MAP 28.4 The Presidential Election of 1972
In one of the most lopsided presidential elections of the twentieth century, Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat George McGovern in a landslide in 1972. It was a reversal of the 1964 election, just eight years before, in which Republican Barry Goldwater had been defeated by a similar margin. Nixon hoped that his victory signaled what Kevin Phillips called “the emerging Republican majority,” but the president’s missteps and criminal actions in the Watergate scandal would soon bring an end to his tenure in office.