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                                                                 Ronald Reagan  and 1980 and 1984 Elections


Profiles
*  Political Thought
*  Colonial Government
*  Revolution
*  Constitution
*  Birth of Party Politics
*  War of 1812
*  James Monroe: "Era of Good Feeling" and Monroe Doctrine
*  Jacksonian Democracy
*  Regional Conflict and Compromise
*  1860 Election of Abraham Lincoln
*  Civil War 1861-62
*  Civil War 1863-65
*  Reconstruction and Impeachment of President Johnson
*  Gilded Age and Progressive Era
*  1912 Election of Woodrow Wilson
*  1916 Election and World War I
*  Women's Suffrage
*  Depression and 1932 Election of Franklin D. Roosevelt
*  Prelude to World War II
*  Pearl Harbor and Mobilization
*  World War II: European Theater
*  World War II: Pacific Theater 
*  Atomic Bomb and End of World War II
*  1948 Truman-Dewey Election
*  1960 Kennedy-Nixon Election
*  1964 Johnson-Goldwater Election
*  Civil Rights Movement
*  Vietnam: Evolution of the American Role
*  Vietnam: Kennedy Administration and Intervention
*  Vietnam: Johnson Administration and Escalation
*  Vietnam: Nixon, Ford and Fall of South Vietnam
*   1968 Humphrey-Nixon Election
*  Watergate Scandal and Resignation of President Nixon
*  1976 Carter-Ford Election
*  1980 & 1984 Reagan Elections
*  Clinton Impeachment 
*  2000 Bush-Gore Election
*  War in Iraq
*  2008 Obama-McCain Election
*  2016 Trump-Clinton Election
  1980 Election  

       After failing in his bid to deny President Gerald Ford the Republican nomination in 1976, former California Governor Ronald Reagan again sought the presidency in 1980. In the years leading up to the election, he used his considerable media skills to deliver frequent commentaries on television and radio advancing his conservative positions. Although upset in the New Hampshire primary by George H.W. Bush, Reagan soon recovered in later primaries to win on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention. When negotiations over the vice presidential nomination with former President Ford broke down after Ford evidently sought commitments from Reagan of considerable autonomy as vice president, Reagan then surprised many of his supporters by turning to Bush as his vice presidential choice for the campaign against President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale.
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       The campaign included only two presidential debates, and President Carter declined to participate in the first, apparently due to the decision by the sponsor, the League of Women Voters, to allow independent party candidate John Anderson to appear. Reagan's strong performance undermined Anderson's candidacy, which threatened to attract moderate Republicans and independents, and also mitigated fears that Reagan would risk dangerous confrontation with the Soviet Union if elected.

       By the time of the second debate, Anderson's poll ratings  had fallen to a level which excluded him from participating, thus limiting the forum to only President Carter and Reagan. In what some analysts later cited as a strategic error, Carter ended  his comments on nuclear weapons with the remark, "I had a discussion with my daughter, Amy, the other day, before I came here, to ask her what the most important issue was ..." When Carter began to charge that Reagan was planning to cut Medicare, Reagan (who had repeatedly complained that Carter was distorting his views), also scored points when he interrupted the President with the line: "There you go again." Reagan's closing statement also included the rhetorical question to voters, often copied or adapted by many subsequent challengers to incumbents in national, state and local races: "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"

The Hostage Crisis

      The campaign also was marked by extensive media coverage of the confinement of over sixty American hostages in Iran who had been seized at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. The confrontation had commenced when a mob of students were angered by the Carter administration's decision to allow the deposed Shah of Iran to come to New York for medical treatment for his advanced cancer. ABC-TV'S  nightly report hosted by Ted Koppel, "The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage," which began on November 8, 1979, four days after the hostages were taken and later evolved into the "Nightline" broadcast, was particularly important in focusing public attention on the stalemate over the following months in attempting to free the hostages.


      Carter's political prospects also were damaged by the failed hostage rescue attempt on April 11, 1980 in which eight servicemen were killed and three more were injured after helicopters malfunctioned and crashed before they reached Tehran. President Carter's decision to limit his campaign appearances during the hostage crisis also served to heighten the frustration of many that the federal government was unable to bring an end to the situation. Reagan also capitalized on sentiment that large government programs were ineffective, using the frequent campaign line: "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem."

       In the week before the election, major polls reported that their surveys indicated that the election appeared to be very close. But on election day, voters troubled by the hostage crisis and economic issues, especially inflation led by higher energy prices, produced an overwhelming Reagan-Bush victory, with the Republicans securing 489 electoral votes to 49 for the Democrats.

       On January 20, 1981, Reagan took the oath of office, announcing on the day of his Inauguration that the Iranians had released the American hostages. At his request, President Carter also flew to Europe to greet them on their arrival from Iran. 

      In the first weeks of the administration, Reagan advanced a radical tax-cutting program in an effort to spur the economy, imposed major cutbacks in federal domestic spending and employees and endorsed large hikes in the military budget. Only 69 days later, however, the President was shot by John Hinckley, a mentally disturbed would-be assassin. During the incident and his recovery, Reagan's personal popularity soared by his reported good humor and dignity (e.g. saying to his surgeons prior to being anesthetized for removal of the bullet: "I hope you're all Republicans"). Although the Reagan economic program generated the largest budget deficits in U.S. history, the economic recovery led to renewed public confidence. The President's prompt action in firing striking air traffic controllers also demonstrated his decisive leadership style.

1984 Re-election

        Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign against former Vice President Walter Mondale and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to receive a national party's nomination as vice president, emphasized the restoration of public confidence during the first term, especially through the upbeat "Morning in America" theme illustrated in campaign commercials depicting positive images with little political rhetoric or even mention of the Democrats. The President's advanced age and mental fitness briefly re-emerged as an issue when he appeared confused during the first debate with Mondale, but he recovered for a stronger performance during the final debate, when he deftly put aside the question with the quip: "I want you to know also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." On election day, the Republican ticket won with the greatest electoral vote margin in history, receiving 525 votes to just 13 for the Democrats, who won only Mondale's home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.
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