George C Marshall High School - Columbian Yearbook (Falls Church, VA)

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Although scarred by scandal and rumors of foul play, the extended climax of the 1972 presidential election was somewhat low-key in feeling as far as the outcome was con¬ cerned. Beginning with the party nomination conventions during the summer of 1972, the election was rather colorless. Although pacifist demonstrations had been threatened before both the conventions, even the demon¬ strators who camped in a Miami park seemed worn out by years of protesting President Nixon’s military policies. In sharp contrast, the clean-cut Young Republicans, who had been sent to the convention by a Republican party eager for bright new faces, were greatly in evidence. The new law enabling eighteen year-olds to vote also helped give young peo¬ ple unusual prominence in a field customarily dominated by aging political professionals — representation at the conventions was required to be balanced as to age, sex, race, and geographical district of all voters represented. The fresh blood didn’t do much to change the character of the conventions, however; the Young Republicans, on the whole, led cheers and peppily walked around rather than using their newly-won political power to change the convention’s outcome. The highly-touted reforms (after 1968’s defeat) in the Democratic party also showed little effect at the party convention. Senator George McGovern, at the crest of his popular¬ ity, was selected nearly unanimously as the Democratic nominee — Senator Edward Ken¬ nedy had firmly declined to run, Senator Hubert Humphrey’s old image had stood in his way from the first primary, and Senator Ed¬ mund Muskie’s fitness to handle presidential pressures and responsibilities had been made questionable by a tearful speech in Mas¬ sachusetts and his shameful showing in the Florida primary. The Democratic vice- presidential choice was somewhat more complicated, but the party finally settled on Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri. His previous record of mental illness and Mc¬ Govern’s wishy-washy reaction to the public outcry were to seriously hurt the Democratic campaign. McGovern eventually dumped Eagleton because of the public stigma, and chose Sargent Shriver, of Kennedy fame, for his running mate. The whole situation was very embarrasing to the party. The result of the Republican convention was a foregone conclusion. President Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew were renominated for second terms, with the only slight opposition coming from Congressman Paul McCloskey. Governor George Wallace of Alabama, another contender for the presidency during the primaries, was shot as he campaigned in a Lanham, Maryland shopping center before the Maryland primary. Although he was in critical condition for weeks, surgery to remove the as¬ sassin’s bullets saved his life but left his legs paralyzed. Wallace’s political campaign was thus shockingly cut short, but a horrified na¬ tion was forced to realize the inadequacies of current protective measurers for spotlighted public figures, and the law-and-order move¬ ment, which Wallace had, ironically, promoted in his campaign, received a sharp boost. After the nominating conventions and brouhaha over Eagleton, the campaign settled down to a rather numbly followed debate about the Viet Nam War, a subject which many voters were so sick of thinking about

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that the election excitement was strangely lacking. Economic and foreign policy were also differing points of the opponents’ plat¬ forms, but Viet Nam remained the campaign’s major issue. Nixon’s de-escalation of the war while striving to negotiate “Peace with Honor” during his presidential term was pop¬ ular with voters, and as the autumn progressed and Dr. Henry Kissinger’s Paris peace talks with the North Vietnamese began to show encouraging results, Nixon’s popular¬ ity grew. McGovern’s pacifist pledge that the U.S. would completely withdraw from Viet Nam within sixty days after his election seemed more and more unneccessary and un¬ desirable to the voting public. Along with the Eagleton affair and the premature statement of a poorly-thought-out economic policy, Mc¬ Govern’s Viet Nam plans turned off more and more Americans as the fall progressed. Opinion polls showed Nixon gradually ac¬ cumulating support from both sides of the po¬ litical spectrum — conservative votes from Wallace supporters, and more liberal ones resulting from the seeming success of his war policy. In the last days of October, Kissinger’s achievements in the Paris negotiations became more pronounced; his election-eve statement, “Peace is at hand” probably did more than anything else to sway voter favor towards Nixon. The election result, which surprised no one after the repeated polls showing McGovern’s sliding popularity, was a landslide in favor of Nixon, by the largest margin in history. Marshall government classes sponsored a mock-election the same day as the national one. Every attempt was made to create a situ¬ ation as close to the real one as possible; before voting, students had to register. This was done simply by signing a master sheet. When the students returned to vote, they signed their name again and the signatures were compared. The mock election was planned by “precinct captains” elected by each government class. The mock election achieved its goal of simi¬ larity to the national one — even the election results agreed with the national ones. Marshall thus served as a microcosm reflecting the national political mood of the United States in 1972. Above: Presidential candidates Richard Nixon and George Mc¬ Govern campaign. Below: Marshall’s mock election results are enumerated in the Rank and File. Borders: Bumper stickers and buttons capture the spirit of the campaign. IcGover Sh river 1 GEORGE C. MARSHALL H.S. MOCK ELECTION RESULTS 1972 Candidate Freshmen Sophomores Juniors Seniors Nixon 79% 77% 69% 67% McGovern 19% 22% 30% 33% Scott 64% 60% 49% 40% Spong 43% 40% 50% 52% Broyhill 60% 59% 51% 41% Miller 43% 41% 49% 53% Schmitz approximately l%of all school votes. 59% of the school population registered. 52% of the school population voted. 55% of the nation voted. 89% of Fairfax County voted. 1388 students registered to vote. 1230 students actually voted. 275 students registered but did not vote. 120 ballots were fraudulent, e.g. voted but apparently not registered etc. Total 73% 26% 53 % 46% 53% 46%