On November 4, 1980, California Republican Ronald Reagan trounced Jimmy Carter at the polls, beating the incumbent by almost 10 percentage points in the popular election and winning 489 of 538 electors. That type of victory combined with Reagan’s larger than life place in modern political history might lead you to believe the 1980 campaign was never in doubt. But it was. And in early 1980, both men faced viable challengers within their own party, as well as a third party candidate whose 5.7 million popular votes could have changed the outcome of a closer election. The Presidential election of 1980 was not just a turning point- it was, in fact, far more interesting than most people give it credit for.
Why did Ted Kennedy decide to challenge the sitting President in the Democratic Primary? How did George Bush win 3 of the first seven GOP primaries against the presumed nominee? And why, as his party’s fortunes looked the best they had in years, did Republican hopeful John B. Anderson of Illinois decide to leave the GOP to run a third party campaign? Let’s find out.
Welcome to The Road to Now’s Third Party Elections Series. Today: The election of 1980 with Rick Perlstein.
Rick Perlstein is the author of multiple award-winning books, including Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (2009) and Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980 (2021). You can hear Rick discussing Reaganland in his previous appearance on The Road to Now in episode #199
You can get an extended version of this conversation, extra episodes and more by supporting us on Patreon! Click here for the extended episode!
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
#266 College Basketball: The Story of March Madness w/ Dana O'Neil
#265 The Legacy of Jimmy Carter’s Foreign Policy w/ Nancy Mitchell
#264 Andrew Young on Jimmy Carter
#263 Mourning the Presidents w/ Lindsay Chervinsky
#262 Atlanta & Charlotte: Women's History in the Urban South w/ La Shonda Mims
#261 Jordan Gross: Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, Idaho
#260 Presidential Transitions w/ David Marchick
#259 Silent Spring Revolution w/ Douglas Brinkley
#258 The Feres Doctrine (Part II) w/ Maximillian Potter & Richard Stayskal
#257 The Feres Doctrine w/ Maximillian Potter & Richard Stayskal
The Bering Straight: An Environmental History w/ Bathsheba Demuth
Uncivil Christmas: The Civil War & Christmas in Williamsburg w/ Carson Hudson
#256 The Legacy of Lyndon Baines Johnson w/ Mark Updegrove & Mark A. Lawrence
#255 Freedom’s Dominion w/ Jefferson Cowie
The History of Santa Claus & Christmas Culture w/ James Cooper (A Holiday Classic!)
The History of St. Jude Children’s Hospital w/ Richard Shadyac
#253 Searching for America’s Emotional Source Code with Dov Baron
Chernobyl, The Last Czars, and the Pros & Cons of Dramatizing History w/ Philippa Heatherington & Jon Waterlow
#252 Deathcare Revolution w/ Tanya Marsh
#251 The West Wing & Beyond w/ Pete Souza
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Undermine
The Tapes Archive
Freak Flag Flying
Inside the Musician’s Brain
Brokedown Podcast