Why did Gerry Ford lose in '76?

[DevotedDemocrat]

Why?

[Paul Kemp]

Ford was perceived as bumbling and inept. The economy was poor. He pardoned Nixon. The American people wanted an "outsider" in the White House after Watergate.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Stop making these threads.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Stop making these threads.

The problem is not that he's making threads, but he does almost nothing else. Of his last 25 posts, 21 were to make new threads.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Stop making these threads.

The problem is not that he's making threads, but he does almost nothing else. Of his last 25 posts, 21 were to make new threads.

Obviously we're dealing with a souless thread-creating machine.

[Bureaucat]

In one word, Nixon.

[Mechaman]

If anything the question should be why did Gerry Ford almost win in '76?  I mean really, Generic Democratic Candidate probably would've had a 20 point lead on Ford after the DNC.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

If anything the question should be why did Gerry Ford almost win in '76?  I mean really, Generic Democratic Candidate probably would've had a 20 point lead on Ford after the DNC.

I don't remember exact figures not exact point, but Carter had a huge lead over Ford, which almost shrunk to a narrow defeat.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Honestly, elections are hardly ever won or lost on a single factor.  I'd list several things:

1. The pardon of Nixon
2. The rotten economy
3. Negative opinion of Republicans after Watergate

[Antonio the Sixth]

lol

The real question is how Carter screwed up enough to make it even close.

[Heimdal]

The Republicans had been in power since 1968, and a party usually doesn't get a third term in office, even when times are good (see the Election in 2000). On top of that you had Watergate, and the Post War economic boom was coming to an end. The Democrats had nominated a perceived moderate/conservative candidate in Jimmy Carter, who couldn’t be tarred as a hard leftwinger (like McGovern).

So I agree that the question is rather how Carter almost managed to lose the Election. He probably would, if the campaign had lasted longer and Ford hadn’t claimed that the Soviets didn’t control Eastern Europe.

[m4567]

The economy was actually a lot better than it was, but still had problems.

Watergate's shadow,

Ford didn't have a whole lot of charisma.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

It was a referendum on the four Presidents who preceded Jimmy Carter.

Yeah, the 1976 was a referendum on JFK

I mean, seriously?

[ConservativePopulist89]

It was just a matter of which party could get better turn out at the time Jimmy carter was able to turn Out the Dixiecrat Scots Irish to vote for him and carry a few key Nothern Ehnic Catholic labor States. Ford came close though

[sdu754]

Honestly, elections are hardly ever won or lost on a single factor.  I'd list several things:

1. The pardon of Nixon
2. The rotten economy
3. Negative opinion of Republicans after Watergate

Pretty much agree with these reasons.

1) Pardoning Nixon was pretty much political suicide, and Ford knew it, but he did what was best for the country. Had Ford allowed Nixon to be tried in court, it would have captivated everyone's attention long enough to allow him to run in a honeymoon period as LBJ did in 1964. (Would have been perceived that way, because Nixon's trial would have been long and it's ending would have been seen as Ford's "beginning")

2) The economy was bad, but it was getting better. If you look at unemployment and inflation, both were going down, while GDP was going up. Ford just didn't have long enough for the economy to kick in.

3) Being someone outside of Washington helped Carter get elected, but it was disastrous once he became president

4) Ford's slip up to the Eastern European question might have cost him the election even with the aforementioned points. Ford had the correct answer ready, he just bungled it, and Carter took advantage of the mistake.