The Presidential Election Of 1972 Analysis Essay Example For Students

The Presidential Election Of 1972 Analysis Essay The Presidential election of 1972 had two strong candidates, PresidentRichard Nixon and George McGovern. There were many issues which had a greatdeal of importance to the election. The Vietnam war and the stability of theeconomy at the time were two main factors. The election ended in one thelargest political scandals in U.S. history, being the Watergate break-in, andcover-up, by President Richard Nixon. The Democratic party had a large selection of candidates from which tochoose for the primary elections of 1972. There were many well known candidateswho entered the race for the nomination. The leading contenders were Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota and Hubert H. Humphreyof Minnesota. Other candidates who didnt receive quite as much recognitionwere Alabama governor George C. Wallace, Mayor Sam Yorty of Los Angeles, Rep. Wilbur D. Mills of Arkansas, Sen. Vance Hartke of Indiana, former Senator EugeneJ. McCarthy of Minnesota, Mayor John Lindsay of New York City and Rep. ShirleyChisholm of New York. Chisholm was the first black to run in a series ofpresidential primaries. (Congressional Quarterly, Guide to U.S. Elections,Third ed., 1994, pg.603-605.) 5Governor Wallace had a devastating moment in his campaign while inMaryland. In early May a sick young man named Arthur Bremer altered thepolitics of 1972. As Governor Wallace campaigned toward certain victory in theMaryland primary, Bremer stepped forward out of a shopping-center crowd and shothim four times. Wallace survived, but at the cost of being paralyzed from thewaist down. Marylands voters surged out on election day to give Wallace a hugevictory, his last of 1972. While Wallace recuperated, the millions who wouldhave voted for him as a Democratic or independent candidate began to move inoverwhelming proportions behind the candidacy began to move i n overwhelmingproportions behind the candidacy of Richard Nixon. (Benton, William. U.S. Election of 1972. Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year. pg.12-13, 1973ed.)1When the California primary was approaching, Humphrey tried to save thenomination for himself. Humphrey excoriated his old senate friend (McGovern)for his expensive ideas on welfare and his desire to cut the defense budget. Italmost worked. But McGovern won all of Californias giant delegation, and beatHumphrey 44.3% to 39.1% in the popular vote.5 That loss spelled out the endfor Humphreys Democratic nomination. Many felt Edmund Muskie was sure to win the Democratic nomination forthe election of 1972. All political observers agreed on the certainty thatSenator Edmund Muskie of Maine would be the Democratic partys nominee.1 Asthe front-runner, he wanted to snare the nomination early and so was committedto running in all of the first eight presidential primaries. ProminentDemocratic politicians lined up eagerly to endorse him. Among them: Gov. JohnGilligan of Ohio; Leonard Woodcock, President of the United Auto Workers; IowaSenator Harold Hughes; and Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp.1 Muskie hadmany supporters, and a good chance of receiving the nomination, perhaps evenbecoming the next President of the United States. President Nixon knew thatMuskie had a good chance of winning and felt he had to do something to getMuskie out of the race. Nixon had seven men who were loyal to him make up falsepress releases about Muskie, and his wife. These press releases claimed thatMuskie had had affairs w ith both men and women, that he beat his wife, and thenthe topper which claimed that Muskies wife was an alcoholic. These falsestatements destroyed Muskies campaign and reputation of being a calmtrustworthy candidate. Then one day mounting the bed of a truck parked outsidethe offices of the archconservative Manchester Union Leader, Muskie launched anattack on the papers publisher, William Loeb. As he spoke of Loebsunflattering remarks about Mrs. Muskie, the senators voice cracked, and thecrowd saw tears form in his eyes.1 This incident badly dented Muskies image. After that event, people saw Muskie as a weak person. They didnt want a weakperson running the country. Muskie had finished fourth in Pennsylvania, behindwinner Humphrey, Wallace, and McGovern, and a distant second to McGovern inMassachusetts. He then withdrew with dignity. 1 Muskie later said of thisincident: It changed peoples minds about me, of what kind of a guy I was. They were looking for a strong, steady man, and here I was weak. (Congressional Quarterly, Chronology of Presidential Elections, Fourth ed. 1994, pg.329-330)6After a long primary campaign, and all the primary elections, SenatorGeorge McGovern won the nomination for the Democratic party in the 1972presidential election. McGovern did not get to deliver his acceptance speechperhaps the best speech of his careeruntil 2:48 a.m., when most televisionviewers were already in bed.6 Senator McGovern had a difficult campaign aheadof him. His opposition, President Richard Nixon, already had the upper hand onhim because he had been elected President four years before. President Nixonwas the Republican candidate. President Richard Nixon told a reporter thatthe election was over the day he (Sen. George McGovern) was nominated. 1McGovern campaigned very hard. Between September 3 and September 15, the SouthDakotan barnstormed through 29 cities and towns in 18 states covering some14,000 miles and being seen by more than 175,000 people. (U.S. News and WorldReport, Can Democrats Close the Gap, Sept. 25, 1972, Vol. LXXXIII, No.13,pg.17-22)3 McGovern knew, if he wanted to win, he had to focus on the importantissues of 1972. There were four very important issues. These were the war in Vietnam,the economy, foreign policy, and defense. The two major ones were the war inVietnam, and the economy. McGovern was sure that if he was elected president,he would be able to end the war. We will be able to end the war by a simpleplan that need not be kept secret: The immediate total withdrawal of allAmericans from Southeast Asia. (Congressional Quarterlys Guide to U.S. Winston Churchill Essay PaperWe will continue to pursue arms-control agreementsbut we recognize that thiscan be successful only if we maintain sufficient strength.2 Basically Nixonand the Republican Party were stating that we need a strong military and ahealthy economy, but cutting defense spending is not the solution to theeconomic problem. Another major issue focused on during the election of 1972 was foreignpolicy. Senator McGovern, and the Democratic party stated the next DemocraticAdministration should End American participation in the war in Southeast Asia. Re-establish control over military activities and reduce military spending,where consistent with national security. Defend Americas real interests andmaintain our alliances, neither playing world policeman nor abandoning old andgood friends. Not neglect Americas relations with small third-world nations inplacing reliance on great power relationships. Return to Congress, and thepeople, a meaningful role in decisions on peace and war, and make informationpublic, except where real national defense interests are involved.4 TheDemocratic party didnt want other countries to look upon the U.S. as thepoliceman of the world. They also wanted to make sure the U.S. remainedfriendly with small third world countries, because we may need to trade withthem, or we might need raw materials we dont have. The Republicans had a different idea on foreign policy. They said thatNever before has our country negotiated with so many nations on so wide a rangeof subjects and never with greater success. They go on to say We willpress for expansion of contacts with the peoples of Eastern Europe and thePeoples Republic of China, as long isolated from most of the world.2 TheRepublican Party wanted to improve the relationships with countries that havebeen cut off from much of the world. The Republicans felt they were doing agood job with foreign policy, and didnt think they should change much ofanything they were doing. After all the months of campaigning, and voting were through, RichardNixon was reelected the new President of the United States. Nixon swept backinto the White House on Nov. 7 with a devastating landslide victory overMcGovern. He carried a record of 49 states for a total of 520 electoralvotes.5 Nixon did have a couple of advantages that McGovern didnt. For one,the people had confidence in him since he had been elected once before. Theyknew what kind of a President he was, and what they as the constituents couldexpect from him. Second, McGovern made a bad decision when he chose his vicepresident running mate. McGovern had chosen Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton of Missouri. Barely 10 days after selection of the Democratic ticket, on July 25, Eagletondisclosed that he voluntarily had hospitalized himself three times between 1960and 1966 for nervous exhaustion and fatigue. McGovern strongly supported hisrunning mate at the time, but in the following days, his support for theMissouri senator began to wane. After a meeting with McGovern on July 31,Eagleton withdrew from the ticket.4 Eagleton badly damaged the image ofMcGovern. The constituents lost their confidence in McGovern and in hisdecision making power. They felt that McGovern may not make wise decisions ifhe was elected the next President of the U.S. McGovern was also somewhatradical views. CRP focused early and often on the more radical-sounding viewsof McGovern, highlighting his support of amnesty for young people who fled toCanada to avoid the draft, his sometime musings that marijuana might better belegalized, and his purported support of legalized abortion.1 Many felt thatMcGoverns views may hav e been more radical and outlandish than some hadsupported. After Nixon was elected to office, It appeared in 1972 that Americanpolitics was entering an age of calm consensus. The economy was temporarilystrong: opposition to the Vietnam War had faded as the two sides negotiated inParis for an end to the war.6 Then in Nixons political career A warlikeatmosphere between the media (as well as other perceived enemies of theadministration that appeared on Nixons enemies list) and the mushroomingWatergate scandal combined to create a dark side to U.S. politics in the 1970s. At its simplest level, the Watergate affair was a third-rate burglary and asubsequent cover-up by President Nixon and his aides. In the summer of 1972,several employees of the Committee to Re-elect the President were arrested afterthey were discovered breaking into and bugging the Democratic NationalCommittees offices at the posh Watergate complex in Washington. The break-inwas not a major issue in the 1972 election, but the next year congressionalcommittees began an investigation.6 Along with the congressional committeesinvestigation, two reporters from the Washington Post, named Bob Woodward, andCarl Berstein did some investigating of their own. They had a politician whoknew about all that was going on with the Watergate scandal, nicknamed DeepThroat. Deep Throat supplied the two reporters with the information theyneeded to tear open the Watergate scandal. These two reporters open up theWatergate scandal, and all the participants involved. During the investigation,a presidential ai de revealed that Nixon had secretly taped Oval Officeconversations with aides. When the Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Coxordered Nixon to surrender the tapes, Nixon ordered Cox fired. Then the SupremeCourt ruled that Nixon had to surrender even more tapes, which indicated that hehad played an active role in covering up the Watergate scandal. Nixon resignedthe presidency when his impeachment and conviction appeared certain. Theimpeachment articles charged him with obstruction of justice, abuse ofpresidential powers and contempt of Congress. President Nixon resigned onAugust 9, 1974. The Watergate affair was perhaps the greatest political scandalin U.S. history. For the first time, a president was forced to leave officebefore his term expired.6Vice President Gerald Ford became the President of the United States. President Ford then granted Richard Nixon a full pardon of the crimes committedagainst the presidency, and the people of the United States. Politics Essays