Richard Nixon was President of the United States.
Richard Nixon . In 1968 , he ran for the presidency again and was elected by defeating incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey . The United States presidential election of 1968 '' ' was the 46th quadrennial presidential election , held on Tuesday , November 5 , 1968 . Nixon won the popular vote by a narrow margin of 0.7 percentage points , but won easily in the Electoral College , 301 -- 191 .