Changes

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]]. McGovern's already minuscule chances of winning the race vanished after this incident.

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.

The campaign was rough and although Nixon remained popular, during the campaign the Democratic headquarters of Watergate were broken into.  However it was small at the time 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> and other states.{{fact|January=2008}}

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 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]]).  <ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents, Richard Nixon]], by Dee Lillegard, Children's Press, 1987, pp. 77-78.  </ref>     

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]]).  <ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents, Richard Nixon]], by Dee Lillegard, Children's Press, 1987, pp. 77-78.  </ref>     

! candidates

! candidates

! popular vote

! popular vote

! electoral vote

! electoral vote

|-

|-

| Richard M. Nixon

| Richard M. Nixon

| 47, 165, 234

| 47, 165, 234

| 521

| 521

|-

|-

| George S. McGovern

| George S. McGovern

| 29, 168, 110

| 29, 168, 110

| 17

| 17

|-

|-

| [[John G. Schmitz]]

| [[John G. Schmitz]]

| 1, 106, 052

| 1, 106, 052

| 0

| 0

|-

|-

| [[Benjamin Spock]]

| [[Benjamin Spock]]

| 79, 484

| 79, 484

| 0

| 0

|-

|-

| [[Linda Jenness]]

| [[Linda Jenness]]

| 97, 256

| 97, 256

| 0

| 0

|-

|-

| [[Louis Fisher]]

| [[Louis Fisher]]

| 53, 814

| 53, 814

| 0

| 0

|-

|-

| [[Gus Hall]]

| [[Gus Hall]]

| 25, 595

| 25, 595

| 0

| 0

|}

|}