challenger. george romney withdrew. >> the cbs news poll of republicans in new hampshire last night shows that george romney's withdrawal has helped

richard nixon much as nelson rockefeller. the romney supporters now say they will vote for another candidate. about half favor nixon and half favor rockefeller. >> people like you might write rockefeller's name in. >> some people including ann nelson thought 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. >> but no one could really compete with richard nixon in new hampshire. >> by the time nixon made his last campaign speech, he had most of the state's republican votes. and according to all predictions he was already a winner. >> having traveled through this

state, having met hundreds of you personally and thousands of you that i've spoken to, having heard your questions, having looked into your faces, you have given me new hope about america. is it your ballot going to indicate a change is going to come in november or -- and i say turn out. let's get the biggest vote we've ever had. and with that vote you'll not only see to it that we will win tomorrow but that new hampshire will vote for the leadership in november and america will get a new president in january. thank you. >> primary day in new hampshire was quiet. a sharp contrast to the intensity of the campaigns.

>> are you ready to go down and vote? i've got plenty to watch the store right now and it seems a good time we can get there without too many crowds or anything. >> but each voter went to the polls with the 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. >> registered voters received their party's ballot. >> matthew callahan, democrat. >> clair livingston. >> moved to a booth to mark it in private. returned it to a sealed ballot box. and had their names recorded to prevent voter fraud. >> james r. wilson. >> james r. wilson. >> ron and dottie voted for mccarthy. but they also had a personal interest in this election. ron was on the ballot as a mccarthy delegate.

if elected he would go to chicago in august to vote for the senator as a representative of his state. the polls would close at 6:00. but until then campaign workers for all the candidates were busy urging their neighbors to vote. >> have you voted in the primaries for president? >> no, sir. but that's my boy right there. >> thank you. >> this is mrs. kirby at nixon headquarters. we wanted to be sure to remind you to vote today. >> 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. it looked so easy. a mark on a piece of paper.

it was simple as picking out a new hat or selecting fresh vegetables for dinner. and it was done as casually. but in each voter's 3450i7bd there was the feeling that his vote, his personal choice of a presidential candidate could make a difference. >> i declare the polls closed. while ron went to mccarthy headquarters in manchester, dottie stayed in laconia. and she was finding it hard to wait for the final vote count. >> 316. over 50% of the vote.

>> it was an upset. mccarthy made a surprisingly strong showing, and the young people who had worked for him suddenly had proof they could influence the national election by working for change within the framework of the democratic process. ron was amazed and delighted when he found out he had scored a personal upset victory. and he'd been elected as a delegate. dottie of course was thrilled. ♪ jim and ann stayed home on primary night with their children to celebrate nixon's

overwhelming victory in the republican 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 was held instead of a primary to pick the state's delegates and presidential choices. and now mccarthy was facing competition from a new candidate, senator robert kennedy had decided to run. >> with the decisions made by this convention today -- >> there were other unexpected events. >> with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, i do not -- >> jim and ann did not realize at first as they listened to the president's speech, but he was about to tell the nation he would not run for the presidency again. >> partisan causes.

accordi accordingly, i shall not seek and i will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president. ♪ >> vice president of the united states. >> and vice president humphrey became the last democratic candidate to enter the race. as heir to the support that had been given to the president, humphrey acquired a substantial number of delegate votes before the national convention. >> thank you very much. hello there. >> senator robert kennedy ended

most of his campaign speeches with the phrase "some men see things as they are and ask why. i dream of things that never were and ask why not." before those dreams would ever become reality senator kennedy was killed. shot by an assassin in the kitchen of a los angeles hotel. the nation mourned. and for a time politics were forgotten. although the country had lost a man that many loved, his death could not destroy the essential stability of the democratic process. the nation still had to choose a leader, and in time the campaigns began again.

>> do we have a nixon poster? >> 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, governor nelson rockefeller of new york, who was 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,