1976 United States Presidential Election (The Kennedy Legacy)

The 1976 United States presidential election was the 48th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 2, 1976. The Republican nominee, Ronald Reagan, defeated the Democratic nominee, incumbent Vice-President Eugene McCarthy in a hotly contested race.

Incumbent President Robert F. Kennedy was ineligible to seek a third term and the latter half of his second term in office was mired with controversy, with the investigation into the death of Marilyn Monroe having significantly harmed his reputation and even resulted in an attempted impeachment which failed to gain traction. Even so, Eugene McCarthy was the front-runner among the Democrats and managed to win the Democratic nomination, defeating George McGovern, Edmund Muskie, George Wallace, Henry M. Jackson, and Shirley Chishom. After a long selection process, McCarthy opted to choose Mo Udall as his running mate. The Governor of California and former actor, Ronald Reagan, won the Republican nomination, defeating Gerald Ford, Bob Dole, and John Connally. Reagan chose Ford as his running mate to help balance the Republican ticket.

As Kennedy's popularity had taken a significant hit, Eugene McCarthy sought to distance himself and ran a campaign portraying himself as his own candidate. McCarthy advocated for expanding the benefits of Social Security and pledged a more liberal direction for the country, emphasizing his record on civil rights and healthcare. However, McCarthy's snub of Ted Kennedy at the Democratic Convention caused several Democrats who still supported the Kennedy family to abandon McCarthy. Reagan campaigned as an outsider to Washington politics and heavily attacked McCarthy for the ongoing scandals in the Kennedy administration. Reagan also pledged to cut taxes and government spending and promised to decrease the scope of the government in the daily lives of Americans. Reagan initially held a wide lead over McCarthy, however several developments, including the signing of the Camp David Accords ending a long standing crisis between Egypt and Israel, and the clearing of the Kennedy administration in any wrong-doing in the death of Marilyn Monroe gave McCarthy a late surge in polls heading into election day.

On election day, McCarthy's late surge in the polls was unable to give him the necessary boost to win. Reagan managed to narrowly win the race with 306 electoral votes and 50.6% of the popular vote, a 2.5% margin over McCarthy's 48.1% of the popular vote. McCarthy managed to win 232 electoral votes, losing several states that voted for Kennedy in previous elections. This election marked the first time since 1956 that Republicans had won a presidential election, ending a long Democratic winning streak that started with John F. Kennedy's victory in 1960.