1972: A week prior to the election, the Washington Post releases a tape in which Richard Nixon is heard how he is personally authorizing a break-in into the DNC headquarters in the Watergate hotel. In the same tape, Nixon also utters several anti-Semitic rants. On election day, Richard Nixon wins 47%, George McGovern 46%, and John Schmitz 4% of the popular vote. Nixon wins 270 and McGovern 268 electoral votes.
An faithless elector casts his vote for John Hospers in the Electoral College and the election becomes a tie (Nixon 269, McGovern 268, Hospers 1). The House of Representatives elects McGovern president.