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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.
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538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Reagan/Bush, Blue denotes those won by Carter/Mondale. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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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
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
Representative John B. Anderson of Illinois
Representative Phil Crane of Illinois
Former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen
Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut
Senator Larry Pressler of South Dakota
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