1992 Presidential Election

The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush; Democrat Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot.

Bush had alienated much of his conservative base by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes, the economy was in a recession, and Bush's perceived greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East after the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War.

Clinton won a plurality in the popular vote, and a wide Electoral College margin.

Source: Wikipedia

1992 Election Results

Candidate Party Electoral Votes Popular Votes
William J. Clinton Democratic 370 44,909,889
George Bush (I) Republican 168 39,104,545
Ross Perot Independent 0 19,742,267

1992 Election Facts

  • California electoral votes now >10% of total; greatest concentration since New York in 1868
  • Independent candidate H. Ross Perot received 19,741,065 votes, most ever for a 3rd party candidate, but no Electoral Votes
  • Popular vote totals from Federal Elections 92.
  • Issues of the Day: Persian Gulf War, Fall of Berlin Wall and Breakup of Soviet Union, Recession
  • Nebraska shifts from winner-take-all to congressional district method for allocating electoral votes

Margin of Victory Map

This map is shaded by how large the popular vote difference was between the two nominees. It is a way to view the relative competitiveness of each state. These maps are also available as a timeline for each election from 1972-2020.