Presidential Election 1976

The year 1976 was set to be a celebration as it was going to be an exciting time for President Richard M. Nixon as he closes out his last year of his second term as president of the United States.  But a change in the nation's leadership started early in the first year of the second term.  Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned the vice presidency due to charges of bribery and income tax evasion.  That left the door open to test the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution by allowing for President Nixon to appoint House Minority Leader and 5th District Michigan Congressman Gerald R. Ford to become the new Vice President.  Ford sailed easily through Congress to win confirmation.  Just over eight months later, due to Watergate, President Nixon himself resigned the presidency and the appointed VP was now the un-elected president.  In a way, despite the issues that President Ford faced in the remaining years of Nixon's term, he was the President the nation needed for that time.

While Gerald Ford was fitting himself into the presidency, "Jimmy Who?", Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia was making a run to unseat the unelected president in 1976.  Carter would make the Iowa Caucus relevant for the first time.  That early caucus state was retail politics at its best.

In addition, other Democrats were also vying for the Democratic Nomination such as Congressman Morris Udall of Arizona, Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson of Washington, and Former 1968 Independence Candidate for President and Governor George Wallace of Alabama.  The one who did not make the race in 1976 and many thought he would was Former Vice President and the junior Senator from Minnesota, Hubert Humphrey.  While Governor Carter was an unknown he did do some interesting events before the 1976 Primary Season started.  One such event was an Allman Brothers Band concert in Providence, Rhode Island in November 1975.

But the biggest drama of this campaign was early in the campaign was in the Republican Party and who better to amplify that drama than a former actor turned politician named Ronald Reagan.  Reagan, during the 1950s and early 1960s traveled around the country speaking to civic groups and union members as a spokesman for his sponsor; General Electric.  While he was a Democrat at the time, the California Republican Party took notice of his words.  In 1964, Reagan spoke as a supporter of Senator Barry Goldwater, a complete 180 degree switch from his endorsement of Harry S Truman for President and Hubert Humphrey for US Senator of Minnesota in 1948.  It was in 1964 that Reagan officially left the Democratic Party and registered as a Republican.  Two years later, he would do what Former Vice President Nixon failed to do in 1962; defeat Governor Pat Brown in the California Gubernatorial Election.

For the next eight years, Reagan would be governor signing into law one of the most liberal pieces of pro-choice abortion law in the country at that time and just five years before the Supreme Court ruled on Roe vs. Wade.  When Reagan became governor, the California college system was virtually free.  He changed that citing that he did not want to support a policy funding brats who disagreed with him.  He even ran as a a Favorite Son candidate for President in 1968.  But with President Ford coming off as too liberal for many Republicans, they wanted something different.  They wanted Ronald Reagan.

It was also at this time, late in 1975 that Vice President Rockefeller announced his retirement from politics and would not be a candidate for Vice President in 1976.  This was actually good for President Ford as he could pick a more conservative running mate to balance his pending ticket.  Remember; Nelson Rockefeller represented a more liberal wing of the Republican Party.  In 1971, as governor of New York Rockefeller vetoed an abortion bill passed by the Democratically controlled State Legislature.  The reason?  The bill in Rockefeller's words was not liberal enough.  So just before the Republican National Convention, President Ford named Senator Bob Dole of Kansas to be his running mate.

From January 19 to June 8, 1976 the Republican Party Presidential Primaries were underway.  By the time of the Convention in August, neither President Ford nor Former Governor Reagan had secured enough delegates to obtain the Nomination.  In 1976 in order to be nominated, the candidate had to secure 1,130 delegate votes to win.  Going into that convention Ford had 1,121 votes and Reagan had 1,078 votes.

As mentioned earlier, when Rockefeller withdrew from consideration for Vice President and Ford picked Dole to balance the ticket; Reagan in turn, too woo delegates of the more liberal wing of the Republican Party picked at the Convention Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania to balance his ticket.  The move backfired for Reagan resulting in Clarke Reed, the Chairman of the Mississippi Delegation to move his support to President Ford giving him 1,187 Delegate Votes to Reagan's 1,070 Delegate Votes.  Gerald Ford won the nomination on the first ballot.  In a move of unity; the President asked Governor Reagan to come to the dais to say a few words.  Ronald Reagan never said the name Gerald Ford once in his impromptu speech.

After the political conventions were over and the candidates were named, the fall campaign began.  1976 saw the return of the Presidential Debate for the first time since 1960 when Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy first held a series of debates.  This would be the first time in history that an incumbent president would be participating.  This was also the first time that there would also be a Vice Presidential Debate.

By November 2, 1976 it really was not clear who would be elected president.  It could be as close as the Presidential Election of 1960, the Presidential Election of 1968 before it, or the Presidential Election of 2000 after it.  Either way, the vote counting was going to take all night.  In the end; Jimmy Carter won the presidency with the Carter/Mondale ticket earring 297 Electoral Votes or 40,831,881 (50.1 percent) Popular Vote to the Ford/Dole ticket earning 240 Electoral Votes or 39,148,634 (48.0 percent) Popular Votes.

In the end, President Ford failed to achieve what he wanted to do, be elected to the presidency in his own rite even though he never sought the office until he was thrust into it in 1974.

This collection takes you back to that time before big money really got into our politics, when the people and not big business controlled the direction of the country.

See also:

• Presidential Election 1940
• Presidential Election 1944
• Presidential Election 1948
• Presidential Election 1952
• Presidential Election 1956
• Presidential Election 1960
• Presidential Election 1964
• Presidential Election 1968
• Presidential Election 1972
• Presidential Election 1976
• Presidential Election 1980
• Presidential Election 1984
• Presidential Election 1988
• Presidential Election 1992
• Presidential Election 1996
• Presidential Election 2000
• Presidential Election 2004
• Presidential Election 2008
• Presidential Election 2012
• Presidential Election 2016
• Presidential Election 2020