The New Hampshire Primary first became the famous first in the nation contest with the 1952 contest. The Republican contest has selected eight nominees and four presidents since that year through the 2008 contest.
The results were, according to the Primary New Hampshire Site:
1952 - General Dwight Eisenhower
General Eisenhower won this contest with 50.4 percent of the vote against Robert Taft who took 38.7 percent. Eisenhower, who did no campaigning in the state, thanks to his being commanding general of NATO at the time, went on to win the nomination and the election.
1960 - Vice President Richard Nixon
Nixon took the contest with an overwhelming 89.3 percent of the vote. Nelson Rockefeller, then governor of New York, took 3.8 percent of the vote. Nixon went on to win the nomination but was defeated by then Senator John F. Kennedy narrowly in the general election.
1964 - Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge
Ambassador Lodge, then representing the United States in South Vietnam, was a surprise write in victor with 35.5 percent of the vote. Senator Barry Goldwater, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and former Vice President Richard Nixon followed with 22.3 percent, 21 percent, and 16.8 percent of the vote respectively. Goldwater went on to win the nomination but was handily defeated by President Lyndon Johnson in the general election.
1968 - Nixon
Nixon won the primary decisively with 77.6 percent of the vote with Rockefeller winning 10.8 percent. Nixon went on to be the nominee and won the general election narrowly against then Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
1976 - President Gerald Ford
President Ford fought off a stiff challenge against then former Gov. Ronald Reagan, taking 49.4 percent of the vote against Reagan's 48 percent. Ford went on to be the nominee, but lost narrowly against Jimmy Carter.
1980 - Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan
Reagan won this time around with 49.6 percent of the vote. George W. Bush, Senator Howard Baker, and Rep. John Anderson followed with 22.7 percent, 12.1 percent, and 9.8 percent respectively. Reagan went on to win the nomination and the general election.
1988 - Vice President George H. W. Bush
Bush won the primary this time around with 37.8 percent. Senator Bob Dole, Rep, Jack Kemp, and Pete DuPont followed with 38.6 percent, 12.7 percent, and 10.7 percent respectively. Bush went on to win the nomination and the general election against Mass Gov. Michael Dukakis.
1992 - Bush
Bush fought off a stiff challenge from Pat Buchanan, taking 53.2 percent of the vote against Buchanan's 36.5 percent of the vote. Bush won the nomination but was defeated for reelection at the hands of then Gov. Bill Clinton.
1996 - Patrick Buchanan
Buchanan won the primary this time around with 27.3 percent of the vote. He was followed by Dole, Lamar Alexander, and Steve Forbes with 26.2 percent, 22.6 percent, and 12.2 percent of the vote respectively. Dole went on to win the nomination but was beaten by President Clinton in the general election.
2000 - Senator John McCain
McCain shocked then Gov. George W. Bush by winning with 49 percent of the vote. Bush took 30.2 percent. Bush went on to win the nomination and the general election against then Vice President Al Gore.
2008 - McCain
McCain won the contest the second time around with 37.1 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee followed with 31.6 percent and 11.2 percent. McCain won the nomination but lost against then Senator Barack Obama.
