This collection of Election Night videos has been great to see. I always preferred NBC for political & space program coverage. If I recall correctly, their Election Central outpost was in Studio 8 H, at 30 Rock, which has also been home base for SNL.
It was also home to NBC's space coverage through the end of the Apollo lunar program and on space shots, 8-H would be filled with tracking maps and mockups.
In 1968, Nixon lived in New York City, where he was working as an attorney and thus ran as a R - New York rather than from California. He lost New York State to Humphrey, but prevailed in the electoral count to win. I believe Nixon is the only person to win the presidential election while losing his "home" state of present residency. Nixon did win in his native state of birth of California.
NBC seemed to be more careful with its calls than the others. I think they were the last to call PA and TX for Humphrey, and IL (and the presidency) for Nixon. To their credit though, they didn't make the same mistake other networks did re: MO to Humphrey.
Hubert Humphery (a good and honest man) fully owed his Texas win to George Wallace (not a bad man either!) Wallace would take 20% of the state's "popular" vote, which when combined with Nixon's near 40% - made the Texas, "conservative" vote, something around 60%. Humphrey squeeked past with barely a fraction more than 40% - and took the entire big-block of the state's electoral votes. All of the five states which George Wallace carried in 1968 would have most certainly gone to Nixon without the (then) former AL governor in the mix. The the biggest political nightmare of the Nixon white-house, when they looked ahead to the 1972 presidential election, was Wallace. The Nixon people greatly feared another Wallace third-party run in 1972 - which might bleed many dozens of electoral votes from Nixon and cause a Democrat (with a minority popular vote) to claim the presidency. Nixon never feared Ted Kennedy whom he knew was "finished (July 1969) as far as national politics was concerned - after taking that "wrong turn" on a certain bridge - but he fully knew that George Wallace could be his undoing. Such are the facts. Be discerning folks - look at these events with the most critical of eyes.
i was only 10 years old but remembered listing to this in my bed not being able to sleep.Humphrey is actually from South Dakota and Nixon took that state. The Democratic party wouldn't have given RFK any support as the party was behind Humphrey from the beginning. Humphrey never ran in any of the primaries.
Humphrey was from Minnesota. Perhaps you are recalling 1972 when Nixon defeated South Dakota Senator George McGovern in a landslide. McGovern carried only Massachusetts and DC.
HHH was born in South Dakota, but ran for President in 1968 as both a resident and sitting Vice-President from Minnesota. Humphrey was politically connected to Minnesota, NOT South Dakota just as Lincoln was associated with Illinois, not his birth state of Kentucky - - Reagan considered to be from California, not with his birthplace of Illinois.
The Democrats blamed the Wallace " hate vote" in New Jersey for costing Humphrey the state but said nothing about the same vote in Texas that gave Humphrey the win.
