Page "Curtis LeMay" Paragraph 42

Owing to his unrelenting opposition to the Johnson administration's Vietnam policy and what was widely perceived as his hostility to Secretary McNamara, LeMay was essentially forced into retirement in February 1965 and seemed headed for a political career.

Moving to California, he was approached by conservatives to challenge moderate Republican Thomas Kuchel for his seat in the United States Senate in 1968, but he declined.

For the presidential race that year, LeMay originally supported Richard Nixon ; he turned down two requests by George Wallace to join his American Independent Party that year on the grounds that a third-party candidacy might hurt Nixon's chances at the polls ( by coincidence, Wallace had served as a sergeant in a unit commanded by LeMay during World War II ).

LeMay gradually became convinced that Nixon planned to pursue a conciliatory policy with the Soviets and accept nuclear parity rather than retain America's first-strike supremacy.

LeMay felt that Lyndon Johnson had lied to him on several occasions, and Hubert Humphrey, if elected, would do the same.

Consequently LeMay, while being fully aware of Wallace's segregationist platform, decided to throw his support to Wallace and eventually became Wallace's running mate.

The general was dismayed to find himself attacked in the press as a racial segregationist because he was running with Wallace ; he had never considered himself a bigot.

When Wallace announced his selection in October 1968, LeMay opined that he, unlike many Americans, clearly did not fear using nuclear weapons.

His saber rattling did not help the Wallace campaign.