Dump Johnson movement

The Dump Johnson movement was a movement within the Democratic Party to oppose the candidacy of President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson to become the party's nominee in the 1968 presidential election. Their opposition to Johnson stemmed mainly from their opposition to the Vietnam War, while the movement can be seen as part of an internal battle within the Democratic Party between antiwar liberals, unreconstructed Cold Warriors and moderates.

Within the left wing of the Democratic Party there had been rumbles all during 1967 of challenging Johnson's candidacy. The leading proponents of the Dump Johnson Movement were two opponents of the war, Allard K. Lowenstein and Curtis Gans. Their first choice to be a candidate was Robert F. Kennedy, but the New York Senator declined after a series of meetings in September and October 1967. When he declined, they next turned to California Representative Don Edwards, Idaho Senator Frank Church, retired U.S. Army General James M. Gavin, and South Dakota Senator George S. McGovern, all of whom similarly declined. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith showed willingness to run as the candidate until he was informed his Canadian birth to non-American parents made him ineligible for the office of President of the United States. Finally, in mid-October Lowenstein approached Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy and found to his surprise that the Senator was willing. 'Somebody has to raise the flag,' McCarthy remarked. Six days later, in a meeting with Lowenstein and another liberal leader McCarthy made his decision definite.