The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

was nominated on the first ballot with 1,939 delegate
votes. Anderson received 37 votes, and Bush got 13.
Reagan then had to choose a vice presidential run-
ning mate, a choice he delayed until the last minute.
Former president Gerald Ford of Michigan was ini-
tially placed at the top of the list. It was reasoned that
Ford could provide the unifying link between the
moderate and conservative wings of the party and
help Reagan secure victories in certain significant
midwestern states. Reagan attempted to convince
Ford to run with him, but Ford asked for too much
in return: He wanted to choose who would fill sev-
eral significant cabinet posts. Bush, Reagan’s second
choice, was offered the chance to run for vice presi-
dent and accepted. The results of the convention
and the party’s acceptance of Reagan’s conservative
agenda did not satisfy John Anderson, who, as one of
the last stalwarts of the Republicans’ liberal wing,
bolted the party in disgust and continued to run for
president as an independent candidate, ultimately
garnering a significant number of votes for such a
candidate.

Kennedy Versus the President Most polls indi-
cated that Ted Kennedy led substantially over Presi-
dent Carter when he officially entered the race in
November of 1979. In the long run, though, Ken-
nedy’s past—particularly the controversial Chappa-
quiddick incident of 1969—was dredged back up,
damaging his credibility in the eyes of many Demo-
cratic voters. Carter thus regrouped to win the Iowa
caucuses and most of the early primaries. Continued
domestic unease and foreign policy disasters eroded
Carter’s support, however, and Kennedy was able to

win the New York primary. Thus, when the Demo-

cratic National Convention was held in New York

City from August 10 to 14, the party was bitterly di-

vided between the incumbent president and the sen-

ator from Massachusetts. Behind in the delegate

count, Kennedy supporters proposed an “open con-

vention” rule, whereby delegates would be released

from their obligation to cast their first-ballot vote for

the candidate who had won their state’s primary

election. Such a rule would greatly have enhanced

Kennedy’s chances of winning the party’s nomina-

tion. The motion was defeated, however, by a vote of

1,936 to 1,390. Carter was subsequently nominated

with 2,129.02 votes to Kennedy’s 1,150.48 votes, but

he had won at the cost of party unity. Walter Mondale

was once again nominated as the vice presidential

candidate.

“The Great Communicator’s” Victory Almost im-

mediately, the upbeat tone of the Reagan campaign

struck a chord with rank-and-file voters. Reagan

advocated implementing a radical conservative

economic program (referred to by Bush during the

primary contest as “Voodoo economics” and later

dubbed “Reaganomics”), significantly limiting the

scope of federal power, and taking a tough foreign

policy stance against communism. He moved rap-

idly ahead in the polls. Vulnerable on both the for-

eign and the domestic fronts, Carter could only

mount a negative campaign, denigrating conserva-

tive Republican ideas as being out of touch with the

American mainstream and as potentially dangerous

insofar as they could provoke nuclear conflict. This

approach did not resonate with many voters, who

The Eighties in America Elections in the United States, 1980
323

1980 U.S. Presidential Election Results

Presidential

Candidate

Vice Presidential

Candidate

Political

Party

Popular

Vote

% of

Popular Vote

Electoral

Vote

% of

Electoral Vote

Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush Republican 43,903,230 50.75 489 90.89

Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale Democratic 35,480,115 41.01 49 9.11

John Anderson Patrick Lucey Independent 5,719,850 6.61 0 0

Edward Clark David Koch Libertarian 921,128 1.06 0 0

Barry Commoner LaDonna Harris Citizens 233,052 0.27 0 0

Other 252,303 0.29 0 0

Source: Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.