History

New Hampshire held its first primary on the second Tuesday of March in 1916, along with Minnesota. Indiana held its primary a week earlier. New Hampshire became first-in-the-nation in 1920 when Indiana moved its date to May and Minnesota returned to a caucus.
 
New Hampshire legislators felt it more sensible to hold the primary on the traditional town meeting day, prompting the state's first in the nation status. Representatives Stephen Bullock (D- Richmond) and John Glessner (R- Bethlehem) drafted the primary law which facilitated the date change from the third Tuesday in May to the second Tuesday in March.
 
The idea of New Hampshire's Presidential primary grew out of the progressive reform movement early in the last century. It was an effort to move the decision-making process on the party's Presidential nominee away from the party caucus to a state run election so as many voters as possible would factor in deciding on the nominee.
 
In another effort to increase voter participation, Speaker of the House Richard Upton wrote legislation in 1949 enabling New Hampshire voters to vote directly for a Presidential candidate rather than a delegate pledged to a Presidential candidate.
 
With the increasing use of television in Presidential campaigns in the 1960's, the nation began to realize the role of each state in the Presidential selection process. The idea of the importance of being first-in-the-nation took on new meaning. New Hampshire passed state law in 1975 that gave the Secretary of State sole authority to set the date of the New Hampshire primary and required the Secretary of State to set the date one week before any other similar contest.
 
The state's primary law was modified in 1999 to give greater flexibility to the Secretary of State by stipulating seven days or more ahead of any similar election, allowing the term “similar” to be interpreted by the Secretary of State. This allows discretion by the Secretary of State to determine if a primary or a caucus in another state is a similar election. New Hampshire law allows for Iowa to precede New Hampshire because it is a caucus, not a statewide presidential primary election.
 

 

1952 
Republicans,% votes received                              

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 50%                             

Robert A. Taft, 39%

Harold E. Stassen, 7%

Douglas McArthur, 4%

 

Estes Kefauver, 55%

Harry S. Truman, 44%

                                        
NH Governor Sherman Adams ensured the success of Dwight Eisenhower's Presidential bid, even though Ike could not campaign here while in military service.

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 99%

 

Estes Kefauver, 85%

Adlai E. Stevenson, 15% - write-ins

 

Richard M. Nixon, 89%

Nelson A. Rockefeller, 4%

 

John F. Kennedy, 85%

 

John F. Kennedy began his campaign in Nashua, New Hampshire. A statue in front of City Hall commemorates that day.
 
1964
Republicans, % votes received

Henry Cabot Lodge, 36%

Barry M. Goldwater, 22%

Nelson A. Rockefeller, 21%

Richard M. Nixon, 17%

 

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 95%

Robert Kennedy, 2%

 

Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, stationed in Saigon, was a write-in candidate who defeated both active campaigners for the Republican nomination, Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater.
 
1968
Republicans, % votes received

Richard M. Nixon, 78%

Nelson A. Rockefeller, 11%

George Romney (1,743 votes)

 

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 50%

Eugene McCarthy, 42%

 

Eugene McCarthy's startling showing of 42% as compared to Lyndon Johnson's 50% of the vote led President Johnson to the decision not to seek another term.
 
1972
Republicans, % votes received

Richard M. Nixon, 68%

Paul M. McClosky, Jr., 20%

John M. Ashbrook, 10%

 

Edmund S. Muskie, 46%

George McGovern, 37%

Sam Yorty, 6%

Wilbur D. Mills, 4%

 

Senator Edmund Muskie's emotional outrage at Manchester Union Leader editor William Loeb, on a flatbed truck in front of the newspaper building, led to the decline in his campaign. He also only received 46% of the vote, when his campaign publicly expected 50% of the vote in New Hampshire. Senator George McGovern went on to win the nomination.
 
1976
Republicans, % votes received

Gerald R. Ford, 50%

Ronald W. Reagan, 49%

 

James E. Carter, 29%

Morris K. Udall, 23%

Birch Bayh, 15%

Fred Harris, 11%

R. Sergeant Shriver, 8%

Hubert Humphrey, 5%

 

Governor Jimmy Carter began as an unknown and courted New Hampshire votes one at a time in his Peanut Brigade.
 
1980
Republicans, % votes received

Ronald W. Reagan, 50%

George H. W. Bush, 23%

Howard H. Baker, 13%

John B. Anderson, 10%

 

James E. Carter, 47%

Edward M. Kennedy, 37%

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., 10%

 

At Nashua High School, one of the most famous moments in the history of the primary occurred when Governor Ronald Reagan proclaimed that he “paid for” the microphone as moderator John Breen sought to adhere to the pre-arranged rules for the debate between George Bush and Ronald Reagan. The Reagan Campaign, unbeknownst to George Bush, had invited all the candidates to take part. 

 

Ronald W. Reagan, 86%

 

Gary Hart, 37%

Walter F. Mondale, 28%

John Glenn, 12%

Jesse L. Jackson, 5%

George McGovern, 5%

Ernest F. Hollings, 4%

 

George H. W. Bush, 38%

Robert B. Dole, 28%

Jack Kemp, 13%

Pierre S. DuPont, 10%

Pat Robinson, 9%

 

Michael Dukakis, 35%

Richard C. Gephardt, 20%

Paul Simon, 17%

Jesse L. Jackson, 8%

Al Gore, 7%

Bruce Babbitt, 5%

Gary Hart, 4%

George H. W. Bush, 52%

Patrick J. Buchanan, 37%

 

Paul E. Tsongas, 33%

Bill Clinton, 24%

Bob Kerry, 11%

Tom Harkin, 10%

 

Governor Bill Clinton lost the primary to Senator Paul Tsongas but appeared to be the winner by proclaiming himself the Comeback Kid. This is the first time that the eventual President did not win the New Hampshire primary.

 

Patrick J. Buchanan, 27%

Robert B. Dole, 26%

Lamar Alexander, 22%

Steve Forbes, 12%

Richard G. Lugar, 5%

Alan Keyes, 2%

 

Bill Clinton, 83%

 

John McCain, 48%

George W. Bush, 30%

Steve Forbes, 13%

Alan L. Keyes, 6%

Gary Bauer (1,640 votes)

 

Al Gore, 49%

Bill Bradley, 45%

 

Senator John McCain beat Governor George Bush by a 48-30% by holding 114 town meetings and campaigning relentlessly on the Straight Talk Express.
 
2004

George W. Bush, 78%

 

John Kerry, 38%

Howard Dean, 26%

Wesley Clark, 12.3%

John Edwards, 11.9%

Joe Lieberman, 9%

 

New Hampshire becomes a swing state after the Presidential primary, and the general election results saw 50% vote for Senator Kerry and 49% vote for President Bush.

 

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The Pierce Manse
The New Hampshire Political Library and the Pierce Brigade jointly maintain the Pierce Manse, a historic site located on Horseshoe Pond Lane in Concord, New Hampshire.