Irish presidential election, 1966 - Definition and Overview

In the Irish presidential election in 1966 President de Valera reluctantly agreed under Fianna Fáil party pressure to seek a second term. Fine Gael decided to run one of its younger TDs, Tom O'Higgins against him. In an astonishing upset, O'Higgins came within 1% (or 10,000 votes) of defeating de Valera, de Valera left the blame for this with his campaign manager Charles Haughey.