The Republican Nomination

No nomination contest took place on the Republican side. Bush commanded the support of his party and was unopposed for the nomination (Burden 2005). This was a favorable sign for his reelection effort. In the recent past, when presidents who were running for reelection encountered a significant nomination challenge, they were able to capture their party's nomination in the face of such opposition, but they then suffered defeat in the fall general election. Presidents George H. W. Bush in 1992, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and Gerald Ford in 1976 all met this fate. Presidents who had a united party behind them won a second term, as the reelection efforts of presidents Richard Nixon in 1972, Ronald Reagan in 1984, and Bill Clinton in 1996 showed.