The United States Presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrenniel United States presidential election. Four years after his surprising and unexpected - and extremely narrow and controversial - electoral victory, incumbent Nationalist President Richard Van Dyke faced Democratic challenger Andrew McCarty. Despite signs that the economy would soon enter recession, Van Dyke's personal popularity, his selection of social conservative favorite Thomas Heaps as his running mate and a variety of missteps by the McCarty campaign - including his polarizing choice of Betty Davis as the first-ever female candidate on a major-party ticket - led to Van Dyke's landslide reelection victory.