United States presidential election, 1980
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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
- John Bayard Anderson, U.S. representative from Illinois
- Howard Baker, U.S. senator from Tennessee and Senate Minority Leader
- George H.W. Bush, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and former chairman of the Republican National Committee
- John Connally, former governor of Texas, former Secretary of the Navy, and former Secretary of the Treasury
- Phil Crane, U.S. representative from Illinois
- Bob Dole, U.S. senator from Kansas and 1976 vice-presidential nominee
- Ronald Reagan, former governor of California and former candidate for the 1976 presidential nomination
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
- Jerry Brown, governor of California
- Jimmy Carter, incumbent President of the United States
- Ted Kennedy, U.S. senator from Massachusetts
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." [link] 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): Leip, David. [1980 Presidential Election Results]. [Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections] (August 7, 2005).
Source (Electoral Vote): [Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996]. [Official website of the National Archives]. (August 7, 2005).
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 ,000 | 13 | 50 | 41 | 6 | 58 | 40 |
| ,000–,999 | 15 | 47 | 42 | 8 | 55 | 43 |
| ,000–,999 | 29 | 38 | 53 | 7 | 48 | 50 |
| ,000–,000 | 24 | 32 | 58 | 8 | 36 | 62 |
| Over ,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 |
References
- Books
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- Journal articles
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See also
- Diane Drufenbrock
- David McReynolds
- President of the United States
- U.S. Senate election, 1980
- History of the United States (1980-1988)
External links
Navigation
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