1972 U.S. presidential election

The United States presidential election of 1972 was waged on the issues of radicalism and the Vietnam War. The Democratic nomination was eventually won by George McGovern, who ran an anti-war crusade against incumbent President Richard M. Nixon, but was handicapped by his outsider status and having to fire his vice presidential candidate. Nixon, proclaiming that peace was at hand in Vietnam because of his policies, ridiculed McGovern as the radical candidate of "acid, amnesty and abortion." The election took place on November 7, 1972. Nixon won the election in a landslide, with a 23.2% margin of victory in the popular vote, the 2nd largest such margin in Presidential election history.