| − | President [[Richard Nixon]] was still trying to end the war in Vietnam when he came up for reelection in 1972. He was almost unanimously nominated by the [[Republican]] party as the candidate for president. The [[Democratic]] nominee was [[George McGovern]]. The campaign was rough and although Nixon had a comfortable lead, during the campaign the Democratic headquarters of Watergate were broken into. However it was small at the time compared to the destruction being done on Republican headquarters in Texas, Ohio, Minnesota, Arizona and California. The voters chose Nixon over McGovern in the election. <ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents, Richard Nixon]], by Dee Lillegard, Children's Press, 1987, pp. 77-78. </ref> | + | 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 virtually unanimously nominated by the [[Republican]] party for reelection as president. The [[Democratic]] nominee after a bitter battle was [[George McGovern]]. The campaign was rough and although Nixon had a comfortable lead, during the campaign the Democratic headquarters of Watergate were broken into. However it was small at the time compared to the destruction being done on Republican headquarters in Texas, Ohio, Minnesota, Arizona and California. The voters overwhelm ingly chose Nixon in what remains the widest popular margin ever by any President in American history. <ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents, Richard Nixon]], by Dee Lillegard, Children's Press, 1987, pp. 77-78. </ref> |