Claim: Jimmy Carter served as president.

The United States presidential election of 1980 was the 49th quadrennial presidential election . It was held on Tuesday , November 4 , 1980 . The contest was between the Democratic national ticket of incumbent President Jimmy Carter from Georgia and Vice President Walter Mondale from Minnesota , and the Republican national ticket of Ronald Reagan , a former Hollywood actor and former Governor from California with his running mate George H.W. Bush , a former Congressman and CIA Director from Texas who would eventually win the presidency eight years later , as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson , who ran as an independent . Reagan , aided by the Iran hostage crisis and a worsening economy at home marked by high unemployment and inflation , won the election by a landslide , receiving the highest number of electoral votes ever won by a non-incumbent presidential candidate . Aged 69 at the time , Reagan became the oldest person to ever take the oval office , a record that was later surpassed by Republican Donald Trump , aged 70 , 36 years later .   Carter , after defeating Edward M. `` Ted '' Kennedy , the long-time U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and brother of former president John F. Kennedy for the Democratic nomination , attacked Reagan as a dangerous right-wing extremist . For his part , Reagan pledged to uplift the pessimistic mood of the nation , and won a decisive victory ; in the simultaneous Congressional elections , Republicans won control of the United States Senate for the first time since 1955 . This election marked the beginning of what is called the `` Reagan Revolution '' or Reagan Era , and signified a conservative realignment in national politics .