1996 United States presidential election

The **1996 United States presidential election** happened on November 5, 1996. Bill Clinton, the incumbent president and Democratic candidate, won reelection. He defeated Bob Dole, the Republican candidate, who was the former Senator of Kansas for president, and Ross Perot, the Reform Party candidate, who was a businessman.

Perot received less media attention and was not included in the presidential debates and, while still getting large results for a third-party candidate, by U.S. standards, did not renew his success in the 1992 election.

Clinton benefited from an economy that recovered from the early 1990s recession, and a relatively stable world stage. On November 5, 1996, President Clinton went on to win re-election by a substantial popular vote margin with a large electoral college victory.

## Election statistics

President Clinton went on to win re-election relatively easily despite becoming the first sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916 to do so with under 50% of the National Vote (49%), while winning enough states to earn him 379 electoral votes. Senator Bob Dole from Kansas ran for the Republicans and was at the mercy of peaceful overseas relations and a thriving economy. He gained (41%) of the vote while winning enough states to win 159 electoral votes. The GOP did well in the congressional races however thus effectively positioning themselves for the 1998 midterms and the subsequent 2000 race for the White House.

#### Nominees

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Bill Clinton|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Al Gore|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**Democratic Party Ticket,**</big> <big>**1996**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|42nd President of the United States <small>(1993–2001)</small>|45th Vice President of the United States <small>(1993-2001)</small>|||

#### Candidates:

- Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States <small>(1993-2001) _(Nominee)_</small>
- Jimmy Griffin, former mayor of Buffalo from New York <small>(1978-1993)</small>
- Lyndon LaRouche, activist and perennial candidate from Virginia

#### Nominees

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Bob Dole|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Jack Kemp|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>**Republican Party Ticket, 1996**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFD0D7; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#FFD0D7; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|U.S. Senator from Kansas <small>(1969–1996)</small>|9th U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development <small>(1989–1993)</small>|||
|colspan=2||||

- Bob Dole, US Senator from Kansas <small>(1969-1996)</small> and 1976 vice presidential nominee _<small>(Nominee)</small>_
- Pat Buchanan, former White House Communications Director from Virginia <small>(1985-1987)</small>
- Steve Forbes, newspaper and magazine publisher from New Jersey <small>(1</small><small>990-present)</small>
- Lamar Alexander, former Governor of Tennessee <small>(1979-1987)</small> and former US Secretary of Education <small>(1</small><small>991-1993)</small>
- Richard Lugar, US Senator from Indiana <small>(1977–2013)</small>
- Phil Gramm, US Senator from Texas <small>(1985–2002)</small>
- Alan Keyes, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs <small>(1985-1987)</small> from Maryland
- Bob Dornan, U.S. representative from California <small>(1977-1983, 1985-1997)</small>
- Arlen Specter, US Senator from Pennsylvania <small>(1981-2011)</small>
- Pete Wilson, Governor of California <small>(1991-1999)</small>

### Withdrawn candidates

|scope="col" style="width:8em;"|Pat Buchanan|scope="col" style="width:8em;"|Steve Forbes|scope="col" style="width:8em;"|Lamar Alexander|scope="col" style="width:8em;"|Richard Lugar|scope="col" style="width:8em;"|Phil Gramm|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="7" style="text-align:center; color:white; background:;"|_Candidates in this section are sorted by popular vote from the primaries_|||||||||
|White House Communications Director (1985–1987)|Publisher and editor-in-chief of _Forbes_ magazine (1990–)|United States Secretary of Education (1991–1993)|United States Senator     from Indiana (1977–2013)|United States Senator from Texas (1985–2002)||||||
|_LN: August 15_ <small>**3,184,943** votes</small>|_W: March 14_ <small>**1,751,187** votes</small>|_W: March 9_ <small>**495,590** votes</small>|_W: March 9_ <small>**127,111** votes</small>|||||||

#### Nominees

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8800AA; width:200px;"|Ross Perot|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8800AA; width:200px;"|Pat Choate|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>**Reform Party Ticket, 1996**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|President and CEO of Perot Systems <small>(1988–2009)</small>|Economist|||
|colspan=2||||

- Ross Perot, founder of the Reform Party and 1992 Independent nominee for President of the United States <small>_(Nominee)_</small>
- Richard Lamm, former Governor of Colorado <small>(1975-1987)</small>

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 1996 United States presidential election
- **country**: United States
- **flag year**: 1960
- **type**: presidential
- **previous election**: 1992 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1992
- **election date**: November 5, 1996
- **next election**: 2000 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 2000
- **votes for election**: 538 members of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **needed votes**: 270 electoral
- **turnout**: 49.0%  6.2 percentage point, pp
- **image size**: x160px
- **image1**: Bill Clinton.jpg
- **nominee1**: **Bill Clinton**
- **party1**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **home state1**: Arkansas
- **running mate1**: **Al Gore**
- **electoral vote1**: **379**
- **states carried1**: **31 + Washington, D.C., DC**
- **popular vote1**: **47,401,185**
- **percentage1**: ****
- **image2**: Ks 1996 dole (cropped).jpg
- **nominee2**: Bob Dole
- **party2**: Republican Party (United States)
- **home state2**: Kansas
- **running mate2**: Jack Kemp
- **electoral vote2**: 159
- **states carried2**: 19
- **popular vote2**: 39,197,469
- **image3**: RossPerotColor.jpg
- **nominee3**: Ross Perot
- **party3**: Reform Party of the United States of America
- **home state3**: Texas
- **running mate3**: Pat Choate
- **electoral vote3**: 0
- **states carried3**: 0
- **popular vote3**: 8,085,294
- **map size**: 350px
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:blue;">Blue</span> denotes states won by Clinton/Gore and <span style="color:red;">red</span> denotes those won by Dole/Kemp. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.
- **title**: President
- **before election**: Bill Clinton
- **before party**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **after election**: Bill Clinton
- **after party**: Democratic Party (United States)