United States presidential election, 1976

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Presidential electoral votes by state.
Presidential electoral votes by state.

The U.S. presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter. Ford was saddled with a slow economy and paid a political price for his pardon of Nixon. Carter ran as an outsider and a reformer and won.

Contents

[edit] Nominations

[edit] Democratic Party nomination

During a primary season with a long list of candidates, Carter rose from being unknown nationally to become the front-runner. Starting in the first nationally prominent Iowa caucuses, where he came in second to "uncommitted", he quickly won the New Hampshire Primary and every primary then on except Massachusetts, which was won by Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson. By the time of the Nebraska primary, won by Frank Church, Church and Jerry Brown began to gain momentum during the later primaries as leaders of the "ABC" (anybody but Carter) movement. But Carter's nomination became a fait accompli by the time of the 1976 Democratic National Convention.

The tally at the convention was:

The vice presidential tally, in part, was:

[edit] Republican Party nomination

The 1976 Republican National Convention at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Vice-Presidential Candidate Bob Dole is on the far left, then Nancy Reagan, Governor Ronald Reagan is at the center shaking hands with President Ford, Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller is just to the right of Ford, followed by Susan Ford and First Lady Betty Ford.
The 1976 Republican National Convention at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Vice-Presidential Candidate Bob Dole is on the far left, then Nancy Reagan, Governor Ronald Reagan is at the center shaking hands with President Ford, Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller is just to the right of Ford, followed by Susan Ford and First Lady Betty Ford.

Incumbent President Ford, appointed to the vice-presidency after the resignation of Spiro Agnew and then elevated to the presidency by the resignation of Richard Nixon, was the only U.S. president never to have been elected president or vice president. His policy goals were frustrated by Congress, heavily Democratic after the 1974 mid-term election and infuriated by his decision to pardon Nixon for any criminal acts he committed or may have committed as part of the Watergate scandal.

Reagan and the conservative wing of the Republican Party faulted Ford for failing to do more to assist South Vietnam (which finally collapsed in April 1975 with the fall of Saigon) and for his signing of the Helsinki Accords, which they took as implicit acceptance of Soviet domination over Eastern Europe. Conservatives were also infuriated by Ford's negotiations with Panama to hand over the Panama Canal.

Reagan began to openly criticize Ford starting in the summer of 1975, and formally launched his campaign in the autumn. Although Ford narrowly won the New Hampshire primary, Reagan won primaries across the nation, resulting in the closest primary season in American history. Reagan, who was unable to gain a majority of delegate votes or overcome fears that he was too inexperienced and too conservative, withdrew from the race at the end of the Republican Convention in Kansas City, but was permitted to address the delegates—virtually overshadowing Ford's own speech. Ford dropped Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who was seen as too liberal, in favor of Senator Bob Dole of Kansas.

[edit] Primary results

Won by Ford

fifteen states, including:

  1. New Hampshire
  2. Massachusetts
  3. Vermont
  4. Florida
  5. Oregon
  6. Ohio
  7. New York
  8. New Jersey

Won by Reagan

Twelve states, including:

  1. North Carolina
  2. Texas
  3. Alabama
  4. Georgia
  5. Nevada
  6. California
  7. Indiana

[edit] Convention tally

President Ford chose Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas as his running mate, the vice presidential tally, in part, was:

[edit] General election

[edit] Campaign

Ford and Carter in debate
Ford and Carter in debate

Jimmy Carter ran as an honest outsider and reformer, which many voters found attractive in the wake of the Watergate Scandal. President Ford, although personally unconnected with Watergate, was seen by many as too close to the discredited Richard Nixon administration, especially after Ford granted Nixon a presidential pardon.

When Carter left the Democratic National Convention, he held a thirty point lead on Ford. However, as the campaign continued, the race tightened. In late September and early October, Ford made a dramatic surge in the polls, almost eliminating Carter's lead. This surge is usually credited to a few events of that time. First, Carter promised a "blanket pardon" to Vietnam draft dodgers in a speech before the American Legion. Next, Playboy magazine published a controversial interview with Carter in which Carter admitted to having "lusted in his heart" for women other than his wife, which cut into his support among women and evangelicals. Finally, on September 24, Ford performed well in what was the first presidential debate since 1960.

There was a second debate on October 7. While discussing the Helsinki Accords, Ford stumbled when he stated that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." He added that he did not "believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union", and made the same claim with regards to Yugoslavia and Romania. [1] Ford compounded his error by refusing to retract his statement for almost a week after the debate; conservatives who had been lukewarm to Ford's candidacy were particularly appalled. As a result of this blunder, Ford's surge stalled and Carter reopened his lead in the polls. On November 2, Carter narrowly won the election.

A vice presidential debate between Robert Dole and Walter Mondale also hurt the Republican ticket when Dole asserted that military unpreparedness on the part of Democratic presidents was responsible for all of the wars the U.S. had fought in the twentieth century up to that point. Dole, a World War II veteran, noted that a Democrat was President when the United States entered a conflict from World War I to the Vietnam War, and he added that the number of U.S. casualties in "Democrat wars" was roughly equal to the population of Detroit. The remark cemented Dole's reputation as a mean politician.

Carter was the first Democrat since John F. Kennedy in 1960 to carry the states of the Deep South, and the first since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 to carry an unquestionable majority of southern states; in fact, he carried all but Virginia.

Had Ford won the election, the provisions of the 22nd amendment would have disqualified him from running in 1980, because he had served more than two years of Nixon's remaining term.

The 1976 election was the last time that a Democrat managed to obtain more than 50% of the popular vote in a Presidential Election. It was only the second time since 1944 that this had happened.

[edit] Results

Presidential Candidate Party Home State Popular Vote Electoral Vote Running Mate Running Mate's
Home State		 Running Mate's
Electoral Vote
Count Percentage
James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr. Democratic Georgia 40,831,881 50.1% 297 Walter Frederick Mondale Minnesota 297
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. Republican Michigan 39,148,634 48.0% 240 Robert Joseph Dole Kansas 241
Ronald Wilson Reagan Republican California —(a) —(a) 1
Eugene McCarthy (none) Minnesota 740,460 0.9% 0  (b)  (b) 0
Roger MacBride Libertarian Vermont 172,553 0.2% 0 David Bergland California 0
Lester Maddox American Independent Georgia 170,274 0.2% 0 William D. Dyke Wisconsin 0
Thomas J. Anderson American  (c) 158,271 0.2% 0 Rufus Shackelford   0
Peter Camejo Socialist Workers 90,986 0.1% 0 Willie Mae Reid 0
Other 218,525 0.3% 0 Other 0
Total 81,531,584 100.0% 538 Total 538
Needed to win 270 Needed to win 270

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. 1976 Presidential Election Results. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (August 7, 2005).

Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (August 7, 2005).

(a) Mike Padden, a Republican faithless elector from Washington State, gave Ronald Reagan one electoral vote.
(b) The running mate of McCarthy varied from state to state, possibly in an effort to attract local voters similar to that tried by the Whigs in 1836, but this reasoning is an unverified theory.
(c) Research has not yet determined whether Anderson's home state was Tennessee or Texas at the time of the 1976 election.

[edit] Voter demographics

SOCIAL GROUPS AND THE PRESIDENTIAL VOTE, 1980 AND 1976
Size(a) '80 Carter '80 Reagan '80 Anderson '76 Carter '76 Ford
Party
Democrat 43 66 26 6 77 22
Independent 23 30 54 12 43 54
Republican 28 11 84 4 9 90
Ideology
Liberal 18 57 27 11 70 26
Moderate 51 42 48 8 51 48
Conservative 31 23 71 4 29 70
Race
Black 10 82 14 3 82 16
Hispanic 2 54 36 7 75 24
White 88 36 55 8 47 52
Sex
Female 48 45 46 7 50 48
Male 52 37 54 7 50 48
Religion
Protestant 46 37 56 6 44 55
White Protestant 41 31 62 6 43 57
Catholic 25 40 51 7 54 44
Jewish 5 45 39 14 64 34
Family Income
Less than $10,000 13 50 41 6 58 40
$10,000–$14,999 15 47 42 8 55 43
$15,000–$24,999 29 38 53 7 48 50
$25,000–$50,000 24 32 58 8 36 62
Over $50,000 5 25 65 8 — —
Occupation
Professional or manager 39 33 56 9 41 57
Clerical, sales, white collar 11 42 48 8 46 53
Blue-collar 17 46 47 5 57 41
Agriculture 3 29 66 3 — —
Unemployed 3 55 35 7 65 34
Education
Less than high school 11 50 45 3 58 41
High school graduate 28 43 51 4 54 46
Some college 28 35 55 8 51 49
College graduate 27 35 51 11 45 55
Union Membership
Labor union household 28 47 44 7 59 39
No member of household in union 62 35 55 8 43 55
Age
18–21 years old 6 44 43 11 48 50
22–29 years old 17 43 43 11 51 46
30–44 years old 31 37 54 7 49 49
45–59 years old 23 39 55 6 47 52
60 years or older 18 40 54 4 47 52
Region
East 25 42 47 9 51 47
South 27 44 51 3 54 45
White South 22 35 60 3 46 52
Midwest 27 40 51 7 48 50
Far West 19 35 53 9 46 51
Community Size
City over 250,000 18 54 35 8 60 40
Suburb/small city 53 37 53 8 53 47
Rural/town 29 39 54 5 47 53

Source: CBS News/ New York Times interviews with 12,782 voters as they left the polls, as reported in the New York Times, November 9, 1980, p. 28, and in further analysis. The 1976 data are from CBS News interviews.
(a) “Size” = share of 1980 national total

[edit] Miscellanea

  • The 1976 election was the first presidential election since 1932 which resulted in an incumbent President being defeated for re-election as a major party candidate. Four years later, in 1980, this event would occur again when Ronald Reagan would defeat President Carter in the general election.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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