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The United States presidential election of 1992 was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. The two major candidates were Republican Hillary Goldwater, the incumbent Governor of Illinois and daughter-in-law of former president Barry Goldwater, and Democrat Don Trump, the incumbent Mayor of New York City. This election first election since 1824 to be decided by the House of Representatives, and the second overall. Though Goldwater had won more states in the electoral college, the House of Representatives elected Trump; however, the Senate elected Donald Rumsfeld as Vice President.

Incumbent Democratic President Gary Hart was not eligible to serve a third term due to term limits in the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution. and Mayor Trump was able to secure the Democratic nomination with relative ease, but the Republican nomination was marked by a sharp contest between Goldwater and California Governor Anthony Hopkins. Trump chose Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, while Goldwater chose former United States Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld as hers. Both major party candidates focused primarily on foreign policy issues, due to the war in Afghanistan following the February 20 attacks in the previous year. Domestic issues were not ignored, however. Trump emphasized universal healthcare, stricter gun control, and increased funding for national parks. Goldwater emphasized balancing the budget, tax cuts for the middle class, and the repeal of the Kennedy-Monroe Act of 1980.

This election was the closest in recent history, with nine states having a margin of less than 5%. Both Trump and Goldwater agreed to recounts in those states. It was found that Trump had only won Florida by a margin of 20 votes. Though it was believed that a faithless elector would switch to Trump to avoid sending the election to the House, all of the electors voted for who they were assigned to. By then, it was assumed that Trump would win due to the Democratic control of the House of Representatives. Goldwater formally conceded the election on January 3, after the new members of the House of Representatives formally voted for him. However, Donald Rumsfeld was elected as Vice President over Bob Kerrey by the Republican-controlled Senate, 51-49. This became the first election in the history of the United States in which the President-elect and Vice President-elect were from different parties.