1996 United States Presidential Election (Powell Vs. Clinton)

The 1996 United States Presidential Election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election in the United States, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. The Republican ticket of Retired Four Star General Colin Powell defeated Incumbent Democratic President and former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and Pat Buchanan the Reform Party Nominee.

In the Democratic Party, Clinton and Gore were re-nominated without incident by the democratic party. Meanwhile In the Republican Party, Powell was the early front-runner, and fended off challenges from Senator Bob Dole, paleoconservative leader Pat Buchanan, and publisher Steve Forbes. Powell's running mate would end up being Steve Forbes who finished 4th in the primaries. Forbes had also previously served under the Reagan administration as head of the Board of International Broadcasting (BIB), which organized the operation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Ross Perot, who had won 18.9% of the popular vote as an independent candidate in the 1992 election, would create the Reform Party heading into 1995. After the creation of the Reform Party, Ross Perot was the early front-runner for the party's nomination but decided not to run. Pat Buchanan following his 3rd place finish in the Republican Primaries would narrowly defeat Richard Lamm for the party's nomination.

Clinton's chances of winning were initially considered slim in the middle of his term, as his party had lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1994 for the first time in decades, which would be dubbed the Republican Revolution. He was able to regain ground as the economy began to recover from the early 1990s recession with a relatively stable world stage. Clinton made sure to remind every one of the booming economy, and overall success of his first. Clinton also did run an aggressive campaign, where he mainly tried to attach Powell to the unpopular congressional Republicans. These attacks, however didn't stick as Powell distanced himself from congressional Republicans. Powell ran a positive campaign, centered mainly on his time in the Gulf War, his outsider image, and portrayed him self as a common sense moderate. Both major candidates mostly ignored Buchanan, though Buchanan attacked Powell for being too moderate and portrayed himself as the only true conservative in the race.

Powell maintained a consistent but narrow polling edge over Clinton, and would win by a narrow margin in the popular vote but by a shocking margin in the Electoral College.Powell won 46.0% of the popular vote and 365 electoral votes, while Clinton won 43.3% of the popular vote and 175 electoral votes. Meanwhile, Pat Buchanan won just 9.2% of the popular vote, less than half of Perot's 1992 performance. With Powell's Victory, the Republican Party was able to expand their majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Voter turnout was registered at 49.0%, the lowest for a presidential election since 1924. Clinton would also have the worst showing by an incumbent president since the presidential election of 1980 where Jimmy Carter was defeated in a landslide by Ronald Reagan.

Powell would be inaugurated on January 20, 1997, as the 43rd President of the United States, and would become the first African-American to be elected President.

Republican Nomination
Powell would lead throughout the entire the Republican primary, with Dole and Buchanan being a distant 2nd and 3rd. However, at one point in the Republican Primaries Forbes had started to surge but it would be short lived, and Powell would win easily.

Democratic Nomination
With the advantage of incumbency, Bill Clinton's path to renomination by the Democratic Party was uneventful. At the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton and incumbent Vice President Al Gore were renominated with token opposition. Formerly incarcerated fringe candidate Lyndon LaRouche won a few Arkansas delegates who were barred from the convention. Jimmy Griffin, former Mayor of Buffalo, New York, mounted a brief campaign but withdrew after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary. Former Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey contemplated a challenge to Clinton, but health problems forced Casey to abandon a bid.

Reform Nomination
With the nomination of Powell by the GOP, many conservatives felt unrepresented, leading to paleoconservative Pat Buchanan leaving the GOP and joining the Reform Party. Buchanan would narrowly defeat Richard Lamm which caused a lot of controversy. To smooth concerns of his more extreme views, Buchanan wold select Richard Lamm as his running mate, a position Lamm reluctantly accepted.

Campaign
Throughout the election, Powell and Clinton ignored Buchanan, though Buchanan occasionally attacked Powell. Powell highlighted his military record throughout the campaign, and used Forbes as an effective attack dog to hit Clinton on his missteps and scandals. Clinton laid low on many of Forbes' attacks on him. Powell also pledged to bring in moderate sensible reforms on certain issues of the days.

Buchanan attacked Powell as being too moderate, for example, highlighting his previous statements about trying to reach across the isle. Buchanan also championed himself as the real conservative, and tapped into concerns of a deterioration of the family and moral values. Powell, for his part, let others attack Buchanan for a multitude of different reasons. Most notable was Alma's (his wife) speech criticizing Buchanan.

Clinton was harmed by the campaign donation scandals that popped up in 1995.In late September 1995, questions arose regarding the Democratic National Committee's fund-raising practices. In February the following year, China's alleged role in the campaign finance controversy first gained public attention after The Washington Post published a story stating that a U.S. Department of Justice investigation had discovered evidence that agents of China sought to direct contributions from foreign sources to the DNC before the 1996 presidential campaign. The paper wrote that intelligence information had showed the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. was used for coordinating contributions to the DNC in violation of U.S. law forbidding non-American citizens from giving monetary donations to U.S. politicians and political parties. Seventeen people were eventually convicted for fraud or for funneling Asian funds into the U.S. elections.

One of the more notable events learned involved Vice President Al Gore and a fund-raising event held at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California. The Temple event was organized by DNC fund-raisers John Huang and Maria Hsia. It is illegal under U.S. law for religious organizations to donate money to politicians or political groups due to their tax-exempt status. The U.S. Justice Department alleged Hsia facilitated $100,000 in illegal contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign through her efforts at the Temple. Hsia was eventually convicted by a jury in March 2000. The DNC eventually returned the money donated by the Temple's monks and nuns. Twelve nuns and employees of the Temple refused to answer questions by pleading the Fifth Amendment when they were subpoenaed to testify before Congress in 1997.

Vince Foster
Probably one of the most well known incidents during the election occurred in a town hall in Appleton, Wisconsin, where a local farmer told Powell he’s scared of having the country be "run by the man who killed Vince Foster." Powell responded by saying " You know, I don’t think there’s any evidence for that at all. Clinton is a good man who’s doing his best with the nation. He’s not a murderer, and to suggest that is the sort of gutter politics our nation should avoid." This was a touching moment that made national news. Most Americans, including Clinton, were happy to see that chivalry survives in politics. Buchanan tried demagoguing Powell about calling Clinton a good man, but it never gained traction.

Debates
A total of three debates were held, two between the major presidential candidates, and the other between their respectful VPs.

Ballot Access
Some minor parties were denied being on the ballot in certain states but the Reform Party would appear on the ballot in all 50 states including Washington D.C.

Results
On Election Night, November 5, Powell secured a victory in the traditionally Republican plains, and scored victories in the Midwest, and the Northeast which would be enough to put him over the top. Clinton performed well in Appalachia, the upper south and narrowly won some deep south states, despite facing significant challenge from the traditionally republican states. Buchanan performed well in the south but didn't win a single state, with his best performance being in Alabama where got 21% of the vote. In the early morning of Wednesday, November 6th the final states California, Kentucky, Maine. Alabama, and Washington would be called for their respective winners. California a state where 10,571,664 votes were cast would be the closet state with Powell's margin of victory being only 2,432 votes.