1972 United States presidential election — 47th quadrennial U.S. presidential election
Nixon's 1972 landslide victory, with 60.7% of the popular vote and 49 states, was the largest Republican popular-vote share in any U.S. presidential election.
Key Facts
- Nixon popular vote share
- 60.7%
- McGovern popular vote share
- 37.5%
- States carried by Nixon
- 49 of 50
- Eagleton on ticket (days)
- 19 days
- First election under 26th Amendment
- Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
- First Republican to sweep the South
- Richard Nixon, 1972
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Nixon entered the 1972 campaign bolstered by a strong economy and foreign policy achievements, including détente with the Soviet Union and opening relations with China. McGovern secured the Democratic nomination by mobilizing anti-Vietnam War liberals, defeating Muskie, Humphrey, Wallace, and Chisholm, but his platform was viewed as radical and his campaign was destabilized when running mate Thomas Eagleton was revealed to have received electroconvulsive therapy.
On November 7, 1972, incumbent President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew defeated Democratic nominees George McGovern and Sargent Shriver in a landslide. Nixon carried 49 states and won 60.7% of the popular vote, the highest share ever achieved by a Republican presidential candidate, becoming the first Republican to sweep the Southern states.
Nixon's overwhelming victory was rapidly overshadowed by the Watergate scandal, stemming from the June 1972 break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters that his reelection committee had orchestrated. Subsequent investigations and revelations consumed his second term, ultimately leading to Nixon's resignation in August 1974, marking a profound crisis of executive authority in American political history.
Political Outcome
Richard Nixon (Republican) re-elected in a landslide with 60.7% of the popular vote and 49 states; McGovern (Democrat) received 37.5% of the popular vote.
Nixon first-term presidency (1969–1973)
Nixon second-term presidency, subsequently ended by resignation over Watergate in August 1974