1996 United States presidential election

1996 United States presidential election
538 members of the Electoral College; 270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	49.0% 6.2 pp
	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

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.

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

Ross Perot	Pat Choate
Reform Party Ticket, 1996
for President	for Vice President

President and CEO of Perot Systems (1988–2009)	Economist

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:

Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001) (Nominee)
Jimmy Griffin, former mayor of Buffalo from New York (1978-1993)
Lyndon LaRouche, activist and perennial candidate from Virginia

Former Mayor of Buffalo
Jimmy Griffin
from New York
(1978-1993)
(Withdrew in February 1996)
Activist and perennial candidate
Lyndon LaRouche
from Virginia

Republican Party

Withdrawn candidates

Pat Buchanan	Steve Forbes	Lamar Alexander	Richard Lugar	Phil Gramm
Candidates in this section are sorted by popular vote from the primaries

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