1972 United States presidential election

Last updated

1972 United States presidential election
Flag of the United States.svg
  1968 November 7, 1972 1976  

538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Opinion polls
Turnout56.2% [1] Decrease2.svg 6.3 pp
  Richard Nixon presidential portrait (1).jpg George McGovern (D-SD) (3x4-1).jpg
Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California South Dakota
Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver
(replacing Thomas Eagleton)
Electoral vote520 [a] 17
States carried491 + DC
Popular vote47,168,71029,173,222
Percentage60.7%37.5%

ElectoralCollege1972.svg
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Nixon/Agnew and blue denotes those won by McGovern/Shriver. Gold is the electoral vote for Hospers/Nathan by a Virginia faithless elector. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.

President before election

Richard Nixon
Republican

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide victory. With 60.7% of the popular vote, Richard Nixon won the largest share of the popular vote for the Republican Party in any presidential election.

Contents

Nixon swept aside challenges from two Republican representatives in the Republican primaries to win renomination. McGovern, who had played a significant role in changing the Democratic nomination system after the 1968 presidential election, mobilized the anti-Vietnam War movement and other liberal supporters to win his party's nomination. Among the candidates he defeated were early front-runner Edmund Muskie, 1968 nominee Hubert Humphrey, governor George Wallace, and representative Shirley Chisholm.

Nixon emphasized the strong economy and his success in foreign affairs, while McGovern ran on a platform calling for an immediate end to the Vietnam War and the institution of a guaranteed minimum income. Nixon maintained a large lead in polling. Separately, Nixon's reelection committee broke into the Watergate complex to wiretap the Democratic National Committee's headquarters as part of the Watergate scandal. McGovern's general election campaign was damaged early on by revelations about his running mate Thomas Eagleton, as well as the perception that McGovern's platform was radical. Eagleton had undergone electroconvulsive therapy as a treatment for depression, and he was replaced by Sargent Shriver after only nineteen days on the ticket.

Nixon won the election in a landslide victory, taking 60.7% of the popular vote, carrying 49 states and becoming the first Republican to sweep the South, whereas McGovern took just 37.5% of the popular vote. This marked the most recent time that the Republican nominee carried Minnesota in a presidential election; it also made Nixon the only two-term vice president to be elected president twice. The 1972 election was the first since the ratification of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, further expanding the electorate.

Nixon and his vice president Spiro Agnew both resigned from office within two years of the election. Agnew resigned due to a bribery scandal in October 1973, and Nixon resigned in the face of likely impeachment and conviction as a result of the Watergate scandal in August 1974. Republican House Minority Leader Gerald Ford replaced Agnew as vice president in December 1973, and thus replaced Nixon as president in August 1974. Ford remains the only person in American history to become president without winning an election for president or vice president.

Republican nomination

Republican candidates:

Republican Party (United States) Republican Disc.svg
Republican Party (United States)
1972 Republican Party ticket
Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew
for Presidentfor Vice President
Richard Nixon presidential portrait (1).jpg
Spiro Agnew.jpg
37th
President of the United States
(1969–1974)
39th
Vice President of the United States
(1969–1973)
Campaign
Nixon Agnew 1972 campaign logo.svg

Primaries

Nixon was a popular incumbent president in 1972, as he was credited with opening the People's Republic of China as a result of his visit that year, and achieving détente with the Soviet Union. Polls showed that Nixon held a strong lead in the Republican primaries. He was challenged by two candidates: liberal Pete McCloskey from California, and conservative John Ashbrook from Ohio. McCloskey ran as an anti-war candidate, while Ashbrook opposed Nixon's détente policies towards China and the Soviet Union. In the New Hampshire primary, McCloskey garnered 19.8% of the vote to Nixon's 67.6%, with Ashbrook receiving 9.7%. [2] Nixon won 1323 of the 1324 delegates to the Republican convention, with McCloskey receiving the vote of one delegate from New Mexico. Vice President Spiro Agnew was re-nominated by acclamation; while both the party's moderate wing and Nixon himself had wanted to replace him with a new running-mate (the moderates favoring Nelson Rockefeller, and Nixon favoring John Connally), it was ultimately concluded that such action would incur too great a risk of losing Agnew's base of conservative supporters.

Primary results

1972 Republican Party presidential primaries [3]
CandidateVotes %
Richard M. Nixon (incumbent)5,378,70486.9
Unpledged delegates317,0485.1
John M. Ashbrook 311,5435.0
Paul N. McCloskey 132,7312.1
George C. Wallace 20,4720.3
"None of the names shown"5,3500.1
Others 22,4330.4
Total votes6,188,281 100

Convention

Seven members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War were brought on federal charges for conspiring to disrupt the Republican convention. [4] They were acquitted by a federal jury in Gainesville, Florida. [4]

Democratic nomination

Overall, fifteen people declared their candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination. They were: [5] [6]

Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Disc.svg
Democratic Party (United States)
1972 Democratic Party ticket
George McGovern Sargent Shriver
for Presidentfor Vice President
George McGovern (D-SD) (3x4-1).jpg
Sargent Shriver 1961 (cropped 3x4).jpg
U.S. Senator
from South Dakota
(1963–1981)
21st
U.S. Ambassador to France
(1968–1970)
Campaign
McGovern Shriver 1972 campaign logo.svg

Primaries

Senate Majority Whip Ted Kennedy, the youngest brother of late President John F. Kennedy and late United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was the favorite to win the 1972 nomination, but he announced he would not be a candidate. [7] The favorite for the Democratic nomination then became Maine Senator Ed Muskie, [8] the 1968 vice-presidential nominee. [9] Muskie's momentum collapsed just prior to the New Hampshire primary, when the so-called "Canuck letter" was published in the Manchester Union-Leader . The letter, actually a forgery from Nixon's "dirty tricks" unit, claimed that Muskie had made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians  – a remark likely to injure Muskie's support among the French-American population in northern New England. [10] Subsequently, the paper published an attack on the character of Muskie's wife Jane, reporting that she drank and used off-color language during the campaign. Muskie made an emotional defense of his wife in a speech outside the newspaper's offices during a snowstorm. Though Muskie later stated that what had appeared to the press as tears were actually melted snowflakes, the press reported that Muskie broke down and cried, shattering the candidate's image as calm and reasoned. [10] [11]

Nearly two years before the election, South Dakota Senator George McGovern entered the race as an anti-war, progressive candidate. [12] McGovern was able to pull together support from the anti-war movement and other grassroots support to win the nomination in a primary system he had played a significant part in designing.

On January 25, 1972, New York Representative Shirley Chisholm announced she would run, and became the first African-American woman to run for a major-party presidential nomination. Hawaii Representative Patsy Mink also announced she would run, and became the first Asian American person to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. [13]

On April 25, George McGovern won the Massachusetts primary. Two days later, journalist Robert Novak quoted a "Democratic senator", later revealed to be Thomas Eagleton, as saying: "The people don't know McGovern is for amnesty, abortion, and legalization of pot. Once middle America – Catholic middle America, in particular – finds this out, he's dead." The label stuck, and McGovern became known as the candidate of "amnesty, abortion, and acid". It became Humphrey's battle cry to stop McGovern—especially in the Nebraska primary. [14] [15]

Alabama Governor George Wallace, an infamous segregationist who ran on a third-party ticket in 1968, did well in the South (winning nearly every county in the Florida primary) and among alienated and dissatisfied voters in the North. [16] What might have become a forceful campaign was cut short when Wallace was shot in an assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer on May 15. Wallace was struck by five bullets and left paralyzed from the waist down. The day after the assassination attempt, Wallace won the Michigan and Maryland primaries, but the shooting effectively ended his campaign, and he pulled out in July.

In the end, McGovern won the nomination by winning primaries through grassroots support, in spite of establishment opposition. McGovern had led a commission to re-design the Democratic nomination system after the divisive nomination struggle and convention of 1968. However, the new rules angered many prominent Democrats whose influence was marginalized, and those politicians refused to support McGovern's campaign (some even supporting Nixon instead), leaving the McGovern campaign at a significant disadvantage in funding, compared to Nixon. Some of the principles of the McGovern Commission have lasted throughout every subsequent nomination contest, but the Hunt Commission instituted the selection of superdelegates a decade later, in order to reduce the nomination chances of outsiders such as McGovern and Jimmy Carter.

Primary results

Statewide contest by winner

.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
No primary held
Shirley Chisholm
Hubert Humphrey
Henry M. Jackson
George McGovern
Wilbur Mills
Edmund Muskie
George Wallace 1972DemocraticPresidentialPrimaries.svg
Statewide contest by winner
  No primary held
1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries [3]
CandidateVotes %
Hubert H. Humphrey 4,121,37225.8
George S. McGovern 4,053,45125.3
George C. Wallace 3,755,42423.5
Edmund S. Muskie 1,840,21711.5
Eugene J. McCarthy 553,9553.5
Henry M. Jackson 505,1983.2
Shirley A. Chisholm 430,7032.7
James T. Sanford 331,4152.1
John V. Lindsay 196,4061.2
Sam W. Yorty 79,4460.5
Wilbur D. Mills 37,4010.2
Walter E. Fauntroy 21,2170.1
Unpledged delegates19,5330.1
Edward M. Kennedy 16,6930.1
Rupert V. Hartke 11,7980.1
Patsy M. Mink 8,2860.1
"None of the names shown"6,2690
Others 5,1810
Total votes15,993,965 100

Notable endorsements

Edmund Muskie

George McGovern

George Wallace

Shirley Chisholm

Terry Sanford

Henry M. Jackson

1972 Democratic National Convention

Video from the Florida conventions

Results:

Vice presidential vote

Most polls showed McGovern running well behind incumbent President Richard Nixon, except when McGovern was paired with Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. McGovern and his campaign brain trust lobbied Kennedy heavily to accept the bid to be McGovern's running mate, but he continually refused their advances, and instead suggested U.S. Representative (and House Ways and Means Committee chairman) Wilbur Mills from Arkansas and Boston Mayor Kevin White. [32] Offers were then made to Hubert Humphrey, Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff, and Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, all of whom turned it down. Finally, the vice presidential slot was offered to Senator Thomas Eagleton from Missouri, who accepted the offer. [32]

With hundreds of delegates displeased with McGovern, the vote to ratify Eagleton's candidacy was chaotic, with at least three other candidates having their names put into nomination and votes scattered over 70 candidates. [33] A grassroots attempt to displace Eagleton in favor of Texas state representative Frances Farenthold gained significant traction, though was ultimately unable to change the outcome of the vote. [34]

The vice-presidential balloting went on so long that McGovern and Eagleton were forced to begin making their acceptance speeches at around 2 am, local time.

After the convention ended, it was discovered that Eagleton had undergone psychiatric electroshock therapy for depression and had concealed this information from McGovern. A Time magazine poll taken at the time found that 77 percent of the respondents said, "Eagleton's medical record would not affect their vote." Nonetheless, the press made frequent references to his "shock therapy", and McGovern feared that this would detract from his campaign platform. [35] McGovern subsequently consulted confidentially with pre-eminent psychiatrists, including Eagleton's own doctors, who advised him that a recurrence of Eagleton's depression was possible and could endanger the country, should Eagleton become president. [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] McGovern had initially claimed that he would back Eagleton "1000 percent", [41] only to ask Eagleton to withdraw three days later. This perceived lack of conviction in sticking with his running mate was disastrous for the McGovern campaign.

McGovern later approached six prominent Democrats to run for vice president: Ted Kennedy, Edmund Muskie, Hubert Humphrey, Abraham Ribicoff, Larry O'Brien, and Reubin Askew. All six declined. Sargent Shriver, brother-in-law to John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy, former Ambassador to France, and former Director of the Peace Corps, later accepted. [42] He was officially nominated by a special session of the Democratic National Committee. By this time, McGovern's poll ratings had plunged from 41 to 24 percent.

Third parties

1972 American Independent Party ticket
John G. Schmitz Thomas J. Anderson
for Presidentfor Vice President
John G. Schmitz.jpg
Thomas J. Anderson.jpg
U.S. Representative from California's 35th district
(1970–1973)
Magazine publisher; conservative speaker
Campaign
John G. Schmitz 1972 bumper sticker.jpg
Other Candidates
Lester Maddox Thomas J. Anderson George Wallace
Lester Maddox.jpg
Thomas J. Anderson.jpg
George C Wallace.jpg
Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
(1971–1975)
Governor of Georgia
(1967–1971)
Magazine publisher; conservative speakerGovernor of Alabama
(1963–1967, 1971–1979)
1968 AIP Presidential Nominee
Campaign Campaign Campaign
56 votes24 votes8 votes

The only major third party candidate in the 1972 election was conservative Republican Representative John G. Schmitz, who ran on the American Independent Party ticket (the party on whose ballot George Wallace ran in 1968). He was on the ballot in 32 states and received 1,099,482 votes. Unlike Wallace, however, he did not win a majority of votes cast in any state, and received no electoral votes, although he did finish ahead of McGovern in four of the most conservative Idaho counties. [43] Schmitz's performance in archconservative Jefferson County was the best by a third-party Presidential candidate in any free or postbellum state county since 1936 when William Lemke reached over twenty-eight percent of the vote in the North Dakota counties of Burke, Sheridan and Hettinger. [44] Schmitz was endorsed by fellow John Birch Society member Walter Brennan, who also served as finance chairman for his campaign. [45]

John Hospers and Theodora "Tonie" Nathan of the newly formed Libertarian Party were on the ballot only in Colorado and Washington, but were official write-in candidates in four others, and received 3,674 votes, winning no states. However, they did receive one Electoral College vote from Virginia from a Republican faithless elector (see below). The Libertarian vice-presidential nominee Tonie Nathan became the first Jew and the first woman in U.S. history to receive an Electoral College vote. [46]

Linda Jenness was nominated by the Socialist Workers Party, with Andrew Pulley as her running-mate. Benjamin Spock and Julius Hobson were nominated for president and vice-president, respectively, by the People's Party.

General election

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Richard
Nixon (R)
George
McGovern (D)
George
Wallace (A) [b]
OtherUndecidedMargin
Harris [47] February, 197145%34%12%9%11
Harris [47] April, 197146%36%13%5%10
Harris [48] May, 197147%33%11%9%14
Harris [49] August 24–27, 197148%33%13%6%15
Harris [48] November, 197149%31%12%8%18
Gallup [50] Feb. 4–7, 197249%34%11%6%15
Harris [51] [52] Feb. 28 – Mar. 7, 197253%28%13%6%25
59%32%-9%27
Harris [51] [52] Apr. 1–7, 197247%29%16%8%18
54%34%-12%20
Gallup [53] Apr. 15–16, 197246%31%15%8%15
Gallup [53] Apr. 21–24, 197245%32%16%7%13
Gallup [53] Apr. 28 – May 1, 197243%35%15%7%8
Harris [52] May 9–10, 197240%35%17%8%5
48%41%-11%7
Gallup [54] May 26–29, 197243%30%19%8%13
53%34%-13%19
Harris [55] Jun. 7–12, 197245%33%17%5%12
54%38%-8%16
Gallup [56] Jun. 16–19, 197245%32%18%5%13
53%37%-10%16
Harris [57] Jul. 1–6, 197255%35%-10%20
July 10–13: Democratic National Convention
Gallup [58] July 14–17, 197256%37%-7%19
Harris [57] Aug. 2–3, 197257%34%-9%23
Gallup [59] Aug. 4–7, 197257%31%-12%26
August 21–23: Republican National Convention
Gallup [60] Aug. 25–28, 197261%36%-3%25
Harris [61] Aug. 30 – Sept. 1, 197263%29%--8%34
Harris [62] Sept. 19–21, 197259%31%--10%28
Gallup [63] Sept. 22–25, 197261%33%-1%5%28
Harris [64] Oct. 3–5, 197260%33%--7%27
Gallup [65] Sept. 29 – Oct. 9, 197260%34%-1%5%26
Gallup [66] Oct. 13–16, 197259%36%--5%23
Harris [67] Oct. 17–19, 197259%34%--7%25
Harris [67] Oct. 24–26, 197260%32%--8%28
Gallup [68] Nov. 2–4, 197261%35%-1%3%26
Harris [69] Nov. 2–4, 197259%35%--6%24
Election ResultsNov. 7, 197260.67%37.52%-1.81%-23.15

Campaign

Richard Nixon during an August 1972 campaign stop Richard Nixon greeted by children during campaign 1972.png
Richard Nixon during an August 1972 campaign stop
George McGovern speaking at an October 1972 campaign rally George McGovern UH.jpeg
George McGovern speaking at an October 1972 campaign rally

McGovern ran on a platform of immediately ending the Vietnam War and instituting a radical guaranteed minimum income for the nation's poor. His campaign was harmed by his views during the primaries (which alienated many powerful Democrats), the perception that his foreign policy was too extreme, and the Eagleton debacle. With McGovern's campaign weakened by these factors, with the Republicans portraying McGovern as a radical left-wing extremist, Nixon led in the polls by large margins throughout the entire campaign. With an enormous fundraising advantage and a comfortable lead in the polls, Nixon concentrated on large rallies and focused speeches to closed, select audiences, leaving much of the retail campaigning to surrogates like Vice President Agnew. Nixon did not, by design, try to extend his coattails to Republican congressional or gubernatorial candidates, preferring to pad his own margin of victory.

Results

Election results by county.
Richard Nixon
George McGovern 1972prescountymap2.PNG
Election results by county.
Results by congressional district. 1972 Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District.png
Results by congressional district.

Nixon's percentage of the popular vote was only marginally less than Lyndon Johnson's record in the 1964 election, and his margin of victory was slightly larger. Nixon won a majority vote in 49 states, including McGovern's home state of South Dakota. Only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia voted for the challenger, resulting in an even more lopsided Electoral College tally. McGovern garnered only 37.5 percent of the national popular vote, the lowest share received by a Democratic Party nominee since John W. Davis won only 28.8 percent of the vote in the 1924 election. The only major party candidate since 1972 to receive less than 40 percent of the vote was Republican incumbent President George H. W. Bush who won 37.4 percent of the vote in the 1992 election, a race that (as in 1924) was impacted by a strong third-party vote. [70] Nixon received the highest share of the popular vote for a Republican in history.

Although the McGovern campaign believed that its candidate had a better chance of defeating Nixon because of the new Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution that lowered the national voting age to 18 from 21, most of the youth vote went to Nixon. [71] This was the first election in American history in which a Republican candidate carried every single Southern state, continuing the region's transformation from a Democratic bastion into a Republican stronghold as Arkansas was carried by a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in a century. By this time, all the Southern states, except Arkansas and Texas, had been carried by a Republican in either the previous election or that of 1964 (though Republican candidates carried Texas in 1928, 1952 and 1956). As a result of this election, Massachusetts became the only state that Nixon did not carry in any of the three presidential elections in which he was a candidate. Notably, Nixon became the first Republican to ever win two terms in the White House without carrying Massachusetts at least once, and the same feat would later be duplicated by George W. Bush who won both the 2000 and 2004 elections without winning Massachusetts either time. This presidential election was the first since 1808 in which New York did not have the largest number of electors in the Electoral College, having fallen to 41 electors vs. California's 45. Additionally, this remains the last one in which Minnesota was carried by the Republican candidate. [72]

McGovern won a mere 130 counties, plus the District of Columbia and four county-equivalents in Alaska, [c] easily the fewest counties won by any major-party presidential nominee since the advent of popular presidential elections. [73] In nineteen states, McGovern failed to carry a single county; [d] he carried a mere one county-equivalent in a further nine states, [e] and just two counties in a further seven. [f] In contrast to Walter Mondale's narrow 1984 win in Minnesota, McGovern comfortably did win Massachusetts, but lost every other state by no less than five percentage points, as well as 45 states by more than ten percentage points – the exceptions being Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and his home state of South Dakota. This election also made Nixon the second former vice president in American history to serve two terms back-to-back, after Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and 1804, as well as the only two-term Vice President to be elected President twice.

Since McGovern carried only one state, bumper stickers reading "Nixon 49 America 1", [74] "Don't Blame Me, I'm From Massachusetts", and "Massachusetts: The One And Only" were popular for a short time in Massachusetts. [75]

Nixon managed to win 18% of the African American vote (Gerald Ford would get 16% in 1976). [76] Until 2024, he was the only Republican in modern times to threaten the oldest extant Democratic stronghold of South Texas: this is the most recent election in which the Republicans have won Dimmit County, Texas, the only time Republicans carried La Salle County between William McKinley in 1900 and Donald Trump in 2020, and one of only two occasions since Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 [g] that Republicans have gained a majority in Presidio County. [72] The 1972 election was also the most recent time several highly populous urban counties – including Cook in Illinois, Orleans in Louisiana, Hennepin in Minnesota, Cuyahoga in Ohio, Durham in North Carolina, Queens in New York, and Prince George's in Maryland – have voted Republican. [72]

The Wallace vote had also been crucial to Nixon being able to sweep the states that had narrowly held out against him in 1968 (Texas, Maryland, and West Virginia), as well as the states Wallace won himself (Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia). The pro-Wallace group of voters had only given AIP nominee John Schmitz a depressing 2.4% of its support, while 19.1% backed McGovern, and the majority 78.5% broke for Nixon.

Nixon, who became term-limited under the provisions of the Twenty-second Amendment as a result of his victory, became the first presidential candidate to win a significant number of electoral votes in three presidential elections since the ratification of that Amendment, only Donald Trump has done the same. As of 2024, Nixon was the seventh of eight presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Donald Trump.

The 520 electoral votes received by Nixon, added to the 301 electoral votes he received in 1968, and the 219 electoral votes he received in 1960, gave him the second largest number of electoral votes received by any presidential candidate (after Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1,876 total electoral votes).

Electoral results
Presidential candidatePartyHome statePopular vote [77] Electoral
vote [78]
Running mate
CountPercentageVice-presidential candidateHome stateElectoral vote [79]
Richard Nixon (incumbent) Republican California 47,168,71060.67%520 Spiro T. Agnew (incumbent) Maryland 520
George McGovern Democratic South Dakota 29,173,22237.52%17 Sargent Shriver Maryland 17
John G. Schmitz American Independent California 1,100,8961.42%0 Thomas J. Anderson Tennessee 0
Linda Jenness Socialist Workers Georgia 83,380 [h] 0.11%0 Andrew Pulley Illinois 0
Benjamin Spock People's California 78,7590.10%0 Julius Hobson District of Columbia 0
Louis Fisher Socialist Labor Illinois 53,8140.07%0 Genevieve Gunderson Minnesota 0
John G. Hospers Libertarian California 3,6740.00%1 [i] [46] Theodora Nathan Oregon 1 [j] [46]
Other81,5750.10%Other
Total77,744,030100%538538
Needed to win270270
John Hospers received one faithless electoral vote from Virginia. John Hospers Presidential.jpg
John Hospers received one faithless electoral vote from Virginia.
Popular vote
Nixon
60.67%
McGovern
37.52%
Schmitz
1.42%
Others
0.39%
Electoral vote
Nixon
96.65%
McGovern
3.16%
Hospers
0.19%
1972 Electoral Map.png

Results by state

Legend
Legend
States/districts won by Nixon/Agnew
States/districts won by McGovern/Shriver
At-large results (Maine used the Congressional District Method)
Outcomes of the 1972 United States presidential election by state [81]
Richard Nixon
Republican
George McGovern
Democratic
John Schmitz
American Independent
John Hospers
Libertarian
MarginState Total
Stateelectoral
votes
# %electoral
votes
# %electoral
votes
# %electoral
votes
# %electoral
votes
# %#
Alabama 9728,70172.439256,92325.54 11,9181.18    471,77846.891,006,093AL
Alaska 355,34958.13332,96734.62 6,9037.25    22,38223.5195,219AK
Arizona 6402,81261.646198,54030.38 21,2083.25    204,27231.26653,505AZ
Arkansas 6445,75168.826198,89930.71 3,0160.47    246,85238.11647,666AR
California 454,602,09655.00453,475,84741.54 232,5542.78 9800.01 1,126,24913.468,367,862CA
Colorado 7597,18962.617329,98034.59 17,2691.81 1,1110.12 267,20928.01953,884CO
Connecticut 8810,76358.578555,49840.13 17,2391.25    255,26518.441,384,277CT
Delaware 3140,35759.60392,28339.18 2,6381.12    48,07420.41235,516DE
D.C. 335,22621.56 127,62778.103      −92,401−56.54163,421DC
Florida 171,857,75971.9117718,11727.80       1,139,64244.122,583,283FL
Georgia 12881,49675.0412289,52924.65 8120.07    591,96750.391,174,772GA
Hawaii 4168,86562.484101,40937.52       67,45624.96270,274HI
Idaho 4199,38464.24480,82626.04 28,8699.30    118,55838.20310,379ID
Illinois 262,788,17959.03261,913,47240.51 2,4710.05    874,70718.524,723,236IL
Indiana 131,405,15466.1113708,56833.34       696,58632.772,125,529IN
Iowa 8706,20757.618496,20640.48 22,0561.80    210,00117.131,225,944IA
Kansas 7619,81267.667270,28729.50 21,8082.38    349,52538.15916,095KS
Kentucky 9676,44663.379371,15934.77 17,6271.65    305,28728.601,067,499KY
Louisiana 10686,85265.3210298,14228.35 52,0994.95    388,71036.971,051,491LA
Maine † 2256,45861.462160,58438.48 1170.03 10.00 95,87422.98417,271ME
Maine-1 1135,38861.42185,02838.58 UnknownUnknown UnknownUnknown 50,36022.85220,416ME1
Maine-2 1121,12061.58175,55638.42 UnknownUnknown UnknownUnknown 45,56423.17196,676ME2
Maryland 10829,30561.2610505,78137.36 18,7261.38    323,52423.901,353,812MD
Massachusetts 141,112,07845.23 1,332,54054.20142,8770.12 430.00 −220,462−8.972,458,756MA
Michigan 211,961,72156.20211,459,43541.81 63,3211.81    502,28614.393,490,325MI
Minnesota 10898,26951.5810802,34646.07 31,4071.80    95,9235.511,741,652MN
Mississippi 7505,12578.207126,78219.63 11,5981.80    378,34358.57645,963MS
Missouri 121,154,05862.2912698,53137.71       455,52724.591,852,589MO
Montana 4183,97657.934120,19737.85 13,4304.23    63,77920.08317,603MT
Nebraska 5406,29870.505169,99129.50       236,30741.00576,289NE
Nevada 3115,75063.68366,01636.32       49,73427.36181,766NV
New Hampshire 4213,72463.984116,43534.86 3,3861.01    97,28929.12334,055NH
New Jersey 171,845,50261.57171,102,21136.77 34,3781.15    743,29124.802,997,229NJ
New Mexico 4235,60661.054141,08436.56 8,7672.27    94,52224.49385,931NM
New York 414,192,77858.54412,951,08441.21       1,241,69417.347,161,830NY
North Carolina 131,054,88969.4613438,70528.89 25,0181.65    616,18440.581,518,612NC
North Dakota 3174,10962.073100,38435.79 5,6462.01    73,72526.28280,514ND
Ohio 252,441,82759.63251,558,88938.07 80,0671.96    882,93821.564,094,787OH
Oklahoma 8759,02573.708247,14724.00 23,7282.30    511,87849.701,029,900OK
Oregon 6486,68652.456392,76042.33 46,2114.98    93,92610.12927,946OR
Pennsylvania 272,714,52159.11271,796,95139.13 70,5931.54    917,57019.984,592,105PA
Rhode Island 4220,38353.004194,64546.81 250.01 20.00 25,7386.19415,808RI
South Carolina 8478,42770.588189,27027.92 10,1661.50    289,15742.66677,880SC
South Dakota 4166,47654.154139,94545.52       26,5318.63307,415SD
Tennessee 10813,14767.7010357,29329.75 30,3732.53    455,85437.951,201,182TN
Texas 262,298,89666.20261,154,29133.24 7,0980.20    1,144,60532.963,472,714TX
Utah 4323,64367.644126,28426.39 28,5495.97    197,35941.25478,476UT
Vermont 3117,14962.66368,17436.47       48,97526.20186,947VT
Virginia 12988,49367.8411438,88730.12 19,7211.35   1549,60637.721,457,019VA
Washington 9837,13556.929568,33438.64 58,9064.00 1,5370.10 268,80118.281,470,847WA
West Virginia 6484,96463.616277,43536.39       207,52927.22762,399WV
Wisconsin 11989,43053.4011810,17443.72 47,5252.56    179,2569.671,852,890WI
Wyoming 3100,46469.01344,35830.47 7480.51    56,10638.54145,570WY
TOTALS:53847,168,71060.6752029,173,22237.52171,100,8681.4203,6740.00117,995,48823.1577,744,027US

For the first time since 1828, Maine allowed its electoral votes to be split between candidates. Two electoral votes were awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. This was the first time the Congressional District Method had been used since Michigan used it in 1892. Nixon won all four votes. [82]

States that flipped from Democratic to Republican

States that flipped from American Independent to Republican

Close states

States where margin of victory was more than 5 percentage points, but less than 10 percentage points (43 electoral votes):

Tipping point states:

  1. Ohio, 21.56% (882,938 votes) (tipping point for a Nixon victory)
  2. Maine-1, 22.85% (50,360 votes) (tipping point for a McGovern victory) [83]

Statistics

[81]

Counties with highest percentage of the vote (Republican)

  1. Dade County, Georgia 93.45%
  2. Glascock County, Georgia 93.38%
  3. George County, Mississippi 92.90%
  4. Holmes County, Florida 92.51%
  5. Smith County, Mississippi 92.35%

Counties with highest percentage of the vote (Democratic)

  1. Duval County, Texas 85.68%
  2. Washington, D. C. 78.10%
  3. Shannon County, South Dakota 77.34%
  4. Greene County, Alabama 68.32%
  5. Charles City County, Virginia 67.84%

Counties with highest percentage of the vote (Other)

  1. Jefferson County, Idaho 27.51%
  2. Lemhi County, Idaho 19.77%
  3. Fremont County, Idaho 19.32%
  4. Bonneville County, Idaho 18.97%
  5. Madison County, Idaho 17.04%

Voter demographics

[84]

The 1972 presidential vote by demographic subgroup
McGovernNixon
Gender
Men3763
Women3862
Age
Under 304852
30-493367
50 or Older3664
Race
White3268
Non-White8713
Religion
Protestant3070
Catholic4852
Education
College3763
High School3466
Grade School4951
Occupation
Business3169
White Collar3664
Manual4357
Party ID
Republican595
Democrat6733
Independent3169
Region
East4258
Midwest4060
South2971
West4159
Union Status
Union Family4654

Nixon won 36 percent of the Democratic vote, according to an exit poll conducted for CBS News by George Fine Research, Inc. [85] This represents more than twice the percentage of voters who typically defect from their party in presidential elections. Nixon also became the first Republican presidential candidate in American history to win the Roman Catholic vote (53–46), and the first in recent history to win the blue-collar vote, which he won by a 5-to-4 margin. McGovern narrowly won the union vote (50–48), though this difference was within the survey's margin of error of 2 percentage points. McGovern also narrowly won the youth vote (i. e., those aged 18 to 24) 52–46, a narrower margin than many of his strategists had predicted. Early on, the McGovern campaign also significantly over-estimated the number of young people who would vote in the election: They predicted that 18 million would have voted in total, but exit polls indicate that the actual number was about 12 million. McGovern did win comfortably among both African-American and Jewish voters, but by somewhat smaller margins than usual for a Democratic candidate. [85] McGovern won the African American vote by 87% to Nixon's 13%. [86]

Aftermath

On June 17, 1972, five months before election day, five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D. C.; the resulting investigation led to the revelation of attempted cover-ups of the break-in within the Nixon administration. What became known as the Watergate scandal eroded President Nixon's public and political support in his second term, and he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of probable impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal from office by the Senate.

As part of the continuing Watergate investigation in 1974–1975, federal prosecutors offered companies that had given illegal campaign contributions to President Nixon's re-election campaign lenient sentences if they came forward. [87] Many companies complied, including Northrop Grumman, 3M, American Airlines, and Braniff Airlines. [87] By 1976, prosecutors had convicted 18 American corporations of contributing illegally to Nixon's campaign. [87]

Despite this election delivering Nixon's greatest electoral triumph, Nixon later wrote in his memoirs that "it was one of the most frustrating and in many ways the least satisfying of all". [88]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. A faithless Republican elector voted for the Libertarian ticket (Hospers–Nathan).
  2. It remained an open question far into the election season whether Wallace would again bolt the Democratic Party and run as an Independent candidate in the General should he fail to win the Democratic nomination, with some polls being commissioned as though it were a fait accompli.
  3. These were North Slope Borough, plus Bethel, Kusilvak and Hoonah-Angoon Census Areas
  4. McGovern failed to carry a single county in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont or Wyoming
  5. McGovern carried only one county-equivalent in Arizona (Greenlee), Illinois (Jackson), Louisiana (West Feliciana Parish), Maine (Androscoggin), Maryland (Baltimore), North Dakota (Rolette), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Virginia (Charles City), and West Virginia (Logan)
  6. McGovern carried just two counties in Colorado, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington State
  7. Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 also obtained a plurality in Presidio County
  8. In Arizona, Pima and Yavapai counties had an unusually formatted ballot that led voters to believe they could vote for a major party presidential candidate and simultaneously vote the six individual Socialist Workers Party presidential electors. Technically, these were overvotes, and should not have counted for either the major party candidates or the Socialist Workers Party electors. Within two days of the election, the Attorney General and Pima County Attorney had agreed that all votes should count. The Socialist Workers Party had not qualified as a party, and thus did not have a presidential candidate. In the official state canvass, votes for Nixon, McGovern, or Schmitz, are shown as being for the presidential candidate, the party, and the elector slate of the party; while those for the Socialist Worker Party elector candidates were for those candidates only. In the view of the Secretary of State, the votes were not for Linda Jenness. Some tabulations count the votes for Jenness. Historically, presidential candidate names did not appear on ballots, and voters voted directly for the electors. Nonetheless, votes for the electors are attributed to the presidential candidate. Counting the votes in Arizona for Jenness is consistent with this practice. Because of the confusing ballots, Socialist Workers Party electors received votes on about 21 percent and 8 percent of ballots in Pima and Yavapai, respectively. 30,579 of the party's 30,945 Arizona votes are from those two counties. [80]
  9. A Virginia faithless elector, Roger MacBride, though pledged to vote for Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, instead voted for Libertarian candidates John Hospers and Theodora "Tonie" Nathan.
  10. A Virginia faithless elector, Roger MacBride, though pledged to vote for Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, instead voted for Libertarian candidates John Hospers and Theodora "Tonie" Nathan.

Citations

  1. "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present". United States Election Project. CQ Press. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  2. "New Hampshire Primary historical past election results. 2008 Democrat & Republican past results. John McCain, Hillary Clinton winners". Primarynewhampshire.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Kalb, Deborah, ed. (2010). Guide to U.S. Elections (6th ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press. p. 415. ISBN   9781604265361.
  4. 1 2 Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p.  52. ISBN   0-465-04195-7.
  5. "CQ Almanac Online Edition". Library.cqpress.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  6. "Hawai'i, nation lose "a powerful voice" | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper". The Honolulu Advertiser. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  7. Jack Anderson (June 4, 1971). "Don't count out Ted Kennedy". The Free Lance–Star . Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  8. Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p.  298. ISBN   0-465-04195-7.
  9. "Muskie, Edmund Sixtus, (1914–1996)". United States Congress. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  10. 1 2 Mitchell, Robert (February 9, 2020). "The Democrat who cried (maybe) in New Hampshire and lost the presidential nomination". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  11. "REMEMBERING ED MUSKIE". PBS . March 26, 1996. Archived from the original on April 27, 1999.
  12. R. W. Apple, Jr. (January 18, 1971). "McGovern Enters '72 Race, Pledging Troop Withdrawal" (fee required). The New York Times . p. 1. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  13. Jo Freeman (February 2005). "Shirley Chisholm's 1972 Presidential Campaign". University of Illinois at Chicago Women's History Project. Archived from the original on January 26, 2015.
  14. Robert D. Novak (2008). The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 225. ISBN   9781400052004. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  15. Nancy L. Cohen (2012). Delirium: The Politics of Sex in America . Counterpoint Press. pp.  37–38. ISBN   9781619020689.
  16. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "United States presidential election of 1972". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  17. Byrd, Lee (April 28, 1972). "Bland, Crybaby Roles Cost Muskie His Lead". Lansing State Journal. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022. But of likely greater impediment was the sheer number of those involved, the many "senior advisors" like Clark Clifford and W. Averell Harriman and Luther B. Hodges, and the 19 senators, 34 congressmen and nine governors who had publicly enorsed Muskie.
  18. Risser, James (June 9, 1972). "Hughes Stands By Muskie". The Des Moines Register . p. 5. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022. Hughes has spent much of this week helping Muskie, whom Hughes endorsed early this year as the candidate most likely to unify the party and defeat President Nixon in November.
  19. "Bayh Endorses Sen. Muskie". The Logansport Press. UPI. March 17, 1972. p. 7. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  20. "Adlai Stevenson III Endorses Sen. Muskie". Tampa Bay Times. UPI. January 11, 1972. p. 17. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  21. "More Muskie Support". New York Times. January 15, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  22. 1 2 3 "Sticking by Muskie, Gilligan declares". The Cincinnati Post . April 27, 1972. p. 24. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  23. "News Capsule: In the nation". The Baltimore Sun . January 26, 1972. p. 2. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022. Gov. Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania endorsed Senator Edmund S. Muskie, dealing a sharp blow to Senator Hubert H. Humphrey's presidential ambitions.
  24. "Muskie, HHH calling in Ohio". The Journal Herald. Associated Press. January 12, 1972. p. 12. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  25. "McGovern Picking Second V.P. Candidate Same Way He Picked First". Ironwood Daily Globe. August 3, 1972. p. 11. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  26. "Maddox Against Demo Nominees". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. July 14, 1972. p. 10. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022. Maddox, a booster of fellow Democrat Alabama Gov. George Wallace, said Thursday it may be best to turn the present party "over to the promoters of anarchy, Socialism and Communism" and form what he called a New Democratic Party of the People.
  27. ""Catalyst for Change": The 1972 Presidential Campaign of Representative Shirley Chisholm". History, Art & Archives of the United States House of Representatives. September 14, 2020. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  28. Friedan, Betty (August 1, 2006). Life So Far: A Memoir – Google Books. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-0-7432-9986-2. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  29. "POV – Chisholm '72 . Video: Gloria Steinem reflects on Chisholm's legacy". PBS. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  30. Covington, Howard E.; Ellis, Marion A. (1999). Terry Sanford: politics, progress ... – Google Books. Duke University Press. ISBN   978-0-8223-2356-3. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  31. "Convention Briefs: Endorses Jackson". Wisconsin State Journal. July 12, 1972. p. 40. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022. Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter endorsed Sen. Henry Jackson of Washington for the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday and said he would nominate Jackson at the convention tonight.
  32. 1 2 "Introducing... the McGovern Machine". Time Magazine. July 24, 1972. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
  33. "All The Votes...Really". All Politics. CNN. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  34. "A Guide to the Frances Tarlton Farenthold Papers, 1913–2013". Texas Archival Resources Online. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016.
  35. Garofoli, Joe (March 26, 2008). "Obama bounces back – speech seemed to help". SFGATE. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  36. McGovern, George S., Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern, New York: Random House, 1977, pp. 214–215
  37. McGovern, George S., Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism, New York: Random House, 1996, pp. 97
  38. Marano, Richard Michael, Vote Your Conscience: The Last Campaign of George McGovern, Praeger Publishers, 2003, pp. 7
  39. The Washington Post, "George McGovern & the Coldest Plunge", Paul Hendrickson, September 28, 1983
  40. The New York Times, "'Trashing' Candidates" (op-ed), George McGovern, May 11, 1983
  41. "'I'm Behind Him 1000%'". Observer.com. July 21, 2016. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  42. Liebovich, Louis (2003). Richard Nixon, Watergate, and the Press: A Historical Retrospective. Greenwood Publishing Group. p.  53. ISBN   9780275979157.
  43. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004, p. 100 ISBN   0786422173
  44. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920–1964; pp. 339, 343 ISBN   0405077114
  45. Actor to Aid Schmitz; The New York Times, August 9, 1972
  46. 1 2 3 "Libertarians trying to escape obscurity". Eugene Register-Guard . Associated Press. December 30, 1973. Archived from the original on August 26, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  47. 1 2 "Muskie Widens Margin". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  48. 1 2 "Sen. McGovern Steadily Losing Ground". Alton Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  49. "Nixon Regains 'Lead' Over Muskie". Southern Illinoisan.
  50. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. p. 19.
  51. 1 2 "Poll Gives Nixon Handy Margin In April". Fort Lauderdale News. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  52. 1 2 3 "McGovern Appears To Have Chance Against President". News-Journal. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  53. 1 2 3 "McGovern Strong As HHH Against Nixon". Press and Sun-Bulletin. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  54. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. pp. 37–38.
  55. "Survey Shows Kennedy Rates Best Chance Against Nixon". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  56. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. pp. 37–38.
  57. 1 2 "McGovern Falls Even Further". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  58. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. p. 45.
  59. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. p. 50.
  60. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. p. 59.
  61. "President Widens His Lead". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  62. "McGovern Gaining, Poll Shows". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  63. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. p. 64.
  64. "McGovern Failing To Tighten Margin". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  65. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. p. 64.
  66. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. p. 68.
  67. 1 2 "Nixon Gets Bigger Lead". The Decatur Daily Review. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  68. Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. I. p. 68.
  69. "McGovern Is Gaining - A Little". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  70. Feinman, Ronald (September 2, 2016). "Donald Trump Could Be On Way To Worst Major Party Candidate Popular Vote Percentage Since William Howard Taft In 1912 And John W. Davis In 1924!". The Progressive Professor. Archived from the original on December 20, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  71. Jesse Walker (July 2008). "The Age of Nixon: Rick Perlstein on the left, the right, the '60s, and the illusion of consensus". Reason. Archived from the original on July 18, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  72. 1 2 3 Sullivan, Robert David; 'How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century' Archived November 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine ; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  73. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004, p. 98 ISBN   0786422173
  74. "New York Intelligencer". New York. Vol. 6, no. 35. New York Media, LLC. August 27, 1973. p. 57. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  75. Lukas, J. Anthony (January 14, 1973). "As Massachusetts went—". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  76. "Exit Polls – Election Results 2008". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  77. Leip, David. "1972 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 7, 2005.
  78. "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration . Retrieved August 7, 2005.
  79. "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration . Retrieved August 7, 2005.
  80. Seeley, John (November 22, 2000). "Early and Often". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  81. 1 2 "1972 Presidential General Election Data — National". Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  82. Barone, Michael; Matthews, Douglas; Ujifusa, Grant (1973). The Almanac of American Politics, 1974. Gambit Publications.
  83. Leip, David "How close were U.S. Presidential Elections?", Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections . Retrieved: January 24, 2013.
  84. "Election Polls -- Vote by Groups, 1968-1972". July 21, 2010. Archived from the original on July 21, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  85. 1 2 Rosenthal, Jack (November 9, 1972). "Desertion Rate Doubles". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  86. "Survey Reports McGovern Got 87% of the Black Vote". The New York Times. November 12, 1972. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  87. 1 2 3 Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p.  31. ISBN   0-465-04195-7.
  88. Emig, David (November 7, 2009). "My Morris Moment »". Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2021.

Bibliography and further reading

Primary sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 United States presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 6, 1956. Incumbent Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, were reelected, defeating for a second time Democrat Adlai Stevenson II, former Illinois governor. This election was the sixth and most recent rematch in American presidential history. It was the second time in which the winner was the same both times, the first being William McKinley's victories over William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and 1900. This was the last election before term limits established by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which first applied to Eisenhower, became effective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 1960. The Democratic ticket of Senator John F. Kennedy and his running mate, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, narrowly defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon and his running mate, U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. This was the first election in which 50 states participated, marking the first participation of Alaska and Hawaii, and the last in which the District of Columbia did not. This made it the only presidential election in which the threshold for victory was 269 electoral votes. It was also the first election in which an incumbent president—in this case, Dwight D. Eisenhower—was ineligible to run for a third term because of the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 1968. Republican nominee, former vice president Richard Nixon, defeated both the Democratic nominee, incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey, and the American Independent Party nominee, former Alabama governor George Wallace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 United States presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 2, 1976. The Democratic ticket of former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter and Minnesota senator Walter Mondale narrowly defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent president Gerald Ford and Kansas senator Bob Dole. This was the first presidential election since 1932 in which the incumbent was defeated, as well as the only Democratic victory of the six such presidential elections between 1968 and 1988 and the last time the Democratic ticket would win until 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George McGovern</span> American politician and historian (1922–2012)

George Stanley McGovern was an American politician and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Democratic National Convention</span> U.S. political event held in Miami Beach, Florida

The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, also the host city of the Republican National Convention that year, on July 10–13, 1972. Lawrence F. O'Brien served as permanent chairman of the convention, while Yvonne Braithwaite Burke served as vice-chair, becoming the first African American and the first woman of color to hold that position. On the last day of the convention, Lawrence F. O'Brien departed and Burke was left to preside for about fourteen hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

From January 24 to June 20, 1972, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1972 United States presidential election. Senator George McGovern of South Dakota was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections, caucuses, and state party conventions, culminating in the 1972 Democratic National Convention held from July 10 to July 13, 1972, in Miami, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election in Massachusetts</span>

The 1972 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose 14 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubert Humphrey 1968 presidential campaign</span> American political campaign

The 1968 presidential campaign of Hubert Humphrey began when Hubert Humphrey, the 38th and incumbent Vice President of the United States, decided to seek the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States on April 27, 1968, after incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson withdrew his bid for reelection to a second full term on March 31, 1968, and endorsed him as his successor. Johnson withdrew after an unexpectedly strong challenge from anti-Vietnam War presidential candidate, Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, in the early Democratic primaries. McCarthy, along with Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, became Humphrey's main opponents for the nomination. Their "new politics" contrasted with Humphrey's "old politics" as the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War intensified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign</span> American political campaign

The George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign began when United States Senator George McGovern from South Dakota launched his second candidacy for the Presidency of the United States in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to win the 1972 presidential election against incumbent president Richard Nixon, winning only in the District of Columbia and the state of Massachusetts. McGovern vied to become the first South Dakota native to become president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election in New York</span>

The 1972 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 7, 1972. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Voters chose 41 electors to the Electoral College, which voted for President and Vice President.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Massachusetts</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose 14 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election in Vermont</span>

The 1972 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Vermont</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in New Hampshire</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election in Virginia</span>

The 1972 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 7, 1972. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Virginia voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States. This was also the first presidential election after the passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which decreased the voting age from 21 to 18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election in Kansas</span>

The 1972 United States presidential election in Kansas took place on November 7, 1972. All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven electors to the Electoral College, which voted for President and Vice President.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election in Maine</span>

The 1972 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election which was held throughout all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection</span>

This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 1972 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election in Texas</span>

The 1972 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon overwhelmingly won the state of Texas with 66.20% of the vote, to the Democratic Party candidate George McGovern's 33.24%, thus giving him the state's 26 electoral votes. This result made Texas 9.8% more Republican than the nation-at-large. This was the first time a Republican won the state of Texas since Texas-born Dwight D. Eisenhower won it in 1956, even as Democrat Dolph Briscoe won the gubernatorial election on the same Ballot.