Election of 1984

The policies of Ronald Reagan were quite popular in 1984. His increase in defense spending and aggressive anti-communism played well with American views on foreign policy, and domestically the country had largely recovered from the recession of the early 1980`s. At the same time, his advocacy of tax cuts were popular even though federal deficits had risen, contrary to some of the premises of supply-side economics.

Nevertheless, the Democrats were left without major themes to use against Republicans. More people enjoyed the tax cuts than were bothered by cuts in federal programs. America`s international standing looked good when contrasted with the situation under Jimmy Carter. The Democrats broke new ground by nominating Geraldine Ferraro, a congresswoman from New York, to run along with the reliably liberal Democratic candidate Walter Mondale from Minnesota, the vice-president under Carter. But whatever the party gained from its gesture to women was lost on white men, who voted overwhelmingly for Reagan. The result in November was not even close.

Election of 1980 Election of 1988