Jimmy Carter 1976 presidential campaign

In the 1976 United States presidential election, Jimmy Carter and his running mate, Walter Mondale, were elected president and vice president, defeating incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford and his running mate, Bob Dole.

Carter, a Democrat and former governor of Georgia, launched his presidential bid in December 1974, as the Constitution of Georgia barred him from running for a second term as governor. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, the declining popularity of President Ford due to his pardon of Nixon, and the severe 1973–1975 recession, many Democrats were sure of victory in the 1976 presidential election. As a result, 17 Democrats ran for their party's nomination in 1976. Carter's opponents mocked his candidacy by saying "Jimmy, who?", for him being relatively unknown outside Georgia. In response, Carter began saying "My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for president." Carter extensively campaigned in the primaries, and in the end received 39.19% of his party's primary votes.

The 1976 Democratic National Convention was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Carter, after getting a sufficient number of delegates to be the nominee, shortlisted six possible vice presidential candidates and finally selected Mondale of Minnesota. While choosing Mondale, Carter emphasized Mondale's experience in Washington D.C. as he himself was a Southern "outsider". With President Ford's declining approval ratings, former California governor Ronald Reaganannounced his candidacy for president, but Ford finally won the Republican nomination with 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070.

The Carter campaign used various television advertisements that promised to bring back integrity and trust in the government after the Watergate scandal. Mondale and Rosalynn Carter, too, campaigned for the ticket in various states. The League of Women Voters decided to conduct debates between the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, to which both the campaigns agreed. In one of the presidential debates, while answering a question on the U.S. relationship with the Soviet Union and its influence in Europe, Ford said: "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." This gaffe likely damaged Ford's campaign. On election day, Carter carried 23 states with 297 electoral votes, while Ford won 27 states with 240 electoral votes. However, Ford left office with a 53 percent approval rating and 32 percent disapproval rating.