New Exhibit on Richard Nixon’s 1968 Election Victory Now Open at the Nixon Library
The exhibit opened on the 50th anniversary of Nixon’s nomination at the 1968 Republican National Convention
Richard Nixon’s victory in the 1968 presidential election is the focus of a new special exhibit, Vote Like Your Whole World Depended On It: The Story of the 1968 Election, now open at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
The exhibit debuted on August 8, 2018, 50 years to the night that Nixon accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for President at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida.
This new, highly-visual, originally-curated exhibit takes visitors back to the culture, chaos, and politics of 1968, exposing and analyzing one of the most historic and consequential years in U.S. history.
The exhibit will run through election season, closing on November 6, the day on which Richard Nixon was declared the winner, to become the next President of the United States.
Visitors will see:
- A replica of a 1960’s American living room, where visitors can spin an album on the record player and take a seat on a mid-century-modern couch and watch popular commercials, campaign speeches, variety shows and network reports on the Vietnam War on a television from the era.
- Robert Kennedy’s room key from the Ambassador Hotel the night he was assassinated on June 5, 1968.
- The pen President Lyndon Johnson used to sign the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
- Original sketchbook from artist John Fischette, the 1968 Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist.
- Original cables from inside the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam, wired as it was under attack in what became known as the Tet Offensive.
- Crewelwork of the Presidential Seal, hand-stitched by Julie Nixon Eisenhower and given to Richard Nixon the morning after his election victory. It later hung in the Oval Office.
- Rare original campaign buttons and posters, and memorabilia including bubble gum cigars, matchbooks, ties, sunglasses and more!
- Original movie posters, magazine covers and hit albums that give a window into American culture of 1968.
- A look at the titans that ran for the presidency in 1968 – Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace, Nelson Rockefeller, Ronald Reagan and Eugene McCarthy.
Admission to the special exhibit is included with paid admission to the Nixon Library. It is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM (Sundays 11 AM to 5 PM).