| − | President [[Ronald Reagan]] was still popular and approved of by the time came for him to be reelected. While Reagan easily won the Republican nomination with hardly any dissent, Democrats searched hard to find a candidate they thought could win. They eventually chose former Vice President [[Walter Mondale]] as their candidate. Mondale surprised America by choosing Representative [[Geraldine Ferraro]] as his running-mate. Despite his popularity, Reagan campaigned hard for reelection; however he seemed to look rather exhausted in the first of the [[Presidential Debates]]. However, by the second debate he appeared fresh and experienced. Reagan was able to win the election with a landslide majority over Mondale. <ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents]], by Zachary Kent, Children's Press, 1989, pp. 71-73. </ref> | + | President [[Ronald Reagan]] was still popular and approved of by the time came for him to be reelected. While Reagan easily won the Republican nomination with hardly any dissent, Democrats searched hard to find a candidate they thought could win. They eventually chose former Vice President [[Walter Mondale]] as their candidate. Mondale surprised America by choosing Representative [[Geraldine Ferraro]] as his running-mate. Despite his popularity, Reagan campaigned hard for reelection; however he seemed to look rather exhausted in the first of the [[Presidential Debates]]. However, by the second debate he appeared fresh and experienced. Reagan was able to win the election with a landslide popular and electoral majority over Mondale, who won only the District of Columbia (which has never been won by a Republican candidate) and his home state of Minnesota.<ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents]], by Zachary Kent, Children's Press, 1989, pp. 71-73. </ref> |
| | + | Even in Minnesota, Mondale won by a mere 3761 votes, meaning Reagan came within less than 3800 votes of winning in all fifty states. Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes total (of 538 possible), and received nearly 60 percent of the popular vote. Mondale's 13 electoral college votes marked the lowest total of any major Presidential candidate since Alf Landon's 1936 loss to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mondale's defeat was also the worst for any Democratic Party candidate in history. |