1972 United States presidential election (The 1968 Deadlock)

The 1972 United States presidential election was the 47th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7, 1972. Incumbent Democratic President Carl Albert of Oklahoma defeated Republican Governor Ronald Reagan of California, winning a full term in office. It remains the closest popular vote margin in an American presidential election, as well as the first time when California had more electoral votes than New York.

Despite only assuming the presidency almost two years before the election was held, Albert faced no Democratic opposition and was easily renominated for a full term, along with his hastily-appointed vice president, William Barrett. Reagan, however, survived a bruising primary, defeating party heavyweights such as former Vice President Spiro Agnew and Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York.

Albert emphasized the strong economy and his experience as president, while Reagan stressed the fact that he was an outsider running to change Washington. Both utilized their record and biography heavily. Reagan held a consistent polling lead through the election season, but a gradual increase in support for Albert's candidacy through October and November caused the polls to practically tie by election day. On election night, both candidates won several swing states by razor-thin margins, but neither had amassed 270 electoral votes, the amount needed to secure an absolute majority in the Electoral College, as Florida had yet to be called. Ultimately, after several recounts, it was determined that Albert had won Florida by 876 votes, securing his re-election bid. This election was the first since 1960 to feature a presidential debate, and the first ever to feature a vice presidential debate between Vice President William Barrett and Governor George Romney of Michigan. Although Albert is widely viewed to have lost the first debate badly, he won both subsequent debates, and this is credited with starting the momentum that would carry him to victory that November.

This presidential election remains the last time the Democratic ticket would win the election without carrying Michigan, and the first to feature an incumbent president who had never been elected to the presidency or vice-presidency. It is also the only time an Oklahoman has been elected president, or even appeared on a presidential ticket.

Democratic nomination
Democratic candidates:
 * Carl Albert, President of the United States from Oklahoma

Primaries
Despite having a struggling approval rating amongst the general public, Carl Albert remained broadly popular within his party, satisfying every wing to some extent. Because of this, nobody seriously challenged him in the primaries, and he secured the nomination easily.

Primary results
Primaries popular vote result:
 * Carl Albert – 5,209,561 (99.6%)
 * Other Candidates/Write-in - 20,921 (0.4%)

Democratic Convention
The Democratic National Convention was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, from July 10 to July 13, 1972. Carl Albert and William Barrett were renominated by the convention hall without opposition.

Republican nomination
Overall, nine people declared their candidacy for the Republican Party nomination. They were:
 * Ronald Reagan, 33rd Governor of California
 * Nelson Rockefeller, 49th Governor of New York
 * Dewey Bartlett, 19th Governor of Oklahma
 * Spiro Agnew, 39th Vice President of the United States
 * Howard Baker, former United States Secretary of Transportation
 * Harold Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota
 * John Tower, United States Senator from Texas
 * Pete McCloskey, Congressman from California's 3rd congressional district
 * John Ashbrook, Congressman from Ohio's 17th congressional district

Primaries
At the start of the primary season, Agnew and Rockefeller were the favorites to win the nomination, but Agnew's repeated gaffes and ineffective campaigning skills caused him to drop out without winning a single primary. Meanwhile, Rockefeller's crushing victory in New Hampshire established him as the frontrunner, but Reagan started to gain momentum, starting with his narrow victory in Florida. Most minor candidates would drop out by then. Bartlett took back the momentum with a victory in Illinois, which Reagan expected to win. In Wisconsin, Reagan was able to stall Rockefeller's momentum by holding him to 44 percent of the vote, a bad omen for Rockefeller's standing in the primary race. Rockefeller would soon lose to Reagan in Pennsylvania and Indiana, both by lean margins. Meanwhile, Bartlett's three subsequent victories in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Nebraska gave his campaign a badly needed boost. However, Rockefeller's campaign was also revitalized with an easy victory in Massachusetts and a close win in Michigan, followed by a landslide in Rhode Island. As the primary season ended, none of the three candidates had enough delegates to secure the nomination, so the convention was set to choose who would become the Republican nominee.

Primary results
18 primaries were held; the candidates won six each. Reagan preformed best in the West, Bartlett in the Plains and South, and Rockefeller in the Northeast. The main battleground was the Midwest, with all three candidates winning multiple primaries in the region.

Republican Convention
The Republican National Convention was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, from August 21 to August 23, 1972. Each of the three remaining candidates gave an address, as well as their wives and selected running mates (HUD Secretary George Romney for Reagan, New Jersey Senator Clifford Case for Rockefeller, and Congressman George Bush for Bartlett). During the convention's nominating process, Reagan was nominated for president on the third ballot. George Romney was then nominated unanimously for vice president.

Results of the first ballot:
 * Ronald Reagan – 437 delegates
 * Nelson Rockefeller – 514 delegates
 * Dewey Bartlett – 397 delegates

Results of the second ballot:
 * Ronald Reagan – 411 delegates
 * Nelson Rockefeller – 576 delegates
 * Dewey Bartlett – 361 delegates

Results of the third and final ballot:
 * Ronald Reagan – 753 delegates
 * Nelson Rockefeller – 525 delegates

Third parties
The only major third party candidate in the 1972 election was conservative Republican Representative John G. Schmitz, who ran on the American Independent Party ticket (the party on whose ballot George Wallace ran in 1968). He was on the ballot in 32 states and received 1,002,453 votes. Unlike Wallace, however, he did not win a majority of votes cast in any state, and received no electoral votes.

John Hospers and Tonie Nathan of the newly formed Libertarian Party were on the ballot only in Colorado and Washington, but were official write-in candidates in four others, and received 1,294 votes, winning no states.

Linda Jenness was nominated by the Socialist Workers Party, with Andrew Pulley as her running-mate. Benjamin Spock and Julius Hobson were nominated for president and vice-president, respectively, by the People's Party.

Campaign
Reagan campaigned as a conservative outsider, starting the campaign with a steady polling edge of about three points. He emphasized his independence, background, and opposition to the unpopular Richard Nixon. Albert utilized his experience as president and the strong economy to win over voters, as well as his Oklahoman roots to win over southerners. Both campaigns also quietly agreed to a series of debates between the two candidates and running mates. The first debate was held at the University of Michigan on October 7, focusing solely on domestic policy. Post-debate polling showed that Reagan had routed Albert, with 64% of voters agreeing that Reagan had bested the president. The next debate to occur was the vice presidential debate between Romney and Bartlett at the University of Jacksonville on October 13. Romney was expected to trounce the aging Barrett, who was 76 years old. Surprisingly, Barrett held his own, and the debate was seen as a slim Romney victory, with 48% of voters agreeing Romney won, as opposed to 38% for Barrett. The next debate was held on October 20 at Oregon State University, on both foreign and domestic policy, but Reagan failed to keep the momentum, and Albert defeated him soundly. The last debate at Rutgers University, on October 26th, solidified Albert’s momentum, although his victory was not as resounding as it was previously.

After the debates, the election polls were nearly tied, with Reagan leading Albert by less than one percent.

Results
The election was incredibly close, and the outcome was unclear on election night. Albert had swept the Northeast and Midwest, but he had preformed poorly in the South, except for a narrow victory in Texas. Reagan swept the West and Plains states, and won crucial states in the South, but neither had enough electoral votes to win without Florida.

Florida would go on to vote for Albert extremely narrowly - by 1,053 votes after a close, contentious three-week long recount. This gave him the electoral votes he needed to win the election, and the results were subsequently certified by Congress.

This presidential election was the first since 1808 in which New York did not have the largest number of electors in the Electoral College, having fallen to 41 electors vs. California's 45.