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“Jimmy” Carter won the presidential campaign of 1976 becoming the 39th president of the United States. He became chair of the Democratic Governor's Campaign in 1972 and campaign chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1974 in addition to being the former governor of Georgia. Gerald Ford was the Republican incumbent (taking over the presidency in 1974 upon the resignation of Richard Nixon). Carter received 297 electoral votes and 50% of the popular vote versus 240 electoral votes and 48% of the popular vote for Ford.

At the time of the election, the nation's economy was 20 months into an expansion that would last for three more years. Also, by 1976, the real GDP growth was averaging over 4% per year. The inflation rate at the time of election was high (relative to generally low inflation rates in the 60's and early 70's). It would appear that macroeconomic conditions didn't appear to have any major implications in this election. The Republican platform was to increase defense spending and to retain the Panama Canal. Carter campaigned as an outsider intent on cleaning up Washington. Unemployment was approximately 7.7% (high, relative to the previous 25 years where unemployment ranged from 3.9-6.7%, but down from the peak of 8.5% the previous year).

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Copyright, Michelle Wilson, 2001.