Uploaded October 2014 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
(c)1992 NBC News -- NBC Universal; Dow Chemical Company; Isuzu Motors; Procter & Gamble
Brief snippet of the March 23, 1992 edition of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Brokaw begins by introducing a piece on Ross Perot, who was beginning his independent Presidential campaign at that point. The story has a graphic error at the top with a clip of Perot and chyron of Bob Anderson (who appeared later in the story).
First, Lisa Myers sets the story up as to why the Electronic Data Systems founder wanted to run; with Perot comparing incumbent President George H.W. Bush and then-Democratic front-runner; Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton to aluminum siding salesmen (Perot comparing himself to a mechanic who could fix a car).
Perot had opened the door to a run with his statement a month earlier on Larry King Live that he would run if enough "ordinary citizens" would sign petitions to get him on the ballots in all 50 states (something independent or third-party candidates generally have trouble with); while he funded his own campaign. Most of Perot's support came from those more conservative voters who supported Perot's economic emphasis even if they disagreed with Perot on issues such as abortion (many of those probably would have backed Pat Buchanan's challenge for the GOP nomination).
Initially, Perot's campaign had something of a "dream team" of consultants such as Hal Riney (creator of the "Morning in America" and "Bear in the Woods" spots for Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign); Hamilton Jordan (Jimmy Carter's campaign manager in 1976); Ed Rollins (Reagan's 1984 campaign manager) and Frank Luntz (Pat Buchanan's pollster); and by mid-May Perot was leading both Bush and Clinton in some polls (notably, this led to the Bush team firing back; with Vice-President Dan Quayle famously blasting Perot as a "tempermental tycoon with contempt for the Constitution").
But by July, the campaign began to unravel due to strife in the camp while Perot was convinced the Bush campaign was attempting character assassination by trying to smear his daughter just before her wedding (the Bush camp countered that Perot had hired private investigators to follow his sons, specifically Neil Bush). Combined with several mis-steps of his own, this led to Perot's support declining and Perot going back on Larry King Live to drop out. By October 1, Perot had gotten back in the race (this time with the campaign staffed entirely by people he was certain did not have divided loyalties) and did well in the debates (running mate Admiral James Stockdale, however, seemed lost on several occasions during the Vice-Presidential debate) while combining traditional advertising with half-hour infomercials. Ultimately, Perot would finish with 19% of the vote (the best non-major party candidate percentage since Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 campaign; where he finished 2nd) but possibly in the process tilting the race to Clinton, who managed to win by a 43%-38% margin over incumbent President Bush (the electoral margin of victory was 370-168 in favor of Clinton)
Elsewhere, Bob Kur reports a story on the Bush Administration's proposal to limit advice on the issue of abortion (among them, only doctors could give limited advice in that area and not allowing referrals to abortion clinics or recommending it for family planning). Pro-life groups such as National Right-to-Life were somewhat happy about it (though others were convinced that Bush didn't go far enough); pro-abortion groups such as NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League), not so much; while Brokaw reports that the Libyan ambassador to the United Nations announced that two suspects in the Pan Am Flight 103 were being turned over to the Arab League; while the U.S. delegation responded that as long as they were tried in the States or Europe, they had no problems
At the end are commercials for Dow Chemical; the Isuzu Trooper (note glimpse of the Twin Towers) and Fixodent
(c)1992 NBC News -- NBC Universal; Dow Chemical Company; Isuzu Motors; Procter & Gamble
Brief snippet of the March 23, 1992 edition of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Brokaw begins by introducing a piece on Ross Perot, who was beginning his independent Presidential campaign at that point. The story has a graphic error at the top with a clip of Perot and chyron of Bob Anderson (who appeared later in the story).
First, Lisa Myers sets the story up as to why the Electronic Data Systems founder wanted to run; with Perot comparing incumbent President George H.W. Bush and then-Democratic front-runner; Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton to aluminum siding salesmen (Perot comparing himself to a mechanic who could fix a car).
Perot had opened the door to a run with his statement a month earlier on Larry King Live that he would run if enough "ordinary citizens" would sign petitions to get him on the ballots in all 50 states (something independent or third-party candidates generally have trouble with); while he funded his own campaign. Most of Perot's support came from those more conservative voters who supported Perot's economic emphasis even if they disagreed with Perot on issues such as abortion (many of those probably would have backed Pat Buchanan's challenge for the GOP nomination).
Initially, Perot's campaign had something of a "dream team" of consultants such as Hal Riney (creator of the "Morning in America" and "Bear in the Woods" spots for Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign); Hamilton Jordan (Jimmy Carter's campaign manager in 1976); Ed Rollins (Reagan's 1984 campaign manager) and Frank Luntz (Pat Buchanan's pollster); and by mid-May Perot was leading both Bush and Clinton in some polls (notably, this led to the Bush team firing back; with Vice-President Dan Quayle famously blasting Perot as a "tempermental tycoon with contempt for the Constitution").
But by July, the campaign began to unravel due to strife in the camp while Perot was convinced the Bush campaign was attempting character assassination by trying to smear his daughter just before her wedding (the Bush camp countered that Perot had hired private investigators to follow his sons, specifically Neil Bush). Combined with several mis-steps of his own, this led to Perot's support declining and Perot going back on Larry King Live to drop out. By October 1, Perot had gotten back in the race (this time with the campaign staffed entirely by people he was certain did not have divided loyalties) and did well in the debates (running mate Admiral James Stockdale, however, seemed lost on several occasions during the Vice-Presidential debate) while combining traditional advertising with half-hour infomercials. Ultimately, Perot would finish with 19% of the vote (the best non-major party candidate percentage since Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 campaign; where he finished 2nd) but possibly in the process tilting the race to Clinton, who managed to win by a 43%-38% margin over incumbent President Bush (the electoral margin of victory was 370-168 in favor of Clinton)
Elsewhere, Bob Kur reports a story on the Bush Administration's proposal to limit advice on the issue of abortion (among them, only doctors could give limited advice in that area and not allowing referrals to abortion clinics or recommending it for family planning). Pro-life groups such as National Right-to-Life were somewhat happy about it (though others were convinced that Bush didn't go far enough); pro-abortion groups such as NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League), not so much; while Brokaw reports that the Libyan ambassador to the United Nations announced that two suspects in the Pan Am Flight 103 were being turned over to the Arab League; while the U.S. delegation responded that as long as they were tried in the States or Europe, they had no problems
At the end are commercials for Dow Chemical; the Isuzu Trooper (note glimpse of the Twin Towers) and Fixodent
