The Presidential Election of 1980

"The U.S. presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent Ronald Reagan, along with a third party candidate, the liberal Republican John Anderson."(USPE1980, 1) By the beginning of the election season, the lengthy Iran hostage crisis sharpened public perceptions of a crisis. In the 1970s, the United States was experiencing a wrenching episode of low economic growth, high inflation and interest rates, intermittent energy crises. This added to a sense of discomfort that in both domestic and foreign affairs the nation was headed downward. With candidates and their reasons why they should be president, who would win the 1980 presidential election?
There were many problems in which Carter had been blamed for, especially the Iran hostage crisis which proved to be very humiliating. He failed to deal with any of these situations. Either as hesitant or ineffective is how many Americans viewed Carter. He also had attacked Reagan as a dangerous radical after he defeated Tom Kennedy for the nomination. For his part Reagan, the charismatic ex-Governor of California, repeatedly made fun of Carter 's powerlessness , and won a landside victory that carried the United States Senate for the first time in 28 years. Reagan 's victory marked the beginning of the "Reagan Revolution."
George Bush and Ronald Reagan went head to head for the Republican spot. It certainly paid off for Bush in January 1980 when he won the Iowa Republican straw poll. He only defeated Reagan by a small margin. It was looking as if Bush might actually beat Reagan to the nomination. The debate between Bush and Reagan was very upsetting yet disturbing. Bush refused to participate, which led to a problem on the stage. The problem on the stage was that As Reagan attempted to explain his decision, the editor of Nashua Telegraph ordered the sound man to mute Reagan 's microphone. With Reagan being filled with rage he responds "I am paying for

Cited: 1.Busch, Andrew E. Reagan 's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right Lawrence: Kansas: University Press of Kansas: November 2005 . Many have pointed to the Iran hostage crisis, others to galloping inflation. In reality, as Andrew Busch makes clear, Ronald Reagan 's defeat of President Jimmy Carter in 1980 was attributable to more than any one issue, no matter how galvanizing. It marked the growing ascendency of conservative attitudes that had been brewing for two decades– and marked the clear end of the era of New Deal liberalism. 2. The 1980 Presidential Election: Ronald Reagan vs Jimmy Carter:1980: http://members.aol.com/adriana116/1980.html This website was about the presidential election in the 80 's and what the candidates were for and what they were against. Reagan received more popular votes than Carter. That was because Reagan supported many things that Carter should have supported when he was president. 3. United States Presidential Election 1980:1980 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1980 Before it was Reagan and Carter going head to head, there had been many other candidates that had to do debates and campaigns to get to where they were in 1980. Unfortunately the last two standing were Reagan and Carter but in this articles it tells you who wins the election, but why they won it. What their pro and cons were of the United States and also what they feel they can do to make America better as a president. 4. Souza, Pete: An Intimate Look at the Presidency of Ronald Reagan: Chicago: Triumph Books:2004 This book by Souza has shown the private life of Reagan after his winning of the 1980 election. He has been going across the country as well as out of the country. To visit different presidents and prime ministers around the to make sure America doesn 't have any problems with its fellow neighbors especially after the Iran Hostage Crisis. As president you want to make sure when your elected you fix the negatives of your country.