In November 1967, Michigan Governor George Romney, a liberal Republican, announced his candidacy for US President. Romney ran as an antiwar candidate who supported law and order but also civil rights. On economics, Romney was for decentralization, tax reform, and greater cooperation between unions and businesses.

With former Vice President Richard Nixon retiring from politics definitely after losing the 1962 Californian election, Romney's main opponents in the Republican primaries were fellow governors Ronald Reagan from California and Nelson Rockefeller from New York. As Reagan was seen as too right-wing and Rockefeller had already lost the nomination twice, Romney won the primaries and national convention, choosing Florida Governor Claude Kirk as his running mate in order to appeal to southern voters without pivoting on civil rights. Kirk managed to hold Florida for Romney, which was decided by less than 1% of the vote.

In the general election campaign, Romney ran on law and order at home and peace with honor abroad, opposing both Hubert Humphrey's social democratic policies and George Wallace's far-right ones. He championed the values of personal responsibility and volunteerism he had demonstrated throughout his public career, condemning the 1967–68 race riots.

Wallace criticized Romney as too liberal, and attempted to appeal to voters who had supported Goldwater in 1964 and Reagan during the 1968 primaries. This was partly successful, with Wallace nearly deadlocking the electoral college and winning 16% of the vote and 89 electoral votes.

In the end, Romney won the election, winning 291 electoral votes while becoming the first elected US President since 1888 to lose the popular vote. He was later reelected over Edmund Muskie and Wallace in 1972.

For a Better America | What if George W. Romney was elected US President in 1968?