The “New Majority” and the White Ethnics – The Involvement of László Pásztor in Richard Nixon’s Reelection Campaign in 1972

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ahea.2025.596

Keywords:

Hungarian-Americans, Nixon, Republican Party, elections, ethnics, László Pásztor

Abstract

The support of the “white ethnic” population was instrumental in Richard Nixon’s landslide presidential victory in 1972. Whereas traditionally, urban, working-class Catholics had been voting mostly for Democratic candidates, in 1972, the majority of them defected to the Republican Party. One of the most important ethnic organizers was the Hungarian 1956 émigré, László Pásztor. Pásztor was the director of the Heritage Groups (Nationalities) Division of the Republican National Congress, and his work among the volunteers strongly contributed to the result. But from the perspective of the Nixon campaign, Pásztor was not the ideal ethnic—he was critical of détente and was actively promoting ethnic interests such as ethnic hirings. Whereas the Nixon campaign wanted to focus on the urban, working-class ethnic demographic referred to as the “New Majority,” Pásztor was representing the anticommunist, captive nations narrative. Pásztor was predicting that this shift was going to hurt the Republican Party electorally, as the anticommunist ethnics would feel that their interests were ignored.

Author Biography

Máté Gergely Balogh, University of Debrecen, Hungary

Máté Gergely Balogh is an instructor at the North American Department of the University of Debrecen. He received his degree as an English major from the University of Debrecen, and also graduated majoring in International Relations from Corvinus University Budapest and in History from the Central European University. He defended his doctoral dissertation in 2022, the title is The United States of America through the Eyes of the Hungarian State Security, 1956-1989. His research areas include international relations of the United States after 1945 with a special focus on Hungarian-American relations.

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Published

2025-08-25

Issue

Vol. 18 (2025)

Section

Thematic Cluster: The Impact of Johnson-Reed in Hungary: Changing Trajectories and Perceptions. Guest editor: Balázs Venkovits

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Copyright (c) 2025 Mate Gergely Balogh

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