The Presidential Election 1984

While incumbent President Ronald Reagan was easily nominated to run for a second term in office, the Democrats made history when candidate Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro, a woman, as running mate. From the outset, the Democratic campaign failed to woo the voters, overshadowed by Reagan’s popularity as president, good communication skills and strong leadership. Attempts to criticize Reagan and pledges for financial change all backfired. Despite Reagan’s poor performance in the first televised debate and accusations that he was hindered by his age (73), the Republican’s popular leader enjoyed one of the biggest landslide victories in US history. Perhaps aided by the sense of good will and patriotism created by the Los Angeles Olympic Games, he won with over 97 per cent of the electoral vote and over 58 per cent of the popular vote.