1996 United States Presidential Election (A New Dawn)

The 1996 United States Presidential Election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election in the United States, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. It was the third two-round election. The Republican ticket of Kansas Senator Bob Dole unseated incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton, the second election in a row to have the incumbent unseated.

Clinton was easily renominated by his party, facing token opposition, while Dole ultimately triumphed over businessman Steve Forbes and former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander. In the Constitution Party, a contentious primary eventually gave the field to Pat Robertson, Buchanan's running mate from 1988, while former Senator Gary Hart eked out a victory in the Progressive Party after battling Senator Paul Wellstone and 1988 Vice Presidential nominee Jesse Jackson.

As the campaign began, Dole, Robertson, and Hart all focused on hammering Clinton over his many scandals, from Whitewater to TravelGate to the many allegations of sexual assault and infidelity surrounding the President. Infamously, Dole's campaign released an ad asking Americans if they would leave their money and possessions in the care of the President.

Robertson honed in on Clinton's sexual assault claims and infidelity, calling the President "unfit to lead a Christian nation," while Hart campaigned for greater support of sexual assault survivors, giving a platform to several women who claimed to have been abused by Clinton, which Robertson and Dole also did. Clinton attempted to deflect these claims, with his campaign branding these women as "nuts and sluts," while Hillary Clinton, the First Lady, described the claims as a "vast right-wing conspiracy" that she claimed was designed to "conspire" against the President.

Due to the nature of the campaign, it largely ended up being based around character rather than policy. Dole contrasted his status as a loyal husband and family man against the scandal-ridden Clinton, and the opening of a DOJ investigation into the President in September of 1996 worsened the situation for the incumbent. Despite briefly rising in polls in October, Clinton came in second in the first round, and was defeated in the second, in a similar narrow fashion to his victory in 1992. Robertson carried the Deep South, but narrowly failed to win states outside of it that Schlafly had won in 1992, while Hart's victories stayed in the Progressive stronghold of New England, though he was able to flip Delaware and Hawaii.

Dole took office on January 20, 1997, as the 43rd President. As of 2023, this is the most recent election in which the victor is deceased.

First Round
Early in the results, Democrats appeared to have a lead, though it quickly evaporated throughout the night. By midnight, many major news outlets had called the first round for Dole.