Twenty - Sixth Anniversary , Reagan Defeats Carter
( 4 November 2 0 0 6 , Saturday - -
This Is The 3 0 8 t h Day Of The Calendar Year ; Fifty - Seven days Remain )
INCUMBENT PRESIDENTS almost never lose .
Since the founding of the REPUBLICAN PARTY in 1 8 5 4 , only five ( 5 )
Republican Presidents have lost a re - election campaign .
BENJAMIN HARRISON was defeated by GROVER CLEVELAND in 1 8 9 2 ,
four years after himself usurping Cleveland ;
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT , obliged to defend his Presidency against TWO
imposing candidates in THEODORE ROOSEVELT and THOMAS WOODROW
WILSON , lost badly in the election of 1 9 1 2 ;
HERBERT CLARK HOOVER , saddled with the disasterous STOCK MARKET
CRASH , the SMOOT - HAWLEY TARIFF ( which Hoover unwisely signed into
law ) , and the " Bonus Expeditionary Army " Incident ( wherein Army Chief Of
Staff DOUGLAS MacARTHUR had U . S . Army soldiers forcibly disperse
destitute World War One veterans from the site of a protest ) , was trounced
by FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT in the Election of 1 9 3 2 ;
GERALD RUDOLPH FORD JR . , successor to RICHARD NIXON when the
latter resigned on 9 August of 1 9 7 4 , lost a very close election to Governor
JAMES EARL " JIMMY " CARTER JR . of Georgia on 2 November 1 9 7 6 ;
GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH , like JOHN ADAMS before him both
the President AND the Father of a President , lost to WILLIAM JEFFERSON
CLINTON on 3 November 1 9 9 2 .
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During the same historical passage - - from 1 8 5 4 to the present , with Democratic
and Republican parties competing - - only TWO ( 2 ) Democrats have failed to win
a second Presidential term , have lost a re - election campaign . STEPHEN
GROVER CLEVELAND we ' ve already noted - - Cleveland , first elected in
1 8 8 4 over JAMES G . BLAINE , took the Popular Vote four years later butt
was nevertheless beaten by BENJAMIN HARRISON of Indiana in the
Electoral College tally . Cleveland , from Buffalo , New York and previously
the Governor of the Empire State , actually lost his home state to Harrison ,
who in turn was the GrandSon of the shortest - tenured President ,
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON ( elected 1 8 4 0 / died 1 8 4 1 . )
JAMES EARL CARTER JR . , mentioned heretofore as the candidate who
ousted GERALD FORD in 1 9 7 6 , can plausibly be described as the
Democratic Party ' s version of Herbert Hoover . President Carter was
beaten by RONALD WILSON REAGAN on 4 November 1 9 8 0 ,
twenty - six years ago . A numerical comparison is apt :
1 9 3 2 - - - - HERBERT HOOVER , 1 5 , 7 6 1 , 8 4 1 votes / 5 9 Electoral Votes
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT , 2 2 , 8 2 1 , 8 5 7 votes / 4 7 2 Electoral Votes
1 9 8 0 - - - - JIMMY CARTER , 3 5 , 4 8 1 , 4 3 5 votes / 4 9 Electoral Votes
RONALD REAGAN , 4 3 , 8 9 9 , 2 4 8 votes / 4 8 9 Electoral Votes
Among the ironies of President Carter ' s defeat : the AMERICAN EMBASSY in
TEHERAN was forcibly occupied on 4 November 1 9 7 9 , exactly one year prior
to the 1 9 8 0 Election .
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At the time of the 1 9 8 0 Election , I was a Senior at the UNIVERSITY OF
VERMONT . Among my Fall Semester classes was INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS , P S C I - 5 1 in the U V M course catalog . Professor
M . M . A . ( initials rather than his actual name , to protect his privacy )
was taken aback by the outcome of the Presidential Election , and
dispensed with his planned lecture in favor of some improvised talk .
Prof . M . M . A . told his class that President Carter met with
pollster PAT CADDELL on Sunday evening , 2 November 1 9 8 0 .
Caddell informed the President of a significant shift amongst
American voters during the final week of the campaign , and that
Mr . Carter was very likely to lose .
I myself , it pains me to admit , had not the slightest impact on the
voting . I foolishly declined to get myself an Absentee Ballot ,
did instead trust one of my underclassman Pals to give me a ride
to the polling place in BENNINGTON , Vermont . Actually ,
my Friend did drive me to Bennington - - only I got to the
polls some three - quarters - of - an - hour late .
I did meet up with an old Friend from Bennington , " The
Shiek " , who watched election coverage at the bar formerly
known as the FOUR SQUIRES . The Shiek , a loyal Democrat ,
was as morose as I ' ve ever seen him .
My Friend ' s partisan distress was appropriate . Not Only did
RONALD REAGAN win handily , so too did Republican
candidates wrest the UNITED STATES SENATE from
Democratic control , arguably just as dramatic an historical
occurance . Democrats had been the Majority Party in the
Senate since 3 January of 1 9 5 5 , some twenty - six years !
Republican victory in Presidential Elections held on the Fourth
of November was consistent during the Twentieth Century .
There were three such convergences of The Event with The Date :
JOHN CALVIN COOLIDGE of Plymouth Center , Vermont
defeated JOHN DAVIS of West Virginia on 4 November 1 9 2 4 ;
DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER , at the time a resident of
Morningside Heights in New York City , whipped ADLAI
EWING STEVENSON , former Governor of Illinois , on
4 November of 1 9 5 2 . Indeed , both Eisenhower and
Reagan were elected on the Fourth of November and
re - elected on November the Sixth .
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An item in to - day ' s paper alerted me to the Fifteenth Anniversary of the
RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY ' s grand opening .
Little did I realize - - the Reagan Library offocially opened on 4 November
of 1 9 9 1 , the eleventh anniversary of Reagan ' s first Presidential Election
victory . You may read about the Reagan Library at . . . .
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu
Allow me to be even - handed and provide the Link to the JIMMY CARTER
PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY as well . . . .
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org
As a catch - all reference , see the National Archives Presidential Library
Web Site , at http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries .
None of the twenty - nine men who preceded Herbert Hoover as
President have Presidential Libraries , alas . The States that house
Presidential Libraries are ARKANSAS ( Bill Clinton ) ,
CALIFORNIA ( Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan ) ,
GEORGIA ( Jimmy Carter ) , IOWA ( Herbert Hoover ) ,
KANSAS ( Dwight Eisenhower ) , MASSACHUSETTS
( John Fitzgerald Kennedy ) , MICHIGAN ( Gerald Rudolph
Ford JR . ) , MISSOURI ( Harry S Truman ) , NEW YORK
( Franklin Roosevelt ) , and TEXAS ( Lyndon Baines Johnson ,
George H . W . Bush . ) It is likely that Texas may yet have
a third Presidential Library , possibly in the town of
MIDLAND , perhaps CRAWFORD , maybe even ARLINGTON .
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This Is The 3 0 8 t h Day Of The Calendar Year ; Fifty - Seven days Remain )
INCUMBENT PRESIDENTS almost never lose .
Since the founding of the REPUBLICAN PARTY in 1 8 5 4 , only five ( 5 )
Republican Presidents have lost a re - election campaign .
BENJAMIN HARRISON was defeated by GROVER CLEVELAND in 1 8 9 2 ,
four years after himself usurping Cleveland ;
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT , obliged to defend his Presidency against TWO
imposing candidates in THEODORE ROOSEVELT and THOMAS WOODROW
WILSON , lost badly in the election of 1 9 1 2 ;
HERBERT CLARK HOOVER , saddled with the disasterous STOCK MARKET
CRASH , the SMOOT - HAWLEY TARIFF ( which Hoover unwisely signed into
law ) , and the " Bonus Expeditionary Army " Incident ( wherein Army Chief Of
Staff DOUGLAS MacARTHUR had U . S . Army soldiers forcibly disperse
destitute World War One veterans from the site of a protest ) , was trounced
by FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT in the Election of 1 9 3 2 ;
GERALD RUDOLPH FORD JR . , successor to RICHARD NIXON when the
latter resigned on 9 August of 1 9 7 4 , lost a very close election to Governor
JAMES EARL " JIMMY " CARTER JR . of Georgia on 2 November 1 9 7 6 ;
GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH , like JOHN ADAMS before him both
the President AND the Father of a President , lost to WILLIAM JEFFERSON
CLINTON on 3 November 1 9 9 2 .
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
During the same historical passage - - from 1 8 5 4 to the present , with Democratic
and Republican parties competing - - only TWO ( 2 ) Democrats have failed to win
a second Presidential term , have lost a re - election campaign . STEPHEN
GROVER CLEVELAND we ' ve already noted - - Cleveland , first elected in
1 8 8 4 over JAMES G . BLAINE , took the Popular Vote four years later butt
was nevertheless beaten by BENJAMIN HARRISON of Indiana in the
Electoral College tally . Cleveland , from Buffalo , New York and previously
the Governor of the Empire State , actually lost his home state to Harrison ,
who in turn was the GrandSon of the shortest - tenured President ,
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON ( elected 1 8 4 0 / died 1 8 4 1 . )
JAMES EARL CARTER JR . , mentioned heretofore as the candidate who
ousted GERALD FORD in 1 9 7 6 , can plausibly be described as the
Democratic Party ' s version of Herbert Hoover . President Carter was
beaten by RONALD WILSON REAGAN on 4 November 1 9 8 0 ,
twenty - six years ago . A numerical comparison is apt :
1 9 3 2 - - - - HERBERT HOOVER , 1 5 , 7 6 1 , 8 4 1 votes / 5 9 Electoral Votes
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT , 2 2 , 8 2 1 , 8 5 7 votes / 4 7 2 Electoral Votes
1 9 8 0 - - - - JIMMY CARTER , 3 5 , 4 8 1 , 4 3 5 votes / 4 9 Electoral Votes
RONALD REAGAN , 4 3 , 8 9 9 , 2 4 8 votes / 4 8 9 Electoral Votes
Among the ironies of President Carter ' s defeat : the AMERICAN EMBASSY in
TEHERAN was forcibly occupied on 4 November 1 9 7 9 , exactly one year prior
to the 1 9 8 0 Election .
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
At the time of the 1 9 8 0 Election , I was a Senior at the UNIVERSITY OF
VERMONT . Among my Fall Semester classes was INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS , P S C I - 5 1 in the U V M course catalog . Professor
M . M . A . ( initials rather than his actual name , to protect his privacy )
was taken aback by the outcome of the Presidential Election , and
dispensed with his planned lecture in favor of some improvised talk .
Prof . M . M . A . told his class that President Carter met with
pollster PAT CADDELL on Sunday evening , 2 November 1 9 8 0 .
Caddell informed the President of a significant shift amongst
American voters during the final week of the campaign , and that
Mr . Carter was very likely to lose .
I myself , it pains me to admit , had not the slightest impact on the
voting . I foolishly declined to get myself an Absentee Ballot ,
did instead trust one of my underclassman Pals to give me a ride
to the polling place in BENNINGTON , Vermont . Actually ,
my Friend did drive me to Bennington - - only I got to the
polls some three - quarters - of - an - hour late .
I did meet up with an old Friend from Bennington , " The
Shiek " , who watched election coverage at the bar formerly
known as the FOUR SQUIRES . The Shiek , a loyal Democrat ,
was as morose as I ' ve ever seen him .
My Friend ' s partisan distress was appropriate . Not Only did
RONALD REAGAN win handily , so too did Republican
candidates wrest the UNITED STATES SENATE from
Democratic control , arguably just as dramatic an historical
occurance . Democrats had been the Majority Party in the
Senate since 3 January of 1 9 5 5 , some twenty - six years !
Republican victory in Presidential Elections held on the Fourth
of November was consistent during the Twentieth Century .
There were three such convergences of The Event with The Date :
JOHN CALVIN COOLIDGE of Plymouth Center , Vermont
defeated JOHN DAVIS of West Virginia on 4 November 1 9 2 4 ;
DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER , at the time a resident of
Morningside Heights in New York City , whipped ADLAI
EWING STEVENSON , former Governor of Illinois , on
4 November of 1 9 5 2 . Indeed , both Eisenhower and
Reagan were elected on the Fourth of November and
re - elected on November the Sixth .
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An item in to - day ' s paper alerted me to the Fifteenth Anniversary of the
RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY ' s grand opening .
Little did I realize - - the Reagan Library offocially opened on 4 November
of 1 9 9 1 , the eleventh anniversary of Reagan ' s first Presidential Election
victory . You may read about the Reagan Library at . . . .
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu
Allow me to be even - handed and provide the Link to the JIMMY CARTER
PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY as well . . . .
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org
As a catch - all reference , see the National Archives Presidential Library
Web Site , at http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries .
None of the twenty - nine men who preceded Herbert Hoover as
President have Presidential Libraries , alas . The States that house
Presidential Libraries are ARKANSAS ( Bill Clinton ) ,
CALIFORNIA ( Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan ) ,
GEORGIA ( Jimmy Carter ) , IOWA ( Herbert Hoover ) ,
KANSAS ( Dwight Eisenhower ) , MASSACHUSETTS
( John Fitzgerald Kennedy ) , MICHIGAN ( Gerald Rudolph
Ford JR . ) , MISSOURI ( Harry S Truman ) , NEW YORK
( Franklin Roosevelt ) , and TEXAS ( Lyndon Baines Johnson ,
George H . W . Bush . ) It is likely that Texas may yet have
a third Presidential Library , possibly in the town of
MIDLAND , perhaps CRAWFORD , maybe even ARLINGTON .
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