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 from 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. 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 and the second one narrowly, he won the third one, and this is credited with starting the momentum that would carry him to victory that November.