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United States presidential election, 1972

Election NameUnited States presidential election, 1972
CountryUnited States
Typepresidential
Ongoingno
Previous ElectionUnited States presidential election, 1968
Previous Year1968
Next ElectionUnited States presidential election, 1976
Next Year1976
Election DateNovember 7, 1972
Nominee1Richard Nixon
Party1Republican Party (United States)
Home State1California
Running Mate1Spiro Agnew
Electoral Vote1520
States Carried149
Popular Vote147,168,710
Percentage160.7%
Nominee2George McGovern
Party2Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2South Dakota
Running Mate2Sargent Shriver (replaced Thomas Eagleton)
Electoral Vote217
States Carried21 + DC
Popular Vote229,173,222
Percentage237.5%
Map ImageElectoralCollege1972.svg
Map Size350px
Map CaptionPresidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Nixon/Agnew, Blue denotes those won by McGovern/Shriver. Grey is the electoral vote for John Hospers by a Virginia faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
TitlePresident
Before ElectionRichard Nixon
Before PartyRepublican Party (United States)
After ElectionRichard Nixon
After PartyRepublican Party (United States)

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The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 48th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon, but was handicapped by his outsider status and limited support from his own party, as well as the medical scandal and firing of vice presidential nominee Thomas Eagleton.

Emphasizing a good economy and his successes in foreign affairs (especially ending American involvement in Vietnam and establishing relations with China), Nixon won the election in a landslide, with 60.7% of the popular vote, only slightly lower than Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 but with a larger margin of victory in the popular vote (23.2%), the fourth largest in presidential election history. He received almost 18 million more popular votes than McGovern-the widest margin of any U.S. presidential election.

McGovern only won the electoral votes of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. The subsequent Watergate scandal reportedly inspired bumper stickers saying "Don't blame me � I'm from Massachusetts".

United States presidential election, 1972 Video

US Democrats - George McGovern 1972 Presidential Election Commercial
0.85 min. | 4.69 user rating		 thefilmarchive.org Nixon entered his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot on January 5, 1972, effectively announcing his candidacy for reelection. Largely assured the Republican nomination, the President had expected his Democratic opponent to be Senator Ted Kennedy, but Senator Edmund Muskie instead became the front runner, with Senator George McGovern in a close second place. Though Muskie defeated McGovern in the New Hampshire primary, his showings were poorer in Florida and he soon ended his campaign. Alabama Governor George Wallace entered the race as an Independent; popular in Florida, he would create havoc among the Democrats and boost Nixon's campaign. Prominent issues of the early campaign included school busing and heated relations between the three branches of the government. Nixon addressed the nation on March 16 about the school busing issue, reiterating that it was wrong to force a child onto a school bus and that busing lowered the quality of education. He announced the Equal Education Opportunities bill that would seek a moratorium on local school busing; the bill later passed. Vietnam was still ongoing, though Nixon had reduced troop levels dramatically. On June 10, McGovern won the California primary and secured the Democratic nomination. The following month, Nixon was renominated at the 1972 Republican National Convention. He dismissed the Democratic platform as cowardly and divisive. Nixon was ahead in most polls for the entire election cycle, and <b>...</b>
2.22 min. | 5.0 user rating		 US Democrats - George McGovern 1972 Presidential Election Commercial
1.33 min. | 4.33 user rating		 US Democrats - George McGovern 1972 Presidential Election Commercial
1.33 min. | 3.4 user rating		 US Democrats - George McGovern 1972 Presidential Election Commercial
1.32 min. | 3.83 user rating
thefilmarchive.org Richard Nixon was a popular incumbent president in 1972, as he seemed to have reached détente with the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. Polls showed that Nixon held a strong lead in the Republican primaries. He was challenged by two minor candidates, liberal Pete McCloskey of California and conservative John Ashbrook of Ohio. McCloskey ran as an anti-war and anti-Nixon candidate, while Ashbrook opposed Nixon's détente policies towards China and the Soviet Union. In the New Hampshire primary McCloskey's platform of peace garnered 11% of the vote to Nixon's 83%, with Ashbrook receiving 6%. Nixon won 1323 of the 1324 delegates to the Republican convention, with McCloskey receiving the vote of one delegate from New Mexico. George McGovern ran on a platform of ending the Vietnam War and instituting guaranteed minimum incomes for the nation's poor. His campaign was greatly crippled because of the electro-shock therapy controversy involving his original running mate, and because his views during the primaries had alienated many powerful Democrats. With McGovern's presence weakened by these factors, the Republicans successfully portrayed him as a half-crazy radical, and McGovern suffered a landslide defeat of 61%--38% to Nixon. Richard Nixon, who has been called "the greatest school desegregator in American history" by historian Dean Kotlowski due to his compliance with a 1971 Supreme Court ruling mandating desegregation, was in favor of <b>...</b>
4.35 min. | 5.0 user rating		 thefilmarchive.org Front-runner Edmund Muskie did worse than expected in the New Hampshire primary and McGovern came in a close second. While Muskie's campaign funding and support dried up, McGovern picked up valuable momentum in the following months. Gary Hart, who became a presidential contender 12 years later, was McGovern's campaign manager and future president Bill Clinton (with assistance from his future wife Hillary Rodham) managed the McGovern campaign's operations in Texas. Despite losing several primaries, including Florida to George Wallace, McGovern secured enough delegates to the 1972 Democratic National Convention to win the party's nomination. McGovern ran on a platform that advocated withdrawal from the Vietnam War in exchange for the return of American prisoners of war and amnesty for draft evaders who had left the country. McGovern's platform also included an across-the-board, 37% reduction in defense spending over three years; and a "demogrant" program (later dropped from the platform) that would replace the personal income tax exemption with a $1000 tax credit as a minimum-income floor for every citizen in America, to replace the welfare bureaucracy and complicated maze of existing public-assistance programs. Its concept (a conservative one) was similar to the negative income tax long advocated by economist Milton Friedman, and by the Nixon Administration in the form of the Family Assistance Program, which called for a minimum family grant of $1600 per <b>...</b>
1.00 min. | 5.0 user rating		 thefilmarchive.org The White House Horrors is a term attributed to Richard Nixon's former United States Attorney General, John N. Mitchell to describe the crimes and abuses committed by Nixon's staff during his presidency. The revelation of their existence and scope is among the many events of the Watergate scandal. More than 70 people were convicted of crimes related to Watergate (some pleaded guilty before trial). Here is a listing of much of the criminality involved: Breaking into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. Mitchell gave approval to the break-in at the Watergate. Charles Colson proposed firebombing the Brookings Institution. E. Howard Hunt fabricated documents implicating John Kennedy in the assassination of South Vietnamese President Diem. John Ehrlichman ordered FBI Director L. Patrick Gray to take possession of the files in Hunt's safe, keeping them secret from prosecutors. Gray destroyed the evidence from Hunt's safe. Watergate investigator Henry E. Petersen gave John Dean secret grand jury testimony. Gray at the FBI gave Dean access to all FBI investigation files. Creation of the White House Plumbers to plug leaks through the use of illegal wiretaps. Sandwedge: The Jack Caulfield operation designed to orchestrate a massive campaign to spy on the Democrats. Ehrlichman claimed he did not know in advance about the Ellsberg break-in; he knew. Gemstone: The Liddy operation to kidnap students who might disrupt the Republican convention in 1972; use <b>...</b>
0.97 min. | 5.0 user rating		 thefilmarchive.org Nguyá»n VÄn Thiá»u (April 5, 1923 -- September 29, 2001) was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) who went on to become the President of South Vietnam (1965--75), first as the head of a military junta and then after winning a fraudulent election. He established an authoritarian rule over South Vietnam until he resigned and left the nation a few days before the fall of Saigon and the ultimate communist victory. Born in the southern coast town of Phan Rang, Thiá»u was the descendent of the Trần Äình dynasty of Annamese nobles. Thiá»u initially joined the communist-dominated Viá»t Minh of Há» Chí Minh but quit after a year and joined the Vietnamese National Army (VNA) of the French-backed State of Vietnam. He gradually rose up the ranks and in 1954 led a battalion in expelling the communists from his native village. Following the withdrawal of the French, the VNA became the ARVN and Thiá»u was the head of the Vietnamese National Military Academy for four years before becoming a division commander and colonel. In November 1960, he helped put down a coup attempt against President Ngô Äình Diá»m. During this time, he also converted to Roman Catholicism and joined the regime's secret Cần Lao Party; Diá»m gave preferential treatment to his co-religionists and Thiá»u was accused of being one of many who converted for political advancement. Despite this, Thiá»u agreed to join the coup against Diá»m in November 1963 in the midst of the Buddhist crisis <b>...</b>
0.97 min. | 5.0 user rating

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It's October, so where's the surprise? - Politico (blog) Tweet this news
Politico (blog)---...- Richard Nixon's chief negotiator in the talks to end the Vietnam War, announced “peace is at hand” 12 days before the -1972 presidential election-. ... - Date : Fri, 08 Oct 2010 08:49:19 GMT+00:00
Statesmanship and the GOP - American Enterprise Institute Tweet this news
American Enterprise Institute--All the decisions that generated so much criticism--withdrawal from the -1972- ABM Treaty, unsigning the treaty creating the International Criminal Court, ... - Date : Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:45:58 GMT+00:00

United States presidential election, 1972

Democratic Party1972 Democratic National Convention * Primaries
CandidatesChisholm * Harris * Hartke * Humphrey * Jackson * Lindsay * McCarthy * McGovern (campaign) * Mills * Muskie * Sanford * Wallace * Yorty
VP CandidatesEagleton (replaced) * Farenthold * Gravel * Peabody * Shriver
Republican Party1972 Republican National Convention * Primaries
CandidatesAshbrook * McCloskey * Nixon (campaign)
VP CandidatesAgnew
Minor partiesSchmitz (American Independent) * Jenness (Socialist Workers) * Spock (People's) * Hospers (Libertarian)

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