1972 United States presidential election

The 1972 United States presidential election was the 47th quadrennial presidential election held on Tuesday, November 7, 1972. Republican president Richard Nixon was defeated by Democratic U.S. senator Birch Bayh in an tight upset.

Despite some initial reluctance, Bayh swept aside challenges from multiple challengers in the Democratic primaries to win the nomination. Despite an intense challenge from frontrunner George McGovern and other liberal supporters to win his party's nomination. Among the candidates he defeated were early front-runner Edmund Muskie, 1968 nominee Hubert Humphrey, governor George Wallace, and representative Shirley Chisholm. Nixon, who had been the incumbent, easily beat all other challengers.

Nixon emphasized the strong economy and his success in foreign affairs, while Bayh ran on a platform calling for an end to the Vietnam War, and the increase of Social Security and other prominent New Deal programs. Nixon at first maintained a large, and consistent, lead in polling. Separately, Nixon's reelection committee broke into the Watergate complex to wiretap the Democratic National Committee's headquarters as part of the Watergate scandal. Bayh made presidential history by selecting Hawaii Representative Patsy Mink as his running mate, making her the first Woman and Asian American to be selected for a vice presidential ticket.

Bayh narrowly won the election in a tight squeaker, with both Bayh and Nixon receiving 49.2% of the popular vote. Bayh carried 18 states and became the first democrat to win his home state of Indiana since the 1936 United States presidential election whereas Nixon took 32 states. The 1972 election was the first since the ratification of the 26th Amendment of which Bayh himself helped ratify, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, further expanding the electorate.