Why did Nixon capture the youth vote in 1972?

[Vice President Christian Man]

1. Despite his corruption, Nixon was a great president, one of the best of the 20th century. This was before Watergate and if it wasn't for that, he would've been in a similar position historically as T Roosevelt and Eisenhower.

2 Nixon was able to out AOC McGovern using his rhetoric. George McGovern wasn't a Socialist by any stretch of the imagination but Nixon painted him to be some kind of radical Marxist. It was a tool that the GOP has reused in almost every presidential election cycle since then but it hasn't been successful with the possibility of 1984 because of how the economy improved during Reagan's first term.

3. Vietnam was dying down which helped to boost his popularity around the time of the election.

4. The national environment improved greatly during Nixon's first term, especially compared to the preceding Summer.

5. It's likely that some 18-20 year old's regardless of ideology were just grateful that it was under Nixon's presidency that they were able to vote and wanted to thank him at the polls.