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Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14

Chattanooga Knows: Who drew 10,000 people to Memorial Auditorium in September 1968?

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium is seen before sunrise on March 21, 2023.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium is seen before sunrise on March 21, 2023.


Q. Who drew 10,000 people to Memorial Auditorium in September 1968?

A. Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon made a campaign stop Sept. 27, 1968, in Chattanooga and spoke at the Memorial Auditorium.

According to the Sept. 28, 1968, Chattanooga News-Free Press, Nixon drew 5,000 people inside the auditorium and another 5,000 outside listening to his speech on specially installed speakers.

Nixon won Tennessee and the White House in November despite not winning Hamilton County, which was carried by American Independent Party nominee George Wallace.