and either we achieve true justice in our land or we shall doom ourselves to a terrible exhaustion of body and spirit. i base my entire candidacy on the belief which comes from the very depths of my soul, which comes from basic religious conviction that the american people will stand up, that they will stand up for justice and fair play, and that they will respond to the call of one citizenship, one citizenship open to all for all americans. the american presidency, the american presidency is a great and powerful office. but it is not all powerful.

it depends most of all upon the will and the faith and the dedication and the wisdom of the american people. [ applause ] and i know as you know there is an essential strength in the american people. and tonight, i call you. i call you, the american people, not to be of one mind but to be of one spirit. i call you, the american people, not to a life of false security, false promises and ease, but to a new sense of purpose, a new dedication, and a new commitment. remember that those who founded this republic said that in order

to secure these inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. i submit, my fellow americans, we dare do no less in our time if this republic is to survive. so, i call you forth. i call forth that basic goodness that is there. i call you to risk the hard path of greatness, and i say to america, put aside recrimination and dissension. turn away from violence and hatred. believe. believe in what america can do and believe in what america can be, and with the vast -- with

the help of that vast, unfrightened, dedicated faithful majority of americans, i say to this great convention tonight, and to this great nation of ours, i am ready to lead our country. [ applause ] ♪ ♪ american history tv in prime time continues tonight with a look at the life and legacy of 1968 presidential candidate hubert humphrey. beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern with cspan's contender series and that's followed by hubert humphrey's 19d 68 democratic

nomination acceptance speech and later, road to the white house rewind features archival video footage of the 1968 presidential campaign. road to the white house rewind brings you archival coverage of presidential races. up 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 to richard nixon's have over hubert humphrey in the general election. during the cold car, the u.s. information agency made films for international audiences to promote american society and democracy, 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 us. >> once every four years when the united states turns its attention to choosing leader, a small snowy state in the northeastern corner of the country becomes the political center of the nation. >> it will show the other states that new hampshire kreerl wants richard nixon to be the next president of the united states. >> the final campaigning is under way in the new hampshire presidential primary coming up next tuesday. on the republican side, richard nixon is urging new hampshire republicans to give him a big sendoff in his quest for the gop presidential nomination. >> new hampshire signals the start 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 ritual 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 support at the political conventions in the summer. laconia is a small town in new hampshire. the most popular past time in winter is dog sled racing. the problems that concern other parts of the country may seem far away. but behind its blessed landscape and its comfortable homes, the people were aware of the challenges their country faced in this election year. and 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're familiar with super 8 cams, ed, this is the one that loads with a drop-in cartridge. >> jim cares deeply about the future of his country, and he is concerned about the way 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'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. he's right on top. >> with romney right now -- >> his wife ann is still considering other candidates. >> if rockefeller were going to run, i'd vote for him because i think he's that middle of the road. >> would you consider voting for eugene mccarthy? . >> that's beside the point.

we know he's not going to make it. >> there were others in laconia who did not share ann's pessimistic appraisal of senator mccarthy. one was ron o'callahan. ron is a businessman. he runs a family owned lerngss 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. a mockery

>> well, put someone 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 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. >> wonderful meeting. >> boy, you're really talked up, aren't you? >> we really have to promote sled dogging and all our winter events around 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 -- >> thank you. >> 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? >> 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 -- to endorse 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 -- some of their glamour to the cause, and paul newman became the political box office smash of laconia. >> when you have areas where you feel your own rumbles and your 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 until 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 miamimy at the convention and 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 most predictions, he was already a winner. >> i say to you having traveled through this state, having met hundreds of you personally and thousands of you that i have spoken to, having hears your questions, having looked into your faces, you have given me

new hope about america. is new hampshire going to indicate this ballot that a change is going to come in november or is it going to be more of the same? and i say to you, turn out. let's get the biggest vote we've ever had. and with that vote, you not only will see to it that we will win tomorrow but that new hampshire will vote for new leadership in november and america will get a new president in january. thank you. [ applause ] >> 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 bunny to watch the store right now, and it seems like a good time. we can get there while there aren't 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. >> dorothy o'kcallahan, democrat >> 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, a name written in. it was as simple as picking out a new hat or selecting fresh vegetables for dinner. and it was done as casually. but in each voter's mind, there was the feeling that his vote, his personal choice of the

presidential candidate, could make a difference. >> it's now 6:00. i now declare the polls closed. >> now let's take a recap of what it's looked like in laconia. >> while ron went to mccarthy headquarters in manchester, dotty stayed in laconia. and she was finding it hard to wait for the final vote count. >> 316. mccarthy quite strong with 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. 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. >> thank you. thank you. >> 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, richard nixon. >> and i, again, proudly accept that nomination for president of

the united states. tonight i see the face of a child. he lives in a great city. he's black. or he's white. he's mexican, italian, polish. none of that matters. what matters, he's an american child. he sleeps the sleep of childhood and 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. he hears the train go by. at night he dreams of faraway places where he'd like to go. seems like an impossible dream. but he is helped 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. and tonight he stands before you, nominated for president of the united states of america.

[ cheers and applause ] ♪ 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. and mccarthy and vice president humphrey were the leaders in the democratic race. ron and dottie 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 campaign theme. ♪ we shall overcome ♪ we shall overcome ♪ we shall overcome some day >> other demonstrators protested against war in the city's streets. and these protests erupted tone -- into a confrontation with police that drew 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. as the balloting went on, it became clear that vice president humphrey had the support of the convention. ron and most of the new hampshire delegates were pledged to vote for mccarthy, and they honored that pledge.

>> i cast 20 votes for senator eugene j. mccarthy and 6 votes for vice president humphrey. >> and vice president humphrey won the nomination. ron and dottie went back to laconia and talked about the convention with their friends. >> it is the very differences of individuals, individual groups and everything else, that saved this whole damn thing for us. we all thought the same, we wouldn't really be correct. if you believe in democracy, you believe that two things, ration and reason. the other thing is you realize that all people don't look at what is right for human society the same way. it's a matter of degree. so, somehow, you have to talk

about -- with politics, you never get the hundred percent. if you get any persocent, you'l probably end up with 60%, which is what you want for the guy you worked the hardest for. >> it is never easy to accept defeat, but ron endorsed the decision in chicago and supported the democratic nominee, realizing that humphrey had been nominated by the will of the majority. and before long a large humphrey poster appeared on the side of ron's house. as the campaign moved into its final weeks, the nation considered its choices. vice president humphrey. george wallace, the former governor of alabama, representing the third party movement. and richard nixon. ♪

♪ >> campaigns are always flamboyant, and as the candidates moved across the country they were surrounded by all the traditional vote-getting glitter. >> good to see you. >> is this your daughter here? >> but there was a series purpose behind the banners and balloons. each candidate was meeting the people, giving them a chance to evaluate his thoughts as a potential president and to look closely at him as a man.