1980's Government and Politics | National Politics: 1980 Elections

A Nation in Turmoil.

The 1980 presidential campaign was waged against a backdrop of national insecurity. The United States had emerged from World War II as the most prosperous and powerful nation on earth. Three and a half decades later the United States no longer dominated the world economy, nor did it have a military edge on the Soviet Union, whose conventional forces were superior in number and whose stockpile of strategic nuclear weapons had grown to at least equal that of the United States. Despite fears created by the erosion of their country's international standing, Americans were most concerned with pocketbook issues: high unemployment, soaring interest rates, and double-digit inflation.

The Energy Debate: Carter.

After the severe gasoline shortage of 1979 Americans had become painfully aware of how closely their economic woes were connected the their nation's dependence on foreign oil. They were also...