THE 1976 PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTION
(Jimmy won)
Background

The 1976 presidential election pitted Democrat Jimmy Carter against Incumbent
President, Republican Gerald Ford
Carter announced his candidacy on Dec. 12, 1974
Ford was in his first term as president, having taken over for the disgraced Richard
Nixon
Carter won the election with 297 electoral votes to 240 for Ford
Carter also carried the popular vote, defeating Ford 40,825,839 to 39,147,770
Carter served only one term as he was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980
Candidate Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter was a politician, but not an abundantly experienced one. He served
only four years as a state Senator and a single term as Georgia governor
Georgia state law prohibited him from running for a second gubernatorial campaign
Carter was not given much of a chance in the beginning
After leaving the Governorship in 1975, Carter had no real organization or money to
fund and run his campaign
Carter and his soon to be campaign manager, Hamilton Jordan created a campaign
plan together
Candidate Jimmy Carter

In his campaign plan, Carters weaknesses were duly noted

He was a devout born-again Southern Baptist, which would cause some Northern liberals concern
He was relatively inexperienced
And Northern liberals where generally cautious about Southern Dems
That being said, the plan focused on Carters strengths
He was a Naval Officer
He was an agricultural businessman
He decided to get into public service late in his life, after attaining business success, for the good
of the country
It would be difficult for a Dem to win the presidency without some support in the south. Being from
the south, Carter had that
Candidate Jimmy Carter

Carter entered 30 of 31 primaries held in 1976

He correctly assumed that the combination of the record number of primaries and
newly imposed campaign finance limitations (Federal Campaign Finance Law of
1974) would cause his democratic opponents to allocate their resources very
carefully, and not come close to entering all 31 primaries
This was a great move on Carters part. He was relatively unknown, so he needed as
much exposure as he could possible get. Plus, he knew that based on the
Democratic partys new rules, he would get a proportional share of delegates in
every state, even the ones he did not win
Candidate Gerald Ford

Ford had been dubbed the accidental president since he was made President not by
election, but by the sitting president being forced to resign
On top of that, he had only become Vice President when the sitting Vice President at the
time, Spiro Agnew, resigned in 1973
This meant that Americans didnt vote for him, which essentially meant that he could not
enjoy the full benefits the incumbency usually provides a candidate
Ford was an experienced politician, having served in congress for 25 years
He was well liked in congress, which is partially why he eventually became president
Nixon was forced to nominates someone to replace Agnew, someone who the
Democratic congress would approve of
The only one the gave approval of was Gerald Ford, and thus he was nominated
Issue for Ford

Fords time in office was not as smooth as he would have hoped

Less than 2 months after becoming President, Ford used his pardon power to grant
full immunity to Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States that he
had committed or may have committed
This tarnished his reputation and credibility for many, believing that he should have
allowed Nixon to be prosecuted
After issuing the pardon, Ford voluntarily appeared before the House of
Representatives to explain why he did so, which only made him look worse in some
peoples view
He annoyed members of his own party by appointing a Liberal Republican, Nelson
Rockerfeller, as his VP
The Primaries

Carter had a relatively easy road to the Democratic Nomination

His plan to enter as many primaries as possible was very successful
He won both the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary
His penchant for local campaigning and meticulous organizing served him very well
What really established him as an early front runner was landing a spot of the covers
of both Time and Newsweek
By the last day of the primaries, June 8th, Carter had the nomination completely
locked up
Ford, on the other hand, did not have such an easy time
The Primaries

Ford faced a challenger in the Primaries, California Governor Ronald Reagan

Despite defeating Reagan in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Florida, Ford was
unable to force Reagan to drop out
Reagan went on to defeat Ford in a slew of states including North Carolina, Texas,
Indiana, California, Georgia, and several other southern states
Ford would counter these defeats with victories in New York, Pennsylvania,
Wisconsin, and Michigan
Despite the chaos, the Republicans nominated Ford on the first ballot at their
convention
The General Election

After the nominating conventions, Carter had a massive lead in the polls. Gallup
even had him up by 30 points
However, the lead would not hold, as Carter predicted
Ford opted for a presidential strategy, in which he would stay in the white house for
as long as possible and do presidential looking things like signing bills in the Rose
garden and holding press conferences. His Vice Presidential candidate, Bob Dole,
would do most of the campaigning
This strategy was successful, in part because it portrayed Ford in a good light, but
also because Carter made mistakes
By early September Carters lead was down to 10 points, and by election night, the
race was too close to call
The General Election

The economy was the main issue in the 1976 election

The worst recession since the Great Depression had hit the country, and people
were worried
The character of the two men, and how much change the country was ready for were
also central topics
Abortion also played a significant role, being the first election after Roe v. Wade
What dominated much of the headlines, though, were not policy issues, but rather
gaffes that both men were prone to making
The General Election

Carter ran in the primaries as an unorthodox politician, who stressed personal integrity. However,
after the primaries, Carter became a much more traditional democratic politician, calling for new
federal initiatives to combat unemployment
This opened up attacks on him for being a flip-flopper
Ford called Carter the biggest flip-flopper I know
Possibly because of these attacks, Carter reverted his position to his pre-convention stance, saying
that we needed a balanced federal budget and to focus on inflation as much as unemployment
He also reverted to a position of reorganizing the federal government, and supporting tax and
welfare reform
These changes probably didnt do him any favors in fighting his image as a flip-flopper
Carter further confused voters by simultaneously seeking to include as many political bases as
possible in his camp, while also harshly lambasting Ford
He also gave a rather strange interview to Playboy magazine, in which he stated that he had
committed adultery in my heart many times
The General Election

Ford had his own problems to deal with

He inherited plagued by the Watergate scandal
He only made this problem worse by pardoning Nixon. This was a hugely important action. It frames
Fords presidency and will be what he is most remembered for. It was just as important then, as it looked
like Ford was just doing a favor for Nixon. Pardoning Nixon made Ford look weak at the time, even though
many today would argue that it was the brave choice. Although it did look bad to pardon Nixon, Ford was
successful in bringing a professional calmness to the Presidency.
The Vietnam war was coming to an end
The economy was terrible
The republican party only comprised 20% of the electorate at the time
He constantly clashed with Congress
For someone who called Carter a flip-flopper, Ford was not afraid to do so himself. He changed his
policies on inflation, unemployment, and energy many times in an attempt to get bills passed.
Conservative republicans saw him as too liberal, and liberal republicans saw him as too conservative
The General Election

The three televised debates between Ford and Carter were very important
Carter used them to show his depth of knowledge on policy issues and to question
the handling of Nixons pardon
Ford was unable to use the debates as the platform he needed to dispel doubts
about him
Really, the debates were more important for Ford, as he needed to show that he
belonged
Unfortunately for Ford, he was unable to do so. He opened himself up to attacks
about his intellect. He once stated that there was no Soviet domination of Eastern
Europe, even though there obviously was
Results
Results

It was clear that Carters southern strategy was successful. He won every southern
state, except Virginia (classic Virginia). He also won every border state, except
Oklahoma (I guess classic Oklahoma?). His efforts to win over Northern Liberals
were also successful, as he won most of the Northeast.
Ford had fallen short. Its pretty impressive to me that he got as close as he did,
though. He was the President who pardoned Nixon and the President of an economy
in turmoil. Had it not been for his presidential strategy and a number of mistakes
on Carters part, it probably wouldnt have been so close.
The morning after the election, Carter echoed that sentiment saying, the only
reason it was so close was that the candidate wasnt good enough as a campaigner.
But Ill make up for that as president.
Campaign Memorabilia

Fun fact, Jimmy Carter was the only president to not use red white and blue in his
campaign posters/buttons/etc
Campaign Memorabilia

Carter opted for an unorthodox look to his campaign

This was rather fitting, as he ran as an unorthodox politician
Rather than stick with a traditional red white and blue theme, Carter opted to change up the pace
He even injected some humor, relying on his background as a peanut farmer to do so
Ford was much more traditional
Though, he too injected humor and some interesting foibles
He used the slogan dont settle for peanuts, to dig at Carter. He also replaced his last name with
a Model T on some items
The different styles of campaign memorabilia used in 1976 is telling of the race as a whole. Carter
used unorthodox styling, because he was the outsider looking to make change. Ford stayed more
traditional, in a hope of maintaining his presidency and the status quo.