Fourth term (1978–82) After nine political parties supported Kekkonen's candidacy in the 1978 presidential election, including the Social Democratic, Centre and National Coalition parties, no serious rivals remained. He humiliated his opponents by not appearing in televised presidential debates and went on to win 259 out of the 300 electoral college votes, with his nearest rival, Raino Westerholm of the Christian Union, receiving only 25.see Juhani Suomi, "The Ski Trail Being Snowed In: Urho Kekkonen 1976–1981" / Umpeutuva latu – Urho Kekkonen 1976–1981, Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 2000. thumb|right|Gerald R. Ford and Urho Kekkonen in the Oval Office in 1976 According to Finnish historians and political journalists, there were at least three reasons why Kekkonen clung on to the Presidency. First, he did not believe that any of his successor candidates would manage Finland's Soviet foreign policy well enough. Second, until at least the summer of 1978, he considered there was room for improvement in Finnish-Soviet relations and that his experience was vital to the process. This is exemplified by the use of his diplomatic skills to reject the Soviet Defence Minister Dmitriy Ustinov's offer to arrange a joined Soviet-Finnish military exercise.
Fourth term (1978–82) After nine political parties supported Kekkonen',s candidacy in the 1978 presidential election, including the Social Democratic, Centre and National Coalition parties, no serious rivals remained. He humiliated his opponents by not appearing in televised presidential debates and went on to win 259 out of the 300 electoral college votes, with his nearest rival, Raino Westerholm of the Christian Union, receiving only 25.see Juhani Suomi, "The Ski Trail Being Snowed In: Urho Kekkonen 1976–1981" / Umpeutuva latu – Urho Kekkonen 1976–1981, Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 2000. thumb|right|Gerald R. Ford and Urho Kekkonen in the Oval Office in 1976 According to Finnish historians and political journalists, there were at least three reasons why Kekkonen clung on to the Presidency. First, he did not believe that any of his successor candidates would manage Finland's Soviet foreign policy well enough. Second, until at least the summer of 1978, he considered there was room for impr:ovement in Finnish-Soviet relations and that his experience was vital to the process. This is exemplified by the use of his diplomatic skills to reject the Soviet Defence Minister Dmitriy Ustinov's offer to arrange a joined Soviet-Finnish military exercise.