In January 1968, Nixon decided to once again seek the nomination
of the Republican Party for president. Portraying himself as a
figure of stability in a time of national upheaval, Nixon
promised a return to traditional values and "law and order." He
fended off challenges from other candidates such as California
Governor Ronald Reagan, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller,
and Michigan Governor George Romney to secure the nomination at
the Republican convention in Miami. Nixon unexpectedly chose
Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland as his running mate. Nixon's
campaign was helped by the tumult within the Democratic Party in
1968. Consumed by the war in Vietnam, President Lyndon B.
Johnson announced on March 31 that he would not seek re-
election. On June 5, immediately after winning the California
primaries, former attorney general and then-U.S. Senator Robert
F. Kennedy (brother of the late president John F. Kennedy) was
assassinated in Los Angeles. The campaign of Vice President
Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic no