Electoral history of Ronald Reagan
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This is the electoral history of Ronald Reagan.
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, a Republican, served as the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989) and earlier as the 33rd
governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...
(1967–1975). At of age at the time of his first inauguration, Reagan was the oldest person to assume the presidency in the nation's history, until Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017 at the age of . In 1984, Reagan won re-election at the age of , and was the oldest person to win a US presidential election until Joe Biden won the
2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...
at the age of . Having been elected twice to the presidency, Reagan reshaped the Republican Party, led the modern
conservative movement Conservative movement may refer to: *Conservatism in the United States, in politics *Conservatism, a political philosophy *Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious moveme ...
, and altered the political dynamic of the United States. His 1980 presidential campaign stressed some of his fundamental principles: lower taxes to stimulate the economy, less government interference in people's lives, states' rights, and a strong national defense. During his presidency, Reagan pursued policies that reflected his personal belief in individual freedom, brought changes domestically, both to the U.S. economy and expanded military, and contributed to the end of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. Termed the Reagan Revolution, his presidency would reinvigorate American morale,Cannon (1991, 2000), p. 746. reinvigorate the American economy and reduce American reliance upon government.


1966 California gubernatorial election

California Republicans were impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma after his " Time for choosing" speech, he announced in late 1965, his campaign for
Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...
in 1966. He won the Republican primary with nearly 65% of the vote, not including write-in votes, defeating four other candidates, including former San Francisco mayor George Christopher. Although he did not run in the Democratic primary, Reagan received 27,422 votes as a write-in candidate. Not including write-in candidates, 2,570,396 total votes were cast in the Democratic primary, so Reagan's votes would have comprised about 1% of the total Democratic primary votes. In Reagan's campaign, he emphasized two main themes: "to send the welfare bums back to work", and, in reference to burgeoning anti-war and anti-establishment
student protests Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or acad ...
at the University of California at Berkeley, "to clean up the mess at Berkeley". Ronald Reagan accomplished in 1966 what US Senator
William F. Knowland William Fife Knowland (June 26, 1908 – February 23, 1974) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from California from 1945 to 1959. He was Senate Majority Le ...
in
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
and former vice president
Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...
in
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
had tried: he was elected, defeating two-term governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, and was sworn in as the 33rd governor of California on January 2, 1967.


Republican primary


General election


1968 presidential election

Shortly after the beginning of his term as California governor, Reagan tested the presidential waters in 1968 as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement, hoping to cut into Nixon's Southern support and be a compromise candidate if neither Nixon nor second-place
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
received enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the
Republican convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of U.S. presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican N ...
. However, by the time of the convention Nixon had 692 delegate votes, 25 more than he needed to secure the nomination, followed by Rockefeller with Reagan in third place.


Republican presidential primaries


1968 Republican National Convention


1970 California gubernatorial election

Despite an unsuccessful attempt to recall him in 1968, Reagan was unopposed in the Republican primary and was re-elected in 1970, defeating "Big Daddy"
Jesse Unruh Jesse Marvin Unruh (, ; September 30, 1922 – August 4, 1987), also known as Big Daddy Unruh, was an American politician who served as speaker of the California State Assembly and as the California State Treasurer. Early life and education Born ...
. He did not seek a third term in the following election cycle.


Republican primary


General election


1976 presidential election

In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President
Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan soon established himself as the conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union which became key components of his political base, while President Ford was considered a more moderate Republican. Though Reagan lost the Republican nomination, he received 307 write-in votes in New Hampshire, 388 votes as an Independent on Wyoming's ballot, and a single electoral vote from a faithless elector in the November election from the state of Washington, which Ford had won over Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter. Ford ultimately lost the general election to Carter.


Republican primaries


Republican National Convention


Electoral College vote


1980 presidential election

Reagan ran against Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter and independent candidate
John B. Anderson John Bayard Anderson (February 15, 1922 – December 3, 2017) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 16th congressional district from 1961 to 1981. A member o ...
. He was praised by supporters for running a campaign of upbeat optimism. Aided by the Iran hostage crisis and a worsening economy at home marked by high unemployment and inflation, Reagan won the election in a massive landslide. The 1980 presidential election marked the beginning of the Reagan Era, and signified a conservative realignment in national politics. At 69 years old, Reagan was the oldest person ever to become president of the U.S. until 2017, when President Donald Trump was sworn in at the age of 70.


Republican presidential primaries


Republican National Convention


Presidential election


1984 presidential election

Reagan ran for reelection as president in 1984, running against Democrat Walter Mondale. Reagan was re-elected, receiving 58.8% of the popular vote to Mondale's 40.6%, and winning 49 of 50 states. Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes (97.6 percent of the 538 votes in the Electoral College), the most by any candidate in American history. This was the second-most lopsided presidential election in modern U.S. history after Franklin D. Roosevelt's
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
victory over
Alfred M. Landon Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential e ...
, in which he won 98.5 percent or 523 of the (then-total) 531 electoral votes. At 73 years old, Reagan again became the oldest person elected to the presidency, breaking his own record in 1980.


Republican presidential primaries


Republican National Convention


Presidential election


See also

*
Reagan coalition The Reagan coalition was the combination of voters that Republican Ronald Reagan assembled to produce a major political realignment with his electoral landslide in the 1980 United States presidential election. In 1980, the Reagan coalition was ...
, the combination of voters who supported Reagan and his election campaigns. * Reagan Democrat, a traditionally Democratic voter who defected from their party to support Reagan in 1980 and 1984. * Reagan's coattails, the influence of Reagan's popularity on elections other than his own, after the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
political expression to " ride in on another's coattails."


Notes


References


Bibliography

* {{Good article Ronald Reagan Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Ronald