That race was so close that probably the deciding factor, if one could call just one 'deciding', was the pardon of Nixon without any acknowledgment of guilt or remorse on the part of the guy. Didn't go over well with a large part of the country.

I suppose in that way you could say that Carter benefited from Watergate, in that the country was fed up with a lying, deceitful administration. But both Carter and Ford projected themselves well as honest and simple.

Ford, by the way, was (is) a decent guy, and except for his politics, well suited for the presidency in the manner of Harry Truman. Bright, and not really a klutz. In my opinion. After having read innumerable bios of him, Nixon and Carter.

Arf