The initial installment of this series ended with the 1972 presidential election.  The string of pollsters drawing solid conclusions at the termination of presidential races was challenged in 1976 due to the speed bumps along a rocky U.S. seventies' political terrain, but when all was said and done things transpired basically as predicted.

Following the resignation of Richard M. Nixon as a result of the Watergate Scandal it was initially thought that the Democrats would score a resounding victory in the 1976 presidential election since Republican fortunes were then running at low tide.  One advantage the Republicans had was that, in resigning in the summer of 1974, the party had better than two years to engage in operation damage control.

Another Republican advantage was that of incumbency in that Congressman Gerald Ford assumed the vice presidency after he had been selected by Nixon and approved by Congress following the resignation of Spiro Agnew.  Ford did his best immediately to repair damage in the wake of Nixon's rule of "presidency by secrecy" to convey openness and congeniality with former fellow House members as well as Senators.

Two thorny problems damaged Ford, his pardoning of Nixon as well as the worst recession to grip America since the Great Depression.  Ford was the victim of an oil embargo employed by Arab nations believing that they had not received fairness in dealing with the U.S., asserting that American policy was tilted toward Israel to their detriment.