1996 United States presidential election

The 1996 United States presidential election happened on November 5, 1996. Bill Clinton, the incumbent president and Democratic candidate, won reelection. He defeated Bob Dole, the Republican candidate, who was the former Senator of Kansas for president, and Ross Perot, the Reform Party candidate, who was a businessman.

1996 United States presidential election
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← 1992 November 5, 1996 2000 →

538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout49.0%[1] 11px 6.2 pp
  File:Bill Clinton.jpg File:Ks 1996 dole (cropped).jpg File:RossPerotColor.jpg
Nominee Bill Clinton Bob Dole Ross Perot
Party Democratic Republican Reform
Home state Arkansas Kansas Texas
Running mate Al Gore Jack Kemp Pat Choate
Electoral vote 379 159 0
States carried 31 + DC 19 0
Popular vote 47,401,185 39,197,469 8,085,294
Percentage 49.2% 40.7% 8.4%

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Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Clinton/Gore and red denotes those won by Dole/Kemp. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.

President before election

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Elected President

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Perot received less media attention and was not included in the presidential debates and, while still getting large results for a third-party candidate, by U.S. standards, did not renew his success in the 1992 election.

Clinton benefited from an economy that recovered from the early 1990s recession, and a relatively stable world stage. On November 5, 1996,[2] President Clinton went on to win re-election by a substantial popular vote margin with a large electoral college victory.

Election statistics

President Clinton went on to win re-election relatively easily despite becoming the first sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916 to do so with under 50% of the National Vote (49%), while winning enough states to earn him 379 electoral votes. Senator Bob Dole from Kansas ran for the Republicans and was at the mercy of peaceful overseas relations and a thriving economy. He gained (41%) of the vote while winning enough states to win 159 electoral votes. The GOP did well in the congressional races however thus effectively positioning themselves for the 1998 midterms and the subsequent 2000 race for the White House.

Candidates

Democratic Party

Nominees

Reform Party Ticket, 1996
Ross Perot Pat Choate
for President for Vice President
RossPerotColor (cropped closein 3x4).jpg
Pat Choate 2006 (3x4 cropped).png
President and CEO of Perot Systems
(1988–2009)
Economist
Perot Choate 1996 campaign logo.svg
  • Ross Perot, founder of the Reform Party and 1992 Independent nominee for President of the United States (Nominee)
  • Richard Lamm, former Governor of Colorado (1975-1987)

Candidates:

Republican Party

Withdrawn candidates

Candidates in this section are sorted by popular vote from the primaries
Pat Buchanan Steve Forbes Lamar Alexander Richard Lugar Phil Gramm
Steve Forbes, 2007.jpg
White House Communications Director

(1985–1987)

Publisher and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine

(1990–)

United States Secretary of Education

(1991–1993)

United States Senator from Indiana

(1977–2013)

United States Senator from Texas

(1985–2002)

LN: August 15

3,184,943 votes

W: March 14

1,751,187 votes

W: March 9

495,590 votes

W: March 9

127,111 votes

Candidates gallery

Reform Party

1996 United States Presidential Election Media

References

  1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  2. "Election Dates". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2020-08-06.

Other websites

Media related to 1996 United States presidential election at Wikimedia Commons