The 26th amendment to the U.S. Constitution which lowered the voting age to 18 was ratified on July 1, 1971. The first Presidential election following the ratification occurred in 1972. The major candidates that ran in that election were Republican Richard M. Nixon, Democrat George McGovern, and Libertarian Joseph Hospers.
Incumbent President Richard Nixon a faced South Dakota Senator called George McGovern. Nixon's running mate was Spiro Agnew (who he disliked entirely). McGovern chose Senator Thomas Eagleton of Minnesota as his running mate. When it was discovered that Eagleton had psychiatric illnesses had had received electric shock therapy, McGovern initially decided to stick with his running mate. He then did a U-Turn and changed his candidate to Sargent Shriver, John Kennedy's brother-in-law. This contributed to his image of being indecisive. Nixon was aided by the fact the economy was in good shape, the war in Vietnam was over and he had just made groundbreaking visits to China and the USSR. Nixon was quite moderate and many Demoocrats were satifisfied with having him in office while they controlled Congress; some even formed a "Democrats for Nixon" campaign. This meant McGovern's campaign was disorganised and lacked support, while the Republicans successfully portrayed him as standing for "Amnesty, abortion and acid". In the end, Nixon won by a landslide, with a majority of votes in 49 states, except for Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Nixon's popularity crashed a year after the election as a result of the Watergate Scandal. This led to several bumper stickers appearing in Boston saying "Don't blame me, I'm from Massachusetts!"
In the 1972 election, Richard Nixon was supported by all states except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. He beat McGovern in the election.
When senator George McGovern was the democratic party's nominee for the president in 1972, Thomas Eagleton was the man that was nominated for vice president. Thomas Eagleton was eventually replaced by Sargent Shiver.
The Iowa Caucuses have been the first nominating event since 1972.
George Mcgovern.
Incumbent President Richard Nixon won reelection in the 1972 presidential election defeating George McGovern.
President Richard Nixon was the Republican candidate for President in 1972. The Democratic candidate was George McGovern, a Senator from South Dakota.
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Incumbent President Richard Nixon won reelection in the 1972 presidential election defeating George McGovern. In the 1972 presidential election Richard Nixon received 520 electoral votes and George McGovern received 17 electoral votes. The popular vote totals were Nixon 47,169,911 and McGovern 29,170,383.
Incumbent President Richard Nixon won reelection in the 1972 presidential election defeating George McGovern. In the 1972 presidential election Richard Nixon received 520 electoral votes and George McGovern received 17 electoral votes. The popular vote totals were Nixon 47,169,911 and McGovern 29,170,383.
Richard M.Nixon/Spiro Agnew George McGovern/R.Sargent Shriver
George McGovern received 17 electoral votes in the 1972 presidential election. Despite not winning the majority of electoral votes, he was able to secure the popular vote in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Incumbent President Richard Nixon won reelection in the 1972 presidential election defeating George McGovern. In the 1972 presidential election Richard Nixon received 520 electoral votes and George McGovern received 17 electoral votes. The popular vote totals were Nixon 47,169,911 and McGovern 29,170,383. McGovern won 14 electoral votes from Massachusetts and 3 electoral votes from District of Columbia.
Richard Nixon was a Republican. He defeated John Ashbrook and Pete McCloskey for the Republican nomination.
George McGovern
Was a landslide for President Nixon