The United States presidential election of 1988 was the 51st quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1988. Incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush won the Republican nomination, and chose Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate. The Democrats nominated Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, with Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas – who had coincidentally defeated Bush in a U.S. Senate race 18 years earlier – as his running mate.

Due to the restrictions of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, incumbent President Ronald Reagan was ineligible to seek a third term. Running an aggressive campaign, Bush capitalized on a good economy and Reagan's popularity. Meanwhile, Dukakis' campaign suffered from several miscues, including failure to defend against Bush's attacks. This allowed Bush to win with a substantial margin of the popular vote, while winning the Electoral College by a landslide. Since the 1988 election, no candidate has managed to equal or surpass Bush's number of electoral votes won or popular vote percentage.

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