The American Presidential Election of 1984

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The 50th episode in a very long series about the American presidential elections from 1788 to the present. On Election Day in 1984, Mr. Beat turns three years old, so obviously he vividly remembers how this one went down.

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The 50th Presidential election in American history took place on November 6, 1984, on my third birthday. Yep, this was the first presidential election I was alive to witness, although I don’t remember it at all. Man, I guess that means I’m almost finally done with this series. Wow.

Anyway, Ronald Reagan was easily renominated as the Republican nominee after a strong first term. The economy had rebounded, and many Americans seemed to credit Reagan for getting the rest of the world to respect the country more. Sure, the government didn’t shrink much, and military spending went way up, but that seemed to be what everyone wanted. Reagan talked trash about the Soviet Union, but more discreetly took the beginning steps to help end the Cold War.

Vice President George H.W. Bush was also easily renominated. This was the only time both a vice presidential roll call and presidential roll call was done at the same time.

While at least eight Democrats sought their party’s nomination, only three won any state primaries. One was Jesse Jackson, a civil rights activist and Baptist minister, and the first African American to be a serious contender for the Presidency. Another was Gary Hart, a Senator from Colorado, who became the main rival to Walter Mondale, the former Vice President in the Carter administration, who appeared to be the one to beat. Well Hart came close, but Mondale came out as the winner. In a somewhat surprising move, Mondale went with Geraldine Ferraro, a Representative from New York, as his running mate. She became the first major party female vice presidential candidate in American history. Mondale and the Democrats probably figured, what the heck, Reagan is so popular, we need to do whatever we possibly can to get the attention of voters to sway them our way.

Despite his old age- Reagan was now 73- he seemed unstoppable. Still, opponents questioned how well he could continue to be the commander in chief at his age. In response, at one of the debates between him and Mondale, he joked, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

Mondale criticized Reagan’s supply side economics, or more commonly called “trickle-down economics” and called attention to the rising budget deficits. His solution? Raise taxes. Sure, the people love hearing that. Despite Ferraro being the first major party female vice presidential candidate, she didn’t generate the excitement that Democrats at originally anticipated.

Видео The American Presidential Election of 1984 канала Mr. Beat