1968 Rhetorical Analysis

The Presidential election of 1968 caused a major shift in American foreign policy, with the issue of ending the Vietnam War being a main point of debate. The contenders for the presidency were Richard M. Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, with Nixon winning the presidency. Although both candidates ran similar campaigns they approached the topic of Vietnam differently. A major difference between their campaigns was the rhetoric used, with Nixon promising to get America out of the war quickly. The rhetoric of the 1968 election and the year following set in motion Richard Nixon’s rise to power which led to the end of the Vietnam War, this was accomplished effectively and within the first four years of his presidency through the promises made and his ability to accomplish them.

During the election of 1968, Nixon campaigned heavily on ending the war quickly while still saving American lives, he said this vaguely never setting forth a plan on how his administration would end the war. “Denying he had a surefire, ‘Magical Formula’ or a ‘Push Button Technique’, to achieve peace, he tried to avoid the political trap of a concrete plan.” Had Nixon campaigned on a set plan he would have boxed himself into a corner because it would have stuck his administration with going just one route and any deviation could have hurt his presidency. ‘I never

“Richard M. Nixon declared his support today for President Johnson’s efforts to win peace in Vietnam and said that to achieve a ‘united front’ he would be willing as president-elect, to travel to Paris or Saigon to help ‘get the negotiations off dead center.’” This set Nixon off to a good start in the public eye since he was already and gave him a head start on negotiations since he was already hard at work trying to reach a compromise and end the