1964

45A-1067139

45B-1067140

Having ascended to the Presidency at the assassination of John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson was nominated to run against the Republican candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964. Goldwater's arch-conservatism was the focus of this Feiffer cartoon (45A-1067139). He ran on a platform emphasizing the need for a dynamic anti-Communist strategy and the need for a new morality in the White House and the nation. He refused to denounce the John Birch Society, which prompted this cartoon (45B-1067140). His endorsement of an amendment to allow religious exercises in public places prompted this caricature (45C-1067141). Although he supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he maintained that the elimination of discrimination was "a matter of heart, conscience and education." (45D-1067142). Many saw Goldwater as trigger-happy on the nuclear armament question (45E-1067143). His nomination caused a split in the party between his supporters and Republicans who felt he was too conservative (45F-1067144). 

45C-1067141

Lyndon Johnson was seen from the first to have a definite advantage; he campaigned on a platform primarily of domestic improvements in many areas (45G-1067145). As early as the spring of 1964, cartoonists were predicting an elephant barbeque (45H-1067146). The campaign was dirty, with thousands of propagandistic pamphlets published, but the early predictions were right; it was "LBJ all the way." (45I-1067147)