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Presidential Election of 1972

PEOPLE REMEMBER THE presidential election of 1972 most often for its connection to Watergate, but its importance went beyond dirty tricks or the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters by Nixon operatives. The election was significant because it marked the beginning of the rise of conservatism as a major political force, as well as the decline of liberalism. The nominations of Richard Nixon and George McGovern to the head the Republican and Democratic tickets, respectively, indicated party responses to the social, economic, and political situations arising from the tumultuous 1960s. By 1972, the social turmoil created by the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War started to recede, while the country's economic situation continued to deteriorate. Moreover, Americans' faith in government-sponsored solutions began to decline by the early 1970s, pushing the electorate to the right of center.

The Candidates

As the incumbent, Richard Nixon seemed the likely nominee for the Republican Party in 1972. During his first term, Nixon looked for policies that would appeal across a broad political spectrum to the silent majority. His foreign policy initiatives—namely, detente with the Soviet Union and China—helped define his image as a man of peace and grand vision. Moreover, the New Economic Policy outlined in August 1971, including wage and price controls, gave the impression that Nixon had taken steps to curb inflation and unemployment. However, Nixon faced challenges for the Republican nomination. On the left, Pete McCloskey, a congressman from California, ran on an anti-Vietnam War platform. On the right, John Ashbrook, a congressman from Ohio, objected more generally to the liberalism of Nixon's foreign and domestic policies. Nixon won all of the primaries he entered. McCloskey and Ashbrook never made a dent in his drive for re-election.

On the Democratic side, several candidates fought for the party's nomination. Edmund Muskie, a Senator from Maine, emerged as an early frontrunner. However, his campaign lost steam after the New Hampshire primary. George McGovern, a senator from South Dakota with a doctorate in history, made a strong showing in the Florida and Wisconsin primaries where he focused on the Vietnam War, inflation, and taxes. George Wallace, Alabama's governor, ran on a socially conservative platform that stressed limited government. Wallace remained a strong contender for the nomination until an assassination attempt on May 15, 1972, caused him to pull out of the race. Hubert Humphrey, the former vice president and presidential nominee in 1968, entered the race before the California primary in June. He represented the interests of Democrats who saw the party moving too far to the left. While McGovern won in California, Humphrey's challenge foreshadowed the problems arising at the convention in July.

The Conventions

Although the Democrats made a major effort to reform the selection process for delegates and make the state delegations more representative of the population before 1972, divisions within the party still plagued them at their convention in Miami, from July 10 to July 13. George McGovern easily won the nomination. Selecting Thomas Eagleton as the vice presidential nominee was challenging because of the number of candidates in the running. However, platform deliberations proved even more troublesome, particularly with respect to Vietnam and civil rights. Party regulars felt increasingly distant from the proceedings and the resulting platform, as the convention had more women (38 percent), African Americans (15 percent), and youth (23 percent) representatives than ever before.

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