South Bend, November 8, 1972
The Election Results
Yesterday’s presidential election was decided in the evening at 9 p.m. Richard Nixon won a landslide victory over George McGovern. With about 61% of the vote cast for Nixon, the election results come close to those of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. It was more the victory of Richard Nixon than that of the Republican Party, for the Democrats were able to hold on to their majority in the Senate and the House.
The convincing reelection of Richard Nixon means that the Nixon era will take shape in world politics. Without a doubt, the policy of détente with the Soviet Union and China will be continued. Nixon’s second term will also have special significance for dealing with the European questions that are on the agenda of the forthcoming European Security Conference.
South Bend, [End of November], 1972
Elections to the Bundestag 1972
On November 19 the German elections to the Bundestag, the Lower House of the German Federal Parliament, were held. More than other European parliamentary elections, this German election got a great deal of attention in the United States. The sympathies were from the start on the side of Willy Brandt, whose reelection as Federal Chancellor was beyond doubt. The SPD (Social Democratic Party) won 45.8%, the FDP (Free Democrats) 8.2% of the vote. This gives the coalition government of Willy Brandt over the opposition of the CDU-CSU (Union of the conservative Christian Democrats) a reliable majority. The SPD-FDP coalition received 272 seats in the Bundestag versus the 224 seats of the CDU-CSU.
The election victory of Willy Brandt clearly confirms his Ostpolitik by the German electorate. This opens the way to further talks with the DDR and for bringing the Grundvertag, the basic treaty recognizing the DDR or East Germany as a separate state, to a conclusion. It is also important for the success of the European Security Conference, which has just started in Helsinki.