1972 United States Presidential Election (The Kennedy Legacy)

The 1970 United States presidential election was the 47th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 7, 1972. The incumbent Democratic President, Robert F. Kennedy, defeated the Republican nominee, Jim Rhodes, and the American Independent nominee, George Wallace, in a landslide victory.

Kennedy's incumbency and popularity allowed to him to easily win re-nomination as the Democratic candidate and faced only minor challenges. Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes managed to narrowly win the Republican nomination facing tough challenges from George Romney, Howard Baker, and John M. Ashbrook. Rhodes' primary challenger, Howard Baker, would then be selected as the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate. Wallace, strongly dissatisfied with Kennedy's racial policies, mounted another bid for the Presidency, easily winning the nomination of the American Independent Party, and choose Republican John G. Schmitz as his running mate.

Kennedy, whose popularity had reached its highest point, campaigned on the surging economy, fully recovered from a previous downturn, the signing of the Paris Peace Accords ending the Vietnam War, and his legislative victories, including the popular American Healthcare Security Act of 1969 and the passage of a guaranteed minimum income with the American Income Plan Act of 1970. Kennedy sought to paint Rhodes as "Goldwater 2.0" and tie him to far right extremism while Rhodes campaigned against the "excessive spending" of the Kennedy administration. Rhodes also criticized the withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam and slammed Kennedy as a "coward" for allowing a Communist government to take control over Vietnam. Wallace campaigned against Kennedy's racial policies and continued to advocate for the end of busing and integration of schools however after an assassination attempt left him paralyzed, his support plummeted. Polls showed Kennedy holding a wide lead over Rhodes and Wallace throughout the election cycle, however following the breakout of conflict between Egypt and Israel, Kennedy's lead slightly dipped heading into the election.

On election day, Kennedy won in a landslide, winning 430 electoral votes with 54.3% of the popular vote, a 15.9% margin over his opponent, Rhodes who carried 91 electoral votes and 38.4% of the popular vote. Wallace, after his support plunged after getting paralyzed, won only 16 electoral votes with 6.7% of the popular vote, down from his previous performance in 1968. This election marked the worst-performance for Republicans since the 1964 presidential election and marked the fourth time in a row a Republican candidate has lost a presidential election, the longest losing streak for Republicans since the Presidency of FDR.