1972 United States presidential election

The **1972 United States presidential election** happened on November 7, 1972. President Richard Nixon was reelected to a second term. He defeated the Democratic candidate, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Nixon won the election by a landslide (winning 49 of 50 states) and got 520 electoral votes. McGovern got 17 electoral votes. John Hospers got one electoral vote by a Virginia faithless elector. This was the first election after the War on Drugs. This election occurred during the secret Watergate scandal, which ultimately caused Nixon to quit in 1974.

Richard Nixon won more states than anyone else in history! But Ronald Reagan would match his record in 1984. George Wallace, the segregationist governor of Alabama, was shot during the year. George McGovern's running mate changed from Thomas Eagleton to Sargent Shriver because of revelations about Eagleton's previous psychiatric problems.

### Republican Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Richard Nixon|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#CE2029; width:200px;"|Spiro Agnew|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**19**</big><big>**7**</big><big>**2**</big> <big>**Republican Party Ticket**</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***|
|37th President of the United States <small>(1969-1974)</small>|39th Vice President of the United States <small>(1969-1973)</small>|||
|colspan="2"||||
- Republican candidates:
    - Richard Nixon, President of the United States
    - Pete McCloskey, Representative from California
    - John M. Ashbrook, Representative from Ohio

### Democratic Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|George McGovern|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#34AAE0; width:200px;"|Sargent Shriver|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="29" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**19**</big><big>**7**</big><big>**2**</big> <big>**Democratic Party Ticket**</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***|
|U.S. Senator from South Dakota <small>(1963–1981)</small>|21st U.S. Ambassador to France <small>(1968–1970)</small>|||
|colspan="2"||||
15 people declared their candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination. They were:
- George McGovern, Senator from South Dakota
- Hubert Humphrey, Senator from Minnesota and former Vice President
- George Wallace, Governor of Alabama
- Edmund Muskie, Senator from Maine
- Eugene McCarthy, former Senator from Minnesota
- Henry M. Jackson, Senator from Washington
- Shirley Chisholm, Representative of New York's 12th congressional district
- Terry Sanford, former Governor of North Carolina
- John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City
- Wilbur Mills, Representative of Arkansas's 2nd congressional district
- Vance Hartke, Senator from Indiana
- Fred Harris, Senator from Oklahoma
- Sam Yorty, former Representative of California's 26th congressional district
- Patsy Mink, Representative of Hawaii's 2nd congressional district
- Walter Fauntroy, Delegate from Washington, D.C.

## Related pages

- Presidential Candidates:
    - Richard Nixon
    - George McGovern
    - Patsy Mink
- Vice Presidential Candidates:
    - Sargent Shriver
    - Spiro Agnew

## Other websites

- 1972 Presidential General Election Results

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 1972 United States presidential election
- **country**: United States
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **previous election**: 1968 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1968
- **next election**: 1976 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 1976
- **election date**: November 7, 1972
- **votes for election**: 538 members of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **needed votes**: 270 electoral
- **turnout**: 55.2%  5.7 percentage point, pp
- **image size**: x200px
- **image1**: Richard Nixon presidential portrait (1).jpg
- **nominee1**: **Richard Nixon**
- **party1**: Republican Party (United States)
- **home state1**: California
- **running mate1**: **Spiro Agnew**
- **electoral vote1**: **520**
- **states carried1**: **49**
- **popular vote1**: **47,168,710**
- **percentage1**: **60.7%**
- **image2**: George McGovern (D-SD) (3x4-1).jpg
- **nominee2**: George McGovern
- **party2**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **home state2**: South Dakota
- **running mate2**: Sargent Shriver
 (originally Thomas Eagleton)
- **electoral vote2**: 17
- **states carried2**: 1 + Washington, D.C., D.C.
- **popular vote2**: 29,173,222
- **percentage2**: 37.5%
- **map image**: ElectoralCollege1972.svg
- **map size**: 350px
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:#CC2200;">Red</span> denotes states won by Nixon/Agnew. <span style="color:darkblue;">Blue</span> denotes states won by McGovern/Shriver. <span style="color:orange;">Gold</span> denotes won by Hospers by a Virginia faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
- **title**: President
- **before election**: Richard Nixon
- **before party**: Republican Party (United States)
- **after election**: Richard Nixon
- **after party**: Republican Party (United States)