The Election of 1976: Carter V. Ford

The election of 1976 came down to a race between two candidates, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. This campaign was not based fully on the issues of the time; it was more or less based on honesty and integrity. This was because the election took place shortly after the Watergate Scandals were revealed to the American citizens; therefore they were looking for the man who could restore truth and integrity to the American government.

Jimmy Carter grew up in Georgia, and eventually inherited his father’s peanut farm. His father was James Earl Carter Sr. who was married to Bessie Lillian Gordy Carter. Jimmy was the oldest of their 4 children; he had 2 sisters and a brother. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia Southwestern College. In 1946 he got a Bachelor of Science degree at the United States Naval Academy. He married a beautician, Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, and they had 4 children, 3 sons and a daughter. Mr. Carter served in the US Navy from 1946 to1953. His political career included Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967, and one term as Governor of Georgia 1971 to 1975. Shortly after serving his term as Governor of Georgia he announced that he would be running for US president in the up and coming election.

Gerald Ford grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. His birth parents separated shortly before he was born and he eventually claimed his step-father’s name. His mother was Dorothy Ayer Gardner and step-father was Gerald Ford Sr. He went to the University of Michigan to play football and Yale Law School to study law. He served in the Military from 1942 to 1946. He was married to Betty Bloomer Warren and they had 4 children, 3 boys 1 girl. His political career included being a member of the House of Representatives for 24 years, vice-president from 1973 to 1974, and president 1974 to 1977. He was the only man, without being elected to the vice presidency or presidency, to fill those positions.

The campaign started on Labor Day as both candidates made their opening speeches to the public. Carter spoke to the people in Warm Springs, Georgia, a favorite vacation spot of Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, saying, “This year, as in 1932, our nation is divided, our people are out of work, and our national leaders do not lead. Our nation is drifting without inspiration, without vision and without purpose.” That same day in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Gerald Ford spoke in the auditorium where Lindon Johnson made his Great Society address, saying, “The question in this campaign of 1976 is not who has the better vision of America. The question is who will act to make the vision a reality.”

Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale’s campaign was based on many points, which include honesty, connection to the people, giving the people their government, decreasing the unemployment rate, and pardoning draft dodgers of the Vietnam War. All the points Carter emphasized were of great importance to many American citizens. He promised to give the country honesty by creating morals for himself, one of those being never to tell a lie and another being never to deceive the American people.His second point was to connect with the people and remain connected with the people so that he would better understand what the people needed. His third point was to “Give the government of the country back to the people of the country…” In other words he wanted to establish a government that would hear the voices of each and every one of its people, and remain manageable for years to come.Carter also wanted to slow down the unemployment rate so that the people of the country could find jobs easier and receive the amount of money they needed to survive. One of the last issues he wanted to address in his campaign was the Vietnam draft dodgers. He felt that they should be pardoned from penalty for avoiding the draft.

Gerald Ford and Bob Dole’s campaigning was based on their large amount of experience and Carter’s lack of experience. It was also based on the many changes they had brought to the country.Although he based his campaigning on these subjects there were also topics that caused a larger downfall of his campaign. As he got thrown into the presidency, he made the decision to grant Nixon a pardon for any crimes he may have committed during the Watergate Scandals. The American citizens were looking for truth and honesty in our government after coming from a time of lies, and the pardon of Nixon did not help his situation. Funding also became a huge part in the downfall of his campaign. In the past, Republicans usually had more funding than the Democratic party. Yet, this time, a law was passed setting limitations on the amount of money each campaign would use; therefore, he could not use a larger budget as an advantage.

One of the issues that faced these candidates was economics. The main part of this was inflation. Ford who was president at the time, was incapable of controlling inflation. Ford’s WIN plan, whip inflation now plan, failed to do its job because it relied on only the people changing their budgets and spending habits. He thought this would work because they were all wearing WIN buttons to remind them. Carter thought that they needed to do more than get buttons and remind people of the issue of inflation. He felt that the people were not the ones that needed to change this; instead, he wanted the government to help make these changes.

Other issues were brought up in the three debates that took place during the election. These debates were the first time in sixteen years that a current president and their opponent had debated topics in an organized debate. The first debate mainly focused on domestic policy. The second debate mainly focused on the issues of international policies. The third and final debate was open to any topic.

Being that the first debate was mainly based on how the government handled different important issues, the sides of both candidates showed through. Carter stated in this debate that Ford didn’t accomplish one single major program for the country, except for trying to avoid another Watergate while he was in office. He stated this because in his eyes, Ford made a bureaucratic mess, lacked the ability to lead, and did not show sensitivity towards people who were unemployed. Ford rebuked by saying that Carter did not use specifics in any of his answers. Ford also talked of how he planned on decreasing unemployment by decreasing taxes and limiting Federal spending. Carter thought that his tactics were very disgraceful. Later in the debate, Ford defended his action of pardoning Nixon of the Watergate Scandals by saying that Nixon had already been penalized enough and that he wanted to focus on the problems of the country instead of Nixon.

The second debate showed what each candidate thought of international policy. The debate started off with Carter attacking the United States. He said that the United States no longer had the respect of other countries and was no longer as strong as it once was. Later in the debate when Ford was asked about the blatantly obvious Soviet domination of eastern Europe he replied, “There is no Soviet domination of eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.” Carter did not hold back when responding to this false statement.

The third and final debate consisted of a wide range of topics. The main issue discussed by both candidates was the “new spirit” in America. The questions asked ranged from what they planned to do about economics to what they felt they could bring to America that we needed the most. Over all, these debates affected the polls greater than any other aspect of the elections

In the final days of the election Carter seemed to pull ahead in the polls. The votes were counted and Carter received 297 electoral votes and Ford received 240. The popular vote turned out the same as Carter received 40.8 million votes to Fords 39.1 million votes. Carter took the victory and became our 39^th president.