1976 United States presidential election

The **1976 United States presidential election** was the 48th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1976. Democratic U.S. Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia defeated the incumbent Republican President, William Scranton of Pennsylvania.

## History

Scranton had won the 1972 election to succeed Nelson Rockefeller after spending two terms as Rockefeller's Vice President. After defeating actor Ronald Reagan narrowly for the Republican nomination, Scranton picked Colorado Governor John Love as his running mate won the general election against Democrat George McGovern and his running mate Patrick Lucey.

After wide-spread embarrassment in the 1974 elections following a Republican leadership corruption scandal that ended the careers of numerous high-ranking Republicans, most notably including Senate Minority Leader Richard Nixon, Scranton continuously failed to regain his popularity. The race was complicated by Reagan rejoining the American Independent Party to run on their ticket, attacking Scranton for his moderate positions and charging that the Republicans were becoming more liberal than the Democrats on certain issues under Scranton's leadership.

The fall of South Vietnam in 1975 and an increasingly poor economy all plagued the Scranton campaign, and it was firmly believed by most pundits that Scranton had no chance in the general election.

## Election campaign

In the Democratic primary, U.S. Senator and the eventual nominee Robert Byrd, who was serving as the Senate Majority Whip for his party, came out in an unexpected triumph over better known candidates such as the senior Washington insiders Wilbur Mills, Mo Udall and Scoop Jackson, and the progressive anti-war Democrats such as George McGovern and former Senator Eugene McCarthy. Byrd then picked Illinois Governor Dan Walker as his running mate, leaving Walker to abandon his difficult gubernatorial re-election campaign.

However unpopular Scranton had been, Byrd was criticized widely for his perceived flaws within his personality. In a period where insiders were unpopular, many criticized the Democratic Party for nominating a member of the Senate leadership. Byrd was described as boring and overworked, with his appearances few and most of his work done behind closed doors. Reagan was praised often for being highly attractive and charismatic, but was still criticized for his extremism and calls for a "new conservative revolution".

Scranton took the lead in polling as he promised a more hawkish foreign policy, yet Reagan seemed to be the most popular, at times even leading the other 2 candidates. However, a scandal arose when phone calls from Reagan to Senators Richard Nixon and the highly unpopular Jesse Helms arose where Reagan used a multitude of racial slurs and hauled many racist insults at the nations of Africa. In one famous call which Scranton included in an attack ad, Reagan spoke of the African delegates to the United Nations as "barefoot monkeys" that "never learned how to wear shoes".

Reagan won the endorsements of his former mentor Barry Goldwater and Goldwater's opponents within the AIP, Alabama Governor George Wallace and former Georgia Governor Lester Maddox, but their unpopularity only further harmed Reagan.

## Results

Come election night, Byrd took the lead early on in the day, and even though Scranton began to close the gap as the tide of votes moved west, Byrd won the election with 293 electoral votes and 45.1% of the popular vote. Scranton came in a close second with 224 electoral votes and 40.9% of the popular vote, and Reagan came in a distant third, scoring 11% of the popular vote yet 20 electoral votes. Last ditch attempts by Senate Republicans Howard Baker and George H.W. Bush failed to flip their close states for Scranton.

Byrd was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States on January 20th, 1977, with Walker sworn in as the 38th Vice President. They were the first Democratic administration in 12 years since Clinton Anderson left office in 1965, and the first Democrats to win a Presidential election since Anderson won re-election in 1960.