Presidents and Populism: The Reagan Revolution
For Ronald Reagan, the road to the Presidency passed through Hollywood. After graduating from Eureka College in 1932, where he majored in economics and sociology, Reagan worked in radio with Des Moines station WHO. While traveling with the Cubs in California, Reagan took a screen test in 1937 that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers studios. He spent the first few years of his Hollywood career in the "B film" unit. Reagan quipped that the producers' attitude about the films was that they "didn't want them good; they wanted them Thursday".
By the end of 1939 he had appeared in 19 films. In 1940, he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American and from it, he acquired the lifelong nickname "the Gipper." In April of 1942 he was ordered to active duty with the U.S. Army at San Francisco where he served with the 1st Motion Picture Unit. Poor eyesight excluded him from serving overseas. In 1945 he returned to making movies. He became third vice-president of the Screen Actor;s Guild (SAG) in 1946. In 1947 he was elected president of the union in a special election and was chosen by the membership to serve seven additional one-year terms, from 1947 to 1952 and in 1959. Reagan led the SAG through eventful years that were marked by labor-management disputes, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era. Reagan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he displayed his fervent anti-communist credentials. He told the committee "I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment."
Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and turned to television. He was hired as the host of General Electric Theater, a series of weekly dramas that became very popular. His contract required him to tour General Electric (GE) plants 16 weeks out of the year, giving as many as 14 speeches per day. The show ran for 10 seasons from 1953 to 1962. His final work as a professional actor was as the host and performer on the television series Death Valley Days from 1964 and 1965.
During the 1930s and 40s, Reagan supported the Democratic Party. He admired President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the 1950s, he switched political allegiance, formally becoming a Republican in 1962. In the 1948 presidential election, Reagan strongly supported Harry S. Truman, appearing on stage with him during a campaign speech in Los Angeles. However, in the early 1950s, as his relationship with actress Nancy Davis grew, he shifted to the right and endorsed the presidential candidacies of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 as well as Richard Nixon in 1960.
During the time that he was the host of General Electric Theater, he traveled across the country to give talks to over 200,000 GE employees as a motivational speaker. He wrote his own speeches and though they were non-partisan, they carried a conservative, pro-business message: he was for free markets, anticommunism, lower taxes, and limited government. When he formally registered as a Republican, Reagan said, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me."
When Medicare legislation was introduced in 1961, Reagan created a recording for the American Medical Association (AMA) warning that such legislation would mean the end of freedom in America. Reagan said that if his listeners did not write letters to prevent it, "we will awake to find that we have socialism. And if you don't do this, and if I don't do it, one of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."
Reagan gained national attention in his speeches for conservative presidential contender Barry Goldwater in 1964. Speaking for Goldwater, Reagan stressed his belief in the importance of smaller government. He consolidated themes that he had developed in his talks for GE to deliver his famous speech, "A Time for Choosing", delivered on October 27, 1964. In the speech he said:
"The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing. You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream—the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order—or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism."
Although the speech was not enough to turn around the faltering Goldwater campaign, it was the key event that established Reagan's national political visibility. In 1966, Reagan ran for Governor of California as the Republican candidate. He defeated two-term governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, and was sworn in on January 2, 1967. In his first term, he froze government hiring and approved tax hikes to balance the budget. Shortly after the beginning of his term, in 1968 as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement, Reagan ran as a candidate for Republican nomination for President. He hoped to become a compromise candidate if neither Nixon nor second-place candidate Nelson Rockefeller received enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the Republican convention. But at the end of the balloting Nixon had 692 delegate votes, 25 more than he needed to win the nomination, followed by Rockefeller, with Reagan in third place.
Reagan was involved in several high-profile conflicts with the protest movements of the era, including his public criticism of university administrators for tolerating student demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley campus. On May 15, 1969, during the People's Park protests at the university's campus, Reagan sent the California Highway Patrol and other officers to quell the protests. This led to an incident that became known as "Bloody Thursday," resulting in the death of student James Rector. 111 police officers were injured in the conflict, including one who was knifed in the chest. Reagan then called out 2,200 state National Guard troops to occupy the city of Berkeley for two weeks to crack down on the protesters. The Guard remained in Berkeley for 17 days. One year after "Bloody Thursday," Reagan responded to questions about campus protest movements saying, "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with. No more appeasement."
Despite an unsuccessful attempt to recall him in 1968, Reagan was re-elected governor in 1970, defeating Jesse Unruh. He chose not to seek a third term in the following election cycle.
In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan established himself as the conservative candidate, obtaining the support of organizations such as the American Conservative Union. Reagan's campaign relied on a strategy of winning a few primaries early to damage the inevitability of Ford's likely nomination. Reagan won North Carolina, Texas, and California, but lost New Hampshire, Florida, and his native Illinois. As the convention neared, Ford appeared close to victory. In an effort to appease his party's moderate wing, Reagan chose moderate Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate if nominated. The move offended some of Reagan's conservative base. Ford narrowly won the nomination with 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070, but Reagan's concession speech was well-received by the delegates. Ford would go on to lose the 1976 presidential election to the Democratic candidate, Jimmy Carter.
After the campaign, Reagan kept up his public profile. He continued as a vocal critic of Carter and the Democrats. Reagan announced his candidacy for President of the United States in New York City on November 13, 1979. His campaign slogan, which would be recycled nine elections later, was "Let's Make America Great Again." Reagan was the early odds-on favorite to win his party's nomination for president after nearly beating incumbent President Ford just four years earlier. He was so far ahead in the polls that he declined to attend many of the multi-candidate forums in the summer and fall of 1979. His opponents were George H. W. Bush, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and chairman of the Republican National Committee. Bush attended many of the events than Reagan avoided. In January 1980, the Iowa Republicans decided to have a straw poll as a part of their caucuses for that year. Bush defeated Reagan by a small margin. Bush declared he had "the Big Mo".
As the New Hampshire primary approached, the Nashua Telegraph offered to host a debate between Reagan and Bush. Worried that a newspaper-sponsored debate might violate electoral regulations, Reagan subsequently arranged to fund the event with his own campaign money, inviting the other candidates to participate at short notice. The Bush camp did not learn of Reagan's decision to include the other candidates until the debate was due to commence. Bush refused to participate, which led to an impasse on the stage. As Reagan attempted to explain his decision, the editor of the Nashua Telegraph ordered the sound man to mute Reagan's microphone. A visibly angry Reagan responded, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!" Eventually the other candidates agreed to leave, and the debate proceeded between Reagan and Bush.
Reagan sailed to an easy win in New Hampshire. Reagan swept the South. He lost five more primaries to Bush as the race tightened. Reagan was an adherent to a policy known as supply-side economics, which operated on the theory that economic growth can be most effectively created using incentives for people to produce (supply) goods and services. This included lowering income tax and capital gains tax rates. Reagan said that cutting tax rates would actually increase tax revenues because the lower rates would cause people to work harder as they would be able to keep more of their money. Reagan also called for a drastic cut in "big government" and pledged to deliver a balanced budget for the first time since 1969. In the primaries Bush called Reagan's economic policy "voodoo economics" because it promised to lower taxes and increase revenues at the same time.
On May 20, 1980, after winning the Michigan and Oregon primaries, Reagan secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination for the Republican Party. His opponent in the general election, incumbent President Jimmy Carter, passed the delegate threshold to become the presumptive nominee of his party on June 3. On May 26, George H. W. Bush conceded defeat and urged his supporters to back Reagan. Reagan chose Bush as his running mate in the election.
The 1980 Republican National Convention convened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Reagan accepted the Republican nomination on the final day of the convention:
"With a deep awareness of the responsibility conferred by your trust, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. I do so with deep gratitude, and I think also I might interject on behalf of all of us, our thanks to Detroit and the people of Michigan and to this city for the warm hospitality they have shown. And I thank you for your wholehearted response to my recommendation in regard to George Bush as a candidate for vice president."
In the general election, Reagan gained support that crossed party lines. At a time when the nation faced rampant inflation, high interest rates and declining morale because of the Iran hostage crisis, the nation was drawn to Reagan's campaign of upbeat optimism. Incumbent President Jimmy Carter emphasized his record as a peacemaker, and said Reagan's election would threaten civil rights and social programs that stretched back to the New Deal. Reagan's platform said that peace came from strength through a strong national defense.
Carter polled better with evangelical Christians according to a Gallup poll, but Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority threw its support behind Reagan. A group headed by Jerry Falwell purchased $10 million in commercials on southern radio and TV supportive of Reagan and critical of Carter. Reagan's promised to restore the nation's military strength, at time when 60% of Americans polled felt defense spending was too low. Reagan also promised a balanced budget within three years accompanied by a 30% reduction in tax rates over those same years. 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."
Carter was the only candidate who supported the Equal Rights Amendment, while the Republican Party dropped their endorsement of the ERA. Reagan announced his intention, if elected, to appoint women to his cabinet and to appoint the first female justice to the Supreme Court.
In August, Reagan gave a campaign speech at the annual Neshoba County Fair on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Mississippi, where Reagan said, "I believe in states' rights. I believe in people doing as much as they can at the community level and the private level. 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." Carter criticized Reagan for injecting "hate and racism" by the "rebirth of code words like 'states' rights'". When Carter appeared in a small Alabama town, Tuscumbia, Reagan incorrectly claimed the town had been the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan—it was actually the home of the KKK's national headquarters.
But Carter was burdened by a continued weak economy and the Iran hostage crisis. Inflation, high interest rates, and unemployment continued through the course of the campaign. John Anderson's independent candidacy, aimed at eliciting support from liberals, was also seen as hurting Carter more than Reagan, especially in such reliably Democratic states such as Massachusetts and New York.
The League of Women Voters had announced a schedule of debates, three presidential and one vice presidential. When it was announced that Independent candidate John Anderson might be invited to participate along with Carter and Reagan, Carter refused to participate if Anderson was included, and Reagan refused to debate without him. It took months of negotiations for the League of Women Voters to finally put it together. The debate was held on September 21, 1980 in the Baltimore Convention Center. Reagan said of Carter's refusal to debate: "He knows that he couldn't win a debate even if it were held in the Rose Garden before an audience of Administration officials with the questions being asked by Jody Powell." The League of Women Voters promised the Reagan campaign that the debate stage would feature an empty chair to represent the missing president. At the debate Anderson failed to substantively engage Reagan, instead he started off by criticizing Carter.
With two weeks to go to the election, the LWV agreed to exclude Congressman Anderson from the final debate, which was rescheduled for October 28 in Cleveland, Ohio. Moderated by Howard K. Smith and presented by the League of Women Voters, the presidential debate between President Carter and Governor Reagan ranked among the highest ratings of any television show in the previous decade. Debate topics included the Iranian hostage crisis, and nuclear arms treaties and proliferation. Carter's campaign sought to portray Reagan as a reckless "war hawk," as well as a "dangerous right-wing radical". But when Carter said that he consulted with 12-year-old daughter Amy concerning nuclear weapons policy, that became the focus of post-debate analysis and fodder for late-night television jokes. When President Carter criticized Reagan's record, which included voting against Medicare and Social Security benefits, Governor Reagan audibly sighed and replied: "There you go again".
In his closing remarks, Reagan asked viewers:
"Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was? Do you feel that our security is as safe, that we're as strong as we were four years ago? And if you answer all of those questions 'yes', why then, I think your choice is very obvious as to whom you will vote for. If you don't agree, if you don't think that this course that we've been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have."
In September 1980, former Watergate scandal prosecutor Leon Jaworski accepted a position as honorary chairman of Democrats for Reagan. Jaworski had once harshly criticized Reagan as an "extremist". He said after accepting the chairmanship, "I would rather have a competent extremist than an incompetent moderate." Former Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota also endorsed Reagan.
The election was held on November 4, 1980. Reagan and Bush beat Carter by almost 10 percentage points in the popular vote. Republicans also gained control of the Senate for the first time since 1952, riding on Reagan's populist coattails. In the electoral college, Reagan won 489 votes (representing 44 states) and 49 for Carter (representing six states and Washington, D.C.). NBC News projected Reagan as the winner at 8:15 pm EST before voting was finished in the West, based on exit polls.
Frank Rich, in an article for New York Magazine, wrote of Reagan:
Some reporters who tracked Reagan on the campaign trail sensed that many voters didn’t care if he came from Hollywood, if his policies didn’t add up, if his facts were bogus, or if he was condescended to by Republican leaders or pundits. As Elizabeth Drew of The New Yorker observed in 1976, his appeal “has to do not with competence at governing but with the emotion he evokes.” As she put it, “Reagan lets people get out their anger and frustration, their feeling of being misunderstood and mishandled by those who have run our government, their impatience with taxes and with the poor and the weak, their impulse to deal with the world’s troublemakers by employing the stratagem of a punch in the nose.”
By the end of 1939 he had appeared in 19 films. In 1940, he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American and from it, he acquired the lifelong nickname "the Gipper." In April of 1942 he was ordered to active duty with the U.S. Army at San Francisco where he served with the 1st Motion Picture Unit. Poor eyesight excluded him from serving overseas. In 1945 he returned to making movies. He became third vice-president of the Screen Actor;s Guild (SAG) in 1946. In 1947 he was elected president of the union in a special election and was chosen by the membership to serve seven additional one-year terms, from 1947 to 1952 and in 1959. Reagan led the SAG through eventful years that were marked by labor-management disputes, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era. Reagan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he displayed his fervent anti-communist credentials. He told the committee "I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment."
Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and turned to television. He was hired as the host of General Electric Theater, a series of weekly dramas that became very popular. His contract required him to tour General Electric (GE) plants 16 weeks out of the year, giving as many as 14 speeches per day. The show ran for 10 seasons from 1953 to 1962. His final work as a professional actor was as the host and performer on the television series Death Valley Days from 1964 and 1965.
During the 1930s and 40s, Reagan supported the Democratic Party. He admired President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the 1950s, he switched political allegiance, formally becoming a Republican in 1962. In the 1948 presidential election, Reagan strongly supported Harry S. Truman, appearing on stage with him during a campaign speech in Los Angeles. However, in the early 1950s, as his relationship with actress Nancy Davis grew, he shifted to the right and endorsed the presidential candidacies of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 as well as Richard Nixon in 1960.
During the time that he was the host of General Electric Theater, he traveled across the country to give talks to over 200,000 GE employees as a motivational speaker. He wrote his own speeches and though they were non-partisan, they carried a conservative, pro-business message: he was for free markets, anticommunism, lower taxes, and limited government. When he formally registered as a Republican, Reagan said, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me."
When Medicare legislation was introduced in 1961, Reagan created a recording for the American Medical Association (AMA) warning that such legislation would mean the end of freedom in America. Reagan said that if his listeners did not write letters to prevent it, "we will awake to find that we have socialism. And if you don't do this, and if I don't do it, one of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."
Reagan gained national attention in his speeches for conservative presidential contender Barry Goldwater in 1964. Speaking for Goldwater, Reagan stressed his belief in the importance of smaller government. He consolidated themes that he had developed in his talks for GE to deliver his famous speech, "A Time for Choosing", delivered on October 27, 1964. In the speech he said:
"The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing. You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream—the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order—or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism."
Although the speech was not enough to turn around the faltering Goldwater campaign, it was the key event that established Reagan's national political visibility. In 1966, Reagan ran for Governor of California as the Republican candidate. He defeated two-term governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, and was sworn in on January 2, 1967. In his first term, he froze government hiring and approved tax hikes to balance the budget. Shortly after the beginning of his term, in 1968 as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement, Reagan ran as a candidate for Republican nomination for President. He hoped to become a compromise candidate if neither Nixon nor second-place candidate Nelson Rockefeller received enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the Republican convention. But at the end of the balloting Nixon had 692 delegate votes, 25 more than he needed to win the nomination, followed by Rockefeller, with Reagan in third place.
Reagan was involved in several high-profile conflicts with the protest movements of the era, including his public criticism of university administrators for tolerating student demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley campus. On May 15, 1969, during the People's Park protests at the university's campus, Reagan sent the California Highway Patrol and other officers to quell the protests. This led to an incident that became known as "Bloody Thursday," resulting in the death of student James Rector. 111 police officers were injured in the conflict, including one who was knifed in the chest. Reagan then called out 2,200 state National Guard troops to occupy the city of Berkeley for two weeks to crack down on the protesters. The Guard remained in Berkeley for 17 days. One year after "Bloody Thursday," Reagan responded to questions about campus protest movements saying, "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with. No more appeasement."
Despite an unsuccessful attempt to recall him in 1968, Reagan was re-elected governor in 1970, defeating Jesse Unruh. He chose not to seek a third term in the following election cycle.
In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan established himself as the conservative candidate, obtaining the support of organizations such as the American Conservative Union. Reagan's campaign relied on a strategy of winning a few primaries early to damage the inevitability of Ford's likely nomination. Reagan won North Carolina, Texas, and California, but lost New Hampshire, Florida, and his native Illinois. As the convention neared, Ford appeared close to victory. In an effort to appease his party's moderate wing, Reagan chose moderate Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate if nominated. The move offended some of Reagan's conservative base. Ford narrowly won the nomination with 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070, but Reagan's concession speech was well-received by the delegates. Ford would go on to lose the 1976 presidential election to the Democratic candidate, Jimmy Carter.
After the campaign, Reagan kept up his public profile. He continued as a vocal critic of Carter and the Democrats. Reagan announced his candidacy for President of the United States in New York City on November 13, 1979. His campaign slogan, which would be recycled nine elections later, was "Let's Make America Great Again." Reagan was the early odds-on favorite to win his party's nomination for president after nearly beating incumbent President Ford just four years earlier. He was so far ahead in the polls that he declined to attend many of the multi-candidate forums in the summer and fall of 1979. His opponents were George H. W. Bush, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and chairman of the Republican National Committee. Bush attended many of the events than Reagan avoided. In January 1980, the Iowa Republicans decided to have a straw poll as a part of their caucuses for that year. Bush defeated Reagan by a small margin. Bush declared he had "the Big Mo".
As the New Hampshire primary approached, the Nashua Telegraph offered to host a debate between Reagan and Bush. Worried that a newspaper-sponsored debate might violate electoral regulations, Reagan subsequently arranged to fund the event with his own campaign money, inviting the other candidates to participate at short notice. The Bush camp did not learn of Reagan's decision to include the other candidates until the debate was due to commence. Bush refused to participate, which led to an impasse on the stage. As Reagan attempted to explain his decision, the editor of the Nashua Telegraph ordered the sound man to mute Reagan's microphone. A visibly angry Reagan responded, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!" Eventually the other candidates agreed to leave, and the debate proceeded between Reagan and Bush.
Reagan sailed to an easy win in New Hampshire. Reagan swept the South. He lost five more primaries to Bush as the race tightened. Reagan was an adherent to a policy known as supply-side economics, which operated on the theory that economic growth can be most effectively created using incentives for people to produce (supply) goods and services. This included lowering income tax and capital gains tax rates. Reagan said that cutting tax rates would actually increase tax revenues because the lower rates would cause people to work harder as they would be able to keep more of their money. Reagan also called for a drastic cut in "big government" and pledged to deliver a balanced budget for the first time since 1969. In the primaries Bush called Reagan's economic policy "voodoo economics" because it promised to lower taxes and increase revenues at the same time.
On May 20, 1980, after winning the Michigan and Oregon primaries, Reagan secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination for the Republican Party. His opponent in the general election, incumbent President Jimmy Carter, passed the delegate threshold to become the presumptive nominee of his party on June 3. On May 26, George H. W. Bush conceded defeat and urged his supporters to back Reagan. Reagan chose Bush as his running mate in the election.
The 1980 Republican National Convention convened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Reagan accepted the Republican nomination on the final day of the convention:
"With a deep awareness of the responsibility conferred by your trust, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. I do so with deep gratitude, and I think also I might interject on behalf of all of us, our thanks to Detroit and the people of Michigan and to this city for the warm hospitality they have shown. And I thank you for your wholehearted response to my recommendation in regard to George Bush as a candidate for vice president."
In the general election, Reagan gained support that crossed party lines. At a time when the nation faced rampant inflation, high interest rates and declining morale because of the Iran hostage crisis, the nation was drawn to Reagan's campaign of upbeat optimism. Incumbent President Jimmy Carter emphasized his record as a peacemaker, and said Reagan's election would threaten civil rights and social programs that stretched back to the New Deal. Reagan's platform said that peace came from strength through a strong national defense.
Carter polled better with evangelical Christians according to a Gallup poll, but Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority threw its support behind Reagan. A group headed by Jerry Falwell purchased $10 million in commercials on southern radio and TV supportive of Reagan and critical of Carter. Reagan's promised to restore the nation's military strength, at time when 60% of Americans polled felt defense spending was too low. Reagan also promised a balanced budget within three years accompanied by a 30% reduction in tax rates over those same years. 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."
Carter was the only candidate who supported the Equal Rights Amendment, while the Republican Party dropped their endorsement of the ERA. Reagan announced his intention, if elected, to appoint women to his cabinet and to appoint the first female justice to the Supreme Court.
In August, Reagan gave a campaign speech at the annual Neshoba County Fair on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Mississippi, where Reagan said, "I believe in states' rights. I believe in people doing as much as they can at the community level and the private level. 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." Carter criticized Reagan for injecting "hate and racism" by the "rebirth of code words like 'states' rights'". When Carter appeared in a small Alabama town, Tuscumbia, Reagan incorrectly claimed the town had been the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan—it was actually the home of the KKK's national headquarters.
But Carter was burdened by a continued weak economy and the Iran hostage crisis. Inflation, high interest rates, and unemployment continued through the course of the campaign. John Anderson's independent candidacy, aimed at eliciting support from liberals, was also seen as hurting Carter more than Reagan, especially in such reliably Democratic states such as Massachusetts and New York.
The League of Women Voters had announced a schedule of debates, three presidential and one vice presidential. When it was announced that Independent candidate John Anderson might be invited to participate along with Carter and Reagan, Carter refused to participate if Anderson was included, and Reagan refused to debate without him. It took months of negotiations for the League of Women Voters to finally put it together. The debate was held on September 21, 1980 in the Baltimore Convention Center. Reagan said of Carter's refusal to debate: "He knows that he couldn't win a debate even if it were held in the Rose Garden before an audience of Administration officials with the questions being asked by Jody Powell." The League of Women Voters promised the Reagan campaign that the debate stage would feature an empty chair to represent the missing president. At the debate Anderson failed to substantively engage Reagan, instead he started off by criticizing Carter.
With two weeks to go to the election, the LWV agreed to exclude Congressman Anderson from the final debate, which was rescheduled for October 28 in Cleveland, Ohio. Moderated by Howard K. Smith and presented by the League of Women Voters, the presidential debate between President Carter and Governor Reagan ranked among the highest ratings of any television show in the previous decade. Debate topics included the Iranian hostage crisis, and nuclear arms treaties and proliferation. Carter's campaign sought to portray Reagan as a reckless "war hawk," as well as a "dangerous right-wing radical". But when Carter said that he consulted with 12-year-old daughter Amy concerning nuclear weapons policy, that became the focus of post-debate analysis and fodder for late-night television jokes. When President Carter criticized Reagan's record, which included voting against Medicare and Social Security benefits, Governor Reagan audibly sighed and replied: "There you go again".
In his closing remarks, Reagan asked viewers:
"Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was? Do you feel that our security is as safe, that we're as strong as we were four years ago? And if you answer all of those questions 'yes', why then, I think your choice is very obvious as to whom you will vote for. If you don't agree, if you don't think that this course that we've been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have."
In September 1980, former Watergate scandal prosecutor Leon Jaworski accepted a position as honorary chairman of Democrats for Reagan. Jaworski had once harshly criticized Reagan as an "extremist". He said after accepting the chairmanship, "I would rather have a competent extremist than an incompetent moderate." Former Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota also endorsed Reagan.
The election was held on November 4, 1980. Reagan and Bush beat Carter by almost 10 percentage points in the popular vote. Republicans also gained control of the Senate for the first time since 1952, riding on Reagan's populist coattails. In the electoral college, Reagan won 489 votes (representing 44 states) and 49 for Carter (representing six states and Washington, D.C.). NBC News projected Reagan as the winner at 8:15 pm EST before voting was finished in the West, based on exit polls.
Frank Rich, in an article for New York Magazine, wrote of Reagan:
Some reporters who tracked Reagan on the campaign trail sensed that many voters didn’t care if he came from Hollywood, if his policies didn’t add up, if his facts were bogus, or if he was condescended to by Republican leaders or pundits. As Elizabeth Drew of The New Yorker observed in 1976, his appeal “has to do not with competence at governing but with the emotion he evokes.” As she put it, “Reagan lets people get out their anger and frustration, their feeling of being misunderstood and mishandled by those who have run our government, their impatience with taxes and with the poor and the weak, their impulse to deal with the world’s troublemakers by employing the stratagem of a punch in the nose.”