Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic president Bill Clinton and his running mate, incumbent vice president Al Gore, were re-elected to a second term; they defeated the Republican ticket of former Senate majority leader Bob Dole and former secretary of housing and urban development Jack Kemp, and the Reform ticket of businessman Ross Perot and economist Pat Choate.
Clinton and Gore were re-nominated by their party with no difficulty. Meanwhile, numerous Republican candidates entered the competitive primaries, with Dole considered the early frontrunner. Dole clinched the nomination after defeating challenges by publisher Steve Forbes and paleoconservative leader Pat Buchanan. Dole's running mate was Jack Kemp, a former New York congressman and football player who had served as the housing secretary under President George H. W. Bush. Ross Perot, who had won 18.9% of the popular vote as an independent candidate in 1992, ran as the candidate of the Reform Party. Perot received less media attention in 1996 and was excluded from the presidential debates.
Clinton's chances of winning were initially considered slim in the middle of his term, as his party had lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1994 for the first time in decades. He was able to regain ground as the economy began to recover from the early 1990s recession with a relatively stable world stage. Clinton tied Dole to Newt Gingrich, the arch-conservative Republican speaker of the House, and expressed concern that Republicans would increase the deficit and slash spending on popular programs like Social Security and Medicare. Dole promised an across-the-board 15% reduction in federal income taxes and labeled Clinton as a "spoiled" Baby Boomer who "never grew up" and "never sacrificed." Dole's age was a persistent issue in the election, and gaffes by Dole exacerbated the issue for his campaign.
On election day, Clinton defeated Dole by a wide margin, winning 379 electors to Dole's 159 and taking 49.2% of the national popular vote to Dole's 40.7%. As in 1992, Perot's strong candidacy held both major party candidates below 50% nationwide. As of 2026, he remains the last third party or independent candidate to receive more than 5% of the popular vote. As of 2024, this marked the last election in which the Democratic nominee won Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, and West Virginia; it was also the last election in which the Democratic nominee won Arizona until 2020.
Background In 1995, the Republican Party was riding high on the significant gains made in the 1994 midterm elections. In those races, the Republicans, led by whip Newt Gingrich, captured the majority of seats in the House for the first time in forty years and the majority of seats in the Senate for the first time in eight years. Gingrich became speaker of the House, while Bob Dole was elevated to Senate majority leader.
The Republicans of the 104th Congress pursued an ambitious agenda, highlighted by their Contract with America, but were often forced to compromise with Clinton, who wielded veto power. A budget impasse between Congress and the Clinton administration eventually resulted in a government shutdown. Clinton, meanwhile, was praised for signing the GOP's welfare reform, and other notable bills, but was forced to abandon his own health care plan.
Democratic Party nomination
Democratic candidates Bill Clinton, president of the United States Jimmy Griffin, former mayor of Buffalo from New York Lyndon LaRouche, activist from Virginia
1996 Democratic Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President 42nd President of the United States(1993–2001) 45thVice President of the United States(1993–2001)Campaign
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With the advantage of incumbency, Bill Clinton's path to renomination by the Democratic Party was uneventful. At the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton and incumbent Vice President Al Gore were renominated with token opposition. Formerly incarcerated fringe candidate Lyndon LaRouche won a few Arkansas delegates who were barred from the convention. Jimmy Griffin, former Mayor of Buffalo, New York, mounted a brief campaign but withdrew after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary. Former Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey contemplated a challenge to Clinton, but health problems forced Casey to abandon a bid.
Clinton easily won primaries nationwide, with margins consistently higher than 80%.
Popular primaries vote: Bill Clinton (inc.) – 9,730,184 (88.5%) Lyndon LaRouche – 597,081 (5.4%) Unpledged – 423,265 (3.8%) Convention tally:
Bill Clinton (inc.) – 4,277 Not voting – 12
Republican Party nomination
Republican candidates:
Lamar Alexander, former governor of Tennessee Pat Buchanan, conservative columnist from Virginia Bob Dole, U.S. senator from Kansas and Republican nominee for vice president of the United States in 1976 Bob Dornan, U.S. representative from California Steve Forbes, newspaper and magazine publisher from New Jersey Phil Gramm, U.S. senator from Texas Alan Keyes, former U.S. ECOSOC ambassador from Maryland Richard Lugar, U.S. senator from Indiana Arlen Specter, U.S. senator from Pennsylvania Morry Taylor, CEO from Michigan Pete Wilson, governor of California
1996 Republican Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President U.S. Senator from Kansas(1969–1996) 9thU.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development(1989–1993)Campaign
Withdrawn candidates Candidates in this section are sorted by popular vote from the primariesPat BuchananSteve ForbesLamar AlexanderRichard LugarPhil GrammWhite House Communications Director(1985–1987)Publisher and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine(1990–)United States Secretary of Education(1991–1993)United States Senator from Indiana(1977–2013)United States Senator from Texas(1985–2002)CampaignLN: August 153,184,943 votesW: March 141,751,187 votesW: March 9495,590 votesW: March 9127,111 votes
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A number of Republican candidates entered the field to challenge the incumbent Democratic president, Bill Clinton.
The fragmented field of candidates debated issues such as a flat tax and other tax cut proposals, and a return to supply-side economic policies popularized by Ronald Reagan. More attention was drawn to the race by the budget stalemate in 1995 between Congress and the president, which caused temporary shutdowns and slowdowns in many areas of federal government service.
Former Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin of Illinois, who served in the United States House of Representatives from Illinois's 16th District and was the 1990 Republican U.S. Senate nominee losing to incumbent Paul Simon conducted a bid for most of 1995, but withdrew before the Iowa caucuses as polls showed her languishing far behind. She participated in a number of primary presidential debates before withdrawing. Martin's predecessor in Congress, John Anderson, had made first a Republican, then independent, presidential bid in 1980. Also, Simon, who defeated Martin for the U.S. Senate, had run for president as a Democrat in 1988.
Former U.S. Army General and future Secretary of State Colin Powell was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee. However, on November 8, 1995, Powell announced that he would not seek the nomination. Former and future Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld formed a presidential campaign exploratory committee, but declined to formally enter the race. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Secretary of Education William Bennett both flirted with bids, and both even set up exploratory committees for a number of months, but both finally declared within days of each other that they would not run. Former Secretary of Defense and future Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney was touted by many as a possible candidate for the presidency, but he declared his intentions not to run in early 1995.
Primaries and convention
Ahead of the 1996 primary contest, Republican Leader of the United States Senate and former vice-presidential candidate Bob Dole was seen as the most likely winner. However, Steve Forbes finished first in Delaware and Arizona while paleoconservative firebrand Pat Buchanan managed early victories in Alaska and Louisiana, in addition to a strong second place in the Iowa caucuses and a surprising victory in the small but key New Hampshire primary. Buchanan's New Hampshire win alarmed the Republican "establishment" sufficiently as to provoke prominent Republicans to quickly coalesce around Dole,Julie Hirschfeld Davis (January 26, 2012), "'Stop-Newt' Republicans Confront New Base" Bloomberg News and Dole won every primary starting with North and South Dakota. Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11 and the Republican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996, for president.
Popular primaries vote: Bob Dole – 8,427,601 (59.2%) Pat Buchanan – 3,021,935 (21.2%) Steve Forbes – 1,425,998 (10.0%) Lamar Alexander – 495,590 (3.5%) Alan Keyes – 449,536 (3.2%) Richard Lugar – 127,111 (0.9%) Unpledged – 123,765 (0.9%) Phil Gramm – 71,457 (0.5%) Bob Dornan – 42,141 (0.3%) Morry Taylor – 21,180 (0.1%)
Convention tally: Bob Dole – 1928 Pat Buchanan – 43 Phil Gramm – 2 Alan Keyes – 1 Robert Bork – 1 Not voting – 15
Former Representative and Housing Secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation for vice president, the following day. This was the only Republican ticket between 1980 and 2004 that did not include a member of the Bush family.
Reform Party nomination
1996 Reform Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President President and CEO of Perot Systems (1988–2009) EconomistCampaign
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The United States Reform Party had great difficulty in finding a candidate willing to run in the general election. Lowell Weicker, Tim Penny, David Boren and Richard Lamm were among those who toyed with the notion of seeking its presidential nomination, though all but Lamm decided against it; Lamm had himself come close to withdrawing his name from consideration. Lamm designated Ed Zschau as his vice presidential candidate.
Ultimately, the Reform Party nominated its founder Ross Perot from Texas in its first election as an official political party. Although Perot easily won the nomination, his victory at the party's national convention led to a schism as supporters of Lamm accused him of rigging the vote to prevent them from casting their ballots. This faction walked out of the national convention and eventually formed their own group, the American Reform Party, and attempted to convince Lamm to run as an Independent in the general election; Lamm declined, pointing out a promise he made before running that he would respect the Party's final decision.
Economist Pat Choate was nominated for vice president.
Minor parties and independents
Parties in this section obtained ballot access in enough states to theoretically obtain the minimum number of electoral votes needed to win the election. Individuals included in this section completed one or more of the following actions: received, or formally announced their candidacy for, the presidential nomination of a third party; formally announced intention to run as an independent candidate and obtained enough ballot access to win the election; filed as a third party or non-affiliated candidate with the FEC (for other than exploratory purposes). Within each party, candidates are listed alphabetically by surname.
Minor party candidates, 1996 Harry BrowneRalph NaderJohn Hagelin Howard Phillips Investment analyst Author and consumer advocate Scientist and researcher Conservative political activist
Libertarian Party nomination
Libertarian candidates:
Harry Browne, writer and investment analyst from Tennessee Jeffrey Diket, political activist from Louisiana Douglas J. Ohmen, political activist from California