Star-Ledger photo by John Gibson NEWARK — In this picture, taken Aug. 15, 1968, Vice President Hubert Humphrey is surrounded by supporters at a rally near the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark.

In the summer of 1968, it seemed clear that the popular vote in the general election between Hubert H. Humphrey and Richard Nixon was going to be close, which turned out to be the case, and that ...