In the presidential election , Republican former Vice President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey . Nixon won the popular vote by less than one point , but took most states outside the Northeast and comfortably won the electoral vote . Former Alabama Governor George Wallace of the American Independent Party took 13.5 % of the popular vote and won the electoral votes of the Deep South . After incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to seek re-election , Humphrey won the Democratic nomination over Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy and South Dakota Senator George McGovern at the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention . Nixon won the Republican nomination over New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller and California Governor Ronald Reagan . As of 2016 , Wallace is the most recent third party candidate to win a state 's entire share of electoral votes . Nixon became the only former ( non-sitting ) vice president to win a presidential election
1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 United States elections