1972 United States presidential election
The 1972 United States presidential election happened on November 7, 1972. President Richard Nixon was reelected to a second term. He defeated the Democratic candidate, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Nixon won the election by a landslide (winning 49 of 50 states) and got 520 electoral votes. McGovern got 17 electoral votes. John Hospers got one electoral vote by a Virginia faithless elector.
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538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 55.2%[1]  5.7 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Nixon/Agnew. Blue denotes states won by McGovern/Shriver. Gold denotes won by Hospers by a Virginia faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This was the highest of any Republican nominee as a vote, as well as a highest electoral vote in a United States election until Ronald Reagan was re-elected in 1984 by a huge landslide.
George Wallace, governor of Alabama was shot by a would-be assassin during the election.
George McGovern's running mate changed from Thomas Eagleton to Sargent Shriver because of revelations about Eagleton's previous psychiatric problems.[2]
This election occurred during the Watergate scandal, which ultimately caused Nixon to resign in 1974.
Candidates
changeDemocratic Party
change15 people declared their candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination. They were:[3]
- George McGovern, Senator from South Dakota
- Hubert Humphrey, Senator from Minnesota and former Vice President
- George Wallace, Governor of Alabama
- Edmund Muskie, Senator from Maine
- Eugene McCarthy, former Senator from Minnesota
- Henry M. Jackson, Senator from Washington
- Shirley Chisholm, Representative of New York's 12th congressional district
- Terry Sanford, former Governor of North Carolina
- John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City
- Wilbur Mills, Representative of Arkansas's 2nd congressional district
- Vance Hartke, Senator from Indiana
- Fred Harris, Senator from Oklahoma
- Sam Yorty, former Representative of California's 26th congressional district
- Patsy Mink, Representative of Hawaii's 2nd congressional district
- Walter Fauntroy, Delegate from Washington, D.C.
Candidates gallery
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Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine
Former Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota
Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington
Representative Wilbur Mills of Arkansas
Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana
Senator Fred R. Harris of Oklahoma
Representative Patsy Mink of Hawaii
U.S. Congressional Delegate Walter Fauntroy of Washington, D.C.
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Republican Party
change- Republican candidates:
- Richard Nixon, President of the United States
- Pete McCloskey, Representative from California
- John M. Ashbrook, Representative from Ohio
Candidates gallery
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Related pages
change- Presidential Candidates:
- Vice Presidential Candidates:
References
change- ↑ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- ↑ Adam Clymer (March 5, 2007). "Thomas F. Eagleton, 77, a Running Mate for 18 Days, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- ↑ "US President - D Primaries". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2013-02-16.