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Cayden Johnson

Prof. Schneider

AMH 2020-10396

30 November, 2018

Ronald Reagan and the 1984 Presidential Election

Elections are a core practice in any democratic country. The people, coming together with the

same purpose, choose their officials and rulers in the most efficient and effective way devised in

human history, voting. The power of the vote is enormous. With a single vote an entire platform

of candidates can fall, though this rarely if ever occurs and the system has a great more deal

complexity than that. Especially important are the elections which decide who will take the

highest office of the land, in America’s case, the President of the United States. Due to the

cleverness, wisdom, and ingenuity of the Founders, the electoral college system was devised as a

way to provide a decisive result as to who would be President. As a result of this system, it is

usually be quite clear who has won the election. Sometimes, the results are more marginal, with

great difficulty in discerning the victor, and other times still they are highly in favour of one

candidate, a condition known as a landslide victory. There have been a surprisingly large amount

of Presidential landslides in the history of the United States, most featuring some of the most

well known influential Presidents such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Richard

Nixon. However, out of all of these elections, none has been such a great landslide as the 1984

Reagan/Bush election, in which the incumbent President Reagan “won 525 electoral votes

against Democrat Walter Mondale, who got only 13 electoral votes” (Murse, 2017). In fact,

Ronald Reagan received so many votes, that Mondale only won Washington D.C. and his home
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state of Minnesota in the entire race. Throughout the 1984 election, Ronald Reagan was

immensely popular and through and effective campaign strategy was able to overcome and

ultimately defeat his opponent for the largest landslide election in the history of the United

States.

As the election process began, Ronald Reagan easily received the Republican nomination and

his opponent Walter Mondale, former Vice president was chosen as the Democratic candidate. In

the Democratic state primaries, in addition to Mondale, several men of note, including John

Glenn and Gary Hart were possible representatives of the Democratic party. Also Jesse Jackson

ran in the primaries too, though with less success.Due to his surprising coming in second place in

the Iowa caucuses, it seemed that Gary Hart posed a greater threat to Mondale than the other

candidates did. According to Greenfield, “Gary Hart became the unofficial candidate of the

‘not-Mondale’ Democrats—voters who were younger, more educated, more affluent, whiter, and

disenchanted with the orthodoxies of the Democratic Party” (2007). It was Hart’s view that

Mondale was more old fashioned and symbolized the past mistakes of the Democratic party.

Hart had won several primaries, and it seemed he might steal the nomination, however his losing

New Jersey effectively ended his campaign, Mondale winning “6.8 million votes to Hart”s 6.5

million” (Greenfield, 2007). With the Democratic nomination secured, Mondale would then go

on to take on the incumbent President.

After securing the Democratic nomination, Mondale had to select a running mate for Vice

President. For this purpose he chose Geraldine Ferraro of New York. His move was strategic and
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well planned as he needed to cover significant ground to have any chance of beating the already

popular President. Firstly Ferraro was the first Italian-American to run on the ticket since Al

Smith early in the 20s. Mondale hoped that her familial background would gain more votes

among similar ethnicities. Ferraro was also “the first woman selected to run for Vice President on

a major party ticket” (Weinraub, 1984) which made her an obvious choice to gain the support of

women voters, who formed the majority of voters in America during 1980. Other people were

considered for the Vice Presidential nominee however, to Mondale and his campaign

management, Ferraro looked to be the best possible choice to gain further support in the election.

Ronald Reagan was a generally well received President during his first term. According to

Newport, Jones, and Saad, Reagan “averaged a 53% job approval rating during his presidency”

(2004). Such a high rating of course led to his nomination for the Republican party for the office

of President. The President had helped to get the country out of the early 1980s recession. The

stagflation that occurred during this time saw an increase in inflation and little economic growth.

This led to a rather high unemployment rate. Among Reagan’s first actions in tackling the

problems was a tax cut and the reduction of government regulations. According to Amadeo,

Reagan successfully pushed to “...cut the top tax rate from 70 percent to 50 percent” (2018).

Reagan also greatly increased the military budget to go towards the Cold War. This spending also

helped stimulate the economy. Overall these policies and others helped increase the approval

rating of the President which ultimately won him the Republican nomination.
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During the Election of 1984, Reagan fought against his opponent with a series of successful

campaigning strategies and sound political plans which ultimately helped win him the election.

First of all, President Reagan was able to produce a stream of successful televised ads to support

his message, including “Bear in the Woods” and “Morning in America”. The first insinuated

through a clever metaphor that Mondale would not be prepared to take on the Soviet Union and

that Reagan’s “peace through strength” policy. The “Morning in America” ad focused on the

results of Reagan’s economic work in the past four years and stated that his platform had

significantly reduced inflation and touted that now many families could lead better lives. The

President also had to overcome an age issue brought up by the opposing side. Reagan, at the time

of the 1984 election was the oldest elected President and this was heavily used against him by

the opposing side. Whether the concern was genuine or structured to gain an advantage, perhaps

a combination of both, the Democratic party suggested that the stresses of the Presidency would

be too difficult to bear for Reagan who was already in his 70s during the campaign. While such a

sentiment was already in the minds of Americans during this time, it was particularly set off due

to Reagan’s perceived poor performance in his first televised public debate with Mondale. He

seemed confused and made several mistakes in what he was saying and admitted to being

confused. But it was not long to last. President Reagan came back strong in the second televised

debate, stronger and funnier than ever. In this debate, when asked about his age, he jokingly

replied that “‘...I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am

not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.’” (De Groote,

2011).The audience exploded with laughter that lasted for quite some time, even the interviewer

who asked the question and Mondale could not restrain themselves in their laughing. Single
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handedly Reagan removed the age issue with this comment. Montale would go on later to admit

that “‘...I think if you come in close, you’ll see some tears coming down because I knew he had

gotten me there. That was really the end of my campaign that night, I think.’” (Debating Our

Destiny, 1984), and that “‘Yes, I walked off and I was almost certain the campaign was over, and

it was.’” (Debating Our Destiny, 1984.). Throughout the course of the 1984 Presidential Election,

President Reagan was successfully able to promote himself through several strategic

campaigning strategies, including powerful ads, and effectively eliminating the age issue.

Walter Mondale also tried to use some strategies in the election, however he was much less

successful than the incumbent President. As stated earlier, Mondale brought up the question of

the President’s ever increasing age and speculated that the burden of the office would be too

great for the old man to bear. Unfortunately for Mondale, Reagan was humorously able to

overcome that doubt with enlivening humor that left the audience rolling in laughter. Also,

Mondale’s Vice Presidential nominee and running mate Geraldine Ferraro was a significant

strategy. Rather than balancing the ticket, Ferraro was supposed to be Mondale’s weapon to get

more votes from ethnic groups and women based upon her social background and sex.

Magnuson and Church noted “the effect of a woman national candidate on the female vote, the

male vote, the South, the West, urban blue-collars workers, Black and Hispanic voters.” (1984).

However, this did not go as well as planned for the Democratic nominee. While many

Democratic activists strongly supported the duo, many Americans suspected a set up and that

Mondale had been pressured by Feminists and women activists for the choice. As it turns out few

people were pleased with Mrs. Ferraro and few more thought that she was best option for Vice
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President. Some Catholics, those of her own religion, took problem with her as well because of

her stance on being pro-choice for abortion which also played out into the outcome of the

election. Indeed, as Magnuson and Church pointed out “Ronald Reagan will be a formidable

campaign foe.” (1984). Unfortunately for Mondale, he was not able to overcome Reagan’s sheer

campaigning strategy and many of his plans backfired such as choosing Ferraro for Vice

President.

History reveals that President Reagan won the 1984 Election with a large landslide against

Walter Mondale, but few realize the extent to which it goes. First of all, the election was perhaps

the largest seen in U.S history and was by far the largest witnessed since Franklin Roosevelt’s

landslide in 1936. Not only did Reagan have a significant advantage in the electoral college, he

also was able to pull of a major win in the popular vote which reflects how united the people

were in voting for him. The incumbent President was able to win 49 out of 50 states with

Mondale only winning his home state and the District of Columbia. According to the US

National Archives, Reagan “...received 525 of 538 electoral votes, the highest total ever awarded

to a presidential candidate.” [2018?]. The result of the election spelled disaster for the

Democrats, the one of the worst losses in the entire history of the party. Even the state of

Minnesota was only won by Mondale by a small marginal fraction which further reinforces the

strength of Reagan’s force. Despite the appeal Mondale’s running mate Geraldine Ferraro was

supposed to have on women and Catholics, Reagan was able to receive 55% and 54-61%

respectively of those who voted in the election. Also, in addition to being highly favored by

Republicans, the president received many votes from those known as “Reagan Democrats”,
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traditionally Democratic individuals who voted for the opposing Republican side for Reagan in

the 1980 and 1984 elections. These individuals who were mostly Democrats who believed that

Reagan was responsible for the strengthening of the economy after the 1980-81 recession and

voted for him also because of dissatisfaction with the current Democratic party. In addition,

Pontuso states, “[Reagan Democrats] accepted Reagan’s view that weakness, not strength, was

more likely to lead to conflict” in reference to the Cold War because, “Many Reagan Democrats’

families had emigrated from countries dominated by communist tyranny, and they agreed with

the president that the Soviet Union was an ‘evil empire’” (2012). Overall, the 1984 election was

an unprecedented achievement for a U.S. President that has remained unchallenged to the present

day.

It was Reagan’s brilliant campaigning strategy, his previous experience in aiding the country,

and his charming personality that ultimately won him the Presidential Election of 1984. In a

record smashing event that shattered all expectations he single handedly dealt one of the most

severe blows to the Democratic party that it had ever faced. Even members of the opposing side

opted to vote for the incumbent President, which, perhaps, was an even greater slap in the face to

Walter Mondale than anything else that occured on the campaign trail. Nonetheless Reagan

proved to continue to be an excellent President, one of America’s finest, and would serve his

country until the end of the 1980s and would contribute to the tearing down of the berlin wall

and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Reagan’s popularity continued to grow as well, reaching

new heights and in the decades following his Presidency his name has become synonymous with

growth and the general welfare of the United States. Presidential elections are important. They
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change things, ushering a new wave of political leaders democratically elected for the service of

the people. The elections continually flood the system with both bad and good, efficient and

destructive, peaceful and warring. The 1984 election was unique. It shaped the minds of

Americans and surprised a great deal many by the sheer scope of Reagan’s resulting landslide,

and will continue to live in the minds of Americans for a long time.
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Works Cited
Amadeo, Kimberly. “President Ronald Reagan’s Economic Policies.” the balance, 2018,
https://www.thebalance.com/president-ronald-reagan-s-economic-policies-3305568. Accessed
30, 2018.

De Groote, Michael. “Ronald Reagan’s 10 Best Quotes.” Deseret News Utah, 2011,
https://www.deseretnews.com/top/103/3/My-opponents-youth-and-inexperience-Ronald-Reagans
-10-best-quotes.html. Accessed 30 November, 2018.

“Debating Our Destiny Transcript.” Internet Archive, 1984,

https://web.archive.org/web/20001212070100/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/debatingourdestiny/
dod/1984-broadcast.html. Accessed 30 November 2018.

Greenfield, Jeff. “Lessons from the Long 1984 Primary Season.” or “Remember 1984.” Slate,
2007,
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/09/lessons-from-the-long-1984-primary-season.html.
Accessed 30, November 2018.

Magnuson, Ed and Church, George J. “Geraldine Ferraro: A Break with Tradition.” Time
Magazine, 23, July 1984,
http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,952425-1,00.html. Accessed 30,
November 2018.

Murse, Tom. “The Most Lopsided Presidential Election in U.S. History.” ThoughtCo., 2017
https://www.thoughtco.com/landslide-presidential-elections-by-electoral-votes-3367489.
Accessed 30, November 2018.

Newport, Frank et al. “Ronald Reagan From the People’s Perspective: A Gallup Poll Review.”
Gallup, 2004,
https://news.gallup.com/poll/11887/ronald-reagan-from-peoples-perspective-gallup-poll-review.a
spx. Accessed 30, November 2018.

Pontuso, James. “Reagan Democrats.” First Principles, 2012,

https://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=242&theme=frmar&loc=b.
Accessed 30, November 2018.

US National Archives. “1984: Reagan’s Landslide Victory.” Google Arts and Culture, [2018?],
https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/aAIS_JXt70iELw. Accessed 30, November 2018.
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Weinraub, Bernard. “Geraldine Ferraro is Chosen by Mondale As Running Mate, First Women
On Major Ticket.” NY Times, 1984.
http://movies2.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0712.html#article. Accessed 30
November 2018.