April 14, 1963 - Spanish Presidential Election: PRESIDENTS OF SPAIN:
Juan de Borbon (CSD) - 1959-1963 Adolfo Suarez (PDS) - 1963-1967
Elections for the office of President of the Spanish Republic were held on April 14, 1963. The race was perceived by many as a referendum on the restoration of the monarchy, with President Borbon seen by most as wanting to make his family royalty again. While this was a convincing argument to some- and Borbon did have some legitimate successes during his four years- the young, progressive Adolfo Suarez would ultimately win election to the Presidency.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1963 Italian Chamber of Deputies Election
April 26, 1963 - Italian General Election: Prime Ministers of Italy:
Alcide De Gasperi (DC) - 1946-1953 Christian Democracy-Socialist-Communist-RepublicanCoalition - 1946-1947 ChristianDemocracy-Socialist-Communist-Labour DemocracyCoalition - 1947-1947 ChristianDemocracy-Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1947-1950 ChristianDemocracy-Socialist-RepublicanCoalition - 1950-1951 ChristianDemocracy-Republican Coalition - 1951-1953 Mario Scelba (DC) - 1953-1953 Christian Democracy-Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1953-1953 Amintore Fanfani (DC) - 1953-1956 Christian Democracy-Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1955-1956 Antonio Azara (DC) - 1956-1956 Christian Democracy-Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1956-1956 Gaetano Martino (IND) - 1956-1957 IndependentLeading Democratic Socialist-Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1956-1957 IndependentLeading Christian Democratic-Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1957-1957 Amintore Fanfani (DC) - 1957-1958 Christian Democracy-Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1957-1958 Antonio Segni (DC) - 1958-1960 Christian Democracy-Democratic Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1958-1960 Amintore Fanfani (DC) - 1960-1960 Christian Democracy-Democratic Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1960-1960 Giovanni Leone (DC) - 1960-1963 Christian Democracy-Democratic Socialist-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1960-1963 Christian Democracy-Liberal-RepublicanCoalition - 1963-1963 Manlio Brosio (PLI) - 1963-? LiberalLeading Democratic Socialist-SocialistCoalition - 1963-?
Elections for the Parliament of the Italian Republic were held on April 26, 1963. The incumbent government of Giovanni Leone, while led by the nominally center-right DC, had governed quite moderately, and was somewhat popular. However, party fatigue worked in the left's favor, and come election day the pan-left coalition would outperform expectations. The government formation period took a rather long time, with both factions getting a shot to form a government, but ultimately a second election was averted through a deal where the Liberal Party would provide the Soc-DemSoc coalition confidence and votes for a progressive agenda in exchange for the top job and heavy say over foreign policy.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1963 Dutch House of Representatives Election
May 15, 1963 - Dutch General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF THE NETHERLANDS:
Willem Drees (LAB) - 1948-1955 Labour-Catholic People's-Christian Union-People's Party for Freedom and DemocracyCoalition - 1948-1952 Labour-Catholic People's-Anti-Revolutionary-Christian UnionCoalition - 1952-1955 Julius Christiaan van Oven (LAB) - 1955-1957 Labour-Catholic People's-Anti-Revolutionary-Christian UnionCoalition - 1955-1956 Labour-People's Party for Freedom and DemocracyCoalition - 1956-1957 Jaap Burger (LAB) - 1957-1958 Labour-People's Party for Freedom and DemocracyCoalition - 1957-1958 Willem Drees (LAB) - 1958-1962 Labour-People's Party for Freedom and DemocracyCoalition - 1958-1963 Herman van Roijen (LAB) - 1962-1963 Labour-People's Party for Freedom and DemocracyCoalition - 1958-1963 Edzo Toxopeus (VVD) - 1963-? People's Party for Freedom and Democracy-Catholic People's-Anti-Revolutionary-Christian UnionCoalition - 1963-?
Elections for the Dutch House of Representatives were held on May 15, 1963. The incumbent Labour-led government had seen the implementation of a variety of reforms, including a full nationalization of the healthcare system and several social changes including the legalization of abortion. The coalition parties gained several seats, although the VVD would shock the world by instead forming a coalition with the right-wing parties, as it gave them more control and the PM gig.
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1963 Israeli Presidential Election
May 21, 1963 - Israeli Presidential Election: PRESIDENTS OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL:
Yitzhak Sprinzak (MPI) - December 16, 1952 - April 25, 1963
Kadish Luz (MPI) - April 25, 1963 - May 31, 1963
Elias Nakhleh (DAA) - May 31, 1963 - Incumbent
Elections for the office of President of the State of Israel were held on May 21, 1963. These were the first elections held under universal direct election, which was one of the Rosen reforms. However, an error in the writing of the Basic Law led to a fluke where parties with over ten seats in the Knesset weren't allowed to submit nominees, leading to the two leading contenders being from the Democratic Arab Alliance and the far-right Agudat Yisrael.
Prime Minister Rosen and his allies endorsed their fellow coalition partners, the DAA, along with much of the left. Agudat Yisrael, on the other hand, was endorsed by the far-right and plenty of civic organizations. Ultimately, despite high abstention, Elias Nakhleh would be elected the first Arab head of state in Israeli history.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1963 Greek Parliamentary Election
Elections for the Greek Parliament were held on November 3, 1963. The incumbent government of Georgios Papandreou had been beset by a number of scandals, and had lost its majority following a dispute with the United Center party over the implementation of universal healthcare. President Venizelos was therefore forced to call snap elections, which the right-wing Greek Rally emerged victorious from. Still, it's entirely possible that some coalition of the left could have remained in power, were it not for the 50-seat "bonus" law given to the biggest party.
Therefore, on December 14, 1963, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos- a member of the GR's moderate wing- became the new Prime Minister of Greece.
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1963 New Zealand Parliamentary Election
November 30, 1963 - New Zealand General Election PRIME MINISTERS OF NEW ZEALAND:
Sidney Holland (NAT) - 1949-1954 NationalMajority - 1949-1954 Walter Nash (LAB) - 1954-1956 LabourMajority - 1954-1956 Phil Holloway (LAB) - 1956-1960 LabourMajority - 1956-1960 Bill Sullivan (NAT) - 1960-1963 NationalMajority - 1960-1963 Arnold Nordmeyer (LAB) - 1963-? LabourMajority - 1963-?
Elections for the Parliament of New Zealand were held on November 30, 1963. The government of incumbent Prime Minister Bill Sullivan was defeated in a landslide. This was attributed to a variety of factors, including a massive cut in defense funding and protectionist economic policies. The opposition parties would all gain ground, and Arnold Nordmeyer of the Labour Party would form of a majority government.
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1963 French Presidential Election
December 1, 1963 - French Presidential Election: PRESIDENTS OF FRANCE:
Vincent Auriol (SFI) - 1947-1954 Rene Coty (NCI) - 1954-1959 Rene Mayer (UNR) - 1959-1964 Claude Lefort (FLS) - 1964-1969
Elections for the office of President of the French Republic were held on December 1, 1963 and December 14, 1963. Author, activist, and Education Minister Claude Lefort emerged victorious in an upset, granting the left unified control over the national government. Incumbent President Rene Mayer, despite being popular, was shoved aside by former Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle.
The left put substantial effort into winning this election, as the conservative Mayer had used his authority to slow down Prime Minister David Rousset's agenda. Ultimately, author Claude Lefort and General de Gaulle would advance to the runoff two weeks later. Ultimately, Lefort would win by a decent margin and would be sworn in as the President of France before the National Assembly on January 7, 1964.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- The Soviet Holocaust
The Soviet Holocaust was a genocide conducted by the regime of Soviet General Secretary Vasyl Tkachenko and his underlings between 1959 and 1963. Approximately two-and-a-half million people were murdered during the genocide, including 90% of the Soviet Jewish population.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1963 Venezuelan Presidential Election
Elections for the office of President of Venezuela were held on December 1, 1963. Incumbent President Romulo Betancourt was term-limited and could not run for a second consecutive term. His Democratic Action party nominated Raul Leoni, a top official in the administration. While Leoni would be heavily favored to win, Jovito Vllalba of the progressive Democratic Republican Union would end up winning by just over 2%. Villalba would be sworn in as President of Venezuela on March 11, 1964.
January 5, 1964 - Swedish General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF SWEDEN:
Tage Erlander (SD) - 1946-1952 Social DemocraticMajority - 1946-1952 Bertil Ohlin (P) - 1952-1958 People's-Right-Farmer's LeagueCoalition - 1952-1958 Sven Weden (P) - 1958-1959 People's-Right-Farmer's LeagueCoalition - 1958-1959 Osten Unden (SD) - 1959-1961 Social DemocraticMajority - 1959-1960 Social DemocraticCaretaker - 1960-1961 Sven Weden (P) - 1961-1964 People's-Right-CentreCoalition - 1961-1964 Sven Andersson (SD) - 1964-? Social DemocraticMajority - 1964-?
Elections for the Swedish Riksdag were held on January 5, 1964. The incumbent government of Sven Weden and his right-wing coalition ran for re-election, but were defeated. Weden had actually begun the race ahead, but a great campaign by Sven Andersson allowed a Social Democratic surge. Andersson would be sworn in as Prime Minister of Sweden on January 28, 1964.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1964 Luxembourg Parliamentary Election
February 1, 1964 - Luxembourg General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF LUXEMBOURG: Joseph Bech (CSP) - 1953-1954 Christian Social People's-Socialist Worker'sCoalition - 1953-1954 Eugene Schaus (DG) - 1954-1957 Democratic Group Leading Christian Social People's-Socialist Worker'sGrand Coalition - 1954-1957 Lucien Dury (DG) - 1957-1959 DemocraticGroupLeading Christian Social People's-Socialist Worker'sGrand Coalition - 1957-1959 Eugene Schaus (DG) - 1959-1963 Democratic GroupLeading Christian Social People'sCoalition - 1959-1963 Henry Cravatte (SW) - 1963-1964 Socialist Worker's-Christian Social People'sCoalition - 1963-1964 Eugene Schaus (DG) - 1964-? Democratic Group Leading Socialist Worker'sCoalition - 1964-?
Elections for the Parliament of Luxembourg were held on February 1, 1964. The incumbent government consisting of the center-left Socialist Worker's Party and the center-right Christian Social People's Party was relatively popular, but had suffered from a lack of legitimacy. The CSP in particular faced scrutiny for abandoning their previous Democratic Group-led government that had been popularly elected four years prior.
Ultimately, the CSP would fall to third place, while the DG would gain votes from most anti-government individuals. After a two-month government formation, former Prime Minister Eugene Schaus would be sworn in once again to the nation's top office in an agreement with the Socialists.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1964 Ecuadorian Presidential Election
June 3, 1964 - Ecuadorian General Election: Presidents of Ecuador: Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra (VNF) - 1952-1956 Raul Clemente Huerta (PSE) - 1956-1957 Ricardo Paredes Romero (PSC) - 1957-1960 Ramon Castro Jijon (MIL) - 1960-1961 Galo Plaza (PLRE) - 1961-1964 Camilo Ponce Enriquez (PSC) - 1964-?
Elections for the position of President of Ecuador were held on June 3, 1964. Incumbent President of the Republic Galo Plaza was narrowly defeated in an upset. Plaza had pursued a very liberal agenda in office, including abortion and homosexuality reform. The moderate populist Camilo Ponce Enriquez ran a campaign against these things, while still pledging to uphold the welfare state expansions enacted by President Plaza. Ultimately, Ponce Enriquez would narrowly win, and be duly sworn in as President of Ecuador on August 1, 1964.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- The Atomic Bombing of Krakow
The Atomic Bombing of Krakow was a terror bombing executed by the Soviet Air Force under the command of General Secretary Vasyl Tkachenko. Krakow was entirely under the control of the Solidarity Movement, which was opposed to Tkachenko's Stalinist puppet government. On the morning of June 7, 1964, a Soviet bomber would drop a 500kt hydrogen warhead on the city, instantly obliterating hundreds of thousands.
In Moscow, Tkachenko would give a speech at the Palace of the Soviets claiming victory, and the Solidarity Movement would indeed suffer a large setback, although (as we all know) it did not prevent them from taking control of Poland eventually. The bombing is one of the reasons that Poland remains one of the most anti-Soviet countries in the world, with over 99% of Polish citizens having an "extremely negative" view of the country. A further poll showed that out of 3,592 polled citizens, only two didn't agree with that statement.
The 72 Hour War refers to the war that took place between Israel and the Arab world over three days in May 1964. The war, which began with a preemptive Israeli attack after leaked communications about an upcoming invasion, ended in a crushing Israeli victory. The conflict is often referred to as one of the most curb-stomping battles of all time, with Arab forces losing nearly 200 for every single Israeli killed.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1964 Greek Parliamentary Election
Elections for the Greek Parliament were held on August 11, 1964. The incumbent government of Panagiotis Kanellopoulos had collapsed earlier in the summer, requiring a new election after less than a year. The dispute leading to the collapse surrounded the replacement of the 50 seat bonus law with the constituency system (which was itself drawn in favor of the ruling Greek Rally Party). After it was passed, the United Center Party (the GR's coalition partners) protested the lack of representation for their strong areas, and withdrew from the government. On election day, the opposition DU and the Liberals would take advantage of the 'do-nothing' perception of the Kanellopoulos government and make large gains. DU leader Georgios Mavros would take charge of a center-left government just 15 days later.
UN Resolution 2006, passed on August 13, 1964, was a United Nations Resolution condemning the Soviet Union for the Atomic Bombing of Krakow. It is notable for being the only UN Resolution to ever pass unanimously. Even Soviet Ambassador Mikhail Gorbachev, disgusted by the actions of General Secretary Tkachenko, voted in favor before resigning.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1964 South Korean Presidential Election
September 1, 1964 - South Korean Presidential Election: PRESIDENTS OF SOUTH KOREA:
Syngman Rhee (L) - 1948-1956 Chang Myon (D) - 1956-1964 Yun Posun (D) - 1964-?
Elections for the office of President of South Korea were held on April 7, 1964, with a second round on September 1, 1964. Incumbent President Chang Myon was eligible to run for a third four-year term, but announced his retirement ahead of the Democratic Executive Convention in May of 1963. The convention easily nominated Prime Minister and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yun Posun in his place.
On election day, there were no major surprises. Prime Minister Yun, riding the wave of the ongoing Korean Economic Miracle, was overwhelmingly favored to win first place, and most pundits agreed that there was as much as a 75% chance of him winning outright. 1960 runner-up Lee Ki Poong was expected to make a repeat finish, although Cho Bong-am's surge wasn't entirely unexpected.
A second round was scheduled for May 29, although the question of if Yun had reached 50% outright pushed the campaign back. By the time the final recount brought him up from 49.85% to 49.87%, it was two days past the scheduled run-off. A new vote was scheduled for September 1, which Yun would easily win. He would be sworn in as the 3rd President of the Republic of Korea on October 1, 1964.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1964 Taiwanese Election
Elections for the office of President of the Republic of China were held on September 1, 1964. Incumbent President Yin Haiguang sought a second four-year term in the top job, and he once again faced off against Chaing Kai-shek. Over the last four years, Taiwan had seen massive progress, with the implementation of universal healthcare and free secondary education. Yin had also invested heavily into infrastructure. However, the large tax increases and the long start-up times meant that the economy wasn't truly kicking yet.
Ultimately, however, Yin's programs were still quite popular, and he easily won re-election. The New Power Party (a bit to the right of the SDL on economics but still comfortably center-left) also made its debut in this election, advocating for a declaration of independence from China.
GOVERNMENTS OF TAIWAN: KuomintangMajority - 1950-1960 Social Democratic/Labor Majority - 1960-1968
Concurrently, elections were held for the Legislative Yuan. The incumbent Social Democratic/Labor party successfully defended its record, and won over 50% of the vote once again. Despite a loss of two seats, the fact that 9 seats went to the New Power Party meant that the left would continue to have a comfortable parliamentary majority.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1964 Chilean Presidential Election
September 4, 1964 - Chilean Presidential Election PRESIDENTS OF CHILE: Carlos Ibanez del Campo (IND) - 1952-1958 Eduardo Frei Montalva (GDP) - 1958-1964 Radomiro Tomic (GDP) - 1964-1970
Elections for the office of President of Chile were held on September 4, 1964. The hugely popular President Eduardo Frei Montalva was term-limited, and could not seek a second consecutive six-year term. Over his tenure, universal healthcare and other social services had been expanded, reducing the strength of the far-left. Ultimately, Radomiro Tomic of the Christian Democrats' left wing would win the nomination and, in turn, the election.
