New Hampshire primary

The New Hampshire primary to the U.S. presidential election is the first U.S. presidential primary in the United States. For more than 50 years it has been highly influential in both predictions and decisions about who will be the presidential nominee of the two major U.S. political parties.

History

New Hampshire has held a presidential primary since 1916, but it did not begin to assume its current importance until 1952, when Dwight Eisenhower demonstrated his broad voter appeal by defeating Robert A. Taft, "Mr. Republican," who had been favored for the nomination, and Estes Kefauver defeated incumbent President Harry S. Truman, leading him to abandon his campaign for a second term.

Related Topics:
1916 - 1952 - Dwight Eisenhower - Robert A. Taft - Estes Kefauver - Harry S. Truman

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The other President to be forced from running for re-election by New Hampshire voters was Lyndon Johnson, who managed only a 49-42 percent victory over Eugene McCarthy in 1968, and consequently withdrew from the race. It used to be the common wisdom that no-one who lost in New Hampshire could hope to be elected President, but Bill Clinton overturned this belief in 1992, and George W. Bush did so again in 2000. Moreover, the winner in New Hampshire has not always gone to win his party's nomination, as demonstrated by John McCain in 2000 and Pat Buchanan in 1996.

Related Topics:
President - Lyndon Johnson - Eugene McCarthy - 1968 - Bill Clinton - 1992 - George W. Bush - 2000 - John McCain - Pat Buchanan

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Following the 2004 presidential election, some elements in the Democratic Party proposed new primary calendars that would end the New Hampshire's first in the nation status. The Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling is scheduled to issue recommendations for change by the end of 2005. However, the first in the nation mandate is New Hampshire state law, the selection of several prominent New Hampshire Democrats to the commission and the election of Howard Dean, a proponent of the primary, as national party chair are seen as hopeful signs for the primary's supporters that the contest will keep its first in the nation status.

Related Topics:
Democratic Party - Howard Dean

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