Presidential Election 1992

Like the Election of 1960 where Senator John F. Kennedy was elected the first President born in the 20th Century succeeding the elder General Dwight D. Eisenhower; the 1992 Presidential Election was too generational.  The World War II, or Greatest Generation having been in power since 1961 was going up against the Baby Boomer Generation with a Silent Generation member running in the middle.  But, like Lyndon Johnson in 1968 with intraparty challenge from Senator Eugene McCarthy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford in 1976 with an intraparty challenge from Former Governor Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter experiencing intraparty challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy; George HW Bush would have a challenge with Pat Buchanan.  The rule when incumbent presidents have early challenges from within that cannot be good for the campaign going forward.

Before the Election even started, President Bush was enjoying high popularity with driving Iraq from Kuwait in early 1991 and by Christmas Day 1991, he presided at the end of a 40 year Cold War with the Soviet Union when the world saw Communism in Russia come to an end.  However, as awesome as his foreign policy credentials second only to that of Richard Nixon, as far as living former presidents go the United States was suffering from problems from within.  

In the early 1980s, the American people were ignorant of how you contract AIDS thinking it was a gay man’s disease.  But in November 1991, Earvin "Magic" Johnson came forward that he tested positive for the HIV virus through unprotected sex with a woman other than his wife.  Magic Johnson put those ideas on how AIDS can be contracted.  Howie Chizek, a midday talk show host on WNIR in Kent, Ohio said that Magic Johnson contracting HIV was America’s saddest day since the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

In early 1991, a man from Los Angeles named Rodney King was stopped by the LAPD and was beaten.  There just happened to be a bystander with a camcorder who caught the incident of video tape resulting in a high profile case that the nation followed for 14 months.  The police were found not guilty of beating King resulting in race riots happening in South Central LA.  This sparked a race riot that has not been seen since the Watts riots in that area in 1965.  Rodney King pleaded and asked why we all can’t get along.

Then there was the issue of a hard economic recession caused by 12 years of supply side economics that seemed to benefit the few and hurting the many.  In his 1988 Republican National Convention Acceptance Speech, Vice President George Bush declared, "Read my lips, no new taxes."  President Bush had no choice but to go back on that promise and raise taxes making his 90 percent approval drop like a rock.

The Democrats saw this vulnerability in the President to maybe take back the White House for the first time since 1976.  The field consisted of Governor Douglas Wilder of Virginia, Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas, Former Governor Jerry Brown of California, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, and Former Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts.  Wilder quickly dropped out of the race, and Brown, Clinton, and Tsongas were the three to beat.

As the Primary progressed, Bill Clinton was experiencing issues that seemed to haunt him from his past: a letter pertained to the Vietnam Draft, organizing anti-war rallies in England, visiting the Soviet Union on New Year’s Eve 1969, smoking marijuana but not inhaling, and marital infidelity.  Governor Clinton took to these setbacks stating that he had problems in his past but that is nothing compared to the problems the American people were experiencing in their personal lives right now.  When the pundits wrote Bill Clinton’s political obituary, he made a VERY strong second place showing behind Paul Tsongas in the New Hampshire declaring himself the Comeback Kid.  It was the momentum that he needed to forge ahead to secure the Democratic Party Nomination for President with Ohio putting him over the top in the Primaries and the Democratic National Convention.

During the spring of 1992, another potential candidate emerged, a Texas billionaire named Ross Perot.  Perot felt that the average American was getting the shaft financially, particularly with a potential trade deal that both Bush and Clinton agreed on named NAFTA.  After the Democratic Party nominated Bill Clinton and Al Gore for President and Vice President, Mr. Perot held a press conference stating that now that the Democratic Party has revitalized itself, he, meaning Perot came to the conclusion that he could not win the Election. In November.  Perot dropped out the night that Bill Clinton delivered his Acceptance Speech at the Democratic National Convention.  The contest was now a two man race.

All throughout the campaign that summer leading up to Labor Day it was a battle of two generations; President Bush with his Baby Boomer VP, Dan Quayle hammering away on traditional values and Governor Clinton and his running mate, Al Gore the first full Baby Boomer ticket in American history talking about change from the status quo of the past 30 years.  Dan Quayle, earlier in the spring had even attack a television character named Murphy Brown for raising a child as a single mother and calling it just another lifestyle choice.  The creators of Murphy Brown rebutted the Vice President’s comments in their September 21, 1992 season premiere explaining that a family is not just a mother, a father, and children.  Bill Clinton went on popular programs that reached out to young people and urging them to get out and vote because it was their future that he was fighting for.

Another interesting changing of the generations in this campaign was that of women.  1992 was a record year for women running for elective office and Bill Clinton knew it.  Hillary Clinton took a lot of flax from the public for not being a traditional First Lady like Nancy Reagan or Barbara Bush.  She was a 44 going on 45 year old career woman with a husband and a child.  As Arkansas’ First Lady, she championed issues that her husband assigned her to do.  Hillary Clinton was not afraid to stand up for what she believed in.

By Labor Day though, Ross Perot got back into the race with his running mate, James Stockdale.  It was the first and only time that a third party candidate for President or Vice President qualified to participate in the fall debates.

In the end, Bill Clinton and Al Gore won the 1992 Presidential Election carrying 32 states plus Washington, DC, earring 370 Electoral Votes and 44,909,889 Popular Votes which was 43.0 percent.  Like in the Primaries and at the Democratic National Convention; Ohio put Bill Clinton over the top.  George Bush and Dan Quayle carried 18 states earring 168 Electoral Votes and 39,104,550 Popular Votes which was 37.5 percent.  Ross Perot and James Stockdale did make a decent showing, enough for Perot to be viable in 1996, but in 1992, he carried no states but did get 19,743,821 Popular Votes which was 18.9 percent.  Had Perot not gotten back in the race, there very well may have been a different outcome.

See also:

• Presidential Election 1940
• Presidential Election 1944
• Presidential Election 1948
• Presidential Election 1952
• Presidential Election 1956
• Presidential Election 1960
• Presidential Election 1964
• Presidential Election 1968
• Presidential Election 1972
• Presidential Election 1976
• Presidential Election 1980
• Presidential Election 1984
• Presidential Election 1988
• Presidential Election 1992
• Presidential Election 1996
• Presidential Election 2000
• Presidential Election 2004
• Presidential Election 2008
• Presidential Election 2012
• Presidential Election 2016
• Presidential Election 2020