1972 Presidential Election Trivia Quiz

Answer: True

The 26th Amendment dropped the voting age from 21 to 18, and it happened fast by constitutional standards. The push for change came largely as a result of the Vietnam War, during which 18-year-olds could be drafted and sent overseas but couldn't vote for the people making those decisions. The slogan, which originally appeared during World War II, pretty much wrote itself: 'old enough to fight, old enough to vote.'

Congress moved quickly, states followed, and boom, a whole new chunk of the population suddenly had a say in elections.

And suddenly politicians had to start paying attention to younger voters, whether they liked it or not.

The 1972 presidential election was the first big test run with millions of newly eligible young voters. Campaigns scrambled to connect with them, though not always gracefully. Lots of awkward handshakes and talk about 'the youth.'

Answer: Visit to China

For decades, the United States had refused to officially recognize the People's Republic of China, which to the U.S. was kind of like the ex you pretend not to see at the grocery store. China? What China? Where's the beer aisle?

Then in February 1972, Nixon hopped on board a plane and met with Mao Zedong. The visit signaled a warming in relations and opened the door to future diplomacy and trade. It also made Nixon look like a big-time player on the world stage.

Answer: Edmund Muskie

Edmund Muskie was widely seen as the Democratic frontrunner heading into the 1972 primaries. Then came the infamous 'Canuck letter' and the press conference that followed. Muskie was responding to a fake letter published in a New Hampshire newspaper. The 'Canuck letter' insulted his wife and targeted French-Canadians.

During his emotional rebuttal, he appeared to tear up. That moment got framed as weakness. While it sounds quaint in a time when one candidate or another can openly mock the presumed size of their opponents' reproductive organs, back then it mattered to people. Was he crying? I watched a clip of the video and wasn't convinced one way or the other. Meanwhile, Muskie insisted the wetness on his cheeks was just melting snowflakes.

Politics can be very dumb sometimes, and his campaign never recovered.

Answer: George Wallace

George Wallace made a big splash in 1968, running as the candidate of the American Independent Party and actually winning five states with his pro-segregation message.

I don't want to shock anybody, but the states he won in 1968 were Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

Fast forward to 1972, and Wallace was back in the race, this time seeking the Democratic nomination. His campaign took a dramatic turn when he survived an assassination attempt during a campaign stop in Maryland. It left him paralyzed. Despite that, he remained a significant political figure during the election cycle and afterward.

Later, he would renounce his segregationist views, apologize, and seek reconciliation with Black leaders.

Answer: False

The Watergate break-in in June 1972 actually targeted the Democratic National Committee headquarters, which was located inside the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC. Operatives connected to Nixon's reelection campaign were caught trying to bug phones and photograph documents. Not cool.

So no, the Republicans weren't breaking into their own house. This was very much an attempt to snoop on the opposition, and it became one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history.

From that clumsy burglary, things got out of control pretty fast. Investigations, hearings, secret tapes, and a whole lot of denials eventually exposed a web of misconduct tied to President Richard Nixon's administration.

Nixon would still win the 1972 election, but he would later resign in 1974 before he could be impeached, which was still a pretty exclusive club back then.

Answer: The Demogrant

The proposal was called the 'demogrant' and would've given every American a baseline payment from the government of about $1,000 per person per year. Those are 1972 dollars, when the average car cost less than $4,000.

The mechanics of the plan were interesting, and also kind of where things started to get messy. The idea was to replace parts of the existing welfare system with this universal payment, along with a tax structure that would take back money from higher earners.

In other words, everyone gets paid, but the effect is canceled out for the rich, who pay more taxes.

It didn't do him any favors politically. Nixon and Republicans called it reckless spending, and even a lot of Democrats were nervous about the idea. It didn't help that George McGovern kept refining the numbers mid-campaign, which made the whole thing look less like a clear plan and more like something still in progress.

Answer: Expansion of primaries and caucuses

The McGovern-Fraser Commission was all about taking the Democratic Party's delegate selection process out of the backroom. Before these reforms, a lot of delegates were chosen by party insiders, and it was a very exclusive club.

The commission pushed for more transparent and inclusive processes, which led to a big increase in the use of primaries and open caucuses. Regular voters suddenly had a much larger role in picking the party's nominee, instead of just watching the smoke drift out of convention halls while reporters guessed about what was going on inside.

Answer: Thomas Eagleton

Thomas Eagleton lasted just 18 days on the Democratic ticket before being forced to withdraw. It came out that he had undergone treatment for depression, including electroshock therapy, all of which carried a pretty heavy stigma at the time. The press had a field day.

McGovern initially backed him with the infamous '1000 percent' support line... then reversed course under pressure and asked Eagleton to maybe not be a part of his campaign anymore, please.

The whole episode was a political soap opera at the worst possible moment. Eagleton withdrew, and Sargent Shriver was brought in as his replacement, but more damage was done to McGovern's already limping campaign. It felt disorganized and unsteady, which is not the vibe you want going up against an incumbent president.

Answer: Peace with honor

'Peace with honor' was Nixon's catchphrase for how he planned to wind down the Vietnam War without looking like the United States was sneaking out the backdoor. The idea was to gradually withdraw American troops while strengthening South Vietnam so it could stand on its own.

In practice, that meant a mix of troop drawdowns, negotiations with the North Vietnamese, and continued military pressure, including the usual controversial bombing campaigns. It was about trying to extract the country from the war while maintaining global credibility. That was the idea.

To many, it sounded like polishing a turd. To others, it sounded better than McGovern's more dramatic proposal of immediate withdrawal.

Answer: Massachusetts

It's almost impressive how lopsided the 1972 United States presidential election was. George McGovern, the Democratic nominee, didn't just lose to Richard Nixon. He lost with panache.

The one state he won was Massachusetts. He also snagged the District of Columbia, which isn't a state but still counts for electoral votes. Massachusetts gave McGovern his only state-level win, 54% to 45%.

Everywhere else, Nixon racked up margins that were, if I'm being honest, a bit rude. There were landslides in the places you'd expect, but also in places you wouldn't. In 38 states, he didn't even hit 40%.

Why such a drubbing? Well, McGovern ran on ending the Vietnam War and pushing progressive reforms, which energized some voters but scared off a lot more in 1972. His campaign also had a number of self-inflicted wounds, such as the clumsy presentation of his universal income plan and the Thomas Eagleton affair.