1984 United States Presidential Election (Nixon Retires)

The **1984 United States presidential election** was the 50th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1984. The Republican ticket of Incumbent Texas Governor George H. W. Bush and former counselor to the President Anne Armstrong defeated the Democratic ticket of Incumbent Vice President Jimmy Carter and Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale.

After winning reelection in a lindslide in 1980, Ted Kennedy set to work fixing the economy that had slowed in his second term. Despite his efforts to improve, and the economy getting back on track by 1983, Americans were unsatisfied with the economic direction at this point, and the Republicans wanted to take advantage.

On the Democratic side, Jimmy Carter ran feeling he could be a more moderate version of Kennedy, and would defeat progressives George McGovern and Michael Dukakis to win the Democratic nomination. He would go on to name Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate.

Meanwhile, Bush would emerge as a legitimate force during the primaries after his time serving as Governor of Texas. He would go on to beat John Sununu in the primaries to win the Republican nomination, and he named former counselor to the President Anne Armstrong.

Bush put blame on the Kennedy administration for the economy's faltering and believed they didn't take responsibility for their mistakes, instead traced it back to Reagan. With the Kennedys unpopular at this time, Bush easily defeated Carter, with the latter only winning 3 states and the District of Columbia.

The main issues of this election were Nuclear Freeze, the Economy under Kennedy, and the Supreme Court.

## Primaries:

### Democratic Primaries:

Carter came through as the main primary frontrunner, only facing minimal challenge from South Dakota Senator and 1972 Nominee George McGovern, and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, and he named Walter Mondale as his running mate.

 Jimmy Carter

### Republican Primaries:

Bush became the nominee, defeating candidates like Nevada Senator Paul Laxalt, Indiana Senator Dan Quayle, and Illinois Senator Donald Rumsfeld, who Bush named as running mate after winning the nomination.

 George H. W. Bush

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Democratic Campaign:

Carter would promote his more moderate approach rather than a full progressive that Kennedy was, also claiming Bush was fed off a silver spoon and that the working class would be terrorized under him.

### Republican Campaign:

Bush would point to the failures of the Kennedy administration to fix the economy and claimed a return to Reaganomics could fix it, saying it didn't receive enough time to fully emerge.

### Potential Nuclear Freeze:

Ted Kennedy had tried to push peace with the Soviet Union during his term, hoping for a nuclear freeze on all sides. Carter said he would continue Kennedy's efforts, while Bush said freezing the nukes was too dangerous with USSR.

### The Economy:

The economy under Kennedy had been extremely inconsistent, and Americans were unsatisfied despite the economy being back on track. Bush felt a return to Reaganomics could help, claiming it wasn't given enough time to work, while Carter accused Bush of feeding the upper class on a silver spoon.

### The Supreme Court:

Due to the moderate approaches of Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan being only able to nominate 1 judge to the court, the Court was made of 6 liberal leaning and only 3 republican leaning. Bush said the "Democratic Dynasty" was not being equal, and that they were damaging the court with liberal tendencies. Carter replied "The people voted for us to choose, right? George, you can say nothing."

## Results and Aftermath:

Because of the unpopularity of Kennedy, and due to Carter's controversial Supreme Court statements, Bush won in a landside, with the Carter ticket only winning Massachusetts, Georgia, DC and Minnesota. After losing, Carter would return to his Georgia farm, and eventually became an environmentalist and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.