The Presidential Election 1996

President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were renominated to run for a second term in office on the Democratic ticket. For the Republicans, former US senator Bob Dole became presidential candidate. Ross Perot, who had also run independently in 1992, was the candidate for the Reform party but he never emerged as a major player in the race. The unpopularity of Newt Gingrich – the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives – combined with Dole’s ineffectual campaign and weak tax-cut proposals all played to Clinton’s advantage. While his first term in office had seen failures as well as successes, Clinton’s popularity was buoyed by a recovering economy. The ‘Comeback Kid’, as he was known, won a second term as president with 49.2 per cent of the popular vote and 70.4 per cent of the electoral vote.