1972 United States presidential election

1972 United States presidential election
538 members of the Electoral College; 270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	55.2% 5.7 pp
	Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Nixon/Agnew. Blue denotes states won by McGovern/Shriver. Gold denotes won by Hospers by a Virginia faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
President before election; Richard Nixon; Republican	Elected President ; Richard Nixon; Republican

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 highest of any Republican nominee as a vote, as well as a highest electoral vote in a United States election until Ronald Reagan was re-elected in 1984 by a huge landslide.

George Wallace, governor of Alabama was shot by a would-be assassin during the election.

George McGovern's running mate changed from Thomas Eagleton to Sargent Shriver because of revelations about Eagleton's previous psychiatric problems.^[2]

This election occurred during the Watergate scandal, which ultimately caused Nixon to resign in 1974.

Election results by county. Richard Nixon George McGovern

Candidates

Democratic Party

15 people declared their candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination. They were:^[3]

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

President Richard Nixon
Representative John Ashbrook of Ohio
Representative Pete McCloskey of California

Republican Party

Republican candidates:
- Richard Nixon, President of the United States
- Pete McCloskey, Representative from California
- John M. Ashbrook, Representative from Ohio

1972 United States Presidential Election Media

Republican Party (United States)
Richard Nixon's presidential portrait. Retouch has not been completed yet.
Spiro Agnew, 39th Vice President of the United States and the 55th Governor of Maryland. Image taken in Washington, D.C.
Nixon Agnew 1972 campaign logo
Democratic Party (United States)
Portrait of US Senator and 1972 Democratic Presidential candidate George McGovern (b.1922) taken in Washington DC, 1972.
Aaron Camper (1985-). Shriver served as first Director of the Peace Corps (to which this picture relates). He was also US ambassador to France, and US Vice-Presidential candidate in 1972.
McGovern Shriver 1972 campaign logo
Statewide contest by winner No primary held* Shirley Chisholm* Hubert Humphrey* Henry M. Jackson* George McGovern* Wilbur Mills* Edmund Muskie* George Wallace
Video from the Florida conventions