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Personal life 33rd Governor of California
40th President of the United States Legacy
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This is the electoral history of Ronald Reagan. Reagan, a Republican, served as the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989) and earlier as the 33rd governor of California (1967–1975). At 69 years, 349 days 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 70 years, 220 days. In 1984, Reagan won re-election at the age of 73 years, 274 days, and was the oldest person to win a US presidential election until Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election at the age of 77 years, 349 days.
Having been elected twice to the presidency,[1] Reagan reshaped the Republican Party, led the modern conservative movement, and altered the political dynamic of the United States.[2] His 1980 presidential campaign stressed some of his fundamental principles: lower taxes to stimulate the economy,[3] less government interference in people's lives,[4] states' rights,[5] and a strong national defense.[6]
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.[7] Termed the Reagan Revolution, his presidency would reinvigorate American morale,[8][9] reinvigorate the American economy and reduce American reliance upon government.[7]
1966 California gubernatorial election
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/1966_California_gubernatorial_election_results_map_by_county.svg/300px-1966_California_gubernatorial_election_results_map_by_county.svg.png)
California Republicans were impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma after his "Time for choosing" speech,[10] he announced in late 1965, his campaign for Governor of California in 1966.[11][12] 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.[13] Although he did not run in the Democratic primary, Reagan received 27,422 votes as a write-in candidate.[13]: 2 Not including write-in candidates, 2,570,396 total votes were cast in the Democratic primary,[13]: 6 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 at the University of California at Berkeley, "to clean up the mess at Berkeley".[14] Ronald Reagan accomplished in 1966 what US Senator William F. Knowland in 1958 and former vice president Richard M. Nixon in 1962 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.[10][15]
Republican primary
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronald Reagan | 1,417,623 | 64.85 | |
Republican | George Christopher | 675,683 | 30.91 | |
Republican | William Penn Patrick | 40,887 | 1.87 | |
Republican | Warren N. Dorn | 44,812 | 2.04 | |
Republican | Joseph R. Maxwell | 7,052 | 0.32 | |
Total votes | 2,186,057 | 100 |
General election
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronald Reagan | 3,742,913 | 57.55 | |||
Democratic | Pat Brown (incumbent) | 2,749,174 | 42.27 | |||
Other | Various candidates | 11,358 | 0.18 | |||
Total votes | 6,503,445 | 100.00 | ||||
Turnout | 77.98 | |||||
Republican gain from Democratic |
1968 presidential election
[edit]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[18] and be a compromise candidate[19] if neither Nixon nor second-place Nelson Rockefeller received enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the Republican convention. 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.[18]
Republican presidential primaries
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/1968RepublicanPresidentialPrimaries.svg/350px-1968RepublicanPresidentialPrimaries.svg.png)
1968 Republican Party presidential primaries[20][21][22] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Aggregate votes | % | CW | |
Republican | Ronald Reagan | 1,696,632 | 37.93 | 1 | |
Richard Nixon | 1,679,443 | 37.54 | 10[b] | ||
James A. Rhodes | 614,492 | 13.74 | 1 | ||
Nelson Rockefeller | 164,340 | 3.67 | 1 | ||
Unpledged | 140,639 | 3.14 | 0 |
1968 Republican National Convention
[edit]1968 Republican presidential nomination[23] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes: (Initial) Final[c] |
% | |
Republican | Richard Nixon | (692) 1238 | 92.95 | |
Nelson Rockefeller | (277) | 936.98 | ||
Ronald Reagan | (182) | 20.07 | ||
James Rhodes | (55) | 0—
| ||
George Romney | (50) | 0—
| ||
Clifford Case | (22) | 0—
| ||
Frank Carlson | (20) | 0—
| ||
Others | (35) | 0—
|
1970 California gubernatorial election
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/1970_California_gubernatorial_election_results_map_by_county.svg/250px-1970_California_gubernatorial_election_results_map_by_county.svg.png)
Despite an unsuccessful attempt to recall him in 1968,[24] Reagan was unopposed in the Republican primary[25] and was re-elected in 1970, defeating "Big Daddy" Jesse Unruh.[15] He did not seek a third term in the following election cycle.
Republican primary
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronald Reagan* | 1,906,568 | 100 | |
Total votes | 1,906,568 | 100.00 |
General election
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronald Reagan (incumbent) | 3,439,664 | 52.83 | |
Democratic | Jesse M. Unruh | 2,938,607 | 45.14 | |
Peace and Freedom | Ricardo Romo | 65,954 | 1.01 | |
American Independent | William K. Shearer | 65,847 | 1.01 | |
Total votes | 6,510,072 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | 74.78 | |||
Republican hold |
1976 presidential election
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Republican_presidential_primary_results%2C_1976.svg/350px-Republican_presidential_primary_results%2C_1976.svg.png)
Red indicates a win by Reagan, blue a win by Ford.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/1976RepublicanPresidentialNominationVotePathed.svg/350px-1976RepublicanPresidentialNominationVotePathed.svg.png)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/ElectoralCollege1976.svg/350px-ElectoralCollege1976.svg.png)
In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford 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.[28] 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,[29] which Ford had won over Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter. Ford ultimately lost the general election to Carter.
Republican primaries
[edit]1976 Republican Party presidential primaries[30] * denotes incumbent | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Aggregate votes | % | CW | |
Republican | Gerald Ford* | 5,529,899 | 53.29 | 27[d] | |
Ronald Reagan | 4,760,222 | 45.88 | 24 | ||
Others | 44,626 | 0.43 | 0 | ||
Unpledged | 34,717 | 0.34 | 0 |
Republican National Convention
[edit]1976 Republican presidential nomination[31] * denotes incumbent | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Gerald Ford* | 1,187 | 52.57 | |
Ronald Reagan | 1,070 | 47.39 | ||
Elliot Richardson | 1 | 0.04 |
1976 Republican vice presidential nomination[32] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Bob Dole | 1,921 | 85.04 | |
Abstentions | 103 | 4.56 | ||
Jesse Helms | 103 | 4.56 | ||
Ronald Reagan | 27 | 1.20 | ||
Phil Crane | 23 | 1.02 | ||
John Grady | 19 | 0.84 | ||
Louis Frey | 9 | 0.40 | ||
Anne Armstrong | 6 | 0.27 | ||
Howard Baker | 6 | 0.27 | ||
William F. Buckley | 4 | 0.18 | ||
John Connally | 4 | 0.18 | ||
David C. Treen | 4 | 0.18 | ||
Others | 30 | 1.30 |
Electoral College vote
[edit]1976 United States presidential election results Electoral College vote[33] * denotes incumbent | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Presidential candidate |
Vice presidential Candidate |
EV | |
Democratic | Jimmy Carter | Walter Mondale | 297 | |
Republican | Gerald Ford* | Bob Dole | 240 | |
Republican | Ronald Reagan | Bob Dole | 1[e] | |
Total votes: | 538 | |||
Votes necessary: | 270 |
1980 presidential election
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/ElectoralCollege1980.svg/350px-ElectoralCollege1980.svg.png)
Reagan ran against Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter and independent candidate John B. Anderson.[1][34] He was praised by supporters for running a campaign of upbeat optimism.[35] 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.[36][37] The 1980 presidential election marked the beginning of the Reagan Era, and signified a conservative realignment in national politics.[38][39] 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.[36]
Republican presidential primaries
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Republican_presidential_primary_results%2C_1980.svg/350px-Republican_presidential_primary_results%2C_1980.svg.png)
1980 Republican Party presidential primaries[40] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Aggregate votes | % | CW | |
Republican | Ronald Reagan | 7,709,793 | 59.79 | 44 | |
George H. W. Bush | 3,070,033 | 23.81 | 7[f] | ||
John B. Anderson | 1,572,174 | 12.19 | 0 | ||
Howard Baker | 181,153 | 1.41 | 0 | ||
Phil Crane | 97,793 | 0.76 | 0 | ||
John Connally | 82,625 | 0.64 | 0 | ||
Unpledged | 68,155 | 0.53 | 0 |
Republican National Convention
[edit]1980 Republican presidential nomination[41] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Ronald Reagan | 1,939 | 97.44 | |
John B. Anderson | 37 | 1.86 | ||
George H. W. Bush | 13 | 0.65 | ||
Anne Armstrong | 1 | 0.05 |
Presidential election
[edit]1980 United States presidential election[34][42] * denotes incumbent | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Presidential candidate |
Vice presidential Candidate |
PV (%) | EV (%) | |
Republican | Ronald Reagan | George H. W. Bush | 43,903,230 (50.75) | 489 (90.9) | |
Democratic | Jimmy Carter* | Walter Mondale* | 35,480,115 (41.01) | 49 (9.1) | |
Independent | John B. Anderson | Patrick Lucey | 5,719,850 (6.61) | 0
| |
Libertarian | Ed Clark | David Koch | 921,128 (1.06) | 0
| |
Citizens | Barry Commoner | LaDonna Harris | 233,052 (0.21) | 0
| |
Others | 252,303 (0.29) | 0
| |||
Total votes: | 86,509,678 | 538 | |||
Votes necessary: | 270 |
1984 presidential election
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/ElectoralCollege1984.svg/350px-ElectoralCollege1984.svg.png)
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.[43] 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.[44] This was the second-most lopsided presidential election in modern U.S. history after Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1936 victory over Alfred M. Landon, in which he won 98.5 percent or 523 of the (then-total) 531 electoral votes.[45][46] At 73 years old, Reagan again became the oldest person elected to the presidency, breaking his own record in 1980.[47]
Republican presidential primaries
[edit]1984 Republican Party presidential primaries[45][48] * denotes incumbent | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Aggregate votes | % | CW | |
Republican | Ronald Reagan* | 6,484,987 | 98.78 | 50 | |
Unpledged | 55,458 | 0.85 | 0 | ||
Harold Stassen | 12,749 | 0.19 | 0 |
Republican National Convention
[edit]1984 Republican presidential nomination[49] * denotes incumbent | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Ronald Reagan* | 2,233 | 99.91 | |
Abstentions | 2 | 0.09 |
Presidential election
[edit]1984 United States presidential election[43][50] * denotes incumbent | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Presidential candidate |
Vice presidential Candidate |
PV (%) | EV | |
Republican | Ronald Reagan* | George H. W. Bush* | 54,455,472 (58.77) | 525 (97.6) | |
Democratic | Walter Mondale | Geraldine Ferraro | 37,577,352 (40.56) | 13 (2.4) | |
Libertarian | David Bergland | James Lewis | 228,111 (0.25) | 0
| |
Others | 393,298 (0.42) | 0
| |||
Total votes: | 92,653,233 | 538 | |||
Votes necessary: | 270 |
See also
[edit]- Reagan coalition, 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 political expression to "ride in on another's coattails."
Notes
[edit]- ^ Vote totals do not include write-in votes, including Sam Yorty who received 3,993 votes, and Pat Brown who received 1,700 votes.[13]: 2
- ^ Richard Nixon won primaries in 9 states plus the District of Columbia primary.
- ^ First ballot switches following roll call vote.
- ^ Gerald Ford won primaries in 26 states plus the District of Columbia primary.
- ^ One faithless elector in the state of Washington cast his electoral vote for Ronald Reagan (president) and Bob Dole (vice president).
- ^ George H. W. Bush won primaries in 6 states plus the District of Columbia primary.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Ronald Reagan: Campaigns and Elections". Miller Center of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ Loughlin, Sean (July 6, 2004). "Reagan cast a wide shadow in politics". CNN. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
- ^ Uchitelle, Louis (September 22, 1988). "Bush, Like Reagan in 1980, Seeks Tax Cuts to Stimulate the Economy". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
- ^ Hakim, Danny (March 14, 2006). "Challengers to Clinton Discuss Plans and Answer Questions". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
- ^ Kneeland, Douglas E. (August 4, 1980) "Reagan Campaigns at Mississippi Fair; Nominee Tells Crowd of 10,000 He Is Backing States' Rights." The New York Times. p. A11. Retrieved January 1, 2008.
- ^ John David Lees, Michael Turner. Reagan's first four years: a new beginning? Manchester University Press ND, 1988. p. 11.
- ^ a b Freidel, Frank; Sidey, Hugh (1995). The Presidents of the United States of America. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-912308-57-9.
- ^ Hayward, Steven F (May 16, 2005). "Reagan in Retrospect". American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Archived from the original on March 13, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2009.
- ^ Cannon (1991, 2000), p. 746.
- ^ a b "The Governors' Gallery – Ronald Reagan". California State Library. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
- ^ Gerard J. De Groot, "'A Goddamned Electable Person': The 1966 California Gubernatorial Campaign of Ronald Reagan." History 82#267 (1997), pp. 429–448.
- ^ Totton J. Anderson and Eugene C. Lee, "The 1966 Election in California," Western Political Quarterly (1967) 20#2 pp. 535–554 in JSTOR
- ^ a b c d e f California Statement of the Vote | 1966–1968. California Secretary of State. 1962. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ Kahn, Jeffery (June 8, 2004). "Ronald Reagan launched political career using the Berkeley campus as a target". UC Berkeley News. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
- ^ a b "Timeline . Reagan . American Experience . WGBH". Pbs.org. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ "1966 Gubernatorial General Election Results – California". uselectionatlas.org. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ^ Anderson, Totton J.; Lee, Eugene C. (June 1967). "The 1966 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly. 20 (2): 535–554. doi:10.2307/446081. JSTOR 446081.
- ^ a b Fischer, Klaus (2006). America in White, Black, and Gray: The Stormy 1960s. Continuum. pp. 241–243. ISBN 978-0-8264-1816-6.
- ^ "The New Rules of Play". Time. March 8, 1968. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
- ^ "Results of the 15 Presidential Primaries in 1968." CQ Almanac 1968], 24th ed., 19-971-19-973. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1969.
- ^ "Chronology of Political Events: Nov. 1967—Nov. 1968." CQ Almanac 1968, 24th ed., 19-974-19-978. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1969.
- ^ Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1319.
- ^ Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, pp. 1318–1319.
- ^ Recall Idea Got Its Start in L.A. in 1898, Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2003.
- ^ a b c Statement of the Vote | 1970–1972. California Secretary of State. 1968. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ "1970 Gubernatorial General Election Results – California". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ^ Anderson, Totton J.; Bell, Charles G. (June 1971). "The 1970 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly. 24 (2): 252–273. doi:10.2307/446870. JSTOR 446870.
- ^ "Biography of Gerald R. Ford". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2007 – via National Archives. Ford considered himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs".
- ^ "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". U.S. National Archives and Records Admin. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ^ Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1386.
- ^ Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1385.
- ^ "1976 Republican Convention Divided Republicans Nominate Ford and Dole". Congressional Quarterly (In CQ Almanac 1976, 32nd ed., 892-99. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1977.). Retrieved March 17, 2017.
- ^ "1976 Presidential General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ^ a b "1980 Presidential General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ^ Skinner, Kudelia; Mesquita, Rice (2007). The Strategy of Campaigning. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11627-0. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
- ^ a b Hedrick Smith (November 5, 1980). "Reagan Easily Beats Carter; Republicans Gain in Congress". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ Harold Jackson; Alex Brummer (November 5, 1980). "A landslide makes it President Reagan | US news". The Guardian. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ Troy, Gil. "The Age of Reagan | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History". Gilderlehrman.org. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ Page, Susan (June 6, 2004). "USATODAY.com - Reagan's political force realigned political landscape". Usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1418.
- ^ Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, pp. 1477–1418.
- ^ "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ^ a b "1984 Presidential General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ^ "The Reagan Presidency". Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved April 19, 2008.
- ^ a b "United States presidential election of 1984 | United States government". Britannica.com. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ Murse, Tom (January 28, 2019). "The Most Lopsided Presidential Elections in U.S. History: How a Landslide is Measured". ThoughtCo. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ^ Raines, Howell (November 7, 1984). "Reagan Wins By a Landslide, Sweeping at Least 48 States - G.O.P. Gains Strength in House". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1448.
- ^ Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1447.
- ^ "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
Bibliography
[edit]- Troy, Gil; Schlesinger, Arthur M.; Israel, Fred L. (2012). History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008. Vol. 3 (4 ed.). New York City: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-8220-9.