UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTIONS OF 1968-2012

By: Benedict Gombocz

United States presidential election, 1968 Held November 5, 1968; came four years

after Democrat and incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson won by historic landslide

Johnson, who had become very unpopular for increasing number of troops sent to Vietnam, declined to seek or accept a second full term; VP Hubert H. Humphrey was selected as Democratic candidate after prior candidate Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated

Was a breaking election against the background, which included the assassination and death of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April resulting in riots across the country, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, widespread protests in opposition to Vietnam War, and violent fights between police and anti-war demonstrators at 1968 Democratic National Convention as Democratic Party broke continually

President before election was Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas; elected President was Republican Richard Nixon of California

United States presidential election, 1972 Held November 7, 1972 Democratic Party’s nomination was won by

Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, who ran on anti-war campaign as opponent of incumbent Republican Richard Nixon, but he received only limited support from his party, along with medical scandal and firing of VP nominee Thomas Eagleton, who was replaced by Sargent Shriver

With a strong economy and successes in foreign affairs (particularly ending U.S. involvement in Vietnam, establishing diplomatic relations with China, and most prominently détente with Soviet leader Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev), Nixon won over McGovern in landslide, only slightly lower than predecessor Lyndon B. Johnson eight years earlier

Subsequent Watergate Scandal was inspiration for bumper stickers saying “Don’t blame me – I’m from Massachusetts” (reference to McGovern’s only victory in that state)

Earliest U.S. presidential election where one of the two major candidates is still alive

United States presidential election, 1976 Held November 2, 1976; was preceded

by 1974 resignation of President Richard Nixon in the crisis following the wake of the Watergate Scandal

Candidates were incumbent President and Republican candidate Gerald Ford; his Democratic opponent was relatively not well known ex-Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter

Ford dealt with struggling economy and paid a heavy price for pardoning predecessor Nixon; Carter ran as Washington outsider and reformer , defeating Ford in narrow victory, and became first president to be elected from Deep South since Zachary Taylor in 1848, and first Deep South president since Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

No Democratic candidate since 1976 has been able to match or exceed Carter’s electoral performance in the South

United States presidential election, 1980 Held November 4, 1980; was contest

between incumbent President and Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican opponent Ronald Reagan as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson (who ran as Independent candidate)

Reagan, helped by Iran hostage crisis and deteriorating economy at home, won election in landslide, gaining largest number of electoral votes ever won by non-incumbent presidential candidate

After receiving Democratic nomination over Ted Kennedy, Carter labeled Reagan a “dangerous right-wing radical”; Reagan, for his own part, constantly mocked Carter, winning decisive victory

In simultaneous Congressional elections, Republicans gained control of U.S. Senate for the first time since 1952

This election marked the birth of what is commonly refereed to as the “Reagan Revolution”

United States presidential election, 1984 Held November 6, 1984; was contest between

incumbent President and Republican candidate Ronald Reagan; his Democratic opponent was former VP Walter Mondale

As a result of strong economic recovery from deep recession of 1981-1982, Reagan won in 49 of 50 states; became only second presidential (and Republican) candidate to do so since Richard Nixon’s victory twelve years prior

Mondale only carried home state Minnesota and District of Columbia; he won Minnesota with 3,761 votes, making Reagan short 3,800 votes of winning all fifty states

Reagan’s electoral votes of 525 (out of 538) is largest ever gained by presidential candidate; Mondale’s 13 electoral votes is also second fewest ever gained by second place candidate, only second to Alf Landon’s eight 48 years prior

In national popular vote, Reagan gathered 58.8% to Mondale’s 40.6%; no candidate since has been able to equal, if exceed, Reagan’s 1984 electoral result

United States presidential election, 1988 Held November 8, 1988; first

election since 1952 where incumbent (Ronald Reagan) stood down as president in honor of serving maximum of two terms by 22nd Amendment

Reagan’s VP George H. W. Bush received Republican nomination, while Democrats nominated Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis

Bush campaigned on “good economy” with his campaign slogan “Read my lips: no new taxes,” stable international stage, and on Reagan’s popularity; Dukakis’ campaign suffered from several failures

Result was third consecutive landslide for Republicans

United States presidential election, 1992 Held November 3, 1992; was contest of

three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush, Arkansas Governor and Democrat Bill Clinton, and businessman and Independent candidate from Texas Ross Perot

Bush received hostile response from a large part of his conservative base by not following 1988 campaign against raising taxes; the economy was still in a recession from the Reagan years and Bush’s strength in foreign policy was seen as far less important after collapse of Soviet Union and peaceful climate in Middle East following Iraq’s defeat in Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991

Clinton gained plurality in popular vote along with wide Electoral College margin

This election was important realigning election with three consecutive Republican landslides; Democrats received backing in Northeast, Great Lakes region and California, but won only four states in Clinton’s native South, which included his home state Arkansas

United States presidential election, 1996 Held November 5, 1996; was contest

between Democratic national ticket of incumbent President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and Republican national ticket of former Kansas Senator Bob Dole and former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp of New York

Businessman Ross Perot ran as Reform Party candidate with economist Pat Choate as his running mate; received less media attention than Clinton and Dole and was ostracized from presidential debates , and while still getting worthy results as third-party candidate, did not reclaim his success of 1992 election

Clinton benefited from recovered economy which pulled out of early 1990s recession, and relatively fixed world stage

President before election was Democrat Bill Clinton of Arkansas; elected President was Democrat Bill Clinton of Arkansas, who was re-elected with substantial margin in both popular vote and electoral college

United States presidential election, 2000 Held November 7, 2000; was contest

between Republican candidate , then-governor of Texas and son of ex-president George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) George W. Bush and Democratic candidate and then-VP Al Gore

Incumbent President Bill Clinton, having served maximum two terms allowed by 22nd Amendment, was vacating the office

Bush narrowly won November 7 election and received 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266 (one elector refrained in the official tally)

Well known for controversy over awarding of 25 electoral votes in Florida, the follow-up recount process in that state, and unusual event of winning candidate having won less votes than opponent; fourth election where electoral vote winner did not also win plurality of popular vote

President before election was Democrat Bill Clinton of Arkansas; elected president was Republican George W. Bush of Texas

United States presidential election, 2004 Held November 2, 2004; incumbent

President and Republican candidate George W. Bush defeated Democratic candidate and then-junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts John Kerry

Foreign policy, in particular Bush’s handling of War on Terror and 2003 invasion of Iraq, was dominant theme during election campaign

As in 2000 presidential election, voting controversies and concerns of defects arose both during and after vote

Winner was not decided until following day, when Kerry chose not to dispute Bush’s victory in Ohio, which had enough electoral votes to determine victor

Only three of fifty states switched allegiance- New Mexico and Iowa voted Democratic in 2000, but Republican in 2004; New Hampshire, in contrast, voted Republican in 2000, but Democratic in 2004

In Electoral College, Bush got 286 votes; Kerry got 251

United States presidential election, 2008 Held November 4, 2008; then-junior U.S.

Senator from Illinois and Democrat Barack Obama defeated senior U.S. Senator from Arizona and Republican John McCain

Obama won 365 electoral votes, far exceeding McCain’s 173; popular vote for the two candidates was 69,456,897 to 59,934,814, respectively

During presidential election campaign, both candidates ran on platform of change and reform in Washington; in the last few months of election campaign, Domestic policy and the economy rose as primary themes after the start of the late 2000s economic recession

Together with Democratic and Republican parties, the three minor parties (Constitution Party, Green Party, and Libertarian Party) nominated candidates with access to ballots in enough states to theoretically gain minimum of 270 electoral votes needed to win election

First election where a candidate of African American descent was elected President and also first where a person of African American descent won nomination of one of two major parties

United States presidential election, 2012 Is scheduled to be held November 6, 2012; incumbent President

and Democrat Barack Obama is seeking second and final term As of January 19, 2012, four Republican candidates are seeking

their party’s nomination: Newt Gingrich (former speaker of U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia), Ron Paul (U.S. Representative from Texas), Mitt Romney (former Governor of Massachusetts), and Rick Santorum (former Senator from Pennsylvania)

As written in Constitution, 2012 presidential election will occur at the same time as U.S. Senate elections in which one-third of Senators will be up for re-election (33 in this election); U.S. House of Representatives elections (which takes place every two years) will elect members for 113th Congress

Eleven gubernational elections and several elections for state legislatures will also occur at same time