1972 United States presidential election

===Results===
[[File:1972prescountymap2.PNG|thumb|right|400px|Election results by county.{{legend|#E32636|[[Richard Nixon]]|border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
{{legend|#1560BD|[[George McGovern]]|border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}]]
[[File:1972 Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District.png|thumb|right|400px|Results by congressional district.]]
Nixon's percentage of the popular vote was only marginally less than Lyndon Johnson's record in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 election]], and his margin of victory was slightly larger. Nixon won a majority vote in 49 states, including McGovern's home state of [[South Dakota]]. Only [[Massachusetts]] and the [[District of Columbia]] voted for the challenger, resulting in an even more lopsided [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] tally. McGovern garnered only 37.5 percent of the national popular vote, the lowest share received by a Democratic Party nominee since [[John W. Davis]] won only 28.8 percent of the vote in the [[1924 United States presidential election|1924 election]]. The only major party candidate since 1972 to receive less than 40 percent of the vote was Republican incumbent President [[George H. W. Bush]] who won 37.4 percent of the vote in the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 election]], a race that (as in 1924) was complicated by a strong non-major-party vote.<ref>{{cite web| last=Feinman| first=Ronald| title=Donald Trump Could Be On Way To Worst Major Party Candidate Popular Vote Percentage Since William Howard Taft In 1912 And John W. Davis In 1924!| date=September 2, 2016| url=http://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/?p=28297| work=The Progressive Professor| access-date=November 7, 2019| archive-date=December 20, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220001137/http://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/?p=28297| url-status=live}}</ref> Nixon received the highest share of the popular vote for a Republican in history. 

Although the McGovern campaign believed that its candidate had a better chance of defeating Nixon because of the new [[Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] that lowered the national voting age to 18 from 21, most of the youth vote went to Nixon.<ref name="walker200807">{{cite news |url=http://reason.com/archives/2008/06/10/the-age-of-nixon |title=The Age of Nixon: Rick Perlstein on the left, the right, the '60s, and the illusion of consensus |work=Reason |date=July 2008 |access-date=July 27, 2013 |author=[[Jesse Walker]] |archive-date=July 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718110125/http://reason.com/archives/2008/06/10/the-age-of-nixon |url-status=live }}</ref> This was the first election in American history in which a [[Republican Party (U.S.)|Republican]] candidate carried every single [[American South|Southern state]], continuing the region's transformation from [[Solid South|a Democratic bastion]] into a Republican stronghold as [[United States presidential elections in Arkansas|Arkansas]] was carried by a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in a century. By this time, all the Southern states, except Arkansas and Texas, had been carried by a Republican in either the previous election or the one in 1964 (although Republican candidates carried Texas in 1928, 1952 and 1956). As a result of this election, Massachusetts became the only state that Nixon did not carry in any of the three presidential elections in which he was a candidate. Notably, Nixon became the first Republican to ever win two terms in the White House without carrying Massachusetts at least once, and the same feat would later be duplicated by [[George W. Bush]] who won both the 2000 and 2004 elections without winning Massachusetts either time. This presidential election was the first since [[1808 United States presidential election|1808]] in which [[New York (state)|New York]] did not have the largest number of electors in the Electoral College, having fallen to 41 electors vs. [[California]]'s 45. Additionally, through [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]] it remains the last one in which Minnesota was carried by the Republican candidate.<ref name="how">Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century 'How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116163625/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century |date=November 16, 2016 }}; ''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016</ref>

McGovern won a mere 130 counties, plus the District of Columbia and four county-equivalents in Alaska,{{efn|These were [[North Slope Borough, Alaska|North Slope Borough]], plus [[Bethel Census Area, Alaska|Bethel]], [[Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska|Kusilvak]] and [[Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska|Hoonah-Angoon Census Areas]]}} easily the fewest counties won by any major-party presidential nominee since the advent of popular presidential elections.<ref>Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004'', p. 98 {{ISBN|0786422173}}</ref> In nineteen states, McGovern failed to carry a single county;{{efn|McGovern failed to carry a single county in Arkansas, [[United States presidential election in Connecticut, 1972|Connecticut]], Delaware, [[United States presidential election in Florida, 1972|Florida]], Georgia, [[United States presidential election in Hawaii, 1972|Hawaii]], Idaho, Indiana, [[United States presidential election in Kansas, 1972|Kansas]], Nebraska, Nevada, [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 1972|New Jersey]], [[United States presidential election in New Hampshire, 1972|New Hampshire]], Oklahoma, [[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 1972|Rhode Island]], [[United States presidential election in South Carolina, 1972|South Carolina]], [[United States presidential election in Utah, 1972|Utah]], [[United States presidential election in Vermont, 1972|Vermont]] or Wyoming}} he carried a mere one county-equivalent in a further nine states,{{efn|McGovern carried only one county-equivalent in Arizona ([[Greenlee County, Arizona|Greenlee]]), [[United States presidential election in Illinois, 1972|Illinois]] ([[Jackson County, Illinois|Jackson]]), Louisiana ([[West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana|West Feliciana Parish]]), [[United States presidential election in Maine, 1972|Maine]] ([[Androscoggin County, Maine|Androscoggin]]), [[United States presidential election in Maryland, 1972|Maryland]] ([[Baltimore]]), North Dakota ([[Rolette County, North Dakota|Rolette]]), [[United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, 1972|Pennsylvania]] ([[Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]]), [[United States presidential election in Virginia, 1972|Virginia]] ([[Charles City County, Virginia|Charles City]]), and West Virginia ([[Logan County, West Virginia|Logan]])}} and just two counties in a further seven.{{efn|McGovern carried just two counties in [[United States presidential election in Colorado, 1972|Colorado]], Missouri, [[United States presidential election in Montana, 1972|Montana]], [[United States presidential election in New Mexico, 1972|New Mexico]], [[United States presidential election in North Carolina, 1972|North Carolina]], [[United States presidential election in Ohio, 1972|Ohio]] and [[United States presidential election in Washington (state), 1972|Washington State]]}} In contrast to [[Walter Mondale]]'s narrow 1984 win in Minnesota, McGovern comfortably did win Massachusetts, but lost every other state by no less than five percentage points, as well as 45 states by more than ten percentage points – the exceptions being Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and his home state of South Dakota. This election also made Nixon the second former vice president in American history to serve two terms back-to-back, after [[Thomas Jefferson]] in [[1800 United States presidential election|1800]] and [[1804 United States presidential election|1804]]. As well as the only two-term Vice President to be elected President twice.

Since McGovern carried only one state, bumper stickers reading "Nixon 49 America 1",<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1973-08-27 |title=New York Intelligencer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qOYCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57 |magazine=New York |language=en |publisher=New York Media, LLC |volume=6 |issue=35 |page=57 |access-date=2019-03-16 |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418145342/https://books.google.com/books?id=qOYCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57 |url-status=live }}</ref> "Don't Blame Me, I'm From Massachusetts", and "Massachusetts: The One And Only" were popular for a short time in Massachusetts.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/14/archives/as-massachusetts-went-im-frommassachusetts-dont-blame-me.html |title=As Massachusetts went— |last=Lukas |first=J. Anthony |date=1973-01-14 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2019-03-16 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517204221/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/14/archives/as-massachusetts-went-im-frommassachusetts-dont-blame-me.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  

Nixon managed to win 18% of the African American vote (Gerald Ford would get 16% in 1976).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Exit Polls – Election Results 2008 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html |access-date=2020-05-11 |archive-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523220252/https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He also remains the only Republican in modern times to threaten the oldest extant Democratic stronghold of [[South Texas]]: this is the last election when the Republicans have won [[Hidalgo County, Texas|Hidalgo]] or [[Dimmit County, Texas|Dimmit]] counties, the only time Republicans have won [[La Salle County, Texas|La Salle County]] between [[William McKinley]] in 1900 and [[Donald Trump]] in 2020, and one of only two occasions since Theodore Roosevelt in 1904{{efn|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1952 also obtained a plurality in Presidio County}} that Republicans have gained a majority in [[Presidio County, Texas|Presidio County]].<ref name="how"/> More significantly, the 1972 election was the most recent time several highly populous urban counties – including [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook]] in Illinois, [[Orleans Parish, Louisiana|Orleans]] in Louisiana, [[Hennepin County, Minnesota|Hennepin]] in Minnesota, [[Cuyahoga County, Ohio|Cuyahoga]] in Ohio, [[Durham County, North Carolina|Durham]] in North Carolina, [[Queens County, New York|Queens]] in New York, and [[Prince George's County, Maryland|Prince George's]] in Maryland – have voted Republican.<ref name="how"/>

The [[George Wallace 1968 presidential campaign|Wallace vote]] had also been crucial to Nixon being able to sweep the states that had narrowly held out against him in 1968 (Texas, Maryland, and West Virginia), as well as the states Wallace won himself (Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia). The pro-Wallace group of voters had only given AIP nominee John Schmitz a depressing 2.4% of its support, while 19.1% backed McGovern, and the majority 78.5% broke for Nixon.

Nixon, who became [[term limits in the United States|term-limited]] under the provisions of the [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-second Amendment]] as a result of his victory, became the first (and, as of 2023, only) presidential candidate to win a significant number of electoral votes in three presidential elections since the ratification of that Amendment. As of 2023, Nixon was the seventh of seven presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is the only Republican ever to do so. 

The 520 electoral votes received by Nixon, added to the 301 electoral votes he received in [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]], and the 219 electoral votes he received in [[1960 United States presidential election|1960]], gave him the most total electoral votes received by any candidate who had been previously Vice President to become president (1,040) and the second largest number of electoral votes received by any candidate who was elected to the office of president behind [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s 1,876 total electoral votes.

{{start U.S. presidential ticket box| pv_footnote=<!--source for popular votes--><ref>{{Leip PV source 2| year=1972| as of=August 7, 2005}}</ref>| ev_footnote=<!--source for electoral votes--><ref>{{National Archives EV source| year=1972| as of=August 7, 2005}}</ref>}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Richard Nixon]] (incumbent)| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]| state=[[California]]| pv=47,168,710| pv_pct=60.67%| ev=520| vp_name=[[Spiro T. Agnew]] (incumbent)| vp_state=[[Maryland]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[George McGovern]]| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]| state=[[South Dakota]]| pv=29,173,222| pv_pct=37.52%| ev=17| vp_name=[[Sargent Shriver]]| vp_state=[[Maryland]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[John G. Schmitz]]| party=[[American Independent Party|American Independent]]| state=[[California]]| pv=1,100,896| pv_pct=1.42%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Thomas J. Anderson (author)|Thomas J. Anderson]]| vp_state=[[Tennessee]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Linda Jenness]]| party=[[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers]]| state=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]| pv=83,380{{efn|In [[Arizona]], Pima and Yavapai counties had an unusually formatted ballot that led voters to believe they could vote for a major party presidential candidate and simultaneously vote the six individual Socialist Workers Party presidential electors. Technically, these were overvotes, and should not have counted for either the major party candidates or the Socialist Workers Party electors. Within two days of the election, the Attorney General and Pima County Attorney had agreed that all votes should count. The Socialist Workers Party had not qualified as a party, and thus did not have a presidential candidate. In the official state canvass, votes for Nixon, McGovern, or Schmitz, are shown as being for the presidential candidate, the party, and the elector slate of the party; while those for the Socialist Worker Party elector candidates were for those candidates only. In the view of the Secretary of State, the votes were not for Linda Jenness. Some tabulations count the votes for Jenness. Historically, presidential candidate names did not appear on ballots, and voters voted directly for the electors. Nonetheless, votes for the electors are attributed to the presidential candidate. Counting the votes in Arizona for Jenness is consistent with this practice. Because of the confusing ballots, Socialist Workers Party electors received votes on about 21 percent and 8 percent of ballots in Pima and Yavapai, respectively. 30,579 of the party's 30,945 Arizona votes are from those two counties.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Seeley |first=John |date=2000-11-22|title=Early and Often|url=https://www.laweekly.com/early-and-often-3/|access-date=2021-04-10|website=LA Weekly|language=en-US}}</ref>
}}| pv_pct=0.11%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Andrew Pulley]]| vp_state=[[Illinois]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Benjamin Spock]]| party=[[People's Party (United States, 1970s)|People's]]| state=[[California]]| pv=78,759| pv_pct=0.10%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Julius Hobson]]| vp_state=[[District of Columbia]] }}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Louis Fisher]]| party=[[Socialist Labor Party of America|Socialist Labor]]| state=[[Illinois]]| pv=53,814| pv_pct=0.07%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Genevieve Gunderson]]| vp_state=[[Minnesota]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[John Hospers|John G. Hospers]]| party=[[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]]| state=[[California]]| pv=3,674| pv_pct=0.00%| ev=1{{efn|A [[Virginia]] [[faithless elector]], [[Roger MacBride]], though pledged to vote for [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Spiro Agnew]], instead voted for Libertarian candidates [[John Hospers]] and [[Theodora "Tonie" Nathan]].}}<ref name="lp"/>| vp_name=[[Theodora Nathan]]| vp_state=[[Oregon]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box other| footnote=| pv= 81,575| pv_pct=0.10%}}
{{end U.S. presidential ticket box| pv=77,744,030| ev=538| to_win=270}}
[[File:John Hospers Presidential.jpg|thumb|[[John Hospers]] received one faithless electoral vote from Virginia.]]
{{bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Nixon'''|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|60.67}}
{{bar percent|McGovern|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|37.52}}
{{bar percent|Schmitz|{{party color|American Independent Party}}|1.42}}
{{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.39}}
}}
{{bar box
|title=Electoral vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Nixon'''|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|96.65}}
{{bar percent|McGovern|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|3.16}}
{{bar percent|Hospers|{{party color|Libertarian Party (US)}}|0.19}}
}}
[[File:1972 Electoral Map.png|650px|thumb|left]]
<gallery perrow="3" widths="500px" heights="317px">
Image:1972 United States presidential election results map by county.svg|Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
</gallery>