George Wallace — The Last Third Party to Win Electoral Votes
George Wallace was the Democratic Governor of Alabama — the man who had declared “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” at his 1963 inaugural address and physically stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama to block federally ordered integration. In 1968, running on the American Independent Party ticket, he channeled white Southern rage at the Democratic Party’s embrace of civil rights into a third-party candidacy that won five states.
Wallace won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi — the five Deep South states where racial resentment of the civil rights legislation passed under LBJ (the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965) ran deepest. His 46 electoral votes make him the last third-party candidate in American history to win Electoral College votes. No independent or third-party candidate has done so since.
Wallace’s campaign also attracted working-class Northern whites disturbed by urban riots, rising crime, and the perceived excesses of liberal governance. His law-and-order message prefigured Nixon’s Southern Strategy and, more distantly, elements of the populist right that would emerge decades later. At his peak, Wallace polled above 20% nationally — a level of third-party support not matched until Ross Perot in 1992.
The historical significance of Wallace’s 1968 campaign was not that he won (he finished third) but that he previewed the coming Southern realignment. The white Southerners who voted for Wallace in 1968 mostly became Reagan Republicans by 1980. The Solid Democratic South that had existed since Reconstruction was finished — Wallace showed where it was going, even if he wasn’t the destination.
America’s Most Turbulent Year — 1968 in Context
On March 31, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson addressed the nation and ended with: “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.” The Vietnam War — which LBJ had escalated massively — had made him politically unviable. The Tet Offensive (January 1968) had shattered public confidence in the war. LBJ’s withdrawal upended the entire political landscape.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, moments after winning the California Democratic primary. Two of the most consequential figures in American political life killed within two months. Cities burned in the aftermath of King’s murder. The Democratic Party was decapitated of its most compelling figure in RFK.
The Democratic National Convention in Chicago (August 26-29, 1968) became infamous when Chicago police, under Mayor Richard Daley, violently attacked anti-war protesters outside the convention hall. The violence was broadcast live on national television. Inside, Hubert Humphrey secured the nomination without competing in a single primary — nominated by party bosses in the last such convention before primary reforms changed the process. The image of the Democratic Party tearing itself apart destroyed Humphrey’s general election prospects.
What Decided 1968
Vietnam War — LBJ Didn’t Run, Humphrey Tied to an Unpopular War
Humphrey, as LBJ’s Vice President, was inseparable from the administration’s Vietnam policy. Anti-war Democrats refused to support him; they marched in Chicago. He could not clearly break with Johnson — his boss, the sitting president — on the war, even though public support for the war had collapsed after Tet. On October 31, days before the election, LBJ announced a bombing halt and suggested peace talks were imminent. Humphrey’s poll numbers surged but it was too late. Had the bombing halt come a week earlier, the election might have gone differently.
MLK and RFK Assassinations — Democratic Convention Chaos
The murders of Martin Luther King Jr. in April and Robert Kennedy in June removed the two figures best positioned to unite the fractured Democratic coalition. Kennedy’s assassination on the night of his California primary victory was particularly devastating — he had been the leading anti-war candidate and had demonstrated the ability to win both Black voters and working-class whites simultaneously. His death left the party without a bridge between its warring factions. The Chicago convention, watched by millions on television as police beat protesters outside, completed the damage.
Nixon’s Southern Strategy — Coded Racial Messaging
Nixon pursued white Southern voters through coded appeals to law and order, states’ rights, and opposition to federal civil rights enforcement — without explicitly endorsing segregation as Wallace did. Where Wallace won the Deep South outright, Nixon targeted the outer South: Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida. The strategy was crafted by advisors including Kevin Phillips, who would later write “The Emerging Republican Majority,” arguing that Republicans could build a durable national majority by winning the South and West. 1968 was the first iteration of that project.
Wallace Drawing Southern Conservatives Away From Both Parties
Wallace’s five-state sweep of the Deep South denied those electoral votes to both Humphrey and Nixon. Had Wallace not run, his voters would have split between the parties in ways that could theoretically have changed the outcome in the Electoral College. In a three-way race where Nixon won the popular vote by only 0.7 points, the counterfactual is genuinely uncertain. What is certain is that Wallace demonstrated the depth of white Southern alienation from both major parties — a political reality that Nixon and Reagan would channel into Republican dominance.
The “Secret Plan” to End the War — Nixon’s Promise
Nixon implied he had a secret plan to end the Vietnam War — he never explicitly claimed this, but the impression was widely reported. For voters exhausted by the war and unable to trust Humphrey to break from LBJ’s policy, Nixon offered the ambiguous promise of change. The “secret plan” turned out to be “Vietnamization” — gradually transferring combat responsibility to South Vietnamese forces while continuing the war for four more years. American casualties under Nixon exceeded those under Johnson. The war ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon.
Key States — The 1968 Map
| State | Nixon % | Humphrey % | Wallace % | Winner | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 47.1% | 44.2% | 8.5% | Nixon | Nixon won by ~134,000 votes; key Midwest prize |
| Missouri | 44.9% | 43.7% | 11.4% | Nixon | Narrow Nixon win; Wallace drew heavily from both |
| Ohio | 45.2% | 42.9% | 11.8% | Nixon | Industrial Ohio flipped; Wallace competed with both |
| Alabama | 14.0% | 18.7% | 65.9% | Wallace | Wallace's home state; massive win for AIP |
| Georgia | 30.4% | 26.7% | 42.8% | Wallace | Deep South swept by Wallace; Carter would win it back in 1976 |
| Mississippi | 13.5% | 23.0% | 63.5% | Wallace | Wallace's strongest state outside Alabama |
| Louisiana | 23.5% | 28.2% | 48.3% | Wallace | Humphrey second; large Black vote but Wallace dominant |
| Arkansas | 31.0% | 30.4% | 38.9% | Wallace | Wallace narrowly ahead; Carter won it in 1976 and 1980 |
Wallace won: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi (46 EV). Nixon won the rest of the South and most of the country. Humphrey held the Northeast and some Midwest industrial states.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was George Wallace and why did he run in 1968?
George Wallace was the Democratic Governor of Alabama and an uncompromising segregationist who declared “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” in 1963 and stood in the schoolhouse door to block university integration. In 1968 he ran on the American Independent Party, channeling white Southern fury at the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. He won five Deep South states and 46 electoral votes — the last time any third party has won electoral votes. His campaign previewed the Southern realignment: the white voters who backed Wallace in 1968 became Reagan Republicans by 1980.
How close was the 1968 presidential election?
Extremely close in the popular vote: Nixon won 43.4% to Humphrey’s 42.7% — a margin of 0.7 percentage points, roughly 500,000 votes out of 73 million cast. The electoral college margin was less close at 301-191, but that reflected Wallace’s five-state sweep isolating the Deep South. Humphrey closed dramatically in the final week after LBJ announced a Vietnam bombing halt on October 31. Late polls showed a genuine neck-and-neck race. Had the election been a week later, the outcome might have been different.
What was Nixon’s Southern Strategy?
Nixon’s Southern Strategy was a political approach designed to win white Southern voters — traditional Democrats — who were alienating from the party over civil rights. Rather than Wallace’s explicit segregationism, Nixon used coded language: “law and order,” “states’ rights,” and opposition to forced busing. In 1968, Wallace won the Deep South outright, but Nixon targeted the outer South (Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida). The strategy was formalized by advisor Kevin Phillips in “The Emerging Republican Majority.” By 1980, Reagan had completed what Nixon began: the South went solidly Republican, a realignment that has persisted to the present day.
The Campaign
The 1968 Democratic primary was shattered before it truly began. Eugene McCarthy, the anti-war senator from Minnesota, nearly defeated incumbent President Lyndon Johnson in New Hampshire in March — proof that LBJ was politically finished. Robert Kennedy entered the race days later, bringing star power and crossover appeal that McCarthy lacked. LBJ withdrew on March 31, and the primary became a contest between Kennedy and McCarthy, with Vice President Hubert Humphrey waiting in the wings, collecting delegates from party bosses without competing in a single primary. Kennedy won California on June 4 and was shot dead that night. His death cleared the path for Humphrey, who was nominated at the Chicago convention by delegates loyal to the White House, not the voters.
The general election was defined by Vietnam and chaos. Humphrey, trapped by his loyalty to LBJ’s war policy, hemorrhaged anti-war Democrats and could not consolidate his base. Nixon ran a disciplined, near-invisible campaign — a stark contrast to his sweaty, nervous 1960 performance — making few appearances, controlling his message, and benefiting from the Democratic collapse without having to do much himself. George Wallace ran a fiery third-party campaign that won five Deep South states. A critical turning point came on October 31, four days before the election, when Johnson announced a Vietnam bombing halt and implied peace talks were imminent. Humphrey surged from six points down to a near-tie. It was too late.
Nixon won with 301 electoral votes to Humphrey’s 191 and Wallace’s 46, but his popular vote margin was a razor-thin 0.7 percentage points — roughly 500,000 votes out of 73 million cast. It was one of the narrowest popular vote victories in American history despite an apparently clear Electoral College outcome. The election ended eight years of Democratic White House control and validated Nixon’s extraordinary political rehabilitation: in 1962, he had lost the California governorship and declared, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Six years later he was president.
Historical Significance
The Southern Realignment Begins
Wallace’s five-state sweep of the Deep South and Nixon’s wins in the outer South marked the beginning of the end for the Solid Democratic South. White Southern voters who had backed Democrats since Reconstruction were now voting for segregationists or coded racial appeals. By 1980, Reagan would complete the realignment and the South would be solidly Republican — a transformation whose roots trace directly to 1968.
The Last Third-Party Electoral College Victory
George Wallace’s 46 electoral votes remain the last won by any third-party or independent candidate in American history. No subsequent third-party candidacy — not John Anderson in 1980, not Ross Perot in 1992 or 1996 (who won nearly 19% of the popular vote), not Ralph Nader — has come close. The structural barriers of the Electoral College and the two-party system have made Wallace’s achievement effectively unrepeatable.
Democratic Primary Reform
Humphrey’s nomination by party bosses without competing in primaries triggered a complete overhaul of the Democratic nomination process. The McGovern-Fraser Commission, formed after 1968, mandated that delegates be chosen through open primaries and caucuses rather than party insiders. The result: every Democratic nominee since 1972 has been chosen primarily by voters. The modern primary system — which now shapes both parties — was born from the wreckage of Chicago 1968.