1976 Ethel Kennedy

This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 1976 election. Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter won the 1976 Democratic nomination for President of the United States, and chose Idaho Senator Frank Church as his running mate. According to Joel Goldstein, a legal professor and the author of several works on the vice presidency, 1976 marked the beginning of the modern vice presidential selection process, with candidates undergoing extensive vetting. Carter believed that the vice president might be a valuable asset to a president, and Church became a significant element of Carter's campaign. The choice of Church was meant to help Carter, a Southern "outsider" with little experience in Washington, rally the Democratic base to his candidacy. The Carter–Church ticket was narrowly defeated by the Ford–Dole ticket in the 1976 election.