Draft:1984 United States presidential election

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U.S. Politics
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Persons of interest

The 1984 US presidential election saw one of the biggest landslides in US history, with incumbent president Ronald Reagan defeating his opponent Walter Mondale 525 to 13, a 97.58% margin only beaten by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 98.49% margin in 1936[1]. Reagan won every state except Minnesota[2] and District of Columbia.

Many factors contributed to Mondale's humiliating defeat. Some pinpoint to him having a horrible campaign (such as his promises to raise taxes and increase government spending without giving voters a justifiable reason why), while others believe that he had no chance either way, as Reagan was far too popular (or possibly used authoritarian tactics to rig the election in his favor, which would be fitting for the year this election took place). In the end, Reagan's strong campaign (even if he wasn’t necessarily a good president) and Mondale's weak campaign resulted in even 26% of Democrats voting for their opposing party.

References[edit]

  1. Unless you count George Washington in 1788 and 1792 and James Monroe in 1820, in which they had no opponents in either of those.
  2. He deliberately didn’t campaign there so Mondale could win his home state.