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President [[Richard Nixon]] was deeply involved in the strategy of ''[[Detente]]'', the plan to end [[Cold War]] tensions which led to the "winless wars" of [[Korean War|Korea]] and [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] when he came up for reelection in 1972.  He was unanimously renominated by the [[Republican]] party for reelection as president.  The [[Democratic]] nominee after a bitter battle was [[George McGovern]], and initially his running mate was [[Thomas Eagleton]], who accepted the nomination despite viciously tearing McGovern's policies apart in an anonymous interview earlier in the year. However, it soon emerged that Eagleton had a history of mental instability, which resulted in him being removed from the ticket and replaced by [[Sargent Shriver]], a member of the Kennedy clan. McGovern's already minuscule chances of winning the race became even more unlikely after this incident.  The McGovern camp counted on the vote of young people disaffected by the [[Vietnam War]] to boost their support as the voting age was dropped from 21 down to 18.  At the time the low turnout from this group in the election was somewhat of a surprise, although it is understood as the norm today.

President [[Richard Nixon]] was deeply involved in the strategy of ''[[Détente]]'', the plan to end [[Cold War]] when he came up for reelection in 1972.  He was unanimously renominated by the [[Republican]] party for reelection as president.   

The campaign was rough and although Nixon remained popular, during the campaign the Democratic headquarters of [[Watergate]] were broken into which would have disasterous future results for him.  At the time the breakin was small compared to the vandalism being perpetrated on Republican headquarters in Wisconsin. <ref>http://www.newspaperarchive.com/LandingPage.aspx?type=glpnews&search=republican%20headquarters%20vandalized&img=\\na0024\4133037\17916816.html</ref>

The [[Democratic]] nominee after a bitter battle was [[George McGovern]], and initially his running mate was [[Thomas Eagleton]], who accepted the nomination despite viciously tearing McGovern's policies apart in an anonymous interview earlier in the year. Eagleton had a secret history of mental instability--with electric shock treatment. Although McGovern said he was "1000% behind Eagleton," the insanity issue threatened to destroy the credibility of McGovern's crusade and Eagleton was forced off the ticket. Numerous leading Democrats publicly rejected the VP nomination until finally a Daley-supporter and Kennedy in-law, [[Sargent Shriver]], accepted. Polls showed Nixon winning a huge landslide, as indeed happened.

 

The McGovern camp counted on the vote of young people disaffected by the [[Vietnam War]] to boost their support as the voting age was dropped from 21 down to 18.  Their turnout stayed low.

 

Nixon ridiculed McGovern as the far left-candidate of "acid, abortion and amnesty" ("acid" meant illegal drugs; abortion was now an issue; McGovern favored amnesty for draft dodgers.) Instead Nixon promised that peace was at hand, and indeed peace was reached with the Vietnam war ending in January, 1973. It seemed as well that Nixon's détente policy was ending the [[Cold War]].  Peace and prosperity against a confused opponent leading a bitterly divided Democratic party.

 

Nixon was running a nonpartisan campaign separate from the Republican Party in the hopes of winning over many Democrats and independents. He was fearful that this new approach would be sabotaged by the Democrats, so he authorized "dirty tricks" to discover what the Democrats were planning. His operatives broke into the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, and were caught. Nixon desperately tried to cover up the crime and divert suspicion away from him, and he was successful for a while.  

 

The voters overwhelmingly chose Nixon with the numerically highest popular vote margin in history (though [[Warren G. Harding]] won a slightly higher percentage margin in [[United States presidential election, 1920|1920]]).  

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<ref> [[A Pictoral History of the U.S. Presidents]], by Clare Gibson, Gramercy Books, 2001, p. 126.  </ref>

<ref> [[A Pictoral History of the U.S. Presidents]], by Clare Gibson, Gramercy Books, 2001, p. 126.  </ref>

==References==

==References==

{{DEFAULTSORT:1972, United States presidential election,}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1972, United States presidential election,}}

[[Category:United States Presidential Elections]]

[[Category:United States Presidential Elections]]