The 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater began when United States Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona elected to seek the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States to challenge incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson. Early on, before officially announcing his candidacy for the presidency, Goldwater was accused by Governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller of attempting to galvanize Southern and Western Republican support while neglecting the industrial northern states, eventually becoming one of Goldwater's primary opponents in the race for the Republican Party's nomination in 1964.
Amid growing popularity in the southern states in the early 1960s, Goldwater had been anticipating and looking forward to an "issue-oriented" campaign against Democrat John...