3 ms·
Further it’s far from given that had the hostages been released Carter would be re-elected. 1980 was the second straight year of double digit inflation. Reagan
by JackFr 2y ago
Further it’s far from given that had the hostages been released Carter would be re-elected. 1980 was the second straight year of double digit inflation.
Reagan was elected with 51% of the popular vote to Carter’s 41% and carried 44 states to Carter’s 6(+DC), tallying 489 electoral votes to Carter’s 49. This was not a close election.
- lolinder 2y agoYeah, at those kinds of margins blaming any single factor is... a stretch.
- EFreethought 2y agoThere is a good chance that if the hostages had been released before election day that Carter would have won. Hamilton Jordan, his chief of staff, wrote a book about Carter's last year in office. A lot of people thought Reagan was a clown. He was not as popular as his worshippers in the GOP like to think. Reagan was usually ahead of Carter in polls before the election, but usually by a few points, not the same margin as the final count. The hostage crisis started on Nov 4, 1979; the one year anniversary of the hostages being taken was right on election day. A lot of media was running stories on the hostages in the week leading up to the election, particularly over the weekend. Jordan says there was a shift that took them all by surprise in its speed and magnitude. When you spend months only a point or two behind, it is easy to think you might win.