Quote: Johnson didn't accuse Nixon campaign of talking to the North, he accused them of talking to the South. Not sure talking to allies constitute treason, besides the South always refused to come to the peace table during the entire LBJ administration.
LBJ did mention to Dirkson there was precedence for bilateral peace talks, Chamberlain and Hitler over Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovakia wasn't at the table when given away.
Humphrey wasn't going to win that election either way. he was tied to LBJ's policies and failed to distance himself from them, then there was the New Left's and Old Left's confrontation in Chicago at the convention.
"For God's sake, you want everybody to know you don't play politics with human lives, that we did what's right," Johnson tells Rusk on one of the recordings. One might want to put this into historical perspective, the charts of US troop escalation and deaths dropped precipitously after Nixon's election. FYI, LBJ confronted Nixon in a taped conversation, Nixon denied it, so who knows.
LBJ seems to have made a lot of excuses after he announced his intention not to run. Interestingly, LBJ must not have thought Humphrey was going to win all along, it's been reported that he had a secret plan to fligh to Chicago to save the day and accept the nomination at the last minute. I'm sure the Secret Service rolled the eyes as they explained to him that they couldn't guarantee his safety in Chicago. LBJ is no different than most presidents' delusions and scapegoating in their final days as president. LBJ is not real different than most in office, they're politicians, but LBJ was never known for integrity. He did what was necessary to make deals or win elections.
You are correct. Nixon (allegedly) arranged to have the South Viet delegation walk out of the peace talks.
As far as asserting that Humphrey could not have won the election, I don't believe that is an accurate assertion. As I recall Nixon won by less than one percent of the popular vote.
