1968

Remembering 1968: A cataclysmic year

Secret White House presidential recordings from one of our nation's most tumultuous years

Jump to January 1968
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Annus horribilis

The year 1968 began with the capture of the USS Pueblo by North Korea and the Tet offensive in Vietnam. It continued with President Johnson's decision not to run for reelection, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and the election of Richard Nixon.

During the 50th anniversary of this eventful year, the Miller Center's Presidential Recordings Program is providing excerpts of Johnson’s secret White House recordings, along with transcripts and commentary by month and date. The full annotated collection of 1968 recordings will be released through this year by the University of Virginia Press’ Rotunda imprint.

Featured Video

1968: The year that changed America

Watch this one-hour seminar with Miller Center scholars Marc Selverstone and Guian McKee to learn more about the tumult of 1968—an important inflection point in U.S. history that continues to shape our political conversation.

The election of 1968

Miller Center on C-SPAN

Miller Center scholar Barbara Perry talks about the 1968 election on C-SPAN with political commentator Pat Buchanan, who was a Nixon presidential campaign staffer at the time.
Richard Nixon: Campaigns and elections

Although it was an extremely close race with respect to the popular vote, Nixon won the electoral college by a 3 to 2 margin.
Video: LBJ announces he will not run

After urging both Congress and Americans to end their divisions, President Johnson announces his decision not to seek reelection so that he may focus on executing his presidential duties instead of partisan politics.
Video: The Chennault Affair

Watch the Miller Center's Ken Hughes explain in a television interview how Nixon secretly interfered in Vietnam peace talks during the 1968 election.