United States Presidential Election of 1976

Carter beat Ford 297 to 240, the first president never elected nationally to lose narrowly.

Overview

Watergate's residue made the unelected Ford's task nearly impossible, and former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, an unknown promise of never lying, swept the South and won 297 to 240 with 50.1 percent, the first Democrat to take the whole South since 1944. Ford's Poland gaffe in the second debate hurt his comeback from the pardon, and Carter's narrow 2-point margin reflected the country's exhaustion. The election restored trust's premium in national politics and began Carter's single troubled term.