Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1976 for a president, and Mondale became a major part of Carter's campaign. The choice of Mondale helped Carter, a Southern "outsider" with little experience in Washington, rally the Democratic base to his candidacy. The Carter-Mondale ticket defeated the Ford-Dole ticket in the 1976 election. Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1976 This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 1976 election. Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter won the 1976 Democratic nomination for President of the United States, and chose Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate.
Presidency of Jimmy Carter taken on the eve of the election showed a close race, Reagan won a decisive victory. In polls of historians and political scientists, Carter is usually ranked as a below-average president. Carter was elected as the Governor of Georgia in 1970, and during his four years in office he earned a reputation as a progressive, racially moderate Southern governor. Observing George McGovern's success in the 1972 Democratic primaries, Carter came to believe that he could win the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination by running as an outsider unconnected to establishment politicians in Washington, D.C. Despite scant backing from party leaders, McGovern