From March 7 to June 6, 1972, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

was again selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1972 Republican National Convention held from August 21 to August 23, 1972, in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrew during primaries

Endorsements

;Cabinet Members * David Packard, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (1969–1971) * William P. Rogers,

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

(1969–1973) ;Senators *

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Leader of th ...

(R-KS) * Jacob Javits (R-NY) * Charles H. Percy (R-IL) ;Former Representatives * William M. Tuck, (D-VA) ;Governors * William T. Cahill (R-NJ) * Thomas Meskill (R-CT) * Richard B. Ogilvie (R-IL) *

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

(R-CA) * Nelson Rockefeller (R-NY) ;Former Governors * C. Farris Bryant, (D-FL) * John Connally, (D-TX) * Mills Godwin, (D-VA) * Marvin Griffin, (D-GA) * Allan Shivers, (D-TX) * John Bell Williams, (D-MS) ;Celebrities * Jack Benny, comedian * Joan Blondell, actress *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, singer * Jim Brown, football player * Ray Bolger, actor * Nick Buoniconti, football player * George Burns, comedian *

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

, musician * Wilt Chamberlain, basketball player * Christopher Connelly, actor * Sammy Davis Jr., singer and actor *

Zsa Zsa Gabor Zsa Zsa Gabor ( , ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian Americans, Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were socialites and actresses Eva Gabor and Magda Gabor. Gabor competed in the ...

, actress * Johnny Grant, radio personality *

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...

, television personality * George Hamilton, actor *

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

, actor *

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

, comedian * Art Linkletter, radio personality * Dick Martin, comedian * Mary Tyler Moore, actress * Merlin Olsen, football player *

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...

, actress * Dan Rowan, actor * Gale Sayers, football player *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

, singer * Red Skelton, entertainer * James Stewart, actor * Howard Twilley, football player *

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

, actor

Polling

National polling

Overview of the race

Nixon was a popular

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

president in 1972, as he seemed to have reached détente with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He shrugged off the first glimmers of that, after the election, because of the massive

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

. Polls showed that Nixon had a strong lead. He was challenged by two minor candidates, liberal Pete McCloskey of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and conservative John Ashbrook of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. McCloskey ran as an anti-Vietnam war candidate dedicated to a much more clearly liberal position compared to Nixon's ambiguity approach within the party, while Ashbrook was dedicated to a much more clearly conservative position than Nixon and opposed Nixon's détente policies towards

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In the New Hampshire primary McCloskey's platform of peace garnered 19.7% of the vote to Nixon's 67.9%, with Ashbrook receiving 10.9% and comedian Pat Paulsen receiving 1.1%. Having previously stated that he would withdraw from the race had he not achieved 20% of the vote, McCloskey did so. Nixon won 1,347 of the 1,348 delegates to the GOP convention, with McCloskey receiving the vote of one delegate from

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Timeline of the race

March 7

March 14

March 21

April 4

April 25

May 2

May 4

May 6

May 9

May 16

May 23

June 6

Results by popular vote

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1972 Richard Nixon George Wallace