control laws were inspired by Brady. In 1993, Presi-
dent Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Vio-
lence Prevention Act, also known as the Brady Bill,
which placed restrictions on the sale of handguns.
Further Reading
Johnson, Haynes.Sleepwalking Through Histor y: Amer-
ica in the Reagan Years.New York: W. W. Norton,
- This critical look at Reagan provides a few
pages on the assassination attempt, focusing on
how the event enhanced the president’s image.
Low, Peter W., John Calvin Jeffries, and Richard J.
Bonner.The Trial of John W. Hinckley, Jr.: A Case
Study in the Insanity Defense.Anaheim, Calif.: Foun-
dation Press, 1986. A brief account of the Hinck-
ley trial and its aftermath. Provides a detailed look
at the use of the insanity plea.
Schaller, Michael.Reckoning with Reagan: America and
Its President in the 1980’s.New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1992. Provides a readable introduc-
tion to the Reagan presidency and includes a
brief description of the assassination attempt.
Rhonda L. Smith
See also Elections in the United States, 1980; Elec-
tions in the United States, 1984; Reagan, Ronald;
Reagan Revolution; Reaganomics.
Reagan Democrats
Definition Voters who traditionally voted
Democratic but crossed party lines to vote for
Republican presidential candidate Ronald
Reagan in 1980 and 1984
In his two successful presidential campaigns, Ronald Rea-
gan’s ability to attract voters from constituencies tradition-
ally identified as Democratic voting blocs contributed to his
victories. The perception that the Democratic Party had be-
come too liberal on a variety of issues led some Democrats to
abandon their party and vote for Reagan.
Republican candidate Ronald Reagan won a signifi-
cant victory over the incumbent Democratic presi-
dent Jimmy Carter in 1980 and a landslide victory
over Carter’s former vice president Walter Mondale
in 1984. In both of these elections, people from vot-
ing blocs that were generally considered to be solidly
Democratic broke with that party and voted for
Reagan.
Beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency
(1933-1945), the Democratic Party had built an
urban-ethnic voting bloc that, combined with its tra-
ditional strength among white Southern voters, gave
that party significant power in national elections.
White ethnic voters from large cities, such as Irish
Americans and Italian Americans, began to move
into the Democratic Party in the 1930’s. Roosevelt
also attracted significant numbers of northern black
voters, who had traditionally voted Republican be-
cause of the Republican Party’s connection to Presi-
dent Abraham Lincoln and emancipation.
In the 1960’s, many voters believed that the Demo-
cratic Party had moved too far to the left on many is-
sues. President Richard M. Nixon had some success
in attracting these disaffected Democrats in 1968 and
even more in 1972. Reagan built upon this trend. Po-
litical observer Richard Brookhiser, citing research
conducted by the Hamilton, Frederick, and Schnei-
der consulting firm, identified four specific groups of
voters that made up these “Reagan Democrats”: men
and women in their fifties and sixties, urban Roman
Catholics, young males, and Southern whites. These
voters were attracted to Reagan, or alternatively, put
off by the Democratic candidates, over positions on
social issues such as crime, abortion, and education,
or economic policies. Reagan also succeeded in at-
tracting a significant number of voters from members
of organized labor, although the leadership of the
unions remained firmly Democratic and usually en-
dorsed the Democratic candidates.
Impact Political scientists believe that in most elec-
tions, about 40 percent of the electorate is firmly
identified with each of the major parties. This means
there is about a 20 percent “swing vote” that could go
to either candidate and will often represent the mar-
gin of victory. Reagan Democrats are estimated to
have made up about 10 percent (or roughly half ) of
this swing vote in the 1980 and 1984 elections. Long
after Reagan left office, political observers and strat-
egists continued to debate the prospects for later Re-
publican candidates to appeal to this same constitu-
ency of disaffected Democrats.
Further Reading
Barrent, L. “Reagan Democrats’ Divided Loyalties.”
Time, October 31, 1988, 14.
Brookhiser, Richard. “The Democrat’s Dilemma.”
National Review, December 17, 1990, 40-42.
Mark S. JoyThe Eighties in America Reagan Democrats 807