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.
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It's awesome how your music reflects the time of these elections

KennyMoemile
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One Last fun fact: Walter Mondale went on to be substituted for Paul Wellstone in the 2002 Minnesota Senatorial election. He lost that election closely, thusly becoming the only person in American history with the distinct accomplishment of having lost a national-level campaign in every state.

linkaugust
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Fun fact

Richard Nixon, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan were the only three Presidents in US history to win more than 500 electoral votes

Richard Nixon (1972) - 520 electoral votes

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936) - 523 electoral votes

Ronald Reagan (1984) - 525 electoral votes

rockstarsharma
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"Despite his old age (Reagan was 73)" lmaoo for this year our 3 main contenders are 77, 78, and 74 as well ffs

MithrandilPlays
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Even though he was burried alive, he still took it like a champ. RIP Mr. Mondale

antoniocamacho
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Ronald Reagan? The actor? He's president?

zoomerjack
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Sometimes I think it's too bad social media wasn't around during this election. Can you imagine the memes that would have been created after this election blowout?

AdrianIsaacs
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Talk about a landslide. Jeez Mondale got CURB-STOMPED

kenkerrison
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And Mondale won Minnesota by like 3, 000 votes...he could've only gotten 3 electoral votes lmaoo

nathen
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“Reagan destroyed Mondale.” children cheering at Mondale’s utter destruction.

colinmcgowan
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"old age"

"Became 73 years old"

How times have changed

jannoottenburghs
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Minnesota hasn’t voted for a Republican in the electoral college since 1972 with Nixon. However Reagan actually came within 3, 000 or so votes in Minnesota to winning a 50 state landslide. It also made Reagan the closest to winning the electoral votes of Minnesota since 1976 and Trump actually did pretty well himself in Minnesota in the 2016 election.

JonathanMoosey
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Walter Mondale passed away today Rest in peace

manchestermania
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This was probably the closest election I’ve ever seen

maxwellvigil
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The photo of Regan and Gorbachev meeting and signing a treaty is an anachronism. Gorbachev would only become Secretary General of the Soviet Union in 1985 so this meeting between the two still has to happen yet. Good video and I really enjoy your American Presidential Elections series.

ilgatto
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“Well Minnesota would’ve been nice”

*Gold*

literallytired
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3 second 1988 election video: Picture of Dukakis in a tank, video ends :)

kerred
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Rest in peace Mr. Mondale. A great man who had a great life.

andrewthepokerchamp
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Rest In Peace Walter Mondale, you were awesome and you deserve a lot of love

sgr_nsy
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I loved the 80s. Tina Turner was awesome.

I was 14 for this election. My parents supported Reagan. We were the black sheep of a mostly Hispanic family.

semipenguin