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Richard Nixon is Reelected

November 7, 1972

The Nixon Family Seated in the President's Dining Room at the White House on Election Night, Novembe
The Nixon Family Seated in the President's Dining Room at the White House on Election Night, Novembe
The Nixon Family Seated in the President's Dining Room at the White House on Election Night, November 7, 1972 (White House Press Office)

With U.S. participation in the war seemingly nearing an end, Richard M. Nixon wins a second term as President of the United States. He overwhelmingly defeats the Democratic Party candidate, Senator George S. McGovern, in one of most lopsided presidential elections in U.S. history.1

1George C. Herring, America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975 (4th edition; New York and other cities: McGraw Hill, 2002), 313; “Election of 1972,” The American Presidency Project, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1972 (link is external) (accessed 1/12/15); Spencer C. Tucker, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd edition; Santa Barbara, CA ABC-CLIO, 2011), 720; Graham A. Cosmas, MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Withdrawal, 1968–1973, United States Army in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 2006), 347, 382, 384; “United States Presidential Election of 1972,” Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1582288/United-States-presidential-election-of-1972 (link is external) (accessed 1/12/15); Richard Nixon, “Remarks on Being Reelected to the Presidency, November 7, 1972, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Richard Nixon: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, 1972 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1974).