| United States Presidential Election, 1976 |
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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 Reform er and won. NOMINATIONS Democratic Party nomination
During a primary season with a long list of candidates, Carter rose from being unknown nationally to become the frontrunner, with Udall coming second in a number of close primaries. Carter won primaries first in his native Georgia, then in Alabama and Indiana, and quickly had a national campaign suitable for defeating challenges from Jackson and Church and a late challenge from Jerry Brown. Republican Party nomination
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 continuation of negotiations to withdraw from 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 Superdelegate 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—and convinced Ford to drop Vice President Nelson Rockefeller , who was seen as too liberal, in favor of Senator Bob Dole of Kansas . Primary results Won by Ford # New Hampshire # Florida # Oregon # Ohio Won by Reagan # North Carolina # Texas # Alabama # Georgia # Nevada # California # Indiana GENERAL ELECTION Campaign 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 Dodger s in a speech before the American Legion. Next, '' Playboy '' 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 , Carter and Ford participated in the first presidential debate since 1960 , and Ford came out of that debate being seen as the winner. Unfortunately for Ford, there was a second debate on October 7 . During this debate, Ford stumbled when he stated, “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.” Ford compounded his error by refusing to retract his statement for almost a week after the debate. 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. 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 . It would be 16 more years before any Southern state endorsed a Democrat for president when Bill Clinton , a fellow Southerner, Ran For President In 1992 . Had Ford won the election, the provisions of the 22nd Amendment would have disqualified him from running in 1980 because he served more than two years of Nixon's term. Results Source (Popular Vote): Source (Electoral Vote): (a) ''A Republican Faithless Elector from Washington State (named Mike Padden ) 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) ''Wikipedia research has not yet determined whether Anderson's home state was Tennessee or Texas at the time of the 1976 election.'' Voter demographics 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 SEE ALSO
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