Vermont was won by the Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon of California, and his running mate Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland, defeating incumbent Democratic Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota and his running mate Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine.

The American Independent candidate, Southern populist Governor George Wallace of Alabama, did not have a serious impact on the race.

Goldwater had lost the 1964 election in a nationwide landslide, but the loss in Vermont was especially severe from a historical perspective.

To date, this is the last time that the towns Calais, Marlboro, Plainfield, and Putney voted Republican.

Richard Nixon had previously won Vermont again against John F. Kennedy in 1960 and then would win it again against George McGovern in 1972.