Historic Day
45 years ago today, Americans elected Ronald Reagan their 45th President.
That election represented a major shift in American politics and government, ending an era dominated by a decisively more liberal current.
The “conservative movement”, as it is often known today, may never have taken root and almost certainly would never have grown to the dominance it largely enjoys without the leadership, likability, grasp of issues and ability to communicate them in a folksy, yet commanding style which were all wrapped up in Ronald Wilson Reagan.
After a youth of modest means in the Midwest, the former lifeguard and young radio sports announcer ventured west to pursue the promise of what was then known as “the Golden State.” “The rest,” as they say (and it may never be a more applicable phrase), “is history.”
It began a life story befitting a movie script
The former Hollywood actor and Governor of California came on the national political scene years before 1980. Already well known from his acting career, he got his first taste of governance as president of the Screen Actors Guild and, later, forged popular familiarity, beyond movie stardom, through memorable public speeches and his talks on national television on the General Electric Theater program.
Serving two terms as the chief executive in one of the nation’s largest states gave him experience, prominence and notoriety. That, coupled with his ease before the camera and the microphone and his ability to communicate important issues in a relatable way, soon catapulted him into presidential politics.
After losing in his first bold attempt to unseat a sitting (though unelected) President — Gerald Ford — four years later, his ambitions caught the imagination of the American people in a way that few could have imagined and even fewer might have predicted.
In startling fashion, Reagan defeated another sitting President — Jimmy Carter — winning 44 of the 50 states and capturing 489 electoral votes, compared to Carter’s 49. Four years later, in his “Morning in America” re-election campaign, Reagan carried 49 states in an unheard of landslide, losing only his opponent Walter Mondale’s native Minnesota.
Clearly, the nation had shifted
The 1980 election began what is popularly known as The Reagan Revolution. Republicans captured the U.S. Senate for the first time in 28 years and, little more than a decade later, the party captured the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in four decades. Similar trends were mirrored in states throughout the nation.
There are relatively few events which turn the tide of American history
The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan was clearly one of them — one which many Americans are old enough to remember well and a story sure to reverberate through future generations.