Elections With Incumbents: The Election of 1972
In 1972 incumbent President Richard Nixon sought re-election to the Presidency, after winning the office in a close contest four years earlier. It was the second election in which Nixon had been in a tight race, losing narrowly in 1960 in an election he believed had been stolen from him. In 1972 Nixon believed that his rise to power constituted a moment of political realignment. The Democratic "Solid South" had once seemed inaccessible to Republicans since the Civil War, but in 1964 Barry Goldwater had won several Southern states by opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Nixon's efforts to gain Southern support in 1968 were diluted by George Wallace's candidacy. Through his first term, he pursued a Southern Strategy with policies, such as his desegregation plans, that would be broadly acceptable among Southern whites, encouraging them to realign with the Republicans in the aftermath of the civil rights movement. Nixon had nominated two Southern conservatives, Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court, but neither was confirmed by the Senate.
Nixon was a popular incumbent president in 1972. He was credited with opening relations with the People's Republic of China as a result of his 1972 visit, and also of 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. Ashbrook was opposed Nixon's détente policies towards China and the Soviet Union. In the New Hampshire primary McCloskey received 19.8% of the vote to Nixon's 67.6%. Ashbrook received 9.7%. 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, even thought Nixon himself had wanted to replace him with a new running-mate, former Democrat and Texas Governor John Connally. But it was ultimately concluded that the loss of Agnew's base of conservative supporters would be too big of a risk.
For the Democrats, Senate Majority Whip Ted Kennedy, the youngest brother of former President John F. Kennedy and former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was the candidate everyone expected to win the 1972 Democratic nomination. But Kennedy announced that he would not be a candidate. The favorite then became Ed Muskie of Maine, the 1968 Democratic vice-presidential nominee.
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 created by Nixon's "dirty tricks" unit, claimed that Muskie had made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians. The trick was designed to injure Muskie's support among the French-American population in northern New England. 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. It was an era when such was perceived as weakness, which shattered the candidate's image.
Nearly two years before the election, South Dakota Senator George McGovern had entered the race as an anti-war, progressive candidate. McGovern was able to draw support from the anti-war movement and other supporters 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 the Democratic or Republican presidential nomination. Hawaii Representative Patsy Mink also announced she would run and became the first Asian American to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Though novel for their time, neither candidate was able to attract significant support.
On April 25, George McGovern won the Massachusetts primary. Two days later, journalist Robert Novak quoted a "Democratic senator" (later identified as 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". Former Vice-President Hubert Humphrey used this characterization to try to stop McGovern, especially in the Nebraska primary.
Alabama Governor George Wallace, a segregationist, did well in the South. His 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 withdrew in July.
In the end, McGovern won the nomination by winning sufficient primaries despite establishment opposition. McGovern had led a commission to re-design the Democratic nomination system after the divisive nomination struggle and convention of 1968. The McGovern Commission had concluded that the Democratic primaries should determine the winner of the Democratic nomination. The new rules angered many prominent Democrats whose influence was marginalized. They refused to support McGovern's campaign, leaving the McGovern campaign at a significant disadvantage in funding and organizational support in comparison to the Nixon campaign.
For the Democrats, the vice presidential nominee balloting went on so long that McGovern and his running mate Thomas Eagleton were forced to make their acceptance speeches at around two in the morning, local time.
Soon 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, McGovern feared that this would be a distraction from his campaign platform. McGovern consulted confidentially with preeminent 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. McGovern had initially claimed that he would back Eagleton “1000 percent,” but he changed his mind and asked Eagleton to withdraw three days later. This perceived lack of conviction in sticking with his running mate was disastrous for the McGovern campaign.
After a week in which six prominent Democrats refused the vice presidential nomination, Sargent Shriver, brother-in-law to John, Robert and Ted Kennedy, former Ambassador to France and former Director of the Peace Corps, accepted. 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.
McGovern ran on a platform of ending the Vietnam War immediately and providing a guaranteed minimum incomes for the nation's poor. His foreign policy was attacked as being too extreme, and the switch of running mates and lack of support from the party establishment weakened his popularity.
It was in the middle of this campaign that Nixon's aides committed the Watergate burglary to steal Democratic Party information during the campaign. But this didn't come out during the campaign and Nixon led in the polls by large margins throughout the entire campaign. In retrospect, it is puzzling why the Nixon campaign felt it necessary to arrange for the break-in when the President's victory was practically assured.
The election had the lowest voter turnout for a presidential election since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting. Nixon won in a landslide by a margin of 61%-38% in the popular vote. Nixon won a majority vote in 49 states, including McGovern's home state of South Dakota. McGovern won in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Later, after the Watergate scandal broke, bumper stickers became popular reading "Don't blame me - I'm from Massachusetts".
Nixon was a popular incumbent president in 1972. He was credited with opening relations with the People's Republic of China as a result of his 1972 visit, and also of 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. Ashbrook was opposed Nixon's détente policies towards China and the Soviet Union. In the New Hampshire primary McCloskey received 19.8% of the vote to Nixon's 67.6%. Ashbrook received 9.7%. 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, even thought Nixon himself had wanted to replace him with a new running-mate, former Democrat and Texas Governor John Connally. But it was ultimately concluded that the loss of Agnew's base of conservative supporters would be too big of a risk.
For the Democrats, Senate Majority Whip Ted Kennedy, the youngest brother of former President John F. Kennedy and former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was the candidate everyone expected to win the 1972 Democratic nomination. But Kennedy announced that he would not be a candidate. The favorite then became Ed Muskie of Maine, the 1968 Democratic vice-presidential nominee.
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 created by Nixon's "dirty tricks" unit, claimed that Muskie had made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians. The trick was designed to injure Muskie's support among the French-American population in northern New England. 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. It was an era when such was perceived as weakness, which shattered the candidate's image.
Nearly two years before the election, South Dakota Senator George McGovern had entered the race as an anti-war, progressive candidate. McGovern was able to draw support from the anti-war movement and other supporters 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 the Democratic or Republican presidential nomination. Hawaii Representative Patsy Mink also announced she would run and became the first Asian American to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Though novel for their time, neither candidate was able to attract significant support.
On April 25, George McGovern won the Massachusetts primary. Two days later, journalist Robert Novak quoted a "Democratic senator" (later identified as 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". Former Vice-President Hubert Humphrey used this characterization to try to stop McGovern, especially in the Nebraska primary.
Alabama Governor George Wallace, a segregationist, did well in the South. His 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 withdrew in July.
In the end, McGovern won the nomination by winning sufficient primaries despite establishment opposition. McGovern had led a commission to re-design the Democratic nomination system after the divisive nomination struggle and convention of 1968. The McGovern Commission had concluded that the Democratic primaries should determine the winner of the Democratic nomination. The new rules angered many prominent Democrats whose influence was marginalized. They refused to support McGovern's campaign, leaving the McGovern campaign at a significant disadvantage in funding and organizational support in comparison to the Nixon campaign.
For the Democrats, the vice presidential nominee balloting went on so long that McGovern and his running mate Thomas Eagleton were forced to make their acceptance speeches at around two in the morning, local time.
Soon 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, McGovern feared that this would be a distraction from his campaign platform. McGovern consulted confidentially with preeminent 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. McGovern had initially claimed that he would back Eagleton “1000 percent,” but he changed his mind and asked Eagleton to withdraw three days later. This perceived lack of conviction in sticking with his running mate was disastrous for the McGovern campaign.
After a week in which six prominent Democrats refused the vice presidential nomination, Sargent Shriver, brother-in-law to John, Robert and Ted Kennedy, former Ambassador to France and former Director of the Peace Corps, accepted. 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.
McGovern ran on a platform of ending the Vietnam War immediately and providing a guaranteed minimum incomes for the nation's poor. His foreign policy was attacked as being too extreme, and the switch of running mates and lack of support from the party establishment weakened his popularity.
It was in the middle of this campaign that Nixon's aides committed the Watergate burglary to steal Democratic Party information during the campaign. But this didn't come out during the campaign and Nixon led in the polls by large margins throughout the entire campaign. In retrospect, it is puzzling why the Nixon campaign felt it necessary to arrange for the break-in when the President's victory was practically assured.
The election had the lowest voter turnout for a presidential election since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting. Nixon won in a landslide by a margin of 61%-38% in the popular vote. Nixon won a majority vote in 49 states, including McGovern's home state of South Dakota. McGovern won in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Later, after the Watergate scandal broke, bumper stickers became popular reading "Don't blame me - I'm from Massachusetts".