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The U.S. presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat 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."

Background

Through the 1970s, the United States was experiencing a longish period of low economic growth, high inflation, and intermittent energy crises. By the beginning of the election season, the prolonged Iran hostage crisis added to a general feeling of a national "malaise" that followed the Watergate scandal and the end of the Vietnam War.

Nominations

Republican Party nomination

Republican Candidates

Toward the beginning of the race, the establishment favorite was George Bush, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and chairman of the Republican National Committee. However, in the initial debates, conservative Ronald Reagan emerged as a serious candidate, sparring with Bush on economic issues.

Reagan was an adherent to a policy known as "supply side economics." Supply-side economists led the assault on high taxes and high spending that typified the welfare state built up by the New Deal and Great Society. The solution, they argued, was to take economic decisions away from the government and place them in the hands of individuals.

Reagan promised an economic revival that would affect all sectors of the population. But since cutting taxes would reduce government revenues, it would also be necessary to target "big government." Otherwise, large federal deficits might negate the effects of the tax cut by requiring the government to borrow in the marketplace, thus raising interest rates and drying up capital for investment once again. Thus, Reagan promised a drastic cut in "big government," which he pledged would produce a balanced budget for the first time since 1969. In the primaries Bush famously called Reagan's economic policy "voodoo economics."

Bush won the Iowa caucuses and Reagan won big in the New Hampshire primary, causing most of the other candidates to drop out of the race. Anderson dropped out of the primaries but ran as an independent. Reagan went on to win most of the subsequent primaries and caucuses, securing the Republican Party nomination. Reagan initially negotiated with Gerald Ford to be his running mate; when the complex plan fell through (Ford reportedly insisted Henry Kissinger and Alan Greenspan be offered cabinet positions), Reagan chose Bush as the Republican vice presidential candidate.

The 1980 Republican National Convention was held in Detroit, Michigan in the month of July.

Democratic Party nomination

Democratic Candidates

President Carter's reelection was challenged by liberal Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. Kennedy, although a far more magnetic personality than Carter, was poorly organized and could not transcend personal tragedies, most notably a 1969 automobile accident at Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts that had left a young woman dead. Although party solidarity caused by the Iranian hostage crisis gave Carter an early lead, forcing Brown from the race, Kennedy made a comeback later in the primary season. At the Democratic National Convention Kennedy conceded the nomination and called for a more liberal party platform in what many saw as the best speech of his career.

Other nominations

John Bayard Anderson, after being defeated in the Republican primaries, entered the general election as an Independent candidate because of his opposition to the more conservative policies of Reagan. His support levels in the polls fell every week as his former supporters were pulled away by Carter, who was more liberal, or Reagan who was more conservative.

General election

Campaign

Under federal election laws, Carter and Reagan received $29 million each, and Anderson $18.5. They were not allowed to spend any other money. Carter and Reagan each spent about $15 million on television advertising, and Anderson under $2 million. 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 reinstitute the military draft; this succeeded only in alienating some of Carter's supporters. With inflation and interest rates at record highs, and unemployment stubbornly high, Carter had few boasts to make about the economy. He had a pro-feminist record, but the management of many women's groups attacked him for not doing even more. On foreign policy the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan spelled the end of detente and the renewal of the Cold War. Carter moved to the right, but Reagan was already there.

Reagan promised 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. Reagan promised a balanced budget within three years (which he said would be "the beginning of the end of inflation"), accompanied by a 30% reduction in taxes over those same years. 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."

In August, after the Republican National Convention, Ronald Reagan gave a campaign speech at an annual county fair on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Mississippi, which civil rights leaders said was an insensitive reminder of the Mississippi civil rights worker murders of 1964.

Reagan announced, "I believe in states' rights." He also said, "I believe we have distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended to be given in the Constitution to that federal establishment." He went on to promise to "restore to states and local governments the power that properly belongs to them." * Critics claimed that the speech signaled Reagan's opposition to the civil rights reforms of the 1960s. However, Reagan supporters would argue that the speech was simply a statement of Reagan's conservative political ideals.

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.

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. 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.

Although Reagan's candidacy was burdened by Representative John B. Anderson of Illinois, a liberal Republican 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.

Results

The election was held on November 4, 1980. Reagan won by 10% of the popular vote. 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.

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 2006, 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.

Source (Popular Vote):

Source (Electoral Vote):

Voter demographics

SOCIAL GROUPS AND THE PRESIDENTIAL VOTE, 1980 AND 1976
Size '80 Carter '80 Reagan '80 Anderson '76 Carter '76 Ford
Party
Democrat 43 66 26 6 77 22
Independent 23 30 54 12 43 54
Republican 28 11 84 4 9 90
Ideology
Liberal 18 57 27 11 70 26
Moderate 51 42 48 8 51 48
Conservative 31 23 71 4 29 70
Race
Black 10 82 14 3 82 16
Hispanic 2 54 36 7 75 24
White 88 36 55 8 47 52
Sex
Female 48 45 46 7 50 48
Male 52 37 54 7 50 48
Religion
Protestant 46 37 56 6 44 55
White Protestant 41 31 62 6 43 57
Catholic 25 40 51 7 54 44
Jewish 5 45 39 14 64 34
Family Income
Less than $10,000 13 50 41 6 58 40
$10,000–$14,999 15 47 42 8 55 43
$15,000–$24,999 29 38 53 7 48 50
$25,000–$50,000 24 32 58 8 36 62
Over $50,000 5 25 65 8 — —
Occupation
Professional or manager 39 33 56 9 41 57
Clerical, sales, white collar 11 42 48 8 46 53
Blue-collar 17 46 47 5 57 41
Agriculture 3 29 66 3 — —
Unemployed 3 55 35 7 65 34
Education
Less than high school 11 50 45 3 58 41
High school graduate 28 43 51 4 54 46
Some college 28 35 55 8 51 49
College graduate 27 35 51 11 45 55
Union Membership
Labor union household 28 47 44 7 59 39
No member of household in union 62 35 55 8 43 55
Age
18–21 years old 6 44 43 11 48 50
22–29 years old 17 43 43 11 51 46
30–44 years old 31 37 54 7 49 49
45–59 years old 23 39 55 6 47 52
60 years or older 18 40 54 4 47 52
Region
East 25 42 47 9 51 47
South 27 44 51 3 54 45
White South 22 35 60 3 46 52
Midwest 27 40 51 7 48 50
Far West 19 35 53 9 46 51
Community Size
City over 250,000 18 54 35 8 60 40
Suburb/small city 53 37 53 8 53 47
Rural/town 29 39 54 5 47 53
Source: CBS News/ New York Times interviews with 12,782 voters as they left the polls, as reported in the New York Times, November 9, 1980, p. 28, and in further analysis. The 1976 data are from CBS News interviews.

References

Books
Journal articles

See also

External links

Navigation

United States presidential elections | 1980 elections

Präsidentschaftswahl 1980 (Vereinigte Staaten) | Elezioni Presidenziali degli Stati Uniti del 1980 | 1980年アメリカ合衆国大統領選挙

 

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