Description

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 1980. In a landslide victory, the Republican ticket of former California governor Ronald Reagan and former Director of Central Intelligence George H. W. Bush defeated the Democratic ticket of incumbent President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale and the Independent ticket of Congressman John B. Anderson and former Ambassador to Mexico Patrick Lucey. Because of the rise of conservatism after Reagan's victory, many historians consider the election a political realignment.