United States presidential election, 1992
Encyclopedia
The United States presidential election
of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent
Republican
President
George Bush
; Democratic
Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton
, and independent
Texas
businessman Ross Perot
.
Bush had alienated much of his conservative base by breaking his 1988 campaign
pledge against raising taxes
, the economy
was in a recession, and Bush's perceived greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East
after the defeat of Iraq
in the Gulf War
.
Clinton won a plurality in the popular vote, and a wide Electoral College margin. The election was a significant realigning election
after three consecutive Republican landslides, as the Democratic Party picked up support in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region and California
, but only carried four states in Clinton's native South.
, a former Grand Wizard
of the Ku Klux Klan
and later the founder of the National Association for the Advancement of White People
group won 119,115 votes. Just over 100,000 votes were cast for all other candidates, half of which were write-in votes for H. Ross Perot
President George Bush
and Vice President Dan Quayle
easily won renomination by the Republican Party
. However, the success of the conservative opposition forced the moderate Bush to move further to the right than in 1988
, and to incorporate many socially conservative planks in the party platform. Bush allowed Buchanan to give the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas, and his culture war speech alienated many moderates. David Duke
also entered the Republican primary, but performed poorly at the polls.
With intense pressure on the Buchanan delegates to relent, the tally for president went as follows:
Vice President Dan Quayle
was renominated by voice vote.
refused to seek the Democratic nomination. In addition, Senator Al Gore
refused to seek the nomination due to the fact his son was struck by a car and was undergoing extensive surgery as well as physical therapy. However, several candidates such as Tom Harkin
, Paul Tsongas
, Jerry Brown
, Bob Kerrey
, Douglas Wilder
and Bill Clinton
chose to run.
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa) ran as a populist liberal with labor union support. Former U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas (Massachusetts) highlighted his political independence and fiscal conservatism. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, who had run for the Democratic nomination in 1976 and 1980 while he was still Governor, declared a significant reform agenda, including Congressional term limits, campaign finance reform
, and the adoption of a flat income tax
. Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey was an attractive candidate based on his business and military background, but made several gaffes on the campaign trail. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton positioned himself as a centrist, or New Democrat
. He was still relatively unknown nationally before the primary season. That quickly changed however, when a woman named Gennifer Flowers
appeared in the press to reveal allegations of an affair. Clinton rebutted the story by appearing on 60 Minutes
with his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton
.
The primary season began with U.S. Senator Tom Harkin winning his native Iowa as expected. Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts won the New Hampshire primary
on February 18 but Clinton's second place finish, helped by his speech labeling himself "The Comeback Kid," energized his campaign. Jerry Brown
won the Maine caucus and Bob Kerrey
won South Dakota
. Clinton won his first primary in Georgia. Tsongas won the Utah
and Maryland
primaries and a caucus in Washington. Harkin won caucuses in Idaho
and Minnesota
while Jerry Brown won Colorado
. Bob Kerrey dropped out two days later. Clinton won the South Carolina and Wyoming primaries and Tsongas won Arizona. Harkin dropped out. Jerry Brown won the Nevada
caucus. Clinton swept nearly all of the Super Tuesday primaries
on March 10 making him the solid front runner. Clinton won the Michigan
and Illinois
primaries. Tsongas dropped out after finishing 3rd in Michigan. Jerry Brown, however, began to pick up steam, aided by using a 1-800 number to receive funding from small donors. Brown scored surprising wins in Connecticut, Vermont and Alaska. As the race moved to the primaries in New York and Wisconsin, Brown had taken the lead in polls in both states. Then he made a serious gaffe by announcing to an audience of New York City's Jewish community that, if nominated, he would consider Reverend Jesse Jackson as a Vice Presidential candidate. Clinton won dramatically in New York (41%-26%) and closely in Wisconsin (37%-34%). Clinton then proceeded to win a long streak primaries leading up to Jerry Brown's home state of California
. Clinton won this primary 48% to 41% and secured the delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
The convention met in New York, New York
, and the official tally was:
Clinton chose U.S. Senator
Al Gore
(D
-Tennessee
) to be his running mate on July 9, 1992. Choosing fellow Southerner Gore went against the popular strategy of balancing a Southern candidate with a Northern partner. Gore did serve to balance the ticket in other ways, as he was perceived as strong on family values and environmental issues, while Clinton was not. Also, Gore's similarities to Clinton allowed him to push some of his key campaign themes, such as centrism and generational change.
to explode on the scene in dramatic fashion—at one point Perot was leading the major party candidates in the polls. Perot crusaded against the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), internal and external national debt, tapping into voters' potential fear of the deficit. His volunteers succeeded in collecting enough signatures to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states. In June, Perot led the national public opinion polls with support from 39% of the voters (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton). Perot severely damaged his credibility by dropping out of the presidential contest in July and remaining out of the race for several weeks before re-entering. He compounded this damage by eventually claiming, without evidence, that his withdrawal was due to Republican
operatives attempting to disrupt his daughter's wedding.
into presidential politics as a candidate. Despite the advice of several liberal and environmental groups, Nader did not formally run. Rather, he tried to make an impact in the New Hampshire primaries, urging members of both parties to write-in his name. As a result, several thousand Democrats and Republicans wrote-in Nader's name. Despite supporting mostly liberal legislation during his career as a consumer advocate, Nader received more votes from Republicans than Democrats.
The Libertarian Party
nominated Andre Marrou
, former Alaska
representative
and the Party's 1988 vice-presidential candidate, for President. Nancy Lord
was his running mate. The Marrou/Lord ticket made the ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and received 291,627 votes (0.28% of the popular vote).
Former United States Army
Special Forces officer and Vietnam veteran
Bo Gritz
was the nominee of the Populist Party
. He received 106,152 votes nationwide (0.10% of the popular vote).
Psychotherapist and political activist Lenora Fulani
, who was the 1988 presidential nominee of the New Alliance Party
, received a second consecutive nomination from the Party in 1992. Fulani and running mate Maria Elizabeth Munoz
received 73,622 votes (0.07% of the popular vote).
The U.S. Taxpayers Party ran its first presidential ticket in 1992, nominating conservative political activist Howard Phillips. Phillips and running mate Albion Knight, Jr.
drew 43,369 votes (0.04% of the popular vote).
The newly formed Natural Law Party
nominated scientist and researcher John Hagelin
for President and Mike Tompkins for Vice President. The party's first presidential ticket appeared on the ballot in 32 states and drew 39,000 votes (0.04% of the popular vote).
Some candidates achieved write in status and/or ballot status in only one state. New Jersey native Drew Bradford was on the ballot only in his home state, drawing 4,749 votes, finishing 12th overall (.14% of the popular vote in NJ, .01% nationwide). Delbert L. Ehlers was another such independent candidate. On the ballot in Iowa, he finished 6th in his home state, receiving more votes than Libertarian Andre Marrou in Iowa, finishing 18th nationwide (1,149 votes, .09% of the popular vote in Iowa).
. Clinton gave his acceptance speech on July 17, 1992, promising to bring a "new covenant" to America, and to work to heal the gap that had developed between the rich and the poor during the Reagan/Bush years. The Clinton campaign received the biggest convention "bounce" in history which brought him from 25 percent in the spring, behind Bush and Perot, to 55 percent versus Bush's 31 percent.
After the convention, Clinton and Gore began a bus tour around the United States, while the Bush/Quayle campaign began to criticize Clinton's character, highlighting accusations of infidelity and draft dodging. The Bush campaign emphasized its foreign policy successes such as Desert Storm, and the end of the Cold War. Bush also contrasted his military service to Clinton's lack thereof, and criticized Clinton's lack of foreign policy expertise. However, as the economy was the main issue, Bush's campaign floundered across the nation, even in strongly Republican areas, and Clinton maintained leads with over 50 percent of the vote nationwide consistently, while Bush typically saw numbers in the upper 30s. As Bush's economic edge had evaporated, his campaign looked to energize its socially conservative base at the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas. At the Convention, Bush's primary campaign opponent Pat Buchanan gave his famous "culture war" speech, criticizing Clinton and Gore's social progressiveness, and voicing skepticism on his "New Democrat" brand. After President Bush accepted his renomination, his campaign saw a small bounce in the polls, but this was short lived, as Clinton maintained his lead. The campaign continued with a lopsided lead for Clinton through September, until Ross Perot decided to re-enter the race. Ross Perot's re-entry in the race was welcome by the Bush campaign, as Fred Steeper, a poll taker for Bush, said, "He'll be important if we accomplish our goal, which is to draw even with Clinton." Initially, Perot's return saw the Texas billionaire's numbers stay low, until he was given the opportunity to participate in a trio of unprecedented three-man debates. The race narrowed, as Perot's numbers significantly improved as Clinton's numbers declined, while Bush's numbers remained more or less the same from earlier in the race as Perot and Bush began to hammer at Clinton on character issues once again.
, and had used marijuana
, which Clinton claimed he had pretended to smoke, but "didn't inhale." Bush also accused Clinton of meeting with communists on a trip to Russia he took as a student. Clinton was often accused of being a philanderer by political opponents.
Allegations were also made that Bill Clinton had engaged in a long-term extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers
. Clinton denied ever having an affair with Flowers.
On November 3, Bill Clinton won the election to be the 42nd President of the United States by a wide margin in the Electoral College, receiving 43 percent of the popular vote against Bush's 37 percent and Perot's 19%. It was the second largest electoral vote shift in American history (517 vote shift), after Jimmy Carter
's victory in 1976
(560 vote shift). It was the first time since 1968
that a candidate won the White House with under 50 percent of the popular vote. Only Washington, D.C.
and Clinton's home state of Arkansas
gave the majority of their votes to a single candidate in the entire country; the rest were won by pluralities of the vote.
President Bush's 37.4% was the lowest percentage total for a sitting president seeking re-election since William Howard Taft
in 1912
(23.2%). The 1912 election was also a three way race between Taft, Woodrow Wilson
, and Theodore Roosevelt
.
It was also the lowest percentage for a major-party candidate since Alf Landon
received 36.5% of the vote in 1936
. Bush had a lower percentage of the popular vote than even Herbert Hoover
who was defeated in 1932
(Hoover received 39.7%).
Independent candidate Ross Perot
received 19,741,065 with 18.9 percent of the popular vote for President. The billionaire used his own money to advertise extensively, and is the only third-party candidate ever allowed into the nationally televised presidential debates with both major party candidates (Independent John Anderson debated Republican Ronald Reagan
in 1980, but without Democrat Jimmy Carter
who had refused to appear in a three-man debate). Speaking about the North American Free Trade Agreement
, Perot described its effect on American jobs as causing a "giant sucking sound
". Perot was ahead in the polls for a period of almost two months - a feat not accomplished by an independent candidate in almost 100 years. Perot lost much of his support when he temporarily withdrew from the election, only to declare himself a candidate again soon after.
Perot's almost 19% of the popular vote made him the most successful third-party presidential candidate in terms of popular vote since Theodore Roosevelt
in the 1912 election
. Also, Ross Perot's 19% of the popular vote was the highest ever percent of the popular vote for a candidate who did not win any electoral votes
.
Although he did not win any states, Perot managed to finish ahead of one of the two major party candidates in two states: In Maine
, Perot received 30.44% of the vote to Bush's 30.39% (Clinton won Maine with 38.77%); in Utah
, Perot received 27.34% of the vote to Clinton's 24.65% (Bush won Utah with 43.36%).
The election was the most recent in which Georgia
and Montana
voted for the Democratic presidential candidate. 1992 was also the first time a Democrat won the White House without winning the state of Texas
and the second time that a Democrat won without winning the state of Florida
(John F. Kennedy
in 1960
was the first), and as of 2008, Clinton remains the only Democrat to win an election without carrying North Carolina. He was also the only Democrat at that point to win every electoral vote in the Northeast except for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Every Democrat since Clinton has repeated this result, except for Al Gore, who narrowly lost New Hampshire
in 2000
. Also, this was the first time since 1964 that many states voted Democratic, such as California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Vermont.
" Most importantly, Bush's coalition was in disarray, for both the aforementioned reasons and for unrelated reasons. The end of the Cold War
allowed old rivalries among conservatives to re-emerge and meant that other voters focused more on domestic policy
, to the detriment of Bush, a social and fiscal moderate. The consequence of such a perception depressed conservative turnout.
Unlike Bush, Clinton was able to unite his fractious and ideologically diverse party behind his candidacy, even when its different wings were in conflict. To garner the support of moderates and conservative Democrats, he attacked Sister Souljah
, a little-known rap musician whose lyrics Clinton condemned. Furthermore, Clinton made clear his support of the death penalty and would later champion school uniforms. Clinton could also point to his centrist record as Governor of Arkansas. He was able to take back a number of southern states that the GOP had been winning for almost two decades, and crucially, the New England states as well. More liberal Democrats were impressed by Clinton's record on abortion and affirmative action. His strong connections to African Americans also played a key role. In addition, he organized significant numbers of young voters and became a symbol of the rise of the Baby Boomer
generation to political power. Supporters remained energized and confident, even in times of scandal or missteps.
The effect of Ross Perot
's candidacy has been a contentious point of debate for many years. In the ensuing months after the election, various Republicans asserted that Perot had acted as a spoiler
, enough to the detriment of Bush to lose him the election. While many disaffected conservatives may have voted for Ross Perot to protest Bush's tax increase, further examination of the Perot vote in the Election Night exit polls not only showed that Perot siphoned votes nearly equally among Bush and Clinton, but of the voters who cited Bush's broken "No New Taxes" pledge as "very important," two thirds voted for Bill Clinton. A mathematical look at the voting numbers reveals that Bush would have had to win 12.2% of Perot's 18.8% of the vote, 65% of Perot's support base, to earn a majority of the vote, and would have needed to win nearly every state Clinton won by less than five percentage points. Furthermore, Perot's best results were in states that strongly favored either Clinton or Bush, or carried few electoral votes, limiting his real electoral impact for either candidate. Perot appealed to disaffected voters all across the political spectrum who had grown weary of the two-party system. NAFTA played a role in Perot's support, and Perot voters were relatively moderate on hot button social issues.
Clinton, Bush, and Perot did not focus on abortion during the campaign. Exit polls, however, showed that attitudes toward abortion "significantly influenced" the vote, as pro-choice Republicans defected from Bush.
for 12 consecutive years, and for 20 of the previous 24 years. That election also brought the Democrats full control of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, including both houses of U.S. Congress and the presidency, for the first time since the administration of the last Democratic president, Jimmy Carter
. This would not last for very long, however, as the Republicans won control of both the House and Senate in 1994. Reelected in 1996, Clinton would become the first Democratic President since Franklin D. Roosevelt
to serve two full terms in the White House.
1992 was arguably a "realigning" election. It made the Democratic Party dominant in presidential elections in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, and the West Coast, where many states had previously either been swing states or Republican-leaning. Clinton picked up several states that went Republican in 1988, and which, to date, have remained in the Democratic column ever since: California
, Connecticut
, Delaware
, Illinois
, Maine
, Maryland
, Michigan
, New Jersey
, Pennsylvania
, and Vermont
. Vermont, carried by Clinton, had been heavily Republican for generations prior to the election, voting for a Democrat only once (in 1964). The state has been carried by the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since. California, which had previously been a Republican stronghold from 1952 to 1988, was now solidly Democratic. The fact that Bill Clinton, despite being a lifelong Southerner, won only four of eleven ex-Confederate states reflected the final shift of the South into the Republican Party.
Source (Electoral Vote):
States where margin of victory > 5% < 10%
Source: New York Times President Map
Source: Voter News Service
exit poll
, reported in The New York Times
, November 10, 1996, 28.
United States presidential election
Elections for President and Vice President of the United States are indirect elections in which voters cast ballots for a slate of electors of the U.S. Electoral College, who in turn directly elect the President and Vice President...
of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
; Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, and independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
businessman Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
.
Bush had alienated much of his conservative base by breaking his 1988 campaign
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
pledge against raising taxes
Read my lips: no new taxes
"Read my lips: no new taxes" is a now-famous phrase spoken by then presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination on August 18. Written by speechwriter Peggy Noonan, the line was the most prominent sound bite from the speech...
, the economy
Economy of the United States
The economy of the United States is the world's largest national economy. Its nominal GDP was estimated to be nearly $14.5 trillion in 2010, approximately a quarter of nominal global GDP. The European Union has a larger collective economy, but is not a single nation...
was in a recession, and Bush's perceived greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
after the defeat of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
.
Clinton won a plurality in the popular vote, and a wide Electoral College margin. The election was a significant realigning election
Realigning election
Realigning election are terms from political science and political history describing a dramatic change in the political system. Scholars frequently apply the term to American elections and occasionally to other countries...
after three consecutive Republican landslides, as the Democratic Party picked up support in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, but only carried four states in Clinton's native South.
Republican Party nomination
Republican candidates- George BushGeorge H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, President of the United States from TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... - Pat BuchananPat BuchananPatrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
, conservative columnist from VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there... - David DukeDavid DukeDavid Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
, state representative from LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties... - Pat PaulsenPat PaulsenPatrick Layton "Pat" Paulsen was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers TV shows, and for his campaigns for President of the United States in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996, which had primarily comedic rather than political objectives,...
, comedian from CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and perennial candidate - Harold StassenHarold StassenHarold Edward Stassen was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, from 1948 to 1953 he was president of the University of Pennsylvania...
, former Governor of MinnesotaGovernor of MinnesotaThe Governor of Minnesota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty different people have been governors of the state, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial...
and perennial candidate - Jack FellureJack FellureLowell Jackson "Jack" Fellure is an American perennial political candidate and retired engineer. He is the presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party for the 2012 presidential election.-Campaigns:...
, retired engineer from West VirginiaWest VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east... - Tennie RogersTennie RogersTennie Beatrice Thomas Rogers was a perennial candidate for national office, having run in Republican primaries for United States President three times, and one time for United States Congress. In 1992 she was on more state ballots than any previous female Republican candidate for President. She...
, perennial candidate from OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state... - Isabell MastersIsabell MastersDr. Isabell Masters, Ph.D of Topeka, Kansas, was a five-time perennial third-party candidate for President of the United States....
, perennial candidate from KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
Candidates gallery
Conservative journalist Pat Buchanan was the primary opponent of President Bush. However, Buchanan's best showing was in the New Hampshire primary on 2/18/1992 - where Bush won by a 53-38% margin. President Bush won 73% of all primary votes, with 9,199,463 votes. Buchanan won 2,899,488 votes; unpledged delegates won 287,383 votes, and David DukeDavid Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
, a former Grand Wizard
Grand Wizard
Grand Wizard was the title given to the leader of the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan which existed from 1866 to 1871.In 1915, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was created, initially as a fraternal organization. The highest-ranking leader of the latter organization was the Imperial Wizard. National...
of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
and later the founder of the National Association for the Advancement of White People
National Association for the Advancement of White People
The National Association for the Advancement of White People is a white nationalist organization in the United States which primarily advocates racial segregation. It was originally incorporated on December 14, 1953 in Delaware by Bryant Bowles. The following year an article was written on the...
group won 119,115 votes. Just over 100,000 votes were cast for all other candidates, half of which were write-in votes for H. Ross Perot
President George Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
and Vice President Dan Quayle
Dan Quayle
James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
easily won renomination by the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. However, the success of the conservative opposition forced the moderate Bush to move further to the right than in 1988
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
, and to incorporate many socially conservative planks in the party platform. Bush allowed Buchanan to give the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas, and his culture war speech alienated many moderates. David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
also entered the Republican primary, but performed poorly at the polls.
With intense pressure on the Buchanan delegates to relent, the tally for president went as follows:
- George BushGeorge H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
2166 - Pat BuchananPat BuchananPatrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
18 - former ambassador Alan KeyesAlan KeyesAlan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
1
Vice President Dan Quayle
Dan Quayle
James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
was renominated by voice vote.
Democratic Party nomination
Democratic candidates- Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Governor of Arkansas - Jerry BrownJerry BrownEdmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
, former Governor of CaliforniaGovernor of CaliforniaThe Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced... - Paul TsongasPaul TsongasPaul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S...
, former U.S. SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... - Bob KerreyBob KerreyJoseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...
, U.S. Senator from NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River.... - Tom HarkinTom HarkinThomas Richard "Tom" Harkin is the junior United States Senator from Iowa and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives ....
, U.S. senator from IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New... - Lyndon LaRoucheLyndon LaRoucheLyndon Hermyle LaRouche, Jr. is an American political activist and founder of a network of political committees, parties, and publications known collectively as the LaRouche movement...
, activist from VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there... - Douglas WilderDouglas WilderLawrence Douglas "Doug" Wilder is an American politician, the first African American to be elected as governor of Virginia, and the second to serve as governor of a U.S. state. Wilder served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. When earlier elected as Lieutenant Governor, he was...
, Governor of VirginiaGovernor of VirginiaThe governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia.... - Eugene McCarthyEugene McCarthyEugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, former U.S. Senator from MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state... - Charles WoodsCharles WoodsCharles Woods was an Alabama businessman and broadcaster, and aspiring politician. Woods was raised in an orphanage. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II...
, businessman from AlabamaAlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland... - Larry AgranLarry AgranLawrence Alan "Larry" Agran is a former mayor of Irvine, California, Orange County's noted planned city. Agran currently serves as Mayor Pro Tem on the City Council.- Early life :...
, former Mayor of Irvine, CaliforniaIrvine, CaliforniaIrvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
Overview
After the successful performance by U.S. and coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, President George Bush's approval ratings were 89%. His re-election was considered very likely. As a result, several high profile candidates such as Mario CuomoMario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
refused to seek the Democratic nomination. In addition, Senator Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
refused to seek the nomination due to the fact his son was struck by a car and was undergoing extensive surgery as well as physical therapy. However, several candidates such as Tom Harkin
Tom Harkin
Thomas Richard "Tom" Harkin is the junior United States Senator from Iowa and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives ....
, Paul Tsongas
Paul Tsongas
Paul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S...
, Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
, Bob Kerrey
Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...
, Douglas Wilder
Douglas Wilder
Lawrence Douglas "Doug" Wilder is an American politician, the first African American to be elected as governor of Virginia, and the second to serve as governor of a U.S. state. Wilder served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. When earlier elected as Lieutenant Governor, he was...
and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
chose to run.
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa) ran as a populist liberal with labor union support. Former U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas (Massachusetts) highlighted his political independence and fiscal conservatism. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, who had run for the Democratic nomination in 1976 and 1980 while he was still Governor, declared a significant reform agenda, including Congressional term limits, campaign finance reform
Campaign finance reform
Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns....
, and the adoption of a flat income tax
Flat tax
A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal tax rate. Typically the term flat tax is applied in the context of an individual or corporate income that will be taxed at one marginal rate...
. Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey was an attractive candidate based on his business and military background, but made several gaffes on the campaign trail. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton positioned himself as a centrist, or New Democrat
New Democrats
New Democrats, in the politics of the United States, are an ideologically centrist faction within the Democratic Party that emerged after the victory of Republican George H. W. Bush in the 1988 presidential election. They are identified with centrist social/cultural/pluralist positions and...
. He was still relatively unknown nationally before the primary season. That quickly changed however, when a woman named Gennifer Flowers
Gennifer Flowers
Gennifer Flowers is a model and actress who allegedly had a sexual relationship with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Prior to Bill Clinton's presidency, she also posed nude for Penthouse magazine and was an actress in two films and one TV show...
appeared in the press to reveal allegations of an affair. Clinton rebutted the story by appearing on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
with his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
.
The primary season began with U.S. Senator Tom Harkin winning his native Iowa as expected. Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts won the New Hampshire primary
New Hampshire Democratic primary, 1992
The 1992 New Hampshire Democratic primary was won by Paul Tsongas, but is known for the insurgent campaign of Bill Clinton, who managed a surprising second place finish.The Iowa caucus, the first contest of the 1992 Democratic primaries, was not contested...
on February 18 but Clinton's second place finish, helped by his speech labeling himself "The Comeback Kid," energized his campaign. Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
won the Maine caucus and Bob Kerrey
Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...
won South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. Clinton won his first primary in Georgia. Tsongas won the Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
primaries and a caucus in Washington. Harkin won caucuses in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
and Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
while Jerry Brown won Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Bob Kerrey dropped out two days later. Clinton won the South Carolina and Wyoming primaries and Tsongas won Arizona. Harkin dropped out. Jerry Brown won the Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
caucus. Clinton swept nearly all of the Super Tuesday primaries
Super Tuesday
In the United States, Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party's presidential candidates are officially nominated...
on March 10 making him the solid front runner. Clinton won the Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
primaries. Tsongas dropped out after finishing 3rd in Michigan. Jerry Brown, however, began to pick up steam, aided by using a 1-800 number to receive funding from small donors. Brown scored surprising wins in Connecticut, Vermont and Alaska. As the race moved to the primaries in New York and Wisconsin, Brown had taken the lead in polls in both states. Then he made a serious gaffe by announcing to an audience of New York City's Jewish community that, if nominated, he would consider Reverend Jesse Jackson as a Vice Presidential candidate. Clinton won dramatically in New York (41%-26%) and closely in Wisconsin (37%-34%). Clinton then proceeded to win a long streak primaries leading up to Jerry Brown's home state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Clinton won this primary 48% to 41% and secured the delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
The convention met in New York, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and the official tally was:
- Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
3,372 - Jerry BrownJerry BrownEdmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
596 - Paul TsongasPaul TsongasPaul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S...
289 - Robert P. CaseyRobert P. CaseyRobert Patrick "Bob" Casey, Sr. was an American politician from Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995...
10 - Pat Schroeder 5
- Larry AgranLarry AgranLawrence Alan "Larry" Agran is a former mayor of Irvine, California, Orange County's noted planned city. Agran currently serves as Mayor Pro Tem on the City Council.- Early life :...
3 - Al GoreAl GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
1
Clinton chose U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
(D
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
-Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
) to be his running mate on July 9, 1992. Choosing fellow Southerner Gore went against the popular strategy of balancing a Southern candidate with a Northern partner. Gore did serve to balance the ticket in other ways, as he was perceived as strong on family values and environmental issues, while Clinton was not. Also, Gore's similarities to Clinton allowed him to push some of his key campaign themes, such as centrism and generational change.
Perot candidacy
The public's concern about the federal budget deficit and fears of professional politicians allowed the independent candidacy of billionaire Texan Ross PerotRoss Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
to explode on the scene in dramatic fashion—at one point Perot was leading the major party candidates in the polls. Perot crusaded against the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA), internal and external national debt, tapping into voters' potential fear of the deficit. His volunteers succeeded in collecting enough signatures to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states. In June, Perot led the national public opinion polls with support from 39% of the voters (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton). Perot severely damaged his credibility by dropping out of the presidential contest in July and remaining out of the race for several weeks before re-entering. He compounded this damage by eventually claiming, without evidence, that his withdrawal was due to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
operatives attempting to disrupt his daughter's wedding.
Other nominations
The 1992 campaign also marked the entry of Ralph NaderRalph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
into presidential politics as a candidate. Despite the advice of several liberal and environmental groups, Nader did not formally run. Rather, he tried to make an impact in the New Hampshire primaries, urging members of both parties to write-in his name. As a result, several thousand Democrats and Republicans wrote-in Nader's name. Despite supporting mostly liberal legislation during his career as a consumer advocate, Nader received more votes from Republicans than Democrats.
The Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
nominated Andre Marrou
Andre Marrou
Andre Verne Marrou is an American political figure, affiliated with the Libertarian Party.Born in Nixon, Texas, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1962...
, former Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
representative
Alaska House of Representatives
The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of about 15,673 people . Members serve two-year terms without term limits...
and the Party's 1988 vice-presidential candidate, for President. Nancy Lord
Nancy Lord
Nancy Lord was the vice-presidential candidate of the United States Libertarian Party in the U.S. presidential election, 1992, as the running-mate of Andre Marrou. Marrou and Lord placed fourth in the popular vote with 290,087 votes ....
was his running mate. The Marrou/Lord ticket made the ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and received 291,627 votes (0.28% of the popular vote).
Former United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Special Forces officer and Vietnam veteran
Vietnam veteran
Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.The term has been used to describe veterans who were in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States armed forces, and countries allied to them, whether or...
Bo Gritz
Bo Gritz
James Gordon "Bo" Gritz is a former United States Army Special Forces officer who served in the Vietnam War. His post-war activities notably attempted POW rescues in conjunction with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue have proven controversial. Gritz lives near Sandy Valley, Nevada with his wife...
was the nominee of the Populist Party
Populist Party (United States)
The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...
. He received 106,152 votes nationwide (0.10% of the popular vote).
Psychotherapist and political activist Lenora Fulani
Lenora Fulani
Lenora Branch Fulani is an American psychologist, psychotherapist, and political activist. She may be best known for her presidential campaigns and development of youth programs serving minority communities in the New York City area...
, who was the 1988 presidential nominee of the New Alliance Party
New Alliance Party
The New Alliance Party was an American political party formed in New York City in 1979. Its immediate precursor was an umbrella organization known as the Labor Community Alliance for Change, whose member groups included the coalition of Grass Roots Women and the New York City Unemployed and...
, received a second consecutive nomination from the Party in 1992. Fulani and running mate Maria Elizabeth Munoz
Maria Elizabeth Muñoz
Maria Elizabeth Muñoz, a Chicana activist, was a third-party candidate for Vice President of the United States in the United States presidential election, 1992, representing the New Alliance Party as the running mate of Lenora Fulani...
received 73,622 votes (0.07% of the popular vote).
The U.S. Taxpayers Party ran its first presidential ticket in 1992, nominating conservative political activist Howard Phillips. Phillips and running mate Albion Knight, Jr.
Albion Knight, Jr.
Albion W. Knight, Jr. was the Presiding Bishop of the United Episcopal Church of North Americafrom 1989 until his resignation in 1992. As the Presiding Bishop of the UECNA, Knight more than tripled the number of parishes belonging to the church, oversaw the establishment of the church's seminary,...
drew 43,369 votes (0.04% of the popular vote).
The newly formed Natural Law Party
Natural Law Party
The Natural Law Party was a transnational party based on the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was active in up to 74 countries, and ran candidates in at least ten. Founded in 1992, it was mostly disbanded in 2004 but continues in India and in some U.S. states.The NLP viewed "natural law" as...
nominated scientist and researcher John Hagelin
John Hagelin
John Samuel Hagelin is an American particle physicist, three-time candidate of the Natural Law Party for President of the United States , and the director of the Transcendental Meditation movement for the US....
for President and Mike Tompkins for Vice President. The party's first presidential ticket appeared on the ballot in 32 states and drew 39,000 votes (0.04% of the popular vote).
Some candidates achieved write in status and/or ballot status in only one state. New Jersey native Drew Bradford was on the ballot only in his home state, drawing 4,749 votes, finishing 12th overall (.14% of the popular vote in NJ, .01% nationwide). Delbert L. Ehlers was another such independent candidate. On the ballot in Iowa, he finished 6th in his home state, receiving more votes than Libertarian Andre Marrou in Iowa, finishing 18th nationwide (1,149 votes, .09% of the popular vote in Iowa).
Campaign
After Bill Clinton secured the Democratic Party's nomination in the spring of 1992, polls showed Ross Perot leading the race, followed by President Bush and Clinton in third place after a grueling nomination process. Two way trial heats between Bush and Clinton in early 1992 showed Bush in the lead, however. But as the economy continued to grow sour, the President's approval rating continued to slide, and the Democrats began to rally around their nominee. On July 9, 1992, Clinton chose Tennessee Senator and former 1988 Presidential candidate Al Gore to be his running mate. As Governor Clinton's nomination acceptance speech approached, Ross Perot dropped out of the race, convinced that staying in the race with a "revitalized Democratic Party" would cause the race to be decided by the United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. Clinton gave his acceptance speech on July 17, 1992, promising to bring a "new covenant" to America, and to work to heal the gap that had developed between the rich and the poor during the Reagan/Bush years. The Clinton campaign received the biggest convention "bounce" in history which brought him from 25 percent in the spring, behind Bush and Perot, to 55 percent versus Bush's 31 percent.
After the convention, Clinton and Gore began a bus tour around the United States, while the Bush/Quayle campaign began to criticize Clinton's character, highlighting accusations of infidelity and draft dodging. The Bush campaign emphasized its foreign policy successes such as Desert Storm, and the end of the Cold War. Bush also contrasted his military service to Clinton's lack thereof, and criticized Clinton's lack of foreign policy expertise. However, as the economy was the main issue, Bush's campaign floundered across the nation, even in strongly Republican areas, and Clinton maintained leads with over 50 percent of the vote nationwide consistently, while Bush typically saw numbers in the upper 30s. As Bush's economic edge had evaporated, his campaign looked to energize its socially conservative base at the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas. At the Convention, Bush's primary campaign opponent Pat Buchanan gave his famous "culture war" speech, criticizing Clinton and Gore's social progressiveness, and voicing skepticism on his "New Democrat" brand. After President Bush accepted his renomination, his campaign saw a small bounce in the polls, but this was short lived, as Clinton maintained his lead. The campaign continued with a lopsided lead for Clinton through September, until Ross Perot decided to re-enter the race. Ross Perot's re-entry in the race was welcome by the Bush campaign, as Fred Steeper, a poll taker for Bush, said, "He'll be important if we accomplish our goal, which is to draw even with Clinton." Initially, Perot's return saw the Texas billionaire's numbers stay low, until he was given the opportunity to participate in a trio of unprecedented three-man debates. The race narrowed, as Perot's numbers significantly improved as Clinton's numbers declined, while Bush's numbers remained more or less the same from earlier in the race as Perot and Bush began to hammer at Clinton on character issues once again.
Character issues
Many character issues were raised during the campaign, including allegations that Clinton had dodged the draft during the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, and had used marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
, which Clinton claimed he had pretended to smoke, but "didn't inhale." Bush also accused Clinton of meeting with communists on a trip to Russia he took as a student. Clinton was often accused of being a philanderer by political opponents.
Allegations were also made that Bill Clinton had engaged in a long-term extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers
Gennifer Flowers
Gennifer Flowers is a model and actress who allegedly had a sexual relationship with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Prior to Bill Clinton's presidency, she also posed nude for Penthouse magazine and was an actress in two films and one TV show...
. Clinton denied ever having an affair with Flowers.
On November 3, Bill Clinton won the election to be the 42nd President of the United States by a wide margin in the Electoral College, receiving 43 percent of the popular vote against Bush's 37 percent and Perot's 19%. It was the second largest electoral vote shift in American history (517 vote shift), after Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's victory in 1976
United States presidential election, 1976
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
(560 vote shift). It was the first time since 1968
United States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
that a candidate won the White House with under 50 percent of the popular vote. Only Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Clinton's home state of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
gave the majority of their votes to a single candidate in the entire country; the rest were won by pluralities of the vote.
President Bush's 37.4% was the lowest percentage total for a sitting president seeking re-election since William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
in 1912
United States presidential election, 1912
The United States presidential election of 1912 was a rare four-way contest. Incumbent President William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing. After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called...
(23.2%). The 1912 election was also a three way race between Taft, Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, and Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
.
It was also the lowest percentage for a major-party candidate since Alf Landon
Alf Landon
Alfred Mossman "Alf" Landon was an American Republican politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937. He was best known for being the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, defeated in a landslide by Franklin D...
received 36.5% of the vote in 1936
United States presidential election, 1936
The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820, which was not seriously contested.The election took...
. Bush had a lower percentage of the popular vote than even Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
who was defeated in 1932
United States presidential election, 1932
The United States presidential election of 1932 took place as the effects of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, the Revenue Act of 1932, and the Great Depression were being felt intensely across the country. President Herbert Hoover's popularity was falling as...
(Hoover received 39.7%).
Independent candidate Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
received 19,741,065 with 18.9 percent of the popular vote for President. The billionaire used his own money to advertise extensively, and is the only third-party candidate ever allowed into the nationally televised presidential debates with both major party candidates (Independent John Anderson debated Republican Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in 1980, but without Democrat Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
who had refused to appear in a three-man debate). Speaking about the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
, Perot described its effect on American jobs as causing a "giant sucking sound
Giant sucking sound
The "giant sucking sound" was United States Presidential candidate Ross Perot's colorful phrase for what he believed would be the negative effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement , which he opposed.- History :...
". Perot was ahead in the polls for a period of almost two months - a feat not accomplished by an independent candidate in almost 100 years. Perot lost much of his support when he temporarily withdrew from the election, only to declare himself a candidate again soon after.
Perot's almost 19% of the popular vote made him the most successful third-party presidential candidate in terms of popular vote since Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
in the 1912 election
United States presidential election, 1912
The United States presidential election of 1912 was a rare four-way contest. Incumbent President William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing. After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called...
. Also, Ross Perot's 19% of the popular vote was the highest ever percent of the popular vote for a candidate who did not win any electoral votes
United States Electoral College
The Electoral College consists of the electors appointed by each state who formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in each presidential election...
.
Although he did not win any states, Perot managed to finish ahead of one of the two major party candidates in two states: In Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Perot received 30.44% of the vote to Bush's 30.39% (Clinton won Maine with 38.77%); in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Perot received 27.34% of the vote to Clinton's 24.65% (Bush won Utah with 43.36%).
The election was the most recent in which Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
voted for the Democratic presidential candidate. 1992 was also the first time a Democrat won the White House without winning the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and the second time that a Democrat won without winning the state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
(John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in 1960
United States presidential election, 1960
The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th American presidential election, held on November 8, 1960, for the term beginning January 20, 1961, and ending January 20, 1965. The incumbent president, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, was not eligible to run again. The Republican Party...
was the first), and as of 2008, Clinton remains the only Democrat to win an election without carrying North Carolina. He was also the only Democrat at that point to win every electoral vote in the Northeast except for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Every Democrat since Clinton has repeated this result, except for Al Gore, who narrowly lost New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
in 2000
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
. Also, this was the first time since 1964 that many states voted Democratic, such as California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Vermont.
Analysis
Several factors made the results possible. First, the campaign came on the heels of an economic slowdown. Exit polling shows that 75% thought the economy was in Fairly Bad or Very Bad shape while 63% thought their personal finances were better or the same as four years ago. The decision by Bush to accept a tax increase adversely affected his re-election bid. Pressured by rising budget deficits, Bush agreed to a budget compromise with Congress which raised taxes. Clinton was able to condemn the tax increase effectively on both its own merits and as a reflection of Bush's honesty. Effective Democratic TV ads were aired showing a clip of Bush's infamous 1988 campaign speech in which he promised "Read my lips ... No new taxes.Read my lips: no new taxes
"Read my lips: no new taxes" is a now-famous phrase spoken by then presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination on August 18. Written by speechwriter Peggy Noonan, the line was the most prominent sound bite from the speech...
" Most importantly, Bush's coalition was in disarray, for both the aforementioned reasons and for unrelated reasons. The end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
allowed old rivalries among conservatives to re-emerge and meant that other voters focused more on domestic policy
Domestic policy
Domestic policy, also known as public policy, presents decisions, laws, and programs made by the government which are directly related to all issues and activity within the country....
, to the detriment of Bush, a social and fiscal moderate. The consequence of such a perception depressed conservative turnout.
Unlike Bush, Clinton was able to unite his fractious and ideologically diverse party behind his candidacy, even when its different wings were in conflict. To garner the support of moderates and conservative Democrats, he attacked Sister Souljah
Sister Souljah
Sister Souljah is an American hip hop-generation author, activist, recording artist, and film producer. She gained prominence for Bill Clinton's criticism of her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign...
, a little-known rap musician whose lyrics Clinton condemned. Furthermore, Clinton made clear his support of the death penalty and would later champion school uniforms. Clinton could also point to his centrist record as Governor of Arkansas. He was able to take back a number of southern states that the GOP had been winning for almost two decades, and crucially, the New England states as well. More liberal Democrats were impressed by Clinton's record on abortion and affirmative action. His strong connections to African Americans also played a key role. In addition, he organized significant numbers of young voters and became a symbol of the rise of the Baby Boomer
Baby boomer
A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom and who grew up during the period between 1946 and 1964. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve broad consensus of a precise definition, even...
generation to political power. Supporters remained energized and confident, even in times of scandal or missteps.
The effect of Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
's candidacy has been a contentious point of debate for many years. In the ensuing months after the election, various Republicans asserted that Perot had acted as a spoiler
Spoiler effect
The spoiler effect describes the effect a minor party candidate with little chance of winning has in a close election, when that candidate's presence in the election draws votes from a major candidate similar to them, thereby causing a candidate dissimilar to them to win the election...
, enough to the detriment of Bush to lose him the election. While many disaffected conservatives may have voted for Ross Perot to protest Bush's tax increase, further examination of the Perot vote in the Election Night exit polls not only showed that Perot siphoned votes nearly equally among Bush and Clinton, but of the voters who cited Bush's broken "No New Taxes" pledge as "very important," two thirds voted for Bill Clinton. A mathematical look at the voting numbers reveals that Bush would have had to win 12.2% of Perot's 18.8% of the vote, 65% of Perot's support base, to earn a majority of the vote, and would have needed to win nearly every state Clinton won by less than five percentage points. Furthermore, Perot's best results were in states that strongly favored either Clinton or Bush, or carried few electoral votes, limiting his real electoral impact for either candidate. Perot appealed to disaffected voters all across the political spectrum who had grown weary of the two-party system. NAFTA played a role in Perot's support, and Perot voters were relatively moderate on hot button social issues.
Clinton, Bush, and Perot did not focus on abortion during the campaign. Exit polls, however, showed that attitudes toward abortion "significantly influenced" the vote, as pro-choice Republicans defected from Bush.
Implications
Clinton's election ended an era in which the Republican Party had controlled the White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
for 12 consecutive years, and for 20 of the previous 24 years. That election also brought the Democrats full control of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, including both houses of U.S. Congress and the presidency, for the first time since the administration of the last Democratic president, Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. This would not last for very long, however, as the Republicans won control of both the House and Senate in 1994. Reelected in 1996, Clinton would become the first Democratic President since Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
to serve two full terms in the White House.
1992 was arguably a "realigning" election. It made the Democratic Party dominant in presidential elections in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, and the West Coast, where many states had previously either been swing states or Republican-leaning. Clinton picked up several states that went Republican in 1988, and which, to date, have remained in the Democratic column ever since: California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. Vermont, carried by Clinton, had been heavily Republican for generations prior to the election, voting for a Democrat only once (in 1964). The state has been carried by the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since. California, which had previously been a Republican stronghold from 1952 to 1988, was now solidly Democratic. The fact that Bill Clinton, despite being a lifelong Southerner, won only four of eleven ex-Confederate states reflected the final shift of the South into the Republican Party.
Detailed results
Source (Popular Vote):Source (Electoral Vote):
Results by state
| Bill Clinton Democratic |
George Bush Republican |
Ross Perot Independent |
Others | State Total | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | electoral votes |
# | % | electoral votes |
# | % | electoral votes |
# | % | electoral votes |
# | % | electoral votes |
# | |
| Alabama | 9 | 690,080 | 40.88 | - | 804,283 | 47.65 | 9 | 183,109 | 10.85 | - | 10,588 | 0.64 | - | 1,688,060 | AL |
| Alaska | 3 | 78,294 | 30.29 | - | 102,000 | 39.46 | 3 | 73,481 | 28.43 | - | 4,731 | 1.83 | - | 258,506 | AK |
| Arizona | 8 | 543,050 | 36.52 | - | 572,086 | 38.47 | 8 | 353,741 | 23.79 | - | 18,129 | 1.22 | - | 1,487,006 | AZ |
| Arkansas | 6 | 505,823 | 53.21 | 6 | 337,324 | 35.48 | - | 99,132 | 10.43 | - | 8,374 | 0.88 | - | 168,499 | AR |
| California | 54 | 5,121,325 | 46.01 | 54 | 3,630,574 | 32.61 | - | 2,296,006 | 20.63 | - | 83,816 | 0.75 | - | 11,131,721 | CA |
| Colorado | 8 | 629,681 | 40.13 | 8 | 562,850 | 35.87 | - | 366,010 | 23.32 | - | 10,639 | 0.68 | - | 1,569,180 | CO |
| Connecticut | 8 | 682,318 | 42.21 | 8 | 578,313 | 35.78 | - | 348,771 | 21.58 | - | 6,930 | 0.43 | - | 1,616,332 | CT |
| Delaware | 3 | 126,054 | 43.52 | 3 | 102,313 | 35.78 | - | 59,213 | 20.45 | - | 2,040 | 0.70 | - | 289,620 | DE |
| D.C. | 3 | 192,619 | 84.64 | 3 | 20,698 | 9.10 | - | 9,681 | 4.25 | - | 4,574 | 2.01 | - | 227,572 | DC |
| Florida | 25 | 2,072,698 | 39 | - | 2,173,310 | 40.89 | 25 | 1,053,067 | 19.82 | - | 15,317 | 0.29 | - | 5,314,392 | FL |
| Georgia | 13 | 1,008,966 | 43.47 | 13 | 995,252 | 42.88 | - | 309,657 | 13.44 | - | 7,258 | 0.13 | - | 2,321,133 | GA |
| Hawaii | 4 | 179,310 | 48.09 | 4 | 136,822 | 36.70 | - | 53,003 | 14.22 | - | 3,707 | 0.99 | - | 372,842 | HI |
| Idaho | 4 | 137,013 | 28.42 | - | 202,645 | 42.03 | 4 | 130,395 | 27.05 | - | 12,061 | 2.5 | - | 482,114 | ID |
| Illinois | 22 | 2,453,350 | 48.58 | 22 | 1,734,096 | 34.34 | - | 840,515 | 16.64 | - | 22,196 | 0.44 | - | 5,050,157 | IL |
| Indiana | 12 | 848,420 | 36.79 | - | 989,375 | 42.91 | 12 | 455,934 | 19.77 | - | 12,142 | 0.53 | - | 2,305,871 | IN |
| Iowa | 7 | 586,353 | 43.29 | 7 | 504,891 | 37.27 | - | 253,468 | 18.71 | - | 9,895 | 0.73 | - | 1,354,607 | IA |
| Kansas | 6 | 390,434 | 33.74 | - | 449,951 | 38.88 | 6 | 312,358 | 26.99 | - | 4,513 | 0.39 | - | 1,157,256 | KS |
| Kentucky | 8 | 665,104 | 44.55 | 8 | 617,178 | 41.34 | - | 203,944 | 13.66 | - | 6,674 | 0.45 | - | 1,492,900 | KY |
| Louisiana | 9 | 815,971 | 45.58 | 9 | 733,386 | 40.97 | - | 211,478 | 11.81 | - | 29,182 | 1.63 | - | 1,790,017 | LA |
| Maine | 4 | 263,420 | 38.77 | 4 | 206,504 | 30.39 | - | 206,820 | 30.44 | - | 2,755 | 0.44 | - | 679,499 | ME |
| Maryland | 10 | 988,571 | 49.80 | 10 | 707,094 | 35.62 | - | 281,414 | 14.18 | - | 7,967 | 0.40 | - | 1,985,046 | MD |
| Massachusetts | 12 | 1,318,662 | 47.54 | 12 | 805,049 | 29.03 | - | 632,312 | 22.80 | - | 17,551 | 0.63 | - | 2,773,574 | MA |
| Michigan | 18 | 1,871,182 | 43.77 | 18 | 1,554,940 | 36.38 | - | 824,813 | 19.30 | - | 23,738 | 0.56 | - | 4,274,673 | MI |
| Minnesota | 10 | 1,020,997 | 43.48 | 10 | 747,841 | 31.85 | - | 562,506 | 23.96 | - | 16,604 | 0.71 | - | 2,347,948 | MN |
| Mississippi | 7 | 400,258 | 40.77 | - | 487,793 | 49.68 | 7 | 85,626 | 8.72 | - | 8,116 | 0.83 | - | 981,793 | MS |
| Missouri | 11 | 1,053,873 | 44.07 | 11 | 811,159 | 33.92 | - | 518,741 | 21.69 | - | 7,497 | 0.31 | - | 2,391,270 | MO |
| Montana | 3 | 154,507 | 37.63 | 3 | 144,207 | 35.12 | - | 107,225 | 26.12 | - | 4,644 | 1.13 | - | 410,583 | MT |
| Nebraska | 5 | 217,344 | 29.40 | - | 344,346 | 46.58 | 5 | 174,687 | 23.63 | - | 2,906 | 0.39 | - | 739,283 | NE |
| Nevada | 4 | 189,148 | 37.36 | 4 | 175,828 | 34.73 | - | 132,580 | 26.19 | - | 8,762 | 1.73 | - | 506,318 | NV |
| New Hampshire | 4 | 209,040 | 38.91 | 4 | 202,484 | 37.69 | - | 121,337 | 22.59 | - | 4,354 | 0.81 | - | 537,215 | NH |
| New Jersey | 15 | 1,436,206 | 42.95 | 15 | 1,356,865 | 40.58 | - | 521,829 | 15.61 | - | 28,694 | 0.86 | - | 3,343,594 | NJ |
| New Mexico | 5 | 261,617 | 45.90 | 5 | 212,824 | 37.34 | - | 91,895 | 16.12 | - | 3,650 | 0.64 | - | 569,986 | NM |
| New York | 33 | 3,444,450 | 49.73 | 33 | 2,346,649 | 33.88 | - | 1,090,721 | 15.75 | - | 45,105 | 0.65 | - | 6,926,925 | NY |
| North Carolina | 14 | 1,114,042 | 42.65 | - | 1,134,661 | 43.44 | 14 | 357,864 | 13.70 | - | 5,283 | 0.20 | - | 2,611,850 | NC |
| North Dakota | 3 | 99,168 | 32.18 | - | 136,244 | 44.22 | 3 | 71,084 | 23.07 | - | 1,637 | 0.53 | - | 308,133 | ND |
| Ohio | 21 | 1,984,942 | 40.18 | 21 | 1,894,310 | 38.35 | - | 1,036,426 | 20.98 | - | 24,286 | 0.49 | - | 2,611,850 | OH |
| Oklahoma | 8 | 473,066 | 34.02 | - | 592,929 | 42.65 | 8 | 319,878 | 23.01 | - | 4,486 | 0.32 | - | 1,390,359 | OK |
| Oregon | 7 | 621,314 | 42.48 | 7 | 475,757 | 32.53 | - | 354,091 | 24.21 | - | 11,481 | 0.78 | - | 1,462,643 | OR |
| Pennsylvania | 23 | 2,239,164 | 45.15 | 23 | 1,791,841 | 36.13 | - | 902,667 | 18.20 | - | 26,138 | 0.53 | - | 4,959,810 | PA |
| Rhode Island | 4 | 213,299 | 47.04 | 4 | 131,601 | 29.02 | - | 105,045 | 23.16 | - | 3,532 | 0.78 | - | 453,477 | RI |
| South Carolina | 8 | 479,514 | 39.88 | - | 577,507 | 48.02 | 8 | 138,872 | 11.55 | - | 6,634 | 0.55 | - | 1,202,527 | SC |
| South Dakota | 3 | 124,888 | 37.14 | - | 136,718 | 40.66 | 3 | 73,295 | 21.80 | - | 1,353 | 0.40 | - | 336,254 | SD |
| Tennessee | 11 | 933,521 | 47.08 | 11 | 841,300 | 42.43 | - | 199,968 | 10.09 | - | 7,849 | 0.40 | - | 1,982,638 | TN |
| Texas | 32 | 2,281,815 | 37.08 | - | 2,496,071 | 40.56 | 32 | 1,354,781 | 22.01 | - | 21,351 | 0.35 | - | 6,154,018 | TX |
| Utah | 5 | 183,429 | 24.65 | - | 322,632 | 43.36 | 5 | 203,400 | 27.34 | - | 34,537 | 4.64 | - | 743,998 | UT |
| Vermont | 3 | 133,592 | 46.11 | 3 | 88,122 | 30.42 | - | 65,991 | 22.78 | - | 7,849 | 0.69 | - | 289,701 | VT |
| Virginia | 13 | 1,038,650 | 40.59 | - | 1,150,517 | 44.97 | 13 | 348,639 | 13.63 | - | 20,859 | 0.82 | - | 2,558,665 | VA |
| Washington | 11 | 993,037 | 43.41 | 11 | 731,234 | 31.97 | - | 541,780 | 23.68 | - | 21,514 | 0.94 | - | 2,287,565 | WA |
| West Virginia | 5 | 331,001 | 48.41 | 5 | 241,974 | 35.39 | - | 108,829 | 15.91 | - | 1,873 | 0.27 | - | 683,677 | WV |
| Wisconsin | 11 | 1,041,066 | 41.13 | 11 | 930,855 | 36.78 | - | 544,479 | 21.51 | - | 14,714 | 0.58 | - | 2,531,114 | WI |
| Wyoming | 3 | 68,160 | 34.10 | - | 79,347 | 39.70 | 3 | 51,263 | 25.65 | - | 1,114 | 0.56 | - | 199,884 | WY |
| TOTALS: | 538 | 44,909,806 | 43.01 | 370 | 39,104,550 | 37.45 | 168 | 19,743,821 | 18.91 | - | 665,746 | 0.64 | - | 104,423,923 | |
Close states
States where margin of victory < 5%- Georgia - 0.6%
- North Carolina - 0.7%
- New Hampshire - 1.2%
- Ohio - 1.8%
- Florida - 1.9%
- Arizona - 2.0%
- New Jersey - 2.4%
- Montana - 2.5%
- Nevada - 2.6%
- Kentucky - 3.2%
- Texas - 3.5%
- South Dakota - 3.5%
- Colorado - 4.3%
- Wisconsin - 4.4%
- Virginia - 4.4%
- Louisiana - 4.6%
- Tennessee - 4.7%
States where margin of victory > 5% < 10%
- Kansas - 5.14%
- Wyoming - 5.6%
- Iowa - 6.02%
- Indiana - 6.12%
- Connecticut - 6.43%
- Alabama - 6.77%
- Michigan - 7.39%
- South Carolina - 8.14%
- Delaware - 8.19%
- Maine - 8.33%
- New Mexico - 8.56%
- Oklahoma - 8.63%
- Mississippi - 8.91%
- Pennsylvania - 9.02%
- Alaska - 9.17%
- Oregon - 9.95%
Source: New York Times President Map
Voter demographics
| The Presidential Vote In Social Groups (In Percentages) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % of 1992 total vote |
3-party vote | ||||||
| 1992 | 1996 | ||||||
| Social group | Clinton | Bush | Perot | Clinton | Dole | Perot | |
| Total vote | 43 | 37 | 19 | 49 | 41 | 8 | |
| Party and ideology | |||||||
| 2 | Liberal Republicans | 17 | 54 | 30 | 44 | 48 | 9 |
| 13 | Moderate Republicans | 15 | 63 | 21 | 20 | 72 | 7 |
| 21 | Conservative Republicans | 5 | 82 | 13 | 6 | 88 | 5 |
| 4 | Liberal Independents | 54 | 17 | 30 | 58 | 15 | 18 |
| 15 | Moderate Independents | 43 | 28 | 30 | 50 | 30 | 17 |
| 7 | Conservative Independents | 17 | 53 | 30 | 19 | 60 | 19 |
| 13 | Liberal Democrats | 85 | 5 | 11 | 89 | 5 | 4 |
| 20 | Moderate Democrats | 76 | 9 | 15 | 84 | 10 | 5 |
| 6 | Conservative Democrats | 61 | 23 | 16 | 69 | 23 | 7 |
| Gender and marital status | |||||||
| 33 | Married men | 38 | 42 | 21 | 40 | 48 | 10 |
| 33 | Married women | 41 | 40 | 19 | 48 | 43 | 7 |
| 15 | Unmarried men | 48 | 29 | 22 | 49 | 35 | 12 |
| 20 | Unmarried women | 53 | 31 | 15 | 62 | 28 | 7 |
| Race | |||||||
| 83 | White | 39 | 40 | 20 | 43 | 46 | 9 |
| 10 | Black | 83 | 10 | 7 | 84 | 12 | 4 |
| 5 | Hispanic | 61 | 25 | 14 | 72 | 21 | 6 |
| 1 | Asian | 31 | 55 | 15 | 43 | 48 | 8 |
| Religion | |||||||
| 46 | White Protestant | 33 | 47 | 21 | 36 | 53 | 10 |
| 29 | Catholic | 44 | 35 | 20 | 53 | 37 | 9 |
| 3 | Jewish | 80 | 11 | 9 | 78 | 16 | 3 |
| 17 | Born Again, religious right | 23 | 61 | 15 | 26 | 65 | 8 |
| Age | |||||||
| 17 | 18–29 years old | 43 | 34 | 22 | 53 | 34 | 10 |
| 33 | 30–44 years old | 41 | 38 | 21 | 48 | 41 | 9 |
| 26 | 45–59 years old | 41 | 40 | 19 | 48 | 41 | 9 |
| 24 | 60 and older | 50 | 38 | 12 | 48 | 44 | 7 |
| Education | |||||||
| 6 | Not a high school graduate | 54 | 28 | 18 | 59 | 28 | 11 |
| 24 | High school graduate | 43 | 36 | 21 | 51 | 35 | 13 |
| 27 | Some college education | 41 | 37 | 21 | 48 | 40 | 10 |
| 26 | College graduate | 39 | 41 | 20 | 44 | 46 | 8 |
| 17 | Post graduate education | 50 | 36 | 14 | 52 | 40 | 5 |
| Family income | |||||||
| 11 | Under $15,000 | 58 | 23 | 19 | 59 | 28 | 11 |
| 23 | $15,000–$29,999 | 45 | 35 | 20 | 53 | 36 | 9 |
| 27 | $30,000–$49,999 | 41 | 38 | 21 | 48 | 40 | 10 |
| 39 | Over $50,000 | 39 | 44 | 17 | 44 | 48 | 7 |
| 18 | Over $75,000 | 36 | 48 | 16 | 41 | 51 | 7 |
| 9 | Over $100,000 | — | — | — | 38 | 54 | 6 |
| Region | |||||||
| 23 | East | 47 | 35 | 18 | 55 | 34 | 9 |
| 26 | Midwest | 42 | 37 | 21 | 48 | 41 | 10 |
| 30 | South | 41 | 43 | 16 | 46 | 46 | 7 |
| 20 | West | 43 | 34 | 23 | 48 | 40 | 8 |
| Community size | |||||||
| 10 | Population over 500,000 | 58 | 28 | 13 | 68 | 25 | 6 |
| 21 | Population 50,000 to 500,000 | 50 | 33 | 16 | 50 | 39 | 8 |
| 39 | Suburbs | 41 | 39 | 21 | 47 | 42 | 8 |
| 30 | Rural areas, towns | 39 | 40 | 20 | 45 | 44 | 10 |
Source: Voter News Service
Voter News Service
The Voter News Service was a consortium whose mission was to provide results for United States presidential elections, so that individual organizations and networks would not have to do exit polling and vote tallying in parallel.-Members:...
exit poll
Exit poll
An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks whom the voter plans to vote for or some similar formulation, an exit poll asks whom the voter actually voted for. A similar poll conducted before actual...
, reported in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, November 10, 1996, 28.
See also
- Chicken GeorgeChicken George (politics)Chicken George was the name for a man in a chicken costume who shadowed George H. W. Bush through a portion of the 1992 U.S. presidential election.Chicken George was a Clinton campaign worker from Detroit, Michigan...
- “Giant sucking soundGiant sucking soundThe "giant sucking sound" was United States Presidential candidate Ross Perot's colorful phrase for what he believed would be the negative effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement , which he opposed.- History :...
” - “It's the economy, stupidIt's the economy, stupid"It's the economy, stupid" was a phrase in American politics widely used during Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign against George H. W. Bush. For a time, Bush was considered unbeatable because of foreign policy developments such as the end of the Cold War and the Persian Gulf War...
” - “Read my lips: no new taxesRead my lips: no new taxes"Read my lips: no new taxes" is a now-famous phrase spoken by then presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination on August 18. Written by speechwriter Peggy Noonan, the line was the most prominent sound bite from the speech...
” - History of the United States (1991–present)History of the United States (1991–present)The history of the United States from 1991 to present began after the fall of the Soviet Union which signaled the end of the Cold War and led into the United States' heightened military involvement in the Middle East. The U.S. expelled an Iraqi invasion force from Kuwait, a Middle Eastern ally of...
- United States Senate election, 1992
External links
- The Election Wall's 1992 Election Video Page
- 1992 popular vote by counties
- 1992 popular vote by state
- 1992 popular vote by states (with bar graphs)
- Presidential Campaign Commercials, C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
- Campaign commercials from the 1992 election
- Film footage of Gore speech on the election campaign trail
- How close was the 1992 election? — Michael Sheppard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology