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.

## Candidates
### Republican Party
*Republican candidates:
**Richard Nixon, President of the United States
**Pete McCloskey, Representative from California
**John M. Ashbrook, Representative from Ohio
#### Candidates gallery

File:Nixon 30-0316a.jpg|President **Richard Nixon**
File:JohnMAshbrook.jpg|Representative **John Ashbrook** of Ohio
File:Paul McCloskey.gif|Representative **Pete McCloskey** of California

### Democratic Party
15&nbsp;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.
#### Candidates gallery

Image:GeorgeStanleyMcGovern.png|Senator **George McGovern** of South Dakota
Image:Hubert Humphrey crop.jpg|Senator and former Vice President **Hubert Humphrey** of Minnesota
Image:George C Wallace (Alaba Governor).png|Governor **George Wallace** of Alabama
Image:Edmund Muskie.jpg|Senator **Edmund Muskie** of Maine
Image:EugeneMcCarthy.jpg|Former Senator **Eugene McCarthy** of Minnesota
Image:HenryJackson.jpg|Senator **Henry M. Jackson** of Washington
Image:Shirley Chisholm.jpg|Representative **Shirley Chisholm** of New York
Image:Terry Sanford.jpg|Former Governor **Terry Sanford** of North Carolina
Image:John Lindsay NYWTS 1 (cropped).jpg|Mayor **John Lindsay** of New York City
Image:WilburMills.jpg|Representative **Wilbur Mills** of Arkansas
File:Vance Hartke.jpg|Senator **Vance Hartke** of Indiana
Image:FredRoyHarris.jpg|Senator **Fred R. Harris** of Oklahoma
Image:Patsymink.jpg|Representative **Patsy Mink** of Hawaii
Image:Walter Fauntroy.jpg|U.S. Congressional Delegate **Walter Fauntroy** of Washington, D.C.

## Related pages
*Presidential Candidates:
** Richard Nixon
** George McGovern
** Patsy Mink
*Vice Presidential Candidates:
** Sargent Shriver
** Spiro Agnew

## References
## Other websites
* 1972 Presidential General Election Results