U.S. presidential election, 1980

The U.S. presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent President Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan. Carter was unpopular because of a stagnant economy at home and a deteriorating situation abroad, especially in the Middle East where the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had marked serious American setbacks. Reagan, the charismatic ex-Governor of California, capitalized on this unpopularity and won a lopsided victory over Carter. This victory marked the beginning of the "Reagan Revolution."

General election

Campaign

The 1980 election is considered by some to be a realigning election. Reagan ran a campaign of upbeat optimism, together with implications of a more militarily aggressive foreign policy. This contrasted with the "malaise"-ridden attitude of the late Carter administration and its apparent impotence in the face of the Iran hostage crisis. Towards the end of the campaign, as Carter's poll numbers continued to slip and Reagan's rose, Carter responded with more militaristic rhetoric and announced plans to bring back the military draft; this succeeded only in alienating some of Carter's supporters.

Related Topics:
Realigning election - Iran hostage crisis - Military draft

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Reagan promised an end to the drift in post-Vietnam and post-Iran hostage U.S. foreign policy and a restoration of the nation's military strength. Reagan also promised an end to "'trust me' government" and to restore economic health by implementing a supply-side economic policy. With respect to the economy, Reagan famously said, "A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."

Related Topics:
Reagan - Vietnam - Iran - Supply-side economic - Recession - Depression

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Critics charged that Reagan's attacks on the welfare state were merely demagogic, appealing to a white middle class insensitive to the continued plights to victims of socio-economic injustice and with little understanding of the international forces creating the economic problems plaguing the country since the end of the Vietnam War.

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As in most elections fought against an incumbent, the voters already had a clear impression of Carter, which was largely negative by this time, and both sides spent most of their effort trying to define Reagan, the challenger. The campaign was largely negative, with many voters disliking Carter but also perceiving Reagan as an intellectual lightweight, possibly unable to handle the presidency and with various questionable policies.

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The election of 1980 was a key turning point in American politics. It signaled the new electoral power of the suburbs and the Sun Belt; moreover, it was a watershed ushering out the commitment to social justice characteristic of the 1960s civil rights movement and Great Society. It also signaled a commitment to a militaristic, aggressive foreign policy. Reagan's success as a conservative would initiate a realigning of the parties, as liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats would either leave politics or change party affiliations through the 1980s and 1990s to leave the parties much more ideologically polarized.

Related Topics:
1980 - Sun Belt - 1960s - Great Society

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In the Debategate scandal, briefing papers that were to have been used by Carter in preparation for the October 28 debate with Reagan had somehow been acquired by Reagan's team. This fact was not divulged to the public until late June 1983, after Laurence Barrett published ', an in-depth account of the Reagan administration's first two years.

Related Topics:
Debategate - October 28 - June - 1983 - Laurence Barrett

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Although Reagan's candidacy was burdened by Representative John B. Anderson of Illinois, a moderate Republican and primary opponent who ran as an independent, the three major issues of the campaign were far greater threats to Carter's prospects for reelection: the economy, national security, and the Iranian hostage crisis. Carter seemed unable to control inflation and had not succeeded in obtaining the release of US hostages in Tehran before the election, losing eight soldiers in a failed attempt to mount a rescue.

Related Topics:
John B. Anderson - Illinois - Iranian hostage crisis - Tehran

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Results

The election was held on November 4, 1980. Reagan won a narrow majority of the popular vote, but beat Carter by close to ten percentage points. Republicans also gained control of the Senate for the first time in twenty-five years on Reagan's coattails. The electoral college vote was a landslide, with 489 votes (representing 44 states) for Reagan and 49 for Carter (representing 6 states and the District of Columbia). John Anderson won no electoral votes, but got 5,720,060 popular votes. Anderson's share of the popular vote, totaling 6.6 percent, was moderately impressive for a third party candidate in the United States, demonstrating that a sizable share of moderate voters, while disenchanted with Carter, did not forget that only several years earlier Reagan was regarded as a dangerous far-right reactionary. Anderson's success in the liberal New England states where Democrats might have expected to do well contributed to Reagan's lopsided electoral college victory.

Related Topics:
November 4 - 1980 - Reagan - Republican - Reagan's coattails - John Anderson - United States - Electoral college

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Libertarian Party candidate Ed Clark received 921,299 popular votes. The Libertarians succeeded in getting Clark on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Clark's best showing was in Alaska where he received 12% of the vote; as of 2005, this is the best performance by a Libertarian presidential candidate. Citizens Party candidate Barry Commoner, on the ballots in 31 states, received 234,294 popular votes. His running mate, La Donna Harris, was the second known Native American to run for national office, after Charles Curtis in 1928.

Related Topics:
Libertarian Party - Ed Clark - Alaska - As of 2005 - Citizens Party - Barry Commoner - La Donna Harris - Native American - Charles Curtis

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Source (Popular Vote): {{Leip PV source 2| year=1980| as of=August 7, 2005}}

Related Topics:
August 7 - 2005

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Source (Electoral Vote): {{National Archives EV source| year=1980| as of=August 7, 2005}}

Related Topics:
August 7 - 2005

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