The Presidential Election Of 1980
...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...
View Full Essay