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1996 United States presidential election

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Presidential electoral votes by state.

The U.S. presidential election of 1996 was a contest between incumbent President Bill Clinton and Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. Clinton benefitted from a good economy and a lack of credible foreign threats, and won the election handily over Dole, who was thought to have run a lackluster campaign.

Background

This election took place on November 5, 1996.

In 1995, the United States Republican Party was riding high on the gains made in the 1994 congressional elections. In those elections, the Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, captured the majority of seats in both the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for the first time in forty years.

Nominations

Republican Party nomination

A number of Republican candidates entered the field to challenge the seemingly weak incumbent William J. Clinton. The list included:

The fragmented field of candidates debated issues such as a flat tax and other tax cut proposals, and a return to supply-side economic policies popularized by Ronald Reagan. More attention was drawn to the race by the budget stalemate in 1995 between the Congress and the President, which caused temporary shutdowns and slowdowns in many areas of federal government service.

Former U.S. Army Gen. Colin L. Powell was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee. However, on November 8, 1995, Powell announced that he would not seek the nomination.

Going into the 1996 primary contest, Senate majority leader and former vice-presidential nominee Bob Dole was seen as the most likely winner. However, in the primaries and caucuses, social conservative Pat Buchanan received early victories in Louisiana and New Hampshire which put Dole's leadership in doubt. However, Dole won a string of victories, starting in South Carolina, which cemented his lead over his rivals. With the party nomination a lock, Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11. The Republican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996 as the GOP candidate for the fall election. Former Congressman and Cabinet secretary Jack Kemp was nominated as Dole's running mate.

Democratic Party nomination

The United States Democratic Party nomination process was very uneventful. Incumbent president Bill Clinton was nominated with only token opposition from other Democrats.

Other nominations

The United States Green Party nominated Ralph Nader as its presidential candidate. Nader accepted the nomination, but vowed to spend only $5,000 in his election campaign.

The United States Reform Party nominated party founder Ross Perot in its first election as an official political party. Although Perot easily won the nomination, his victory at the party's national convention led to a schism, as supporters of his opponent, former Governor Richard Lamm of Colorado, accused him of rigging the vote to prevent them from casting their ballots. This faction walked out of the national convention and eventually formed their own group, the American Reform Party.

General election

Campaign

Without meaningful primary opposition, Clinton was able to focus on the general election early, while Dole was forced to move to the right and spend his campaign reserves fighting off challengers. As a result, Clinton could run a campaign through the summer defining his opponent as an aged conservative far from the mainstream before Dole was in a position to respond. (Compared to the youthful Clinton, Dole appeared especially old and frail, illustrated by an embarrassing fall off a stage during a campaign event.)

Throughout the runup to the general election, Clinton maintained comfortable leads in the polls over Dole and Perot. The televised debates featured only Dole and Clinton, locking out Perot and the other minor candidates from the discussion. Perot, who had been allowed to participate in the 1992 debates, would eventually take his case to court, seeking damages from not being in the debate, as well as citing unfair coverage from the major media outlets.

In the end, Clinton won with a clear lead over Dole and Perot won less than half as many votes as he had in 1992, although Clinton was narrowly denied the absolute majority of votes he had hoped for.

Although he hailed from Arkansas, Clinton carried just four of the eleven states of the American South, tying his 1992 run for the worst performance by a winning Democratic presidential candidate in the region (in terms of states won). Clinton's performance seems to have been part of a broader decline in support for the Democratic Party in the South. In the 2000 and 2004 elections, the Democrats would fail to carry even one of the Southern states, leading to their defeat both times. This completed the Republican takeover of the American South, a region in which Democrats had held a near monopoly for a century after Reconstruction.

Results

Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote 		Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
William Jefferson Clinton Democratic, Liberal (NY) Arkansas 47,400,125 49.2% 379 Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. Tennessee 379
Robert Joseph Dole Republican, Conservative (NY) Kansas 39,198,755 40.7% 159 Jack French Kemp Maryland 159
Henry Ross Perot Reform Texas 8,085,402 8.4% 0 Patrick Jeffrey Choate(a) District of Columbia 0
Ralph Nader Green   685,297 0.7% 0 Winona LaDuke   0
Harry Browne Libertarian   485,798 0.5% 0 Jo Jorgensen South Carolina 0
Howard Phillips Taxpayers   184,820 0.2% 0 Herbert Titus Oregon 0
John Hagelin Natural Law   113,670 0.1% 0 Michael Tompkins   0
Other(b) 121,534 0.1% — Other(b) —
Total 96,275,401 100% 538 538
Needed to win 270 270

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. "1996 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 7, 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved August 7, 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

Voting Age Population: 196,498,000

Percent of voting age population casting a vote for President: 49.00%

(a) On the California, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas election ballots, James Campbell of California, Perot's former boss at IBM, was listed as a stand-in Vice-Presidential candidate until Perot decided on Pat Choate as his choice for Vice President.
(b) Candidates receiving less than 0.05% of the total popular vote.

Close states

  1. Kentucky, 0.96%
  2. Nevada, 1.02%
  3. Georgia, 1.17%
  4. Colorado, 1.37%
  5. Virginia, 1.96%
  6. Arizona, 2.22%
  7. Tennessee, 2.41%
  8. Montana, 2.88%
  9. South Dakota, 3.46%
  10. North Carolina, 4.69%
  11. Texas, 4.93%
  12. Mississippi, 5.13%
  13. Indiana, 5.58%
  14. Florida, 5.70%
  15. South Carolina, 6.04%
  16. Missouri, 6.30%
  17. Ohio, 6.36%
  18. North Dakota, 6.81%
  19. Alabama, 6.97%
  20. New Mexico, 7.33%
  21. Oklahoma, 7.81%
  22. Oregon, 8.09%
  23. Pennsylvania, 9.20%
  24. New Hampshire, 9.95%

See also

References

  • Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 140003003X.
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