The Election of 1972:

Abstract

Figure 1. Jesse Helms celebrates his 1972 election to the U.S. Senate. Nationally, the election of 1972 is remembered for Richard Nixon’s decisive victory over the Democratic nominee, George McGovern. Nixon had been elected president in 1968 on a “law and order” campaign, winning the support of moderate voters who were growing wary of the pace of change, the increasing radicalism of activists, and the images of hippies and protesters on their television screens. What Nixon called his “silent majority” propelled him to victory, and continued to support him even as support for the war in Vietnam diminished. McGovern, a liberal senator from South Dakota, called for an end to the Vietnam War and a guaranteed minimum income for the poor. He won the Democratic nomination despite opposition from the party’s establishment. Many states held primary elections for the first time in 19721, and McGovern did well in the primaries, where party leaders often had little influence. But the grassroots activists who had led his primary campaign couldn’t engineer a victory in the November election. Nixon carried every state but Massachusetts and won the popular vote by a margin of 60.7 percent to 37.5 percent. Despite Nixon’s landslide, both houses Congress remained firmly in the hands of Democratic majorities. But in the South, there were signs of the change that would eventually give the Republicans a national majority.