Final answer:
Ross Perot's 1996 election campaign was significant as one of the most successful third-party campaigns since Theodore Roosevelt, capturing 19 percent of the popular vote. Perot's presence likely affected the Republican base more than the Democrats and brought attention to NAFTA and economic globalization's impact on American workers.
Step-by-step explanation:
The campaign of Ross Perot in the 1996 election was significant for several reasons. As a third-party candidate, Perot's bid for presidency was one of the most successful since Theodore Roosevelt. With a promise to run America akin to his successful businesses, he appealed to voters who were dissatisfied with the major parties. His platform was considered probusiness and anti establishment. Though Perot did not win any electoral votes, he garnered a significant 19 percent of the popular vote, drawing support from both liberal and conservative voters. Many historians believe that Perot's campaign likely siphoned more votes from President George H. W. Bush's Republican base than from Bill Clinton, which might have influenced the election's outcome as Clinton won with a strong Electoral College majority but only 43 percent of the popular vote.
Perot also brought national attention to the issues of economic policy and globalization, especially with respect to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Bill Clinton supported and which went into effect shortly after the election. While Perot lost the election, his campaign brought forth conversations about how globalization could be detrimental to American jobs and wages. In an era where the gender gap in presidential elections was becoming more pronounced and with shifts in voter priorities, the 1996 election and Perot's campaign embodied the complexities of American politics during the mid-1990's.