The Presidential Election Of 1972 Essay -- essays research papers

The Presidential Election of 1972 The Presidential election of 1972 had two strong candidates, President Richard Nixon and George McGovern. There were many issues which had a great deal of importance to the election. The Vietnam war and the stability of the economy at the time were two main factors. The election ended in one the largest political scandals in U.S. history, being the Watergate break-in, and cover-up, by President Richard Nixon. The Democratic party had a large selection of candidates from which to choose for the primary elections of 1972. There were many well known candidates who entered the race for the nomination. The leading contenders were Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota and Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. Other candidates who didn't receive quite as much recognition were Alabama governor George C. Wallace, Mayor Sam Yorty of Los Angeles, Rep. Wilbur D. Mills of Arkansas, Sen. Vance Hartke of Indiana, former Senator Eugene J. McCarthy of Minnesota, Mayor John Lindsay of New York City and Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York. Chisholm was the first black to run in a series of presidential primaries." (Congressional Quarterly, "Guide to U.S. Elections", Third ed., 1994, pg.603-605.) 5 Governor Wallace had a devastating moment in his campaign while in Maryland. "In early May a sick young man named Arthur Bremer altered the politics of 1972. As Governor Wallace campaigned toward certain victory in the Maryland primary, Bremer stepped forward out of a shopping-center crowd and shot him four times. Wallace survived, but at the cost of being paralyzed from the waist down. Maryland's voters surged out on election day to give Wallace a huge victory, his last of 1972. While Wallace recuperated, the millions who would have voted for him as a Democratic or independent candidate began to move in overwhelming proportions behind the candidacy began to move in overwhelming proportions behind the candidacy of Richard Nixon." (Benton, William. "U.S. Election of 1972." Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year. pg.12-13, 1973 ed.)1 When the California primary was approaching, Humphrey tried to save the nomination for himself. "Humphrey excoriated his old senate frien... ...ergate scandal. These two reporters open up the Watergate scandal, and all the participants involved. "During the investigation, a presidential aide revealed that Nixon had secretly taped Oval Office conversations with aides. When the Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox ordered Nixon to surrender the tapes, Nixon ordered Cox fired. Then the Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to surrender even more tapes, which indicated that he had played an active role in covering up the Watergate scandal. Nixon resigned the presidency when his impeachment and conviction appeared certain. The impeachment articles charged him with obstruction of justice, abuse of presidential powers and contempt of Congress. President Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. The Watergate affair was perhaps the greatest political scandal in U.S. history. For the first time, a president was forced to leave office before his term expired."6 Vice President Gerald Ford became the President of the United States. President Ford then granted Richard Nixon a full pardon of the crimes committed against the presidency, and the people of the United States.