1972 United States presidential election

==Third parties==

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big> '''1972 American Independent Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:{{party color|American Independent Party}}; width:200px;"| [[John G. Schmitz|{{color|white|John G. Schmitz}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:{{party color|American Independent Party}}; width:200px;"| [[Thomas J. Anderson (author)|{{color|white|Thomas J. Anderson}}]]
|- style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:{{Party shading/American Independent}};"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:John G. Schmitz.jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Thomas J. Anderson.jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[California's 35th congressional district|California's 35th district]]<br><small>(1970–1973)</small>
| Magazine publisher; conservative speaker
|-
| colspan=2 | [[John G. Schmitz#US Representative and presidential campaign|'''Campaign''']]
|-
| colspan=2 |[[File:John G. Schmitz 1972 bumper sticker.jpg|200x200px]]
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|- <sup>†</sup>
| colspan="9" style="text-align:center; width:600px; font-size:120%; color:white; background: {{party color|American Independent Party}};"|Other Candidates
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Lester Maddox]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Thomas J. Anderson (author)|Thomas J. Anderson]]
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[George Wallace]]
|-
|[[File:Lester Maddox.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Thomas J. Anderson.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:George C Wallace.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
| Lieutenant Governor of [[Georgia (U.S. State)|Georgia]] <br><small>(1971–1975)</small><br /> Governor of [[Georgia (U.S. State)|Georgia]]<br><small>(1967–1971)</small>
| Magazine publisher; conservative speaker
| Governor of [[Alabama]] <br><small>(1963–1967, 1971–1979)</small> <br> 1968 AIP Presidential Nominee
|- style="text-align:center"
| [[Lester Maddox|Campaign]]
| [[Thomas J. Anderson (author)|Campaign]]
| [[George Wallace#1972 Democratic presidential primaries and assassination attempt|Campaign]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|'''56''' votes
|'''24''' votes
|'''8''' votes
|}

The only major [[third party (United States)|third party]] candidate in the 1972 election was conservative Republican Representative [[John G. Schmitz]], who ran on the [[American Independent Party]] ticket (the party on whose ballot [[George Wallace]] ran in 1968). He was on the ballot in 32 states and received 1,099,482 votes. Unlike Wallace, however, he did not win a majority of votes cast in any state, and received no electoral votes, although he did finish ahead of McGovern in four of the most conservative [[United States presidential election in Idaho, 1972|Idaho]] counties.<ref>Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004'', p. 100 {{ISBN|0786422173}}</ref> Schmitz's performance in archconservative [[Jefferson County, Idaho|Jefferson County]] was the best by a third-party Presidential candidate in any [[slave states and free states|free]] or postbellum state county since 1936 when [[William Lemke]] reached over twenty-eight percent of the vote in the North Dakota counties of [[Burke County, North Dakota|Burke]], [[Sheridan County, North Dakota|Sheridan]] and [[Hettinger County, North Dakota|Hettinger]].<ref>Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); ''America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920–1964''; pp. 339, 343 {{ISBN|0405077114}}</ref> Schmitz was endorsed by fellow [[John Birch Society]] member [[Walter Brennan]], who also served as finance chairman for his campaign.<ref>Actor to Aid Schmitz; The New York Times, August 9, 1972</ref>

[[John Hospers]] and [[Tonie Nathan|Theodora "Tonie" Nathan]] of the newly formed [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] were on the ballot only in Colorado and [[Washington (state)|Washington]], but were official write-in candidates in four others, and received 3,674 votes, winning no states. However, they did receive one Electoral College vote from [[Virginia]] from a Republican [[faithless elector]] (see below). The Libertarian vice-presidential nominee Tonie Nathan became the first [[Jew]] and the first woman in U.S. history to receive an Electoral College vote.<ref name="lp">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q6tVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3741,7501174&dq=john-hospers+electoral+vote+1972&hl=en |title=Libertarians trying to escape obscurity |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Eugene Register-Guard]] |date=December 30, 1973 |access-date=July 30, 2012 |archive-date=August 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826163959/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q6tVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3741,7501174&dq=john-hospers+electoral+vote+1972&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Linda Jenness]] was nominated by the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]], with [[Andrew Pulley]] as her running-mate. [[Benjamin Spock]] and [[Julius Hobson]] were nominated for president and vice-president, respectively, by the [[People's Party (United States, 1970s)|People's Party]].
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