Midterm Elections: 1966 Midterms Signal a Realignment, Shaping Today’s Parties

September 12, 2022
Has lesson plan

Southern voters, once loyal to the Democratic Party, elected Republican candidates in 1966 as the two parties began to sort themselves into distinctly partisan camps.

Within Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, there was a compelling regional story: many voters in the Deep South, long loyal to a conservative wing of the Democratic Party, voted for the Republican candidate.

Two years later, the 1966 midterm elections would continue that trend, with voters across the South electing Republicans to offices for the first time in nearly 100 years. It was a key moment that affects American politics today, as the two parties began to sort themselves out regionally and ideologically into two distinctly partisan camps.

Educators, click below for this video’s accompanying lesson plan, and check out our Midterm Elections Collection here.

Sign up for our Retro Report in the Classroom newsletter to receive free upcoming teacher resources and browse through dozens more lesson plans and videos here.

For teachers
  • Producer: Matthew Spolar
  • Editor: Heru Muharrar
Related Videos
Why the Supreme Court Endorsed, Then Limited Affirmative Action
Get history in your inbox
Sign up for Retro Report’s news and education newsletters.
Sign up
How a 1968 Student Protest Fueled a Chicano Rights Movement
Transgender Rights, Won Over Decades, Face New Restrictions
Forced Into Federal Boarding Schools as Children, Native Americans Confront the Past
The Crime That Fueled an Asian American Civil Rights Movement
Fighting Drought With an Ancient Practice: Harvesting the Rain
Labor Union Activism Is on the Rise, Recalling the Great Depression
Putin’s Nuclear Threats Evoke Cold War Tensions of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Nuclear Meltdowns Raised Fears, but Growing Energy Needs May Outweigh Them
Unprepared: Lessons From Two Massive Oil Spills

For Educators

Subjects
Civics & Government U.S. History
Topics
1950s Domestic Policy Elections Political Parties Politics U.S. Presidents
Introduction

This nine-minute video examines the compelling regional story within Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964 – that many voters in the Deep South, long loyal to a conservative wing of the Democratic Party, voted for the Republican candidate. Two years later, the 1966 midterm elections would continue that trend, with voters across the South electing Republicans to offices for the first time in nearly 100 years. It was a key moment that affects American politics today, as the two parties began to sort themselves out regionally and ideologically into two distinctly partisan camps.

Lesson Plan 1: 1966 Midterms Signal a Realignment, Shaping Today’s Parties
1966 Midterms Signal a Realignment, Shaping Today’s Parties
1966 Midterms Signal a Realignment, Shaping Today’s Parties
Who’s Who in the 1966 Midterm Elections?
Quantitative Analysis FRQ
Midterm Elections
Overview
▼

Students will learn how Southern voters, once loyal to the Democratic Party, elected Republican candidates in 1966 as the two parties began to sort themselves into distinctly partisan camps.

Objectives
▼

Students will:

  • Evaluate election results from 1964 to make predictions about future elections.
  • Judge the impact of the Civil Rights movement and legislation on elections in the mid-1960s and beyond.
  • Compare and contrast the political issues of the 1966 midterm election with the 2022 election cycle.
Essential questions
▼
  • What is a realigning election?
  • How can midterm elections shape the course of American politics and political parties?
  • How did the Civil Rights movement affect American politics in the 1966 midterm election and beyond?
Additional resources
▼
Standards
▼
  • Common Core State Standards
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1:Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1:Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2:Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2:Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4:Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4:Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.7:Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7:Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem
  • National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework
    • D2.Civ.1.9-12.Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and international civic and political institutions.
    • D2.Civ.2.9-12.Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to various theories of democracy, changes in Americans’ participation over time, and alternative models from other countries, past and present.
    • D2.Civ.7.9-12.Apply civic virtues and democratic principles when working with others.
    • D2.Civ.8.9-12.Evaluate social and political systems in different contexts, times, and places, that promote civic virtues and enact democratic principles.
    • D2.Civ.10.9-12.Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
    • D2.Civ.13.9-12.Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.
    • D2.Civ.14.9-12.Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
    • D2.His.1.9-12.Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
    • D2.His.2.9-12.Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.
    • D2.His.4.9-12.Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
  • AP U.S. History
    • Period 8: 1945-1980
  • AP Government and Politics
    • Unit 5: Political ParticipationTopic 5.3: Political Parties
      Topic 5.8: Electing a President
      Topic 5.9: Congressional Elections
      Topic 5.10: Modern Campaigns