1992 United States presidential election
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The 1992 United States presidential election was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. Republican CEO and President of Perot Systems Ross Perot of Texas defeated incumbent America First President Donald Rumsfeld, and a number of minor candidates. The Progressive Party chose not to field their own candidate, instead choosing to nominate Perot but with the running mate of Gore Vidal.
The economy had recovered from a recession in the spring of 1991, followed by 19 consecutive months of economic growth, but perceptions of the economy's slow growth harmed Rumsfeld, for he had inherited a substantial economic boom from his predecessor Jeanne Kirkpatrick. Rumsfeld's greatest weakness, however, was foreign policy, which was regarded as much more important following the fall of Valery Sablin and the end of the Korean Revolutionary War, as Rumsfeld campaigned on escalating the Cold War and even potentially declaring war on Japan. Rumsfeld led in several polls taken in June 1992, but severely damaged his candidacy by refusing to meet Morihiro Hosokawa, the Prime Minister of Japan over a potential peace agreement. The Perot campaign criticized Rumsfeld's character and emphasized Perot's foreign policy, while Rumsfeld focused on the economy.
In the end, Ross Perot defeated incumbent President Donald Rumsfeld by over four million votes. This was the first time since 1980 that an incumbent President failed to win re-election.