American politics is very polarised at the moment, with bitter disagreements between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, in the media and in the presidential campaign.

One source of polarisation that is rarely discussed is the divide between young and old voters at elections. Over the past 50 years, young and old have often supported the same candidate, but in 2024 younger voters are expected to be particularly important.

In 1971, the 26th amendment of the US constitution changed the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, bringing swathes of new voters to the ballot box.

The 1972 contest was a challenge for both parties, who wanted to make sure to win over these new younger voters. Republican Richard Nixon was up against Democrat challenger George McGovern. While college-educated young voters appeared to like McGovern because he opposed the Vietnam war (which was the focus of enormous protests on university campuses), non-college goers seemed to swing towards Nixon. Older voters were also showing their preferences for Nixon.

Although McGovern was the favourite to win the young vote, Nixon was determined not to ignore younger voters in his campaign. He even appointed a full-time member of staff to create campaigning specifically for these new voters, running a new organisation Young Voters for the President. Nixon........

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