Pursuit of the Presidency 1972 1976
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Jules Witcover's Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency,1972-1976 is a detailed, entertaining, and fascinating account of the 1976 election between the incumbent republican president, Gerald R Ford Jr. and a former peanut farmer later nuclear physicist later governor of Georgia, James Earl Carter Jr. There are many factors that explain why this election was so intriguing and why the winner had the narrowest victory since 1916 (644).
Television played a large role in both campaigns. Carter acknowledged that his success would have been minimal without the aid of television. The three televised debates that took place in September and October were key to Carter's victory. Commercials were being used more and more extensively to represent both candidates but the 1976 election was the first that the new campaign finance law affected. The law provided $21.8 million from the government to each of the candidates, but they could spend nor raise an amount higher (14-15).
The pursuit of the presidency, arguably, started in 1972...