1980 United States presidential election

The 1980 United States presidential election happened on November 4, 1980. Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate and former Governor of California, won the election. He defeated the incumbent president, Jimmy Carter, who was a Democrat, and John B. Anderson, a notable third party candidate who was an Independent.

1980 United States presidential election

← 1976 November 4, 1980 1984 →
538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	52.6%[1] 0.9 pp
Nominee Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter John B. Anderson Party Republican Democratic Independent[a] Home state California Georgia Illinois Running mate George H. W. Bush Walter Mondale Patrick Lucey Electoral vote 489 49 0 States carried 44 6 + DC 0 Popular vote 43,903,230 35,480,115 5,719,850 Percentage 50.7% 41.0% 6.6%
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Reagan/Bush, Blue denotes those won by Carter/Mondale.
President before election Jimmy Carter Democratic Elected President Ronald Reagan Republican

The country had a lot of problems during the election. The economy was bad (it was in a recession). Inflation was very high. There was an energy crisis. Iran, after the Iranian Revolution was holding 52 Americans hostage.

Reagan campaigned for to cut income taxes and to reduce government spending overall while increasing defense spending to challenge the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Carter campaigned for more government programs and mentioned the importance of human rights and preventing nuclear war.

Ronald Reagan won the election by a landslide, meaning that he had a lot more votes than his opponent.

Ronald Reagan's victory resulted in the Republicans gaining more power for the next few decades.

Candidates

Democratic Party

Democratic candidates:

• Jimmy Carter, President of the United States from Georgia
• Ted Kennedy, U.S. senator from Massachusetts
• Jerry Brown, governor of California
• Cliff Finch, former governor of Mississippi

Candidates gallery

• 
  President Jimmy Carter
• 
  Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts
• 
  Governor Jerry Brown of California

Republican Party

Republican candidates:

• Former Governor Ronald Reagan of California
• Former CIA director and United States Representative George H. W. Bush of Texas
• Representative John B. Anderson of Illinois
• Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee
• Representative Phil Crane of Illinois
• Former Governor John Connally of Texas
• Senator Bob Dole of Kansas
• Former Special Ambassador to Paraguay Ben Fernandez of California
• Former Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota
• Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut
• Senator Larry Pressler of South Dakota

Candidates gallery

• 
  Former Governor Ronald Reagan of California
• 
  Former CIA director and Representative George H. W. Bush of Texas
• 
  Representative John B. Anderson of Illinois
• 
  Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee
• 
  Representative Phil Crane of Illinois
• 
  Former Governor John Connally of Texas
• 
  Former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen
• 
  Senator Bob Dole of Kansas
• 
  Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut
• 
  Senator Larry Pressler of South Dakota

Notes

1. In some states labeled as National Unity, Anderson Coalition, Anderson Alternative or “Anderson for President”