The Presidential election of 1972 had two strong candidates,
President Richard Nixon and George McGovern. There were many issues
which had a great deal of importance to the election. The Vietnam war and
the stability of the economy at the time were two main factors. The election
ended in one the largest political scandals in U.S. history, being the Watergate
break-in, and cover-up, by President Richard Nixon.
The Democratic party had a large selection of candidates from which
to choose for the primary elections of 1972. There were many well known
candidates who entered the race for the nomination. The leading contenders
were Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, Senator George McGovern of South
Dakota and Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. Other candidates who didn't
receive quite as much recognition were Alabama governor George C.
Wallace, Mayor Sam Yorty of Los Angeles, Rep. Wilbur D. Mills of
Arkansas, Sen. Vance Hartke of Indiana, former Senator Eugene J.
English: Elvis Presley meeting Richard Nixon. On D...
Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th President of the Unite...
Election results by county. Richard Nixon George M...McCarthy of Minnesota, Mayor John Lindsay of New York City and Rep.
Shirley Chisholm of New York. Chisholm was the first black to run in a
series of presidential primaries.' (Congressional Quarterly, 'Guide to U.S.
Elections', Third ed., 1994, pg.603-605.) 5
Governor Wallace had a devastating moment in his campaign while in
Maryland. 'In early May a sick young man named Arthur Bremer altered the
politics of 1972. As Governor Wallace campaigned toward certain victory in
the Maryland primary, Bremer stepped forward out of a shopping-center
crowd and shot him four times. Wallace survived, but at the cost of being
paralyzed from the waist down. Maryland's voters surged out on election day
to give Wallace a huge victory, his last of 1972. While Wallace recuperated,
the millions who would have voted for him as a Democratic or independent
candidate began to move in...