Election of 1980: The Reagan Revolution
Republican Party: Ronald Reagan (California) and George H.W. Bush (Texas)
Democratic Party: Jimmy Carter (Georgia) and Walter Mondale (Minnesota)
Independent: John Anderson (Illinois) and Patrick Lucey (Wisconsin)
Election Results:
Reagan and Bush: 489 electoral votes, 43.9 million popular votes
Carter/Mondale: 49 electoral votes, 35.4 million popular votes
Anderson/Lucey: 0 electoral votes, 5.7 million popular votes
Summary:
The presidency of Jimmy Carter was doomed by both circumstances beyond his control and a naivety about those things within his control. The Arab dominated Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) punished the United States and other allies of Israel in 1973 during the October War with an oil embargo. Continued oil supply shortages continued throughout the 1970s and the United States underwent an energy crisis while its economy was failing to fire on all cylinders. Foreign policy issues toward the end of the 1970s, including Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the hostage crisis in the American embassy in Teheran, Iran, forced Carter to juggle many different issues with difficult choices to be made.
Carter’s approach to both domestic and foreign policy involved moral imperative rather than practical politics. Carter did little to endear himself to Congress with his politically suicidal policy of raising taxes and cutting government programs to fight economic woes. President Carter tried to shake the country from its doldrums many times throughout his four years, including a particularly damaging speech given in 1979, referred to the “malaise speech”, in which he put many of the country’s woes on the inert nature of the American public. Carter’s few successes were in trying to broker peace between Middle Eastern nations but history has proven that these efforts were not successful in the long term.
Ronald Reagan emerged as the clear frontrunner in the 1980 Republican nominating process. Reagan, who had failed to defeat Gerald Ford four years earlier, signaled a clear alternative to the ambivalence of the Carter administration. Reagan, a former movie and television star turned California governor, advocated for a conservative approach to government and a strong stance against Communism and terrorism throughout the world. Reagan selected George H.W. Bush as his vice president, bringing his political rival into the fold.
Jimmy Carter faced a primary challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, a more liberal member of the party who saw Carter’s handling of the Teheran hostage crisis unacceptable. Carter maintained the nomination despite strong opposition and only kept his tenuous hold because of detailed rules about how delegates could vote in the convention. The Democratic platform reflected Kennedy’s liberal stances on many domestic and foreign issues and Carter’s own party was clearly shifting away from their incumbent.
The Reagan revolution was clearly underway in the fall of 1980. Reagan’s photogenic manner and approachable personality made his age and hawkish stances less of an issue. In contrast, Carter’s frank style made him look frustrated and angry in comparison to Reagan. Ronald Reagan asked Americans if they were better off than they were four years ago and the results were clear. Despite a liberal Republican third party challenge by Representative John Anderson of Illinois, Reagan was able to easily defeat Carter and win over many conservative and moderate Democrats who were worried about economic issues and the strength of national defense.
