The
United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
in the wake of the
Watergate scandalThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal in the United States in the 1970s. Named for the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, President of the United States, on August 9, 1974...
. It pitted incumbent
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Gerald FordGerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia,
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, the Democratic candidate. Ford was saddled with a slow economy and paid a political price for his
pardonA pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. It is granted by a head of state, such as a monarch or president, or by a competent church authority. Clemency is an associated term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime itself. The...
of Nixon. Carter ran as a Washington "outsider" and
reformA reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.Reformists' ideas are often...
er and won a narrow victory. He was the first president elected from the
Deep SouthThe Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the antebellum period...
since
Zachary TaylorZachary Taylor was an American military leader and the 12th President of the United States.Known as "Old Rough and Ready," Taylor had a 40-year military career in the U.S. Army, serving in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, and Second Seminole War before achieving fame leading U.S...
in
1848The United States presidential election of 1848 was an open race. President James Polk, having achieved all of his major objectives in one term and suffering from declining health that would take his life less than four months after leaving office, kept his promise not to seek re-election.The Whigs...
.
Eugene McCarthyEugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, a former Democratic Senator from Minnesota, ran as an independent candidate.
Democratic Party
Democratic candidates
- Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, former governor of GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
- Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. He is a former governor of the State of California and the current Attorney General...
, governor of CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
- George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. , was a governor of Alabama for four terms; 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T...
, governor of AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its...
- Morris Udall, U.S. representative from Arizona
The State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
- Henry M. Jackson
Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson was a U.S. Congressman and Senator from the state of Washington from 1941 until his death...
, U.S. senator from WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
- Frank Church
Frank Forrester Church III was a United States Senator from Idaho, serving four terms from 1957 to 1981. Church was a member of the Idaho Democratic Party.-Early life:...
, U.S. senator from IdahoIdaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans." Idaho was admitted to the Union on 3 July 1890 as the 43rd state....
- Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia, and a member and former Senate Leader of the Democratic Party. Byrd has been a Senator since January 3, 1959 and is the longest-serving member in the Senate's history; he has been the Dean of the Senate since 2003...
, U.S. senator from West VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast...
- Sargent Shriver
Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. is an American Democratic politician and activist. Known as "Sargent", Shriver is best known as part of the Kennedy family, the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Corps, and the Democratic Party's replacement candidate for U.S...
, former U.S. ambassador to France from MarylandMaryland is a state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east. It is comparable in size to the European country of Belgium. According to the U.S...
- Fred R. Harris
Fred Roy Harris was a Democratic United States Senator from the state of Oklahoma from 1964 until 1973.Harris was born in Cotton County, Oklahoma. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1952 and its law school in 1954. He was first elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 1956 and served...
, former U.S. senator from OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
- Birch Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh II is a former United States Senator from Indiana . He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana governor and current U.S. Senator Evan Bayh...
, U.S. senator from IndianaIndiana is a U.S. state, the 19
th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16
th in population and 17
th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38
th in land area, and is the...
- Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...
, U.S. senator from TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
- Terry Sanford
James Terry Sanford was a United States politician and educator from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford was the Governor of North Carolina , a two-time U.S. Presidential candidate in the 1970s and a U.S. Senator...
, former Governor of North CarolinaThe Governor of North Carolina is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Bev Perdue, the current governor, is North Carolina's first female governor.-Powers:...
- Milton Shapp
Milton Jerrold Shapp was the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and was the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania.-Early life:...
, governor of PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
Candidates gallery
The surprise winner of the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination was
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, a former
state senatorA state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the upper house in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a legislator in Nebraska's one house State Legislature.There are typically fewer state senators than there are members of a state's lower house...
and governor of Georgia. When the primaries began Carter was relatively unknown at the national level, and many political pundits regarded a number of better-known candidates, such as Senator
Henry M. JacksonHenry Martin "Scoop" Jackson was a U.S. Congressman and Senator from the state of Washington from 1941 until his death...
of
WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
, Governor
George WallaceGeorge Corley Wallace, Jr. , was a governor of Alabama for four terms; 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T...
of
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its...
, and
California GovernorThe Governor of California is the highest executive authority in the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual "State of the State" addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced.The position was...
Jerry BrownEdmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. He is a former governor of the State of California and the current Attorney General...
, as the favorites for the nomination. However, in the wake of the
Watergate scandalThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal in the United States in the 1970s. Named for the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, President of the United States, on August 9, 1974...
, Carter realized that his status as a Washington "outsider", political centrist, and moderate reformer could give him an advantage over his better-known "establishment" rivals. Carter also took advantage of the record number of state primaries and caucuses in 1976 to eliminate his better-known rivals one-by-one. By June 1976 he had captured more than enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination. At the
1976 Democratic National ConventionThe 1976 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The convention nominated Jimmy Carter of Georgia for President and Walter Mondale of Minnesota for Vice-President. John Glenn and Barbara Jordan gave keynote...
Carter easily won the nomination on the first ballot; he then chose Minnesota Senator
Walter MondaleWalter Frederick Mondale is an American politician and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He was the 42nd Vice President of the United States under President Jimmy Carter, a two-term United States Senator from Minnesota, and the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1984...
, a liberal and political protégé of Hubert Humphrey, as his running mate.
Republican Party
Republican candidates
- Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, President of the United States from MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
- Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
, former governor of CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
- Harold E. Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota
The Governor of Minnesota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Thirty-eight different people have been governors of the state, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. Alexander Ramsey, the first...
and candidate for the 1948, 1952, 1964, 1968 and 1972 nominations
Candidates gallery
The contest for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 1976 was between two serious candidates:
Gerald FordGerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, the leader of the GOP's moderate wing and the incumbent President, from
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
; and
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
, the leader of the GOP's conservative wing and the former two-term governor of
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
. The primary contest between the two men was hard-fought and relatively even; by the start of the Republican Convention in August 1976 the race for the nomination was still too close to call. Ford defeated Reagan by a narrow margin on the first ballot at the
1976 Republican National ConventionThe 1976 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States met at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, from August 16 to August 19 1976. The convention nominated incumbent Gerald Ford for President, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former California...
in
Kansas CityKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
, and chose Senator Robert Dole of
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
as his running mate.
Fall campaign
One of the advantages Ford held over Carter as the general election campaign began was that, as President, he was privileged to preside over events dealing with the
United States BicentennialThe United States Bicentennial was celebrated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.-Coins:...
; this often resulted in favorable publicity for Ford. The Washington, D.C.
fireworksA firework is a low explosive pyrotechnic device used primarily for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
display on the Fourth of July was presided over by the President and televised nationally. On July 7, 1976, the President and First Lady served as hosts at a White House state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of the United Kingdom, which was televised on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network. These events were part of Ford's "Rose Garden" strategy to win the election; instead of appearing as a typical politician, Ford presented himself as a "tested leader" who was busily fulfilling the role of national leader and Chief Executive. Not until October did Ford leave the White House to actively campaign across the nation.
Jimmy Carter ran as a reformer who was "untainted" by Washington political scandals, which many voters found attractive in the wake of the
Watergate ScandalThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal in the United States in the 1970s. Named for the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, President of the United States, on August 9, 1974...
, which had led to President
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
's resignation. Ford, although personally unconnected with Watergate, was seen by many as too close to the discredited Nixon administration, especially after Ford granted Nixon a presidential pardon for any crimes he may have committed during his term of office. Ford's pardon of Nixon caused his popularity, as measured by public-opinion polls, to plummet. Ford's refusal to publicly explain his reasons for pardoning Nixon (he would do so in his memoirs several years later), also hurt his image. His son, Jack Ford, gave an interview in 1976 in which he stated that his father felt that he "(doesn't) have to prove anything" regarding the pardon of Nixon, and thus did not feel compelled to talk about it.
Ford unsuccessfully asked Congress to end the 1950s-era price controls on
natural gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
, which caused a dwindling of American natural gas reserves after the
1973 Oil CrisisThe 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo" in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war; it lasted until March 1974...
. Carter stated during his campaign that he opposed the ending of the price controls and thought such a move would be "disastrous."
After the Democratic National Convention, Carter held a huge 33-point lead over Ford in the polls. However, as the campaign continued, the race greatly tightened. The closeness of the race is normally attributed to three causes. Most importantly, Carter confirmed a promise of a full pardon to Christian and other religious and political refugees and other opponents to the Vietnam War (Ford had issued only a conditional amnesty)
draft dodgerA draft dodger is a term, usually pejorative, that refers to a person who avoids the conscription policies of the nation in which he or she is a citizen or resident by leaving the country, going into hiding, or other attempts at fraudulent means...
s in response to a question posed by a reporter during the presidential debates, a promise which froze Ford's poll numbers in Ohio, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Mississippi (Ford needed to convert only 11,000 votes in any two of those four states in order to win). Americans viewed the pardon as the only true way to end the bitterly hated Vietnam War. Earlier,
PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best...
magazine had published a controversial interview with Carter; in the interview, Carter admitted to having "lusted in his heart" for women other than his wife, which cut into his support among women and evangelical Christians. Also, on September 24, Ford performed well in what was the first televised presidential debate since
1960The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of Dwight D. Eisenhower's two terms as President. Eisenhower's Vice President, Richard Nixon, who had transformed his office into a national political base, was the Republican candidate....
. Polls taken after the debate showed that most viewers felt that Ford was the winner. Carter was also hurt by Ford's charges that he lacked the necessary experience to be an effective national leader, and that Carter was vague on many issues. Carter pledged to end desegregation busing.
However, Ford also committed a costly blunder in the campaign that halted his momentum. During the second presidential debate on October 6, Ford stumbled when he asserted that "there is no Soviet domination of
Eastern EuropeEastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly context-dependent and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
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. Ford refused to retract his statement for almost a week after the debate. Neo-conservatives, who were becoming increasingly anti-Soviet, were appalled. Combined with Carter's pledge of a pardon for all Vietnam War opponents and refugees, Ford's surge stalled and Carter was able to maintain a slight lead in the polls.
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. Dole, a
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran, noted that in every twentieth-century war from
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
to the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
, a Democrat had been President. Dole then pointed out that the number of U.S. casualties in "Democrat wars" was roughly equal to the population of Detroit. Many voters felt that Dole's criticism was unfairly harsh and that his dispassionate delivery made him seem cold. One factor which did help Ford in the closing days of the campaign was a series of popular television appearances he did with Joe Garagiola, Sr., a retired baseball star for the
St. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball...
and a well-known announcer for
NBC SportsNBC Sports is the sports division of NBC. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games , the NFL, the NHL, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, the USGA Championships, Wimbledon, and the French Open, among...
. Garagiola and Ford appeared in a number of shows in several large cities. During the show Garagiola would ask Ford questions about his life and beliefs; the shows were so informal, relaxed, and laid-back that some television critics labelled them the "Joe and Jerry Show." Ford and Garagiola obviously enjoyed one another's company, and they remained friends after the election was over.
Results
Despite his campaign's blunders, Ford managed to close the remaining gap in the polls and by election day the race was judged to be even. Election day was November 2, and it took most of that night and the following morning to determine the winner. It wasn't until 3:30 am (EST), that the NBC television network was able to pronounce that Carter had carried
MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
, and had thus accumulated more than the 270 electoral votes needed to
win (seconds later, ABC News also declared Carter the winner based on projections for Carter in Wisconsin and Hawaii; CBS News announced Carter's
victory at 3:45 am). Carter defeated Ford by two percentage points in the national popular vote.
The electoral vote was the closest since 1916; Carter took 23 states with 297 electoral votes, while Ford won 27 states and 240 electoral votes (one elector from Washington state, pledged to Ford, voted for Reagan). Carter's victory came primarily from his near-sweep of the South (he lost only Virginia), and his narrow victories in large Northern states such as New York, and Pennsylvania. Ford did well in the West, carrying every state except Hawaii. The states that ultimately decided the election were Wisconsin (1.68% margin) and Ohio (.27% margin), both won by Carter. Had Ford won these states and all other states he carried, he would have won the presidency.
Carter was the first Democrat since
John F. Kennedy in 1960The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of Dwight D. Eisenhower's two terms as President. Eisenhower's Vice President, Richard Nixon, who had transformed his office into a national political base, was the Republican candidate....
to carry the states of the
Deep SouthThe Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the antebellum period...
, and the first since
Lyndon Johnson in 1964The United States presidential election of 1964 was the sixth-most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States behind the elections of 1936, 1984, 1972, 1864, and 1980 . President Lyndon B...
to carry an unquestionable majority of southern states. Carter performed very strongly in his home state of Georgia, carrying 66.7% of the vote and every county in the state. His 50.1% of the vote was only the second time since 1964 that a Democrat managed to obtain a majority of the popular vote in a Presidential Election until
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
won about 53% of the vote
32 years laterThe 56th quadrennial United States presidential election was held on November 4, 2008. Outgoing Republican President George W. Bush's policies and actions and the American public's desire for change were key issues throughout the campaign, and during the general election campaign, both major party...
. Carter is just one of five Democrats to gain a majority of the popular vote since the Civil War, with the others being Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Samuel Tilden, and Barack Obama. Tilden, although winning the popular vote, was declared to have lost the electoral college vote to
Rutherford B. HayesRutherford Birchard Hayes was an American politician, lawyer, military leader and the 19th President of the United States . Hayes was elected President by one electoral vote after the highly disputed election of 1876...
in 1876 as part of a political deal with
Southern DemocratsSouthern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the American South. In the early 1800s, they were the definitive pro-slavery wing of the party, opposed to both the anti-slavery Republicans and the more liberal Northern Democrats...
to end Reconstruction.
Had Ford won the election, the provisions of the
22nd amendmentThe Twenty-second Amendment of the United States Constitution sets a term limit for the President of the United States. The Congress passed the amendment on March 21, 1947. It was ratified by the requisite number of states on February 27, 1951...
would have disqualified him from running in
1980The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
, because he had served more than two years of Nixon's remaining term.
Statistics
Source (Popular Vote):
Source (Electoral Vote):
(a) Mike PaddenMike Padden is a lawyer, former member of the Washington State Legislature, and a current district court judge residing in Spokane, Washington. He is likely most well-known as a "faithless elector", a Presidential Elector who casts his vote for someone other than for whom he has pledged to...
, a Republican faithless electorFaithless electors are members of the United States Electoral College who do not cast their electoral votes for the people they have pledged to vote for...
from WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
, gave Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
one electoral vote.
(b) The running mate of McCarthy varied from state to state.
(c) Research has not yet determined whether Anderson's home state was TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
or TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
at the time of the 1976 election.
Close states
States where margin of victory was under 5%
- Oregon, 0.17%
- Ohio, 0.27%
- Maine, 0.84%
- Iowa, 1.01%
- Oklahoma, 1.21%
- Virginia, 1.34%
- South Dakota, 1.48%
- Wisconsin, 1.68%
- California, 1.78%
- Mississippi, 1.88%
- Illinois, 1.97%
- New Jersey, 2.16%
- New Mexico, 2.47%
- Hawaii, 2.53%
- Pennsylvania, 2.66%
- Texas, 3.17%
- Missouri, 3.63%
- Washington, 3.88%
- Nevada, 4.36%
- New York, 4.43%
Voter demographics
| Social groups and the presidential vote, 1980 and 1976 |
|
Size[“Size” = share of 1980 national total] |
'80 Carter |
'80 Reagan |
'80 Anderson |
'76 Carter |
'76 Ford |
| Party |
| Democratic |
43 |
66 |
26 |
6 |
77 |
22 |
| Independent An independent may be variously defined as a voter who votes for candidates and issues rather than on the basis of a political ideology or partisanship; a voter who does not have long-standing loyalty to, or identification with, a political party; a voter who does not usually vote for the same...
|
23 |
30 |
54 |
12 |
43 |
54 |
| Republican |
28 |
11 |
84 |
4 |
9 |
90 |
| Ideology |
| Liberal |
18 |
57 |
27 |
11 |
70 |
26 |
| Moderate In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical.Aristotle favoured conciliatory politics dominated by the centre rather than the extremes of great wealth and poverty or the special interests of oligarchs and tyrants.-See also:*Centrism*Disadvantages for...
|
51 |
42 |
48 |
8 |
51 |
48 |
| Conservative |
31 |
23 |
71 |
4 |
29 |
70 |
| Ethnicity |
BlackAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
|
10 |
82 |
14 |
3 |
82 |
16 |
| Hispanic Hispanic American or Spanish American may refer to:*An inhabitant of one of the countries of Hispanic America .*A person of Hispanic ancestry who is citizen, resident or other in the United States of America ....
|
2 |
54 |
36 |
7 |
75 |
24 |
WhiteWhite American is an umbrella term officially employed by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget and other U.S...
|
88 |
36 |
55 |
8 |
47 |
52 |
| Sex |
| Female |
48 |
45 |
46 |
7 |
50 |
48 |
| Male |
52 |
37 |
54 |
7 |
50 |
48 |
| Religion |
| Protestant Protestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
|
46 |
37 |
56 |
6 |
44 |
55 |
| White Protestant |
41 |
31 |
62 |
6 |
43 |
57 |
| Catholic Roman and Eastern Catholicism in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church in full communion with the Pope, currently Benedict XVI. Catholicism arrived in what is now Continental United States during the earliest days of the European colonization of the Americas...
|
25 |
40 |
51 |
7 |
54 |
44 |
JewishAmerican Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens or resident aliens of the Jewish faith and/or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...
|
5 |
45 |
39 |
14 |
64 |
34 |
| Family income Family income is generally considered a primary measure of a nation's financial prosperity.In the United States, political parties perennially disagree over which economic policies are more likely to increase family income. The party in power often takes the credit for any significant changes in...
|
| Less than US$ The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
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 A professional is a member of a vocation founded upon specialised educational training.The word professional traditionally means a person who has obtained a degree in a professional field...
or managerManagement in all business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading, directing, facilitating and controlling or manipulating an organization or effort for...
|
39 |
33 |
56 |
9 |
41 |
57 |
| Clerical, sales A sale is the pinnacle activity involved in selling products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity.A sale is completed by the seller, the owner of the goods...
, white-collarThe term white-collar worker refers to a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
|
11 |
42 |
48 |
8 |
46 |
53 |
| blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who typically performs manual labor and earns an hourly wage. Blue-collar workers are distinguished from those in the service sector and from white-collar workers, whose jobs are not considered manual labor.Blue-collar work may be skilled or...
|
17 |
46 |
47 |
5 |
57 |
41 |
| Agriculture Agriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
|
3 |
29 |
66 |
3 |
— |
— |
| Unemployed Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and seeking work but currently without work. The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed...
|
3 |
55 |
35 |
7 |
65 |
34 |
EducationEducation in the United States is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Compulsory education is mandatory. A sub-type of compulsory education is public education. Public education is universal at the primary and...
|
Less than high schoolAs part of education in the United States, secondary education usually covers grades 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 through 12.-Historical Impact of Secondary Education in the United States:...
|
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 |
UnionA trade union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas, such as working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts with employers...
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 |
EastThe Eastern Half of The United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River...
|
25 |
42 |
47 |
9 |
51 |
47 |
SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
|
27 |
44 |
51 |
3 |
54 |
45 |
| White South |
22 |
35 |
60 |
3 |
46 |
52 |
MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
|
27 |
40 |
51 |
7 |
48 |
50 |
| Far West The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
|
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.
Miscellaneous
- The 1976 election was the first presidential election since 1932
The United States presidential election of 1932 took place as the effects of the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression were being felt intensely across the country. President Herbert Hoover's popularity was falling as voters felt he was unable to reverse the economic collapse, or deal...
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 ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
would defeat PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Carter in the general election and again, in 1992, when Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
defeated incumbent George H.W. Bush in his bid for re-election.
- This was the last time that a Democratic candidate carried any of the following states: Texas
Texas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
, South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
, MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
and AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its...
. North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
did not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Obama in 2008. Obama also carried Virginia, the one state in the South that Carter did not win.
- 1976 marked the first year that a television news network used colors to represent the states won by the candidates. John Chancellor
John William Chancellor was a well-known American journalist, who spent most of his career associated with the NBC television network...
, the anchorman for the NBC Nightly NewsNBC Nightly News is the daily evening news program for NBC News and broadcasts from the GE Building, Rockefeller Center in New York City. It has been known by this name since August 3, 1970. Currently, weekday broadcasts are anchored by Brian Williams, and weekend editions of the show are anchored...
, suggested to his network's engineers that they create a large electronic map of the United States; the map was placed in the network's election-night news studio. If Carter carried a state it would light up in red, if Ford won a state it would light up in blue. The feature proved to be so popular that all three major news networks would adopt the feature for the 1980 presidential election, and it has since become a staple of election-night broadcasts, although the colors for both parties have been reversed.
- This election was the first time since 1908
The United States presidential election of 1908 was held on November 3, 1908. Popular incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt, honoring a promise not to seek a third term, persuaded the Republican Party to nominate William Howard Taft, his close friend and Secretary of War, to become his successor...
, and last time to date, that NevadaNevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas. The state's nickname is Silver State, due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there...
did not back the winning candidate. It was also the first election that New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
did not back the winning candidate since it had achieved statehood in 1912.
- Although he lost, Ford carried 27 out of 50 states, the most ever won by a losing candidate. He became the second and the last person to not win the presidency while carrying more than half the states. The first was Nixon in 1960, who won in 26 states.
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