In 1976 Viguerie served as a fundraiser for George Wallace's campaign to win the nomination for president of the United States. After Wallace withdrew, Viguerie began to focus on the American Independent Party to oppose Republican President Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter. (Ford who had assumed the Presidency on August 9, 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned, had seen his own popularity suffer when on September 8, 1974 he had pardoned ex-president Richard Nixon for his involvement in the Watergate scandal.)