1976
The 1976 U.S. presidential election was won by Jimmy Carter (Democratic) with 297 of 538 electoral votes, defeating Gerald Ford (Republican). Electoral vote margin: 57 EV, popular-vote margin +2.1%; turnout 54.8%. The cycle falls in the Cold War Realignment era of American electoral history.
Jimmy Carter and the 1976 map
Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, a post-Watergate outsider who had never held national office, narrowly defeated incumbent Gerald Ford. Ford was damaged by his controversial pardon of Nixon and Reagan's strong primary challenge had exposed his vulnerability. Carter ran as a Washington outsider of integrity and won Southern states that had been going Republican. The debates saw Ford claim that Poland was not under Soviet domination — a gaffe that hurt him badly. Carter won the Electoral College 297-240.
Watergate aftermath; Nixon pardon; economic stagflation; Washington corruption
Ford's Nixon pardon cost him heavily; Carter was the first Deep South president since before the Civil War
States · 51 reporting
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