The Campaign
The Democratic primary of 1972 was the first shaped by the McGovern-Fraser Commission reforms, which had opened the nominating process to grassroots activists and reduced the power of party bosses who had hand-picked Humphrey in 1968. McGovern, a South Dakota senator and decorated World War II bomber pilot, had chaired that reform commission — and then used the new rules better than anyone. He organized at the precinct level in Iowa and New Hampshire while establishment candidates assumed the nomination would be settled later. By the time the convention arrived, McGovern had the delegates.
The convention itself was a signal of what was coming. McGovern did not deliver his acceptance speech until nearly 3 a.m. Eastern time — after millions of voters had gone to bed — because floor debates over the platform and credentials ran far into the night. The running mate selection then collapsed in public: McGovern chose Senator Thomas Eagleton, who was dropped 18 days later when his history of psychiatric treatment and electroshock therapy became known. The replacement, Sargent Shriver, was Kennedy’s brother-in-law — but McGovern’s credibility as an executive never recovered.
Nixon, meanwhile, ran an incumbency campaign from a position of strength. His February 1972 opening to China had been a global sensation. In May he signed the SALT I arms control treaty in Moscow. Henry Kissinger announced in October that “peace is at hand” in Vietnam. Nixon barely campaigned in person, letting surrogates and the massive CREEP operation do the work while he governed visibly from the White House. By October, polls showed him ahead by 20 points or more. The Watergate break-in of June was dismissed as a political sideshow. Nixon carried 49 states.
Watergate — The Break-In That Happened During the Campaign
On June 17, 1972 — five months before election day — five men were arrested breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington DC. They were carrying cameras, wiretapping equipment, and cash. They were connected to CREEP — the Committee to Re-Elect the President, Nixon’s re-election campaign. Nixon’s press secretary Ron Ziegler dismissed it as “a third-rate burglary attempt.”
Nixon won the 1972 election by 23 percentage points despite the break-in. Watergate simply was not widely understood during the campaign. The story was being investigated by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein at the Washington Post, guided by an anonymous source they called “Deep Throat” — who was not revealed until 2005 to be FBI Associate Director Mark Felt. But the full scope of the conspiracy remained hidden during the election.
The cover-up became the crime. Nixon and his aides paid hush money to the burglars, destroyed evidence, and obstructed the FBI investigation. Senate hearings in 1973 revealed the cover-up in televised sessions watched by millions. Nixon famously told the American people: “I am not a crook.” The White House tape recordings — which Nixon had secretly installed — proved he had directed the obstruction from the beginning. He resigned on August 9, 1974 — less than two years after his 49-state landslide.
The contrast remains one of the most stunning in American political history: 520 electoral votes in November 1972, resignation in disgrace in August 1974.
What Decided 1972
McGovern as the Far-Left “McGovernite” — Alienating the Working Class
McGovern’s platform was the most left-wing of any major-party nominee in modern history. He called for immediate, unconditional withdrawal from Vietnam, a “demogrant” guaranteed minimum income of $1,000 per person, amnesty for Vietnam draft evaders, and sharp defense cuts. Working-class Democrats — union members, Catholics, white Southerners — who had been the New Deal coalition’s backbone felt the party had abandoned them for campus protesters and counterculture activists. AFL-CIO president George Meany refused to endorse McGovern, an unprecedented break. The term “McGovernite” became a slur within the Democratic base for a generation.
“Peace Is at Hand” — Kissinger’s Election-Week Announcement
On October 26, 1972 — twelve days before the election — National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger held a press conference and announced: “Peace is at hand.” A Vietnam ceasefire agreement was nearly complete. The announcement deflated the strongest argument against Nixon (the war) at the most critical moment. Vietnam had been the central issue driving opposition to Nixon; with peace apparently imminent, McGovern’s anti-war message lost much of its force. The ceasefire agreement (the Paris Peace Accords) was signed in January 1973.
Nixon’s China Opening and Détente
In February 1972, Nixon made his historic visit to China — the first American president to do so — opening diplomatic relations after 25 years of isolation. In May 1972, he met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow and signed the SALT I arms control agreement. These were dramatic foreign policy achievements that only a committed anti-communist like Nixon could have made. They made him appear presidential, statesmanlike, and effective in a way that McGovern — perceived as weak and appeasing — could not match.
The Eagleton Disaster — VP Pick Chaos
McGovern’s choice of Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his running mate became a catastrophe. Days after the announcement, it emerged that Eagleton had received electroshock therapy for depression. McGovern initially declared he backed Eagleton “1000 percent.” Then, 18 days after the announcement, he dropped Eagleton and replaced him with Sargent Shriver. The episode made McGovern appear disloyal, indecisive, and incompetent at one of the most basic tasks of a presidential campaign. It reinforced every doubt about his fitness for the presidency.
Nixon’s “Silent Majority” Coalition Complete
Nixon had coined the phrase “Silent Majority” in 1969 to describe Americans who did not march or protest but felt profoundly unsettled by the cultural upheaval of the late 1960s — anti-war demonstrations, urban riots, rising crime, campus occupations. By 1972, this constituency was fully mobilized. Catholic Democrats in the North, white Southerners accelerating their switch from Democrat to Republican, suburban professionals disturbed by disorder — Nixon assembled a coalition that cut across traditional party lines and overwhelmed the Democratic base.
Key Results — 1972
| Candidate | Party | Popular Vote % | Electoral Votes | Margin / Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Nixon | Republican | 60.7% | 520 | +23.2 pts popular vote; 49 states won |
| George McGovern | Democrat | 37.5% | 17 | Massachusetts (14 EV) + DC (3 EV) only |
| John Hospers | Libertarian | 0.01% | 1 | 1 faithless elector (Virginia) cast for Hospers |
Total electoral votes: 538. 270 needed to win. Nixon’s 520 EV is the second-highest total in US history, surpassed only by FDR’s 523 in 1936. One Virginia faithless elector cast for Libertarian John Hospers reduces Nixon’s certified total to 520 (17 McGovern + 1 Hospers = 18).
Massachusetts — The Last Holdout
McGovern won only two places: Massachusetts (53.5% vs. Nixon’s 45.2%) and Washington DC. Massachusetts was the only state in the Union that voted against Nixon by a significant margin. When Nixon resigned two years later, Massachusetts residents began sporting bumper stickers: “Don’t blame me, I’m from Massachusetts.”
The phrase became a cultural touchstone — a wry acknowledgment that being right, and being alone in it, has its own satisfaction. Massachusetts has since voted Democratic in every presidential election.
Historical Significance
Nixon won one of the most complete landslides in American history, then resigned the presidency less than two years later — the only president ever to do so. The break-in that occurred during the campaign was ignored; the cover-up that followed destroyed his presidency. Watergate permanently deepened American distrust of government institutions, establishing a cynicism about political leadership that shaped every election since. The suffix “-gate” became the standard American shorthand for political scandal.
The 1972 election completed the fracturing of the New Deal coalition that had elected Democrats from FDR through LBJ. Working-class Catholic voters, Southern whites, and organized labor (which refused to endorse McGovern) migrated to Nixon, previewing the Reagan Democrats of 1980. The McGovern-Fraser reforms that opened the Democratic primary to activists and minorities simultaneously alienated the blue-collar base. Democrats would not win the presidency again until Jimmy Carter in 1976 — and only then because Watergate had discredited the Republican base.
Kissinger’s “peace is at hand” declaration proved premature: the war continued until 1975 and Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces. Nixon’s “Vietnamization” strategy prolonged the conflict and added tens of thousands of American casualties to those already suffered under LBJ. The Paris Peace Accords of January 1973 gave the appearance of an honorable exit; the reality was delayed collapse. Vietnam’s lesson — that deception about war costs is politically rational in the short term but catastrophic long-term — would be contested and re-learned in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did George McGovern lose so badly in 1972?
McGovern lost for several compounding reasons: his platform (immediate Vietnam withdrawal, guaranteed income, draft amnesty) alienated the working-class Democrats who were the party’s traditional base; his VP pick Thomas Eagleton was dropped after 18 days when his history of electroshock therapy was revealed, making McGovern look disloyal and indecisive; Kissinger’s “peace is at hand” announcement deflated the anti-war message days before the election; and Nixon’s China opening and SALT I treaty made him appear statesman-like. The AFL-CIO refused to endorse McGovern — unprecedented for a Democratic nominee. Nixon’s “Silent Majority” coalition swept nearly the entire country.
What was Watergate and when did it happen?
Watergate began on June 17, 1972, when five men connected to Nixon’s re-election campaign were arrested breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC. Nixon won the election by 23 points despite the break-in — it was barely noticed during the campaign. The scandal unraveled over the following two years as investigative reporting and Senate hearings revealed that Nixon had directed a cover-up, paid hush money, and obstructed justice. When tape recordings proved his involvement, he resigned on August 9, 1974. “Deep Throat,” the anonymous source who guided journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, was revealed in 2005 to be FBI Associate Director Mark Felt.
How many states did Nixon win in 1972?
Nixon won 49 states, losing only Massachusetts and Washington DC. His 520 electoral votes remain one of the largest totals in American history. In the popular vote, Nixon received 60.7% to McGovern’s 37.5% — a margin of 23.2 percentage points. Nixon carried every region: the South, the Rust Belt, the Northeast, the Mountain West, and the Pacific Coast. It was a near-total political mandate. The fact that Nixon resigned less than two years later, under threat of impeachment for Watergate, made the 1972 landslide one of the most historically ironic results in American electoral history.
1972 Presidential Election - Video
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