1976

Jimmy Carter Wins the 1976 Presidential Election




 * Gerald Ford** (VP) ran against virtually unknown **Jimmy Carter**. (He was actually known a bit in Georgia & the south, but this was pretty soon after the Civil Rights struggles and it's just fairly interesting that they're nominating a Southerner.) Gerald Ford (R) became president after the resignation of Nixon, though Ford wasn’t even the original VP candidate (he was appointed after another scandal earlier in Nixon’s term). Shortly after Ford assumed presidency, he pardoned Nixon and this move worried some people (and lost him some votes). Jimmy Carter (D) was the former Governor of Georgia, but otherwise fairly unknown. He ran as an outsider to Washington (a plus after the Watergate Scandal) and a reformer. Carter won a close victory (50.1% to 48.0%). George Wallace (crazy, racist Southern guy; Governor of Alabama -- sorry for the obvious bias there...) ran as an independent party.