Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign

On November 13, 1979, Reagan announced his third presidential bid in a nationally televised speech from New York City,[15] the tenth Republican to do so.[16] His campaign capitalized on his acting skills, showing Reagan speaking in a presidential-looking room.[17] During the speech, he never directly mentioned President Carter but called the current administration's energy policies an "utter fiasco" and blamed government spending and deficits for high inflation.[18] He borrowed the phrase "rendezvous with destiny" from Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1936 acceptance speech.[19] He said:

We, today's living Americans have in our lifetime fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom and done more to advance the dignity of man than any people who have ever lived on this Earth. The citizens of this great nation want leadership, yes but not a "man on a white horse" demanding obedience to his commands. They want someone who believes they can "begin the world over again." A leader who will unleash their great strength and remove the roadblocks government has put in their way. I want to do that more than anything I've ever wanted. And it's something that I believe with God's help I can do.[20]

In a press conference the same day, Reagan named a young U.S. representative, Jack Kemp, as one of his chief campaign spokespersons. This likely helped him counteract the issue of his age.[21] After the speech, Reagan went on a five-day campaign trip to visit 12 cities. He repeated his 1976 proposal to shift some functions of government away from Washington, but his press secretary, James Lake, said that, unlike the earlier version, the new proposal was general and did not spell out programs that would be transferred.[22] He was the front-runner candidate when he announced his campaign.[23]

The primary elections and caucuses were held for all 50 states and the Washington, D.C. from January 21 to June 3, 1980. In addition to Reagan, the major candidates were George H. W. Bush, John Anderson, Howard Baker, John Connally, and Bob Dole.[24] There was speculation about the potential candidacy of former President Gerald Ford, but he declined to run against Reagan.[25] In an upset defeat in the Iowa caucus held on January 21, Reagan narrowly lost to Bush.[26] After the win, Bush said his campaign was full of momentum, or "the Big Mo", and they would perform even better in the New Hampshire primary.[27][28]

Three days before the New Hampshire primary, the Reagan and Bush campaigns agreed to a one-on-one debate sponsored by The Telegraph at Nashua, New Hampshire, but hours before the debate, the Reagan campaign invited other candidates including Dole, Anderson, Baker and Phil Crane.[29] Debate moderator Jon Breen denied seats to the other candidates, asserting that The Telegraph would violate federal campaign contribution laws if it sponsored the debate and changed the ground rules hours before the debate.[30] As a result, the Reagan campaign agreed to pay for the debate. Reagan said that as he was funding the debate, he could decide who would debate.[31] During the debate, when Breen was laying out the ground rules and attempting to ask the first question, Reagan interrupted in protest to make an introductory statement and wanted other candidates to be included before the debate began.[32] The moderator asked Bob Malloy, the volume operator, to mute Reagan's microphone. After Malloy repeated his demand to Malloy, Reagan furiously replied, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green! [sic]".[lower-alpha 1][34] This turned out to be the turning point of the debate and the primary race.[35] Ultimately, the four additional candidates left, and the debate continued between Reagan and Bush. Reagan's polling numbers improved, and he won the New Hampshire primary by more than 39,000 votes.[36]

Bush defeated Anderson and won the Massachusetts primary with a margin of 0.34 percent, although both received equal numbers of delegates.[37] With the South Carolina primary approaching, political operative Lee Atwater leaked a story to Lee Bandy, a writer for The State newspaper that John Connally had tried to buy the black vote, which nearly destroyed Conally's campaign.[38] Reagan swept to victory in South Carolina, defeating Connally by 14 percent.[39] The next day, Connally formally withdrew from the campaign and endorsed Reagan.[40] With the Illinois primary approaching, the League of Women Voters sponsored a debate between Reagan, Bush, Anderson, and Crane. The candidates criticized Anderson for signing a fund-raising letterseeking supports for liberal Democratic senators, and Reagan questioned whether Anderson was really running as a Republican.[41] Reagan won the Illinois primary with 48 percent of the votes to Anderson's 37 percent.[42]

Reagan continued to win many other primaries and caucuses, although Bush won states like Connecticut, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.[43] After the Pennsylvania primary, Anderson withdrew from the Republican race and re-entered the race as an independent candidate.[44] On May 20, 1980, after the Michigan and Oregon primaries, Reagan secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination for the Republican Party.[45] Reagan said he would always be grateful to the people of Iowa for giving him "the kick in the pants" he needed.[46] On May 26, Bush; Reagan's remaining opponent for the Republican nomination conceded defeat and urged his supporters to support Reagan.[47] On June 3 (Super Tuesday), Reagan won all nine primaries.[48] With the end of the primaries, Reagan had won 59.8 percent votes to Bush's 23.8 percent and Anderson's 12.2 percent.[24]

Gerald Ford consulting with Bob Dole, Howard Baker, and Bill Brock before declining the offer to serve as Reagan's running mate, July 16

Reagan giving his acceptance speech at the convention, July 17

With the Republican National Convention approaching, Reagan prepared to select his running mate. Columnist Jack Germond and Jules Witcover wrote in their book Blue Smoke & Mirrors that Reagan's vice-presidential selection began as early as May 1980.[49] His choice for vice presidential running mate included former president Gerald Ford, who revealed it in a CBS interview with Walter Cronkite,[50] saying he was seriously considering the vice presidency. In late May and early June, Dick Wirthlin conducted polls showing that in each category tested Ford rated ahead of all other Republicans being mentioned as possible running mates.[50] Ford's representatives in these negotiations reportedly included Henry Kissinger, Alan Greenspan, and Dick Cheney, who had been Ford's White House chief of staff.[25]

However, after Ford suggested the possibility of a "co-presidency" and also insisted that Kissinger be re-appointed as Secretary of State with Alan Greenspan to be appointed as Secretary of the Treasury, negotiations to form a Reagan-Ford ticket ceased.[51] Reagan's other prospects were Bush, Howard Baker, William Simon, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Lugar, Jack Kemp, Guy Vander Jagt, and Paul Laxalt.[52] Less than twenty-four hours before Reagan had formally accepted the Republican nomination, he telephoned Bush to inform him of his intention to nominate him. On the following day, July 17, the final day of the Republican National Convention, Reagan officially announced Bush as his running mate.[53]

The 1980 Republican National Convention convened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.[53] Notable speakers included Guy Vander Jagt, former treasury secretary William E. Simon, former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former president Gerald Ford. In the roll call vote, Reagan received 1,939 delegates to Anderson's 37 and Bush's 13. Anne Armstrong received one vote.[54] Bush was nominated as the vice-presidential candidate. Reagan accepted the Republican nomination on the final day of the convention. He said:

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.[55]

Reagan's 1980 campaign button with the slogan "Let's make America great again"

Reagan campaigning in Indiana

Reagan remembered that Franklin D. Roosevelt won the 1932 presidential election because he successfully proved he was not Herbert Hoover. Reagan guessed he would similarly benefit from not being Jimmy Carter.[68] He began his campaign with a tumultuous rally in Texas on July 19 with Bush, where he proclaimed the campaign slogan, "We can make America great again."[69] The Carter campaign attempted to deny the Reagan campaign $29.4 million (equivalent to $104,419,871 in 2022) in federal campaign funds, the legal limit for campaign spending.[70] They claimed he was ineligible for the cash as independent groups with well-known Republican members had donated up to $60 million (equivalent to $213,101,777 in 2022) for Reagan's campaign. The Federal Election Commission unanimously rejected the plea and approved the payment.[70] At the same time, late July, President Carter's brother, Billy Carter, was being investigated for receiving funds from Libya.[71] In late June and in July, Reagan began to lead Carter in polls. In early August, his lead polling numbers reached 45 percent to Carter's 39 percent and Anderson's 14 percent.[67] On July 30, 1980, a Senate committee concluded that Billy had lied to justice examiners,[72] but ultimately found no evidence that he had influenced American policy.[73]

Reagan promised a restoration of the nation's military strength at a time when 60 percent of Americans polled felt defense spending was too low.[74] Reagan also promised an end to "trust me government", and to restore economic health by implementing a supply-side economic policy. At a rally in New York on August 5, Reagan proposed a youth differential in the minimum wage law to encourage businesses to hire unskilled and unemployed black youths. Appealing to black voters, he said, "What I want for America is, I think, pretty much what the overwhelming majority of black Americans also want."[75]

The 1980 campaign has been used as an example of dog-whistle rhetoric. While giving a speech at the Neshoba County Fair in early August, Reagan used the term 'state's rights', and also referred to 'Cadillac-driving welfare queens' and 'strapping young bucks buying T-bone steaks with food stamps'.[76] Some also saw these actions as an extension of the "southern strategy" developed by President Richard Nixon to garner white support for Republican candidates.[77] According to the historian Joseph Crespino, the speech was pre-written, and Reagan's visit to the Neshoba County was designed to reach out to the voters inclined toward segregationist George Wallace.[78] Reagan's supporters, however, have pointed out their belief that this was his typical anti-big government rhetoric, with no racial context or intent.[79]

Campaign commercials
Presidential Campaign Commercials 1980 – C-SPAN

Advertising his campaign was crucial for Reagan. Polls showed that almost 40 percent of the voters knew very little about him or what he stood for.[80] He campaigned extensively, and his political advertisements were broadcast on various television channels.[81] Reagan was an adherent of supply-side economics, which argues that economic growth can be most effectively created using incentives for people to produce (supply) goods and services, such as adjusting income tax and capital gains tax rates.[82] Accordingly, Reagan promised an economic revival that would affect all sectors of the population.[82]

Reagan called for a drastic cut in "big government" and pledged to deliver a balanced budget.[83] In the primaries, Bush famously called Reagan's economic policy "voodoo economics" because it promised to lower taxes and increase revenues at the same time. In his campaign speeches, Reagan presented his economic proposals as a return to free enterprise principles, a free market economy that had been in favor before the Great Depression and Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal policies.[84] At the same time, he attracted a following from the supply-side economics movement, which formed in opposition to Keynesian demand-stimulus economics. This movement produced some of the strongest Reagan supporters of the campaign.[84]

The League of Women Voters announced they would sponsor three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate.[85] They specified John Anderson would be included if he attained an average of 15 percent support in the major national opinion polls.[86] Carter and his advisers were adamant in their refusal to allow Anderson to take part. Although the poll figures were ambiguous, they seemed to suggest that Anderson would cut more deeply into Carter's votes than into Reagan's.[86] Carter's campaign went through the motions of sending a team of negotiators led by Bob Strauss to discuss the debate, but the bottom line remained that there would be no three-way debate. "We just can't do it," Strauss said. "Whatever it costs, we'll have to take it."[87]

Meanwhile, the Reagan campaign refused to debate without Carter, while Anderson himself said, "As far as I'm concerned, any debate is better than no debate."[96] After months of negotiations, the league held a debate between Reagan and Anderson, as Carter still refused to participate.[97] On September 21, 1980, Reagan and Anderson participated in a presidential debate moderated by Bill Moyers in Maryland. During the debate, Anderson started by criticizing Carter and saying, "Governor Reagan is not responsible for what has happened over the last four years, nor am I. The man who should be here tonight to respond to those charges chose not to attend."[98] Reagan added: "It's a shame now that there are only two of us here debating, because the two that are here are in more agreement than disagreement."[99] Reagan repeated his pledge to balance the federal budget, saying he believed that "the budget can be balanced by 1982 or 1983".[lower-alpha 2][100]

Both candidates strongly disagreed on abortion, with Reagan memorably saying, "I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born."[101] In the first post-debate survey by ABC–Harris, 36 percent of the viewers thought Anderson had performed better, 30 percent favored Reagan and 17 percent thought they were equally effective.[102] CBS took a survey just before the debate; the results were Carter 40 percent, Reagan 36 percent, and Anderson nine percent. Just after the debate, its poll found Reagan at 40 percent, Carter at 35 percent, and Anderson unchanged at nine percent. On October 14, Wirthlin concluded from his polls that Carter had moved ahead of Ronald Reagan by two percent for the first time. Reagan himself sensed that his bid for the presidency now seemed to be winding down.[103] While traveling during his campaign in South Dakota, Reagan told his press secretary Lyn Nofziger, "I think it's about time we consider a debate."[103]

Three weeks before the election, Yankelovich, Skelly and White produced a survey of 1,632 registered voters showing the race almost dead even, as did a private survey by Caddell.[104] Two weeks later, a survey by CBS News and The New York Times showed a similar situation.[104] Although some pollsters reported a slight Reagan lead, ABC–Harris surveys consistently gave Reagan a lead of a few points until the last week of October. Thereafter, Reagan trailed Carter in most polls. In the Gallup poll on October 26, Jimmy Carter was at 47 percent and Ronald Reagan at 39 percent.[105] On October 31, Reagan campaigned in four states – Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, which were properly considered "battleground" states.[106] A week before election day, the League of Women Voters organized a debate between President Carter and Reagan. John Anderson was not invited because his polling numbers were below 15 percent.[107] Howard K. Smith moderated the debate, and the showdown resulted in among the highest ratings of any television program in the previous decade.[108] Debate topics included the Iranian hostage crisis, and nuclear arms treaties and proliferation. As the debate continued, Carter repeatedly pressed Reagan to explain his earlier statements opposing Social Security.[109] When Carter accurately pointed out that Reagan "began his career campaigning around this nation against Medicare," Reagan looked over at him and said, "There you go again" intending to disarm Carter.[110] It emerged as the defining moment of the 1980 presidential election.[111][112]

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.[113]

CNN attempted to include Anderson in the debate from the Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. CNN's Daniel Schorr read the same questions to Anderson. They then aired Anderson's live responses along with a tape delay of Carter and Reagan's responses,[114][115] despite technical difficulties.[116] Following his solo debate with President Carter on October 28, Reagan overcame the largest deficit since Gallup polling began in 1936.[117] Within one week, the Associated Press reported that the race was "too close to call". No vice presidential debates were conducted.[118]

In his Election Eve Address "A Vision for America" a day before the election day, Reagan said:

I have quoted John Winthrop's words more than once on the campaign trail this year—for I believe that Americans in 1980 are every bit as committed to that vision of a shining city on a hill, as were those long ago settlers ... These visitors to that city on the Potomac do not come as white or black, red or yellow; they are not Jews or Christians; conservatives or liberals; or Democrats or Republicans. They are Americans awed by what has gone before, proud of what for them is still ... a shining city on a hill.[119]

• Source (popular vote): Leip, David. "1980 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 7, 2005.
• Source (electoral vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved August 7, 2005.