Johnson's main opponent in the primaries was Alabama Governor George Wallace, who had announced his intention to seek the presidency even before Kennedy's assassination.

Major Republican contenders for presidency included Barry Goldwater, Nelson Rockefeller, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., and William W.

[3] Initially, Rockefeller was considered the front-runner, but Goldwater ultimately won the nomination with William Miller as his running mate.

Appearing before a crowd of about 100,000 in Cadillac square, he said "no president of the United States can give up responsibility for deciding when or if to use nuclear weapons".

Johnson went from his victory in the 1964 election to launch the Great Society program at home, signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and starting the War on Poverty.

[10] In November 1963, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy was assassinated.

[13] Succeeding to the presidency just about a year before the 1964 presidential election, Johnson launched the War on Poverty and signed the Clean Air Act as early parts of his own agenda.

In late March, pollster George Gallup told a White House aide that “the President is doing a fantastic job in polls".

Despite his lead, he believed that to assure his chances of victory in November, he needed to demonstrate that he was a President who could rise above politics to serve the national interest.

[16] His press secretary Pierre Salinger later opined that Johnson had decided to contest the primaries to prevent Robert F. Kennedy from becoming the president.

[20] Johnson's main opponent in the primaries was Alabama Governor George Wallace, who had announced his intention to seek presidency even before Kennedy's assassination.

Wallace next appeared on the ballot in Indiana against Indianan Governor Matthew E. Welsh, stand-in candidate of President Johnson.

[25] After Wallace's strong showing in Wisconsin, President Johnson insisted to help Welsh's campaign by providing money and administrative assistance.

[28] Many senators including Edward M. Kennedy, Birch Bayh, Frank Church, Daniel Inouye, Abraham Ribicoff, and popular former Baltimore Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. campaigned on behalf of Johnson.

[33] The house agreed to the Senate amendment on July 2, and President Johnson signed the act into law the same day.

[40] While introducing Humphrey as his running mate to the convention, Johnson said "This is not a selection choice, this is not merely a way to balance the ticket, This is simply the best man in America for the job".

[44]Major Republican contenders for presidency included Barry Goldwater, Nelson Rockefeller, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., and William W.

Surprisingly, Ambassador to South Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. won the primary with 35.5 percent as a write-in candidate, followed by Goldwater and Rockefeller.

[47] He flatly rejected President Johnson's foreign policy briefings, calling it "an offhand political gesture".

His address to the convention drew 11,000 people to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, where he proclaimed that it was essential for Republicans to win in the south, after years of "writing off" the region.

[51] He selected William E. Miller, U.S. Representative and chairman of the Republican National Committee, as his running mate for the general election.

[52] In his speeches, Goldwater constantly implied that the Johnson administration was soft on communism and that the United States must carry the war into North Vietnam.

[54] A day after the Democratic convention, President Johnson called Hubert Humphrey to his ranch in Texas for mapping their campaign strategy.

[57] On September 9, during a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, President Johnson identified Republican cause as a doctrine that invites extremism and said that voters this year would reject echos of the past.

[67] He considered the biggest problem to be the white backlash as Civil Rights Act had alienated the South, which Johnson had expected.

[68] His political consultant Ken O'Donnell said, "one of our greatest problems unquestionably is the sense of overconfidence, which leads to apathy in the field.

[74] As the scene faded, Johnson's voice came on and he said “These are the stakes, to make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or go into the dark.

Johnson went from his victory in the 1964 election to launch the Great Society program at home, signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and starting the War on Poverty.

On March 31, 1968, Johnson shocked the nation when he announced he would not run for re-election by concluding with the line: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.

[91] After Kennedy's assassination, the Democratic party nominated Vice president Hubert Humphrey as their presidential candidate.