News stories from Sunday November 5, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Senator George McGovern declared that the Vietnam war was "intensifying" rather than coming to an end, and that President Nixon had deliberately misled the nation into believing that peace was near. He made the charge in his second hastily arranged television address on the war in three days. "An effort has been made," the Senator asserted, "to persuade the American people that the war in Vietnam is virtually over. That is untrue." [New York Times]
- Sargent Shriver, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, campaigned in Newark and the city's reaction reflected the overwhelming sense of apathy most political leaders contend has marked the presidential campaign in New Jersey. His motorcade passed virtually unnoticed through empty streets, and there was no excitement when he and his family attended a mass at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. [New York Times]
- An overwhelming majority of the nation's top businessmen said they will vote for President Nixon and that domestic economic policy is the key campaign issue for them. A poll of 1,281 leading business executives conducted by the New York Times found that 91.4% of them planned to vote for Mr. Nixon and only 6.7% would vote for McGovern. [New York Times]
- Democrats in Connecticut campaigned hard in the last weekend of the presidential election campaign, worried that the grip they have had on the state legislature for six years may be loosened by a defeat of Senator McGovern. Senator Edward Kennedy aided the McGovern campaign in the state and told Democrats that they must decide for themselves who should run the country and not listen to poll-takers. [New York Times]
- According to national opinion polls, President Nixon stands on the brink of a national sweep of landslide proportions. Both the Gallup and Harris polls find that Mr. Nixon will receive more than 60% of the popular vote. If they are correct, and if 85 million Americans vote, Mr. Nixon's margin will approach 20 million votes. [New York Times]
- A crowd of 10,000 to 15,000 Catholics of North Vietnamese origin demonstrated peacefully in Saigon against the proposed peace agreement between Henry Kissinger, whose name was singled out in documents given the press, and the North Vietnamese. [New York Times]
- A Japan Air Lines jetliner with 126 persons aboard was hijacked shortly after taking off from Tokyo. The hijacker demanded $2 million and a bigger plane to take him to Cuba. The hijacker was captured at the Tokyo airport while attempting to board the second plane. [New York Times]