U.S. presidential election, 1976

The U.S. presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter. Ford was saddled with a slow economy and paid a political price for his pardon of Nixon. Carter ran as an outsider and a reformer and won.

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination

• Democratic candidates
• Birch Bayh, U.S senator from Indiana
• Lloyd Bentsen, U.S. senator from Texas
• Jerry Brown, governor of California
• Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia
• Frank Church, U.S. senator from Idaho
• Fred R. Harris, former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, former candidate for the 1972 nomination, and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee
• Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, U.S. senator from Washington, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and former candidate for the 1972 nomination
• Robert Byrd, U.S. senator from West Virginia ("favorite son" candidate)
• Terry Sanford, former governor of North Carolina
• Milton Shapp, governor of Pennsylvania
• Sargent Shriver, former ambassador to France, first director of the Peace Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity, and 1972 vice-presidential nominee
• Adlai Stevenson III, U.S. senator from Illinois ("favorite son" candidate)
• Morris "Mo" Udall, U.S. representative from Arizona
• George Wallace, governor of Alabama, former candidate for the 1972 nomination, and 1968 American Independent Party presidential nominee

During a primary season with a long list of candidates, Carter rose from being unknown nationally to become the frontrunner, with Udall coming second in a number of close primaries. Carter won primaries first in his native Georgia, then in Alabama and Indiana, and quickly had a national campaign suitable for defeating challenges from Jackson and Church and a late challenge from Jerry Brown.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Republican Party nomination

• Republican candidates
• Gerald Ford, incumbent President of the United States
• Ronald Reagan, former governor from California

Incumbent President Ford, appointed to the vice-presidency after the resignation of Spiro Agnew and then elevated to the presidency by the resignation of Richard Nixon, was the only U.S. president never to have been elected president or vice president. His policy goals were frustrated by Congress, heavily Democratic after the 1974 mid-term election and infuriated by his decision to pardon Nixon for any criminal acts he committed or may have committed as part of the Watergate scandal.

Related Topics:
Spiro Agnew - Richard Nixon - Congress - 1974 - Watergate scandal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reagan and the conservative wing of the Republican Party faulted Ford for failing to do more to assist South Vietnam (which finally collapsed in April 1975 with the fall of Saigon) and for his signing of the Helsinki Accords, which they took as implicit acceptance of Soviet domination over Eastern Europe. Conservatives were also infuriated by Ford's continuation of negotiations to withdraw from the Panama Canal.

Related Topics:
Conservative - Republican Party - South Vietnam - April - 1975 - Fall of Saigon - Helsinki Accords - Soviet - Eastern Europe - Panama Canal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reagan began to openly criticize Ford starting in the summer of 1975, and formally launched his campaign in the autumn. Although Ford narrowly won the New Hampshire primary, Reagan won primaries across the nation, resulting in the closest primary season in American history. Reagan, who was unable to gain a majority of superdelegate votes or overcome fears that he was too inexperienced and too conservative, withdrew from the race at the end of the convention, but was permitted to address the delegates—virtually overshadowing Ford's own speech—and convinced Ford to drop Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who was seen as too liberal, in favor of Senator Bob Dole of Kansas.

Related Topics:
New Hampshire primary - Superdelegate - Nelson Rockefeller - Bob Dole - Kansas

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~