Claim: Ronald Reagan was a president.

The United States presidential election of 1984 was the 50th quadrennial presidential election . It was held on Tuesday , November 6 , 1984 . The contest was between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan from California , the Republican candidate , and former Vice President Walter Mondale from Minnesota , the Democratic candidate .   Reagan carried 49 of the 50 states , becoming one of only two candidates to do so -LRB- the other was Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential election -RRB- . Reagan touted a strong economic recovery from 1970s stagflation and the 1981 -- 82 recession , as well as the widespread perception that his presidency had overseen a revival of national confidence and prestige .   Although Mondale received 40.6 % of the popular vote , electoral votes are awarded on a winner-take-all basis in each state , resulting in a lopsided electoral vote count . Mondale 's only electoral votes came from the District of Columbia , which had never given its electoral votes to a Republican candidate , and his home state of Minnesota , which he won by a mere 3,761 votes .   Reagan 's 525 electoral votes -LRB- out of 538 -RRB- is the highest total received by a presidential candidate . His showing ranks fifth by percentage of electoral votes received -LRB- 97.58 % -RRB- out of total available electoral votes , just shy of the 523 out of 531 -LRB- 98.49 % -RRB- received by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 . Mondale 's 13 electoral votes is also the second-fewest received by a second-place candidate , second only to Alf Landon 's 8 in 1936 . In the national popular vote , Reagan received 58.8 % to Mondale 's 40.6 % and the percentage of his margin of victory ranks 7th of all presidential elections . No candidate since then has managed to equal or surpass Reagan 's 1984 electoral result . Also , no post-1984 Republican candidate has managed to match Reagan 's electoral performance in the Northeastern United States and in the West Coast states . At 73 , Reagan was the oldest president and oldest presidential candidate to win a presidential election .   As of 2017 , this is the last time Massachusetts , New York , Oregon , Hawaii , Rhode Island and Washington voted for the Republican candidate .