A Nation Healed Again and Broken Again (Gerald Ford elected in 1980.)

[dw93]

The POD for this is in 1976. Reagan's primary challenge against President Ford is successful with the possible Pod being that Reagan does not name Schweiker as his running mate until after he secures the nomination. Carter, despite running a flawed campaign in the general election, defeats Reagan by an even bigger margin than he beat Ford IOTL due to Reagan's more extreme/hawkish views. The results look something like this (all the states that went for Ford by less than 3% OTL are flipped to Carter):

Fmr. Governor Jimmy Carter (D-GA)/Sen. Walter Mondale (D-MN): 52.6& PV 378 EV

Fmr. Governor Ronald Reagan (R-CA)/ Sen. Richard Schweiker (R-PA): 45.5 PV 160 EV

The possible Republican Candidates:

After suffering a big defeat against President Carter in 1976, despite speculation that he might run again, on November 13th, 1978, Former California Governor Ronald Reagan holds a Press conference declaring that he will not run for President in 1980, citing personal reasons. Reagan stated at the end of his press conference that he will support whoever the Republican Party nominates.

Meanwhile, another Republican who ran in 1976, Former President Gerald Ford, was also someone many felt was considering a run. Sources claim the former President was considering a run on the condition that Governor Reagan was not. Now with Reagan officially out, the question was, will Ford run? Aides close to the Former President say that with Reagan out of the race, he's leaning towards running.

Other candidates who were rumored to be considering a run were George Bush, the former CIA director from Texas, Senate minority leader Howard Baker of Tennessee, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, and Former Texas Governor and former Democrat John Connally.

Just two days after Governor Reagan declined to run, John Connally announced his candidacy for the Presidency. Three days later, polls showed Ford, in a hypothetical matchup with Connally, leading by double digits. Baker came in second, trailing Ford by 5%, Bush and Dole were tied for third, trailing Ford by 8 points.

In an interview with ABC a week after the poll was released, George Bush declared that he would stay out of the race and support Ford if he decided to enter.

Senators Baker and Dole had yet to declare whether they were running or not.

Ford is in!!!!!

On March 15th, 1979, Former President Ford declared his candidacy for the Presidency. Criticizing his successor's handling of Foreign Policy and inflation, Ford declared that if he or Governor Reagan had been elected in 1976, the Country would be stronger and more prosperous than it has been under President Carter.

Meanwhile, three weeks later, Senator Howard Baker, in an interview on ABC, stated that he was not going to run for President and threw his support behind Ford.

Senator Bob Dole, according to sources, is still undecided as to whether he is going to throw his hat in the race.

Polls conducted in late April of 1979 showed a race between President Carter and President Ford would be a close one, with them being even (47% for both) with 6% of respondents being undecided. That same poll showed President Carter leading Governor Connally 51% to 44% with 5% undecided, and showed the President leading Senator Dole 50% to 46% with 4% undecided.

Key events of 1979:

June 18th: President Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II treaty.

June 25th: Senator Bob Dole of Kansas throws his hat into the race for the Republican nomination, claiming that he, with his record in the house and Senate, was the best candidate for the Republican nomination in 1980 and that he had the best chance at beating Jimmy Carter on November 4th of that year.

October 17th: President Carter signs a law establishing the Department of Education.

November 4th: Iranian radicals storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 53 Americans hostage. They demand the U.S. to send the Shah back to Iran to stand trial.

November 7th: Challenging an unchallenged President Carter and shaking up the Presidential race, Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy announces his bid for the Democratic nomination.

November 12th: In response to the hostage crisis, President Carter halts all oil imports to the United States from Iran, and on November 14th, freezes all Iranian assets in U.S. banks and the United States.

December 1st: A Gallup poll conducted shows that President Carter edging President Ford in a hypothetical match up by 51-49%. Pundits attribute this new lead in the polls and surge in support for Carter to the hostage crisis. It shows him beating Senator Dole and Governor Connally by 53-45%. Gallup also conducted a poll of the Primary races in both parties. In the Democratic polls, President Carter leads senator Kennedy comfortably, and in the GOP primary, Former President Ford leads the pack with 47%, with Governor Connally at second place with 14% and Senator Dole in a close third at 12%.

December 21st. Chrysler receives a loan guarantee, requested by CEO Lee Iacocca, from the U.S. government.

December 24th: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.

The GOP Primaries:

On the Republican side, Bob Dole won the Iowa caucus with John Connally coming in a very close second. Having massive leads over his two primary opponents and being the early odds favorite to win the nomination since he lost the nomination to Governor Reagan four years earlier, caused Ford to take an "above the fray" approach in Iowa. Learning from that mistake, President Ford took none of the future primaries for granted and won New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. South Carolina was won closely by Governor Connally due to his campaign investing heavily in that contest. From that point on, President Ford won every contest. Senator Dole withdrew on April 1st after he narrowly lost his home state of Kansas and endorsed President Ford. John Connally withdrew on May 4th, after President Ford won his home state of Texas thanks to Former C.I.A. Director George Bush campaigning heavily throughout Texas for Ford. He to endorsed the Former President, leaving Ford unopposed and therefore the nominee.

On June 3rd, the day of the California primary, President Ford received an endorsement from his former rival from 1976, Governor Ronald Reagan. At the California rally, Reagan pledged to do everything in his power to get the Former President back in the White House.

The Democratic Primaries:

California governor Jerry Brown and Former Governor Cliff Finch of Mississippi, like Senator Kennedy, also launched primary challenges against President Carter.

However, neither one of them managed to get any traction and both withdrew from the race in early Spring. As for Senator Kennedy, even though he won some primaries, most of which came after President Carter's failed attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran on April 25th, it still wasn't enough to overtake Jimmy Carter. Ted Kennedy refused to drop out until the convention.

The GOP Convention:

The Republican convention took place from July 14th-July 17th, 1980 in Detroit Michigan. At the convention, there was a lot of drama over who was going to be chosen as Ford's running mate. There was talks about a Ford/Reagan "dream Ticket" but in an interview with Walter Cronkite, Governor Reagan made very clear that he was not interested in the Vice Presidency and that even if he were, he questioned whether it would be legally possible as both men resided in California (Ford moved to California after he left the White House). A Vice Presidential short list of candidates got leaked out. That consisted of his formal primary rival, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, Congressman Phil Crane of Illinois, Former C.I.A. Director George Bush of Texas, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Congressman Jack Kemp of New York. Sources say that the Ford campaign has narrowed it's choices down to two candidates. Bob Dole and Jack Kemp.

Less than 24 hours before the Former President was to give his acceptance Speech at the convention, it was announced that Congressman Jack Kemp of New York would be Gerald Ford's running mate. The choice was very well received by conservatives and moderates alike, and was seen as a smart way to balance the ticket by political pundits.

On July 17th, the final day of the convention, President Ford gave his acceptance Speech, criticizing President Carter's handling of the hostage crisis in Iran, the handling of the SALT II treaty, and the state of the economy. The most memorable line of the convention was "After taking the oath of office in 1974, I told the American people that 'our long national nightmare' was over. Unfortunately, another and even longer national nightmare began on January 20th of 1977. My fellow Americans, if I am elected President Jack Kemp and I will end this nightmare in January of 1981." It won a huge applause from the crowd.

A Gallup poll taken after the convention showed President Ford leading President Carter 52%-46%. President Carter's approval rating stood at 33%.

The Democratic Convention:

The 1980 Democratic Convention took place from August 11th-August 14th. On the first day of the Convention, Senator Ted Kennedy attempted to release delegates from their voting commitments, and this was the last time in the 20th century that a candidate attempted this. After this failed, Senator Kennedy finally ended his campaign on August 12th, with a memorable end to his speech, "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the Dream shall never die."

President Carter gave his acceptance speech on the final day of the convention. In it, he thanked his party and the country for his nomination and for re nominating Vice President Mondale who he called "the best Partner any President ever had." He also reached out to Senator Kennedy and his supporters. He asked them for their support in November. However, the most memorable part of the President's speech was when he paid tribute to past Democratic Presidents and to Former Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, calling him "Hubert Horatio Hornblower—Humphrey."

Despite getting the support of Senator Kennedy (reluctantly), President Carter went into the General election with a divided Democratic Party. While the President did get a boost from the convention, pols still had Gerald Ford ahead 46-43%. With a divided party, high inflation, and a hostage crisis in Iran, things were looking real bad for the incumbent heading into the general election.

The Debates:

The league of Women voters, who sponsored the debates in 1976, planed to sponsor three Presidential Debates and one vice Presidential debate as they did four years earlier. However, President Carter did not want to participate with any debate. So, after months of negotiation, it was agreed that there would be one Vice Presidential debate between Walter Mondale and Jack Kemp on September 21st at the Baltimore Convention center, and one Presidential debate between Ford and Carter on October 28th, one week before election day, in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Vice Presidential debate was initially seen as a draw by pundits. Vice President Mondale made the case that the Carter administration inherited a bad economy from President Ford and that it would take 8 years to clean up after 8 years of Republican rule. He also put emphasis on the success of the Camp David accords and the President's emphasis on human rights.

Congressman Kemp argued that the economy was recovering when President Ford left office and that the Carter administration undid the progress of President Ford. He also criticized the Carter administration's foreign policy as weak, with emphasis put mainly on the hostage situation in Iran. The initial draw came an end at the closing statements. Congressman Kemp asked audiences "are you better off, now than you were four years ago?" He told them if they are, vote for the incumbent, if not he suggested "another option they had." This gave Kemp the edge.

The Presidential debate was a different story. President Ford came out of it the clear winner. President Carter tried and failed to portray Ford as a puppet of the right wing, and was hurt by mentioning a conversation with his 12 year old daughter about what she felt was the most important issue of the election, which she said was nuclear arms.

President Ford criticized Carter's economic record claiming that when he came into office, he inherited an even worse economic situation, turned it around, and left President Carter a growing economy. He pointed out that the misery index (unemployment +inflation rate), which President Carter used to attack President Ford's economic record, was higher than it was when he left office, and that inflation, which was double digit, was higher than it was in 1976. He attacked the President's handling of SALT II, and claimed that if a Republican was President, there'd be no hostages in Iran and our military would be better equipped to respond to a crisis. President Ford ended by asking viewers "the same question that Congressman Kemp asked because it's worth asking again. 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?" He asked viewers "if we were more respected and secure now than we were four years ago?" Ford went on to say that "if you answered yes, vote for my opponent. If not, and you want to see the country go down a better path, I suggest voting Ford/Kemp." Ford, who had a five point lead prior to the debate, now had a lead of 54-45%.

November 4th: Election Day

Election day was held on the one year anniversary pf the taking of the hostages in Iran, who were still being held in captivity, and voters were quick to express their frustrations with that and with the state of the Country at home. President Carter very narrowly carried 10 states and all but one, Vice President Mondale's home state of Minnesota, were in Carter's native south. He also carried Washington D.C. Everywhere else, President Ford swept carrying 40 out of 50 states with 445 electoral votes.

Fmr. President Gerald R. Ford (R-CA)/ Congressman Jack F. Kemp (R-NY): 445 EV 55% PV

President James E. Carter (D-GA)/ Vice President Walter F. Mondale (D-MN): 93 EV 43% PV

History was made. Gerald Ford became the first President to serve two non consecutive terms as President since Grover Cleveland defeated President Harrison in 1892, becoming both the 38th and the 40th President of the United States. Will the long national nightmare of the late '70s end with President Ford returning to the White House in 1981? We will soon find out.

Link to the Original Thread: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/gerald-ford-elected-in-1980.372637/

 

[dw93]

The Transition Part 1: Ford Builds his new Cabinet.

President Carter assured the President elect and the nation that this would be the smoothest transition of power and pledge his full cooperation to make it so, and to his credit and to the credit of Ford's transition team, it was. President Ford, when not working with Carter, began to build a new cabinet and expected conformations of his new appointments to go smoothly, as the GOP gained 10 seats in the Senate, giving them their first Senate majority in 25 years. Key cabinet appointments (pending conformation by the Senate) included:

Former CIA director and Envoy to China, George Bush as Secretary of State.

For Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, back at his old job.

Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Alan Greenspan for Treasury Secretary.

James Baker, as Chief of Staff

Plus, even though he may not have gotten his old job back at the State Department, as many political pundits predicted, Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was given a post that he held in the Nixon administration. National Security Advisor.

The Transition Part 2: The New Year Surprise.

While President Ford was establishing his new cabinet, President Carter committed all his spare time to negotiating the release of the hostages in Iran, something he hoped to achieve before the end of his Presidency. His efforts paid off. On the morning of December 31, 1980, President Jimmy Carter announced to the nation that he secured the release of the hostages.

President Ford congratulated Carter and said he would have the 52 Americans as guests at his inauguration.

The hostages were to leave Iran January 1st, first to Algeria as a symbolic gesture and from there, they went to Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany and on to Wiesbaden USAF Hospital, where President Carter met and received them. After a medical check up, the hostages finally returned to the United States. On January 11th, the hostages were given ticker tape parade through the Canyon of Heroes, in New York, New York. President Carter, who's approval ratings were at 34% before the release of the hostages was secured, saw his approval ratings surge, they were at 49% the day before Ford's inauguration.

Inauguration Day:

On January 20th, 1981 at 12:00 pm, the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford, was sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, with Chief Justice Warren E. Berger administering the oath of office, marking the second time in U.S. history that a Former President was sworn in as President. This inauguration also proved to be historic because this was the first inaugural ceremony to be held at the West front of the U.S. capitol building.

While the hostage crisis in Iran had ended during the final days of the Carter administration, President Ford still had to deal with a Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and with a weak economy with double digit inflation, which was now the biggest concern for voters.

Ford started his inaugural address by thanking Jimmy Carter for his service to the nation and for a smooth transition of power. He then went on to talk about the economy. He said that, while he didn't want to do away with government, he felt that expanding the size and scope of government would not solve our problems. He called for lifting the tax burdened off of tax payers and businesses, but doing so without creating more debt.

With regards to foreign policy, Ford made clear that his goal was to achieve peace, but stated that peace could not come at any cost, and that our defenses must be built up, but must be done in a cost effective way.

The early days: Oil price controls gone and the State of the Union

Just eight days after taking office, the President abolished all allocation and price controls on domestic oil and gas production, instead of allowing them to expire on September 30th. Consumer groups estimated an increase of gasoline prices by 10-12 cents a gallon, and analysts believe the price of heating oil would see an even larger increase in price than gasoline. The administration argued that prices would be no higher than they would be if they allowed the controls to expire later in the year.

On February 18th, the President gave his State of the Union Address. In it, he outlined his economic plan, which included a tax cut and a cut in corporate subsides. He also made clear that while the social safety net will not see decrease in funding, there would also be no increases in spending for these programs, except for a cost of living increase in social security. Ford also argued for cuts in regulations.

For defense, he said there would be increases, but those increases would be off set by cutting waste out of the defense budget.

March of '81: The month that ended in tragedy

On March 30th, 1981 Vice President Kemp was at a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel, selling the President's economic program to conservatives who felt the Program did not cut enough waste in domestic spending. Upon leaving the engagement, gun shots were fired, and the Vice President was shot in the chest with the bullet lodging into his heart. He died almost immediately. One of his secret service agents, who tried to block Kemp was shot in the abdomen.

The shooter, who was pulled down to the ground by Cleveland Ohio labor official standing near him, was identified as John Hinckley Jr. He was taken in by Secret Service agents and DC police shortly after. Hinckley's motivation was stemmed from an obsession he had with actress Jodie Foster.

The President, who was in a meeting with Secretary of State Bush and National Security advisor Henry Kissinger, was notified of the tragedy at 3:00 pm, more than a half hour after the shooting took place. Everyone in the room was shocked. Ford immediately called Mrs. Kemp to offer his condolences and to thank her for her husband's service to the country, and said if there was anything she needed, to call him.

The State Funeral for the late Vice President:

The funeral for the late Jack Kemp was held on April 3rd, 1981, 4 days after the late Vice President was tragically assassinated. President Ford, House minority leader Bob Michel, Senator Bill Roth, who worked with Kemp to propose tax cutting legislation, and Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil all delivered eulogies thanking him for his service to the country, his love of tax cuts, and celebrating his contributions to the conservative movement. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle also delivered a eulogy.


Also in attendance were Former Presidents Nixon and Carter, and their wives, Former Vice Presidents Agnew and Mondale, Former Governor Ronald Reagan, numerous members of the house and senate, and numerous heads of state.

The question on everyone's mind: Who'll be the Next VP?

With the passing of Vice President Kemp, Ford's top priority, which was the economy prior to March 30th, was now vetting and nominating a new Vice President. At first, the President thought that he could nominate someone closer to him ideologically than Kemp, as he wasn't eligible to run for re election in 1984, so there was no need for a ticket balancer. The first person that came to mind for him was Senate Majority leader Howard Baker. However, he came to the conclusion that he needed Baker as Majority Leader more than he needed him as Vice President, especially with a divided congress. Plus, Ford came to conclusion that he needed a Conservative VP, as he remembered why Kemp was at that speaking engagement in the first place. They were starting to have reservations about Ford, and he needed their support.

On April 6th, the Presidents aids presented him with a list of possible conservatives to nominate as Vice President. On that list were Senator Bill Roth of Delaware, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, Congressman Phil Crane of Illinois, Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada, and finally, Ford's primary opponent from 1976, Former California Governor Ronald Reagan, even though he resided in California, there was no electoral college involved, so there were no laws against it.

Ford first vetted Bill Roth, who worked with Kemp on sponsoring tax cutting legislation while Kemp was a Congressman. He called him and asked him if he were interested in becoming Vice President. Roth declined the offer, but thanked Ford for the offer and thanked him for considering him for the job. The vetting continued...

America, the 44th Vice President of the United States is...

The President continued to vet and ask potential candidates for the Vice Presidency for days. Senator Dole considered taking the Vice Presidency, but decided against it, as this would be House Majority leader Baker's last term in the Senate, and Dole would succeed him as the Republican leader in the Senate if he stayed there. He didn't want to risk losing his seniority in the Senate, even if it meant a decent shot at the Presidency in 1984.

After that failed, one of the President's aides suggested he call Governor Reagan. The President was dead set against the idea at first, while his bitterness toward Reagan for taking the nomination from him in 1976 declined, thanks to his endorsement in 1980 and his efforts on behalf of the campaign, there was still some bitterness. His aide argued however, that "with Reagan, you not only get a conservative, you get the leader of the conservative movement. It would be much harder, if not impossible, for him to cause a divide in the party as Vice President. Plus, as an added bonus, he'll turn 73 years old in 1984, that and his defeat in '76 will keep him out of the Presidential race. You'll have much more of a say in who the next Republican nominee is."

Ford asked his aides to leave the oval office so he could think about it. Then a little over an hour later, the President called the Former Governor and asked if he'd be interested in the Vice Presidency. Reagan, who had been out of elected office since 1975, wanted to get back into the political arena, and while the Vice Presidency was a way to get back in, it was not the Presidency itself nor was it even as influential or as powerful as the Governorship of California. Reagan's first question was, is it legally possible for two people from the same state to be President and Vice President. Ford told him his legal team said it was legal, especially because the electoral college wouldn't be involved in the process. Reagan then asked Ford what his responsibilities would be, and the President told him that he would be assigned to chair the same taskforces on taxes and deregulation that Vice President Kemp assigned to . Ford also told Reagan that he would have input on judicial appointments as well. A final question Reagan asked was if Ford could set up a taskforce to stop illegal drug smuggling and if he could be assigned to it. Ford said he'd look into it, and Reagan responded back by saying he would discuss the offer with his wife Nancy and get back to him as soon as he reached a decision.

Finally, on April 10th, at 9:00 am EST, one day after he received a call from the President, Reagan called Ford, thanked him for the offer, and said after discussing it with Nancy, he will accept the nomination for the Vice Presidency. President Ford thanked him for calling back and for accepting, and said he would schedule a press conference for than afternoon to make the announcement.

At noon, President Ford announced that he was nominating Ronald Reagan to be the next Vice President of the United States. He said of Reagan that he was a good man who served the state of California well, was a good asset for the party, and he would serve his country well as Vice President. Ford also said he hopes the congress will confirm him soon.

Reagan is confirmed

On May 11th, a month after the President announced his nomination of Reagan, the house and the senate narrowly confirmed him, with 51 votes in the Senate, and 230 in the house. Reagan flew out to Washington DC immediately after he was confirmed.

On May 12th, Ronald Wilson Reagan was sworn in as the 44th Vice President of the United States with Chief Justice Berger administering the oath of office. The Vice President's four children as well as President and Mrs. Ford were in attendance.

In his speech, the President thanked Ford for the opportunity to serve as Vice President. He also paid tribute to his predecessor Jack Kemp, and said that his prayers were with the Kemp family. The new Vice President also said that he looked forward to working with the President and his team, as well as the congress to get the economy going again and to slow the growth of the federal government.



The Vice President would temporarily reside at a hotel, while his wife Nancy goes back to California to arrange the move into the official residence of the Vice President, Number One Observatory Circle.

PATCO goes on Strike

On August 3rd 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike, demanding better working conditions, a 32 hr. work week, and better pay, and also wanted to be excluded civil service clauses that they disliked.

The President held a press conference on the matter from the rose garden of the White House. Ford, who was endorsed by PATCO in 1980 said that while he sympathized with the organization, he asked them to end the strike, as their striking is a threat to national security and is in violation of the law. He ordered the President of the organization and the administrator of the FAA to work out an agreement within 48 hours.

Two days later, an agreement was reached. The air traffic controllers were to get better working conditions, and a 32 hour work week with a small increase in pay. They did not, however get to be excluded from the civil services clauses that they wanted to be excluded from. With an agreement reached, the strikers returned to work the following day. The President congratulated both sides for reaching an agreement, but made very clear to the strikers that if they were to illegally strike again, there would be consequences up to and including termination. He said that was true of other federal employees as well.

Ford signs a Tax Cut:

On August 13th, President Ford signed the Economic recovery Tax act of 1981, or as he called them the Kemp Tax Cuts to encourage economic growth through cuts in individual tax rates, incentives for small businesses, and incentives for savings and other purposes. In it, was an across the board 15% reduction in income taxes over the course of three years, bringing the top marginal rate down from 70% to 58% and bringing the bottom rate down from 14% to 9%. It also included cuts to estate taxes and taxes paid by businesses and corporations by $50 billion over the course of five years.

Key people at the bill signing ceremony were Senator Bill Roth of Delaware, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, Vice President Reagan, Senate Majority leader Baker, and House Minority leader Bob Michel. Also in attendance was the widow of Former Vice President Kemp, Joanne Kemp. Before signing the bill, thanked the members of the house and senate who supported the bill, and gave Special thanks to Senator Baker and Congressman Michel for doing the tough task gathering the votes in a Democratic controlled house and a very narrowly controlled Republican senate. He thanked Mrs. Kemp for attending the ceremony, and paid tribute to her husband. He said that "if it wasn't for Jack's work in his final days in the house and his work during the early days of the administration in crafting these cuts, this day might not have been possible." He also was grateful to the late VP for "crafting a tax cut that will be effective and at the same time not create a massive deficit."

The rest of 1981:

August 19th: President Ford makes history by appointing the first female justice to the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor. She would take her seat on the court on September 25th.

September 3rd: President Ford gives an Oval Office address to the nation concerning AIDs, first recognized by the CDC in June of that year. The President said in the address that he "has set up a commission to find the causes of AIDS, how to combat the spread of it, and how to treat it."

November 27th: Representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union met in Geneva to begin negotiating intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe. These meetings would end December 17th without any agreement reached.

The Economy: The economy, which was in recession from January to July 1980, saw a recovery take place through the rest of 1980 and the first half of 1981. However, the economy went back into recession in July of 1981, thanks to rising interest rates to combat inflation, which cause weaknesses in housing and manufacturing sectors and other sectors related to them. Unemployment, which never fell below 7% between April 1980 and July 1981 was on the rise again, and the President's approval ratings began to fall.

1982: A bad economy, a change in the Senate, and a Change in the USSR:

1982 would be dominated by the economic recession. Revenues fell after the "Kemp Tax Cuts" took effect, and congressional Democrats felt that a tax increase was necessary to make up for the loss of revenues and keep the deficit from increasing more than it already had. Congressman Pete Stark of California introduced the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (originally introduced as H.R. 4961), TEFRA, which would undo key parts of the tax cuts. The President in response said "the average citizen and businesses, who are already struggling in this recession,would be hit very hard by a tax increase" and that he "was not under any circumstances going to reverse that tax cuts that were signed a year earlier."

However, revenues continued to fall, and the budget gap continued to widen. The President, who was more of a budget hawk than a supply sider, knew taxes were going to have to be raised at some point to get the budget under control again. The President also knew that there would be political fall out from conservatives in his party if he signed a tax hike.

Vice President Reagan, in an interview on "Face the Nation" said that he would do everything in his power as President of the Senate to stop a tax increase, and said that "if I have to cast the deciding vote in the Senate in the event that there's a tie, I will vote against the increase."

Then in July, TEFRA, which passed the house at the end of the previous year, and was now on the floor of the Senate for a vote, and it was a tie, and the Vice President did what he said he would do, he cast the deciding vote against the bill. Congressional Democrats were furious.

The President hoped Reagan voting against the bill would delay the tax increase issue until after the midterm elections coming up in November. While it did just that, the midterm results weren't pretty for Republicans as unemployment hit a high of 10.8% by election day. The Democrats gained 30 house seats in the, reversing any Republican gains made there in 1980, and the GOP lost two seats in the senate, handing the Democrats a slim majority of 51 seats.

Then, a major change happened abroad. Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the of the Central Committee (CC) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, who held that position since 1964, had died on November 12th. Yuri Andropov, was elected to succeed him, and was the first former head of the KGB to hold that position.

The state of the economy, the changes in the Senate, and the changes in the USSR will make for a very interesting 1983...

The lame Duck Session of the 97th Congress:

On December 11th, 1982, Congress passed and the President signed the Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Stimulus ACT (FRESA) of 1982, which undid the tax cut on the top marginal rate, returning it to 70% and undid the $15 billion cut in estate taxes, which were part of the "Kemp Tax Cuts." It also put $25 billion dollars towards economic stimulus programs.

The President and Congressional leaders met in the White House two days after the midterm elections. Both the President and the leaders wanted to pass legislation that would help stimulate the economy without creating a larger budget gap. The President, wanted to achieve this by leaving the income tax cuts of the Kemp plan in place, reverse $25 billion of the $50 billion in tax cuts for corporations, businesses, and estate taxes, and put $10 billion towards economic stimulus. The Democratic congress, wanted another attempt at passing TEFRA, which failed in the Senate thanks to Vice President Reagan's tie breaking vote, and wanted $100 billion dollars towards economic stimulus.

The President said under no circumstances would he increase taxes on business and corporations at a time when unemployment was over 10% nor would he support $100 billion in economic stimulus, saying it would "blow an even bigger hole in the budget." Democratic leaders urged Ford to cut defense spending, but he refused to that as well, due to the Soviet Union still being in Afghanistan and with a new General Secretary taking power in the USSR. Both sides agreed that the cut in the bottom tax bracket rate was to stay in place. Finally, after almost a week of negotiation, a deal was reached.

After signing the legislation, the President, who made it clear the deal wasn't perfect, said it was a step, and said the 97th congress would end on a high note. Ford also hoped to get the same or close to the level of bi partisanship that was demonstrated in the final days of the 97th congress, from the 98th. Congressional leaders were also happy a bill was passed, but like Ford, wished it was better.

Partisans in both parties, were unhappy however. Liberals were upset because there wasn't enough stimulus and cuts to defense spending, while conservatives were upset that Kemp tax cuts weren't left alone, and that there weren't any cuts in domestic spending.

 

[dw93]

Jan. and Feb. 1983: Where Ford stands and the Start of a new Presidential Race:

With unemployment still high, President Ford's approval rating at the start of 1983 stood at 34%. While Ford didn't have to worry about the 1984 election in a sense that he wasn't legally able to run again, he did know that if his approval ratings were still in the 30's by the time the general election campaign kicked off, and if the economy remained weak, his party was going to have a tough time winning.

Then in February, little known Senator Gary Hart of Colorado announced that he was running for the 1984 Democratic nomination. In his announcement, he criticized the Ford administration over its handling of the economy and called the President's tax cut a "fiscally irresponsible handout for corporate America." Hart also said that we need to take foreign affairs in "a new direction" claiming the polices of the past have clearly failed.

Talks between Ford and Andropov Begin:

Also, in February of 1983, President Ford met in Geneva with General Secretary Yuri Andropov of the USSR to discuss the reduction of Nuclear Arms. Andropov, who was convinced the United States was going to launch an attack due to Ford's increases in defense spending, which consisted of an increase of $70 billion in 1981, then another 110 billion in 1982, and a projected $150 billion for 1983. Ford, and Secretary of State George Bush, who accompanied him on the trip, wanted to assure Andropov that we were not planning an attack on the Soviet Union. and our increases in defense, beginning at the end of the Carter administration, happened because of the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979 and because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that also happened that year.

Ford told Andropov that even after the hostage crisis ended, he and his administration felt the need to increase defense spending because of the ongoing Soviet War in Afghanistan, and said that if USSR began to withdraw from Afghanistan, the U.S. and the Soviet Union could begin talks of mutual reductions in nuclear arms and the U.S. would begin to wind down the increases in defense. Andropov, privately was beginning to think the war was a mistake, and told Ford that he would consider a negotiated gradual withdrawing of troops from Afghanistan.

While no actual treaties or agreements came about, the two did agree to meet later in the year to negotiate a possible Soviet withdraw from Afghanistan and a possible arms reduction treaty.

The Presidential Race Continues: Who else will Run?

Looking at possibly pulling off what President Ford did 4 years ago, it was reported in a New York times from early March that sources around Former President Jimmy Carter for a second non consecutive term as President. Although it wasn't official, these sources claim the Former President is looking into launching an exploratory committee to test the waters for a possible Presidential run.

The question most political analysts have however is, who will run for the Republican nomination with President Gerald Ford being constitutionally ineligible to run in 1984? Many speculate Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker, who's declining on another senate run in the next year, will throw his hat into the Presidential race. Others say Senator Bob Dole of Kansas is a possibility, but with Baker being a moderate, will conservatives rally behind Dole? Will they rally behind Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada, a very close friend of Ronald Reagan, or will they rally behind the Vice President himself if the 72 year old decides to take another run for the Presidency?

Of course, it's too soon to tell what the economy and the situation abroad will be by the time of the primaries and by the time of the General election and that will certainly affect who the Democrats and the Republicans nominate and who will win the General.

April 18th: A Bombing in Beriut

On April 18th, 1983 the U.S. embassy in Beirut was bombed, killing 63 people, 17 or which were Americans. In August of the previous year, the United States sent 250 Marines into Beirut Lebanon as part of a Multinational Force that also consisted of the French and the Italians, to support, aid, and train the Lebanese armed forces to restore the sovereignty of the Lebanese Government in Beirut and its constituent areas. It was also there to guarantee and insure the safety and security of the mass civilian population.

That day, President Ford gave a statement. In it, he said that "These cowardly and criminal acts will not stop us from achieving our goals of achieving peace. Betty and I offer our condolences to the families of those who were lost in this tragic attack."

The President of Lebanon cabled the President telling him that his sympathies were with the families of the U.S. victims. At the same time, the Lebanese were asking the three countries of the Multinational Force to increase the size of its peace keeping force. The President, who was reluctant to send troops there in the first place, was reluctant to send more troops in there now. Being President when the Fall of Saigon happened in 1975, Ford didn't want troops bogged down in another quagmire of a war. At the same time, he didn't want to completely withdraw troops either believing that doing so would be a sign of weakness.

The next day, congress voted to approve an increase in economic and military aid for Lebanon. However, both house attached amendments that said the President could only expand the U.S. military role by getting congressional approval first.

Ford at this point out ruled the possibility of expanding our role there, instead seeking to try and solve the Problem diplomatically.

Some News on the Presidential Race:

On April 30th, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who was a serious Primary challenge against President Carter in 1980, declared himself a candidate for the 1984 Democratic nomination calling for Peace abroad and a return to prosperity at home, and also calling for Democrats to return to being the party of Franklin Roosevelt and John and Robert Kennedy.

The following day, former President Carter officially launched an exploratory committee for another shot at a second term. That same day, Former Vice President Mondale, in an interview on CBS was asked about a possible run for the Presidency. He said his decision to run is based on what President Carter does. "If President Carter decides to enter the race, he has my support. If not, I will consider a Presidential run of my own."

On the Republican side, Senator Bob Dole announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United State on May 3rd, saying in his announcement that "American is more respected today than it was four years ago and our country is finally prospering. We need to continue down this path, and with Bob Dole as President, America will continue to be respected and will only become more prosperous."

In an interview on NBC, Vice President Reagan was asked if he was going to run for President in 1984. The Vice President, sitting next to his wife Nancy, said that "Well, after thinking it over, I have concluded that my time has passed. There are plenty of great and qualified people in our party who would make great Presidents. I am proud of all of the accomplishments of the Ford/Reagan administration, and I think I can speak for Nancy when I say we're both looking forward to returning to California."

May 17th: Israel leaves Lebanon and Ford begins withdrawing U.S. troops:

On May 17th, Israel, Lebanon, and the United States sign an agreement for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon.

Shortly after the agreement was signed, Ford issued a statement that said that "now that an agreement has been reached for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, I am now going to begin a gradual withdrawal of all U.S. Marines from Lebanon, stating that it was the Israeli invasion that caused us to go into Lebanon in the first place and now that they've withdrawn, there is no need for a further presence there by the United States." All U.S. Marines were to be out by early August.

June: Two more candidates get in, and the first of the polls are out

June 1st: Senator and Former astronaut John Glenn of Ohio announced that he was running for President.

June 10th: Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada, enters the race for the Republican nomination. In his speech, he praised President Ford and said he will be remembered well by history and praised his policies, but also said that that the time for a more conservative approach to governing is now, and that he, better than any candidate, will sign more tax cuts, do away with what he called useless regulations, and drastically shrink the size of the Federal Government.

The first set of polls were out on June 30th. Polling among Democratic voters showed Senator Kennedy and former President Carter, who was still exploring a run, were tied in the polls with 20% each. Senator Hart, the first candidate of both parties to declare his candidacy, was at 13% with Democratic voters/leaners and former Vice President Mondale, who was not even a candidate at the time, had 10% of the vote, Senator Glenn had 8%, and 28% of Democrats and Democratic leaners are undecided.

On the Republican side, Senator Bob Dole was in 1st place with 25% of respondents supporting him. In second was Senator Paul Laxalt with 18% of the vote, and not far behind him was Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker, who had not declared any intention of running at that point, with 16% of the vote. 41% of Republicans and Republican leaners who responded were undecided.

July: Good News on the Economy and news on the Presidential Race:

The month of July gave good news on the economy for President Ford. Economic Reports said the economy has been out of recession since November of '82 and the unemployment rate had fallen 1% since December and looked like it was going to continue to fall, and output and sales had exceeded their pre recession Peak. This was good news for the President, who had presided over a recession (the worst since the Great Depression) for most of his elected term in office.

July was also an interesting month for the Presidential race. On July 20th, Former President Carter ended his Presidential exploratory committee and endorsed his Vice President Walter Mondale, who was not a candidate at that point. However, everyone knew the Former Vice President had Presidential ambitions and was going to throw his hat in the race if and when Carter dropped out, and with Carter's endorsement, Mondale had more reason to get in the race, and did so on July 27th.

On the Republican side, we also had a new candidate. Three days before Mondale got in, Senate Minority leader Howard Baker announced his candidacy for the Presidency from his home state of Tennessee, speaking about his record as the Republican leader in the Senate saying that he was the right man with the right kind of experience to "carry on with the policies of Gerald Ford that got our economy going again and made us more respected around the world."

July 30th Gallup Poll:

The Second Gallup poll for the Presidential race had been released. With President Carter out and Mondale in, the polls showed Senator Ted Kennedy at first with 25%, Senator Hart, who was in third with 13% in June, surges to second place with 23%, and Vice President Mondale, who had just entered 3 days before the poll was in third place with 15%. Senator John Glenn was in 4th place with 10%. 27% of voters were undecided.

On the Republican side, Senator Dole and Senator Laxalt were tied with 26% of the vote. Senator Baker, who had entered the race on the 24th, was at 20%. 28% of Republicans were undecided.

Also, Gallup did hypothetical match ups between the candidates of the two parties. The polls showed Senator Baker leading all the Democratic candidates, faring the best against Senator Kennedy, who is the leading candidate amongst Democrats. Senator Laxalt, in a hypothetical match up, would beat Senator Kennedy, Senator Glenn, and Vice President Mondale. However, a Laxalt vs. Hart matchup would be a toss up. Hypothetical matchups with Senator Dole and the Democratic nominees showed results similar to those of Paul Laxalt.

Full Match up Polls:

Howard Baker 53% vs. Edward M. Kennedy: 45%
Howard Baker 50% vs. Gary Hart: 48.5%
Howard Baker 51.5% vs. Walter Mondale: 46.5%
Howard Baker 52% vs. John Glenn: 46%

Paul Laxalt 51.5% vs. Edward Kennedy: 46.4%
Paul Laxalt 49.5% vs. Gary Hart: 49.5%
Paul Laxalt 50% vs. Walter Mondale: 48%
Paul Laxalt 50.1% vs. John Glenn: 47.5%

Bob Dole: 51.5% vs Edward Kennedy: 46%
Bob Dole: 49.9% vs Gary Hart: 48.9%
Bob Dole: 50% vs. Walter Mondale: 48%
Bob Dole: 50.1% vs. John Glenn: 47.5%

August of '83: The troops are out of Lebanon, and Ford and Andropov meet again

On August 5th, 1983, the last of the marines that were in Lebanon returned home to the United States. The President issued a statement saying that "These Marines served their country well and achieved their mission, and in doing so they made their commander and chief proud."

Four days later, President Ford, Secretary Bush, and National Security advisor Henry Kissinger went to Moscow to meet with General Secretary Yuri Andropov to discuss arms reductions and a possible Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.

After hours of discussion, Ford agreed to bring U.S. Defense Spending, which increased every year of his second Presidency, down to what they were in 1981, and Andropov agreed to begin a gradual withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, with all troops being out of Afghanistan by the early 1985. However, they could not reach an agreement to reduce Nuclear Arms. While Ford was disappointed that no arms reductions treaties were reached, he was happy that he got the soviet union out of Afghanistan, even if he did had to cut back his defense build up.

September 1st: A downed air plane and the death of a Senator

September 1st, 1983 was an eventful day for the United States at home an abroad. The first event of two major events was Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a flight from New York City to Seoul (via Anchorage, Alaska) crash landed in the sea of Japan due to engine failure. All 269 crew and passengers (including U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald) were killed. Leaders and citizens around the world mourned for the casualties. The Soviet Union issued a statement saying they would cooperate with the United States, South Korea, and Japan with their Search and Rescue mission and investigation. Some hardliners and conspiracy theorists however believed that the Soviet Union might've shot the plane as it was flying near Soviet prohibited airspace.

Another event on September 1st was the death of U.S. Senator Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, a Democrat of Washington State. The Senator died of aortic aneurysm shortly after giving a speech at the University of Washington condemning the Ford administration for agreeing to cuts in defense spending during the meeting Ford had with Soviet leader Andropov in the Previous month.



Eleven days after Jackson's death, Washington Governor John Spellman appointed Daniel J. Evans, a Republican and former Governor of Washington, to fill Jackson's vacant seat. As a result, the Senate, which was controlled by the Democrats by a 51-49 majority, was now split 50-50, and with Republican Vice President Reagan breaking the tie, the Republicans technically controlled the Senate again.

October 22nd: Suicide truck Bombings destroy French Barracks in Beirut

On October 22nd, 1983, Simultaneous Truck Bombings destroy French Barracks in Beirut Lebanon, killing 60 French Paratroopers and 10 Lebanese civilians.

President Ford issued a statement hours after the attack saying that "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were killed in the attack on the French Barracks. The United States stands with France and our allies in Lebanon during this terrible tragedy." Many people wondered if the U.S. withdrawal that had taken place in August was pre mature, and wondered if Ford was going to send troops back into Lebanon after the attack on the Barracks happened. Ford was asked by a reporter the next day at a press conference whether the United States was going to send troops back into Lebanon. Ford answered by saying that "While what happened yesterday was a tragedy and while I support the French at this time of tragedy, the United States does not have anything at stake in Lebanon, so we will not be sending troops back in. I believe U.S. intervention would only make things worse."

U.S. Invades Grenada

On October 25th, 1983, nearly 2,000 U.S. forces were sent to the island of Grenada to secure the security of American nationals, most of which were medical students. The Regional Security System (RSS) based in Barbados, also invaded Grenada with the U.S. The mission was codenamed Operation Urgent Fury

On October 16th, Prime Minister Bernard Coard and a faction of the New Jewel movement seized power and Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was placed under house arrest as a result. Mass Protests erupted, and Bishop escaped detention. He and government officials loyal to him were eventually captured and executed. A military council was formed by the army led by Hudson Austin, to rule the country. A four day total curfew was then implemented where anyone seen on the streets would be immediately executed.

The following day after sending in additional U.S. troops, President Ford addressed the nation from the oval office. "My fellow Countrymen, yesterday I had ordered U.S. forces into Grenada to secure the safety of 1,000 American citizens, most of which are medical students, and to restore order to the Island. With the memory of the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran, I felt it was necessary to do everything in my power to ensure the safety of our citizens in Grenada and to make sure that they did not have to endure what 52 of our citizens had to endure in Iran. Our mission however does not end there. We must put an end to the brutal military rule and restore democracy and order to the country. As commander and chief, I want to say thank you to the men and women who are carrying out this mission and want to assure them that I will make sure that they have anything and everything they need to carry our there mission, and will do everything I can to get them home as soon as possible. Thank you, god bless you, and God bless our Country."

The international community did not respond well to the invasion however. Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was personal medical students. Forces of the Regional Security system, based in Barbados also invaded with the U.S.

Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was friends with Vice President Reagan, but had mixed relations with the President, sent a message to Ford the morning of the invasion urging him not to invade Grenada. However, after receiving the message, she called Ford to follow up on her message. Ford said "I'm sorry to say Margaret that the invasion has already begun." There relationship became even more strained. The United Nations general assembly adopted General Assembly Resolution 38/7. In it, it said it"deeply deplores the armed intervention in Grenada, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of that State." The USSR was also opposed to the intervention claiming it violated international law and that if the invasion was not rebuffed, no small nation opposed by the U.S. would be safe. Other countries said that the U.S. was in violation of conventions and treaties that it was apart of.

When asked about the opposition of the invasion by world leaders, Ford said that while he was sorry that these leaders felt that way and that he still considered many of them allies, he was doing what he felt he needed to do to keep the Americans that were in Grenada safe and unharmed.

Another Candidate Jumps in the race and more polls:

On November 3rd, 1983, Reverend Jesse Jackson announced he was running for the Democratic nomination. Many pundits wrote him off as a fringe candidate and polls showed that potential Democratic Primary voters did as well. A November 10th Gallup poll showed he was in last place with only 6% of primary voters supporting his candidacy.

In first place was Senator Gary Hart with 30% of Democratic primary voters support. Tied in Second place were Senator Ted Kennedy and Former Vice President Walter Mondale, who each had the support of 27% of voters. In a distant third was Senator John Glenn with only 10% of voters supporting him. None of the Democrats and Democratic leaners polled were undecided.

Polls for the Republican primary race were also released by Gallup. In it, now Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker surged ahead in the polls and now the leading candidate with 35% of GOP primary voters backing him, up from the third place and 20% he was at in the Gallup poll taken in July. In second place was Senator Paul Laxalt, now with 30% of Republican and republican leaners backing him. One candidate that did fall however was Senator Bob Dole. Dole, who was tied in first place with Laxalt in July with 26%, was now in third with 18% of primary voters backing him. 17% of Republican and Republican leaners were undecided.

A successful end in Grenada and a declining unemployment rate:

Our mission in Grenada was achieved relatively quick as all combat operations ended in mid December. Hudson Austin's military rule was overthrown, our nationals were safe, and a new government was appointed until elections could be held in 1984. However, some forces remained n Grenada after combat operations ended as part of a peace keeping mission. A study taken a month after the invasion showed over 60% of Americans supported the invasion


The U.S. unemployment rate, which was over 10% at the start of 1983, was down to 8.3% in December. With declining unemployment an annual GDP growth of 4.5%, well above the rates of 1981 and 82, and a successful mission in Grenada, 1983 was ending on a high note for President Ford. His approval rating, which was 34% in January, was now at 52%.

 

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The Iowa Caucuses:

On January 24th, just one day before the State of the Union Address, the Iowa Caucuses took place. On the Republican side, just as he did in 1980, Senator Bob Dole won, and won with 40% of the vote. He won in large part thanks to committing a lot of money and resources in the state just like he did four years earlier. In second place was Senator Paul Laxalt with 29%. Senate Majority leader Howard Baker placed a close third with 27%. 4% of delegates were uncommitted.

On the Democratic side, Vice President Mondale very narrowly won the Iowa Caucus with 31% of the vote. In second was Senator Ted Kennedy with 29% Senator Gary Hart came in third place with 18% and Senator John Glenn came in fourth with 10% of the vote. Jesse Jackson, who entered the race in early November, was in last place with 2%. 10% of delegates were unpledged.

The Iowa Caucuses however did not reflect national polling. Polling taken a day after the caucuses had Senator Baker in first place with 40% of Republicans backing him, Senator Laxalt in second with 37%, and Senator Dole with the same 18% he had in the November Poll. 5% of Republicans were undecided.

On the Democratic side, Senator Hart was in first place with 35%, thanks in large part to a divide among progressive voters as well as establishment voters, and also due to heavy campaigning. In second was Former Vice President Mondale who fell down to 25% from the 27 he had in November. Senator Kennedy, who was tied with Mondale in November, took third with 22%. Jesse Jackson, who was in last place with 6% a week after he entered the race, was now at 13%. John Glenn, who has had some troubles on the campaign trail was now in last place with 5% of the vote nationally.


January 25th, 1984: Ford's Final State of the Union Address

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of congress, distinguished guests, fellow citizens. Today, I can report to you that the State or our Union is sound. Our nation is much better today that it was when I returned to this office 4 years ago. Unemployment is declining, inflation, which was in double digits in January of 1981 is now down to 3.2%. We lowered taxes for working class Americans and for business, and thanks to Vice President Reagan's deregulation task force, we cut a lot of red tape and regulation, getting the government off the people's back. Thanks to our commission on AIDS, we've found the cause of it, how to prevent the spread of it, and how to treat it, and because of that, millions of lives have been saved."

He went on to say that "Abroad, we saw our military oversee two successful missions. First, in Lebanon where we achieved an agreement for Israel to withdrawal all its troops for Lebanon and opened up the path for diplomacy to take place. Hopefully, a full lasting peace will be achieved there soon. Another successful mission was in Grenada. With the help of our allies in the Caribbean, we put an end to a brutal military rule, brought democracy back to the people of that Island, and kept our citizens who were in Grenada safe from any harm. Let me just say to our men and women in uniform that your commander and chief and your fellow countrymen are proud of you, and thank you for your service to our great land."

Ford also talked about his meetings with Andropov. "Twice this past year I met with Yuri Andropov of the Soviet Union. While I wish we were able to achieve more with those meetings, we did however reach an agreement for all Soviet troops to be out of Afghanistan by early next year. I hope however that progress does not end there. I hope to achieve much more in the next year to better relations with the USSR and make this world a safer place. I spoke a lot about the progress we've made as a nation, but we still have some ways to go. Our national debt, which is now over a trillion dollars, needs to be reduced as does our ever increasing deficit. I may have agreed to some defense cuts in my agreement with Mr. Andropov, but those alone will not be enough, and we can't cut our defenses further and weaken our national security. We need to make cuts in other areas to achieve a lower debt a deficit and let me be clear to everyone in this chamber today, if I see a tax increase make its way to my desk, regardless of what it is, I will veto it. This is my final state of the union address and the final year of my Presidency. I hope to spend my final year in office working with members of congress and the American people to build on the progress we've made and make our nation even greater. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America."

February 9th, 1984: The death of Yuri Andropov

On February 9th, 1984 General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Yuri Andropov died. Suffering renal failure in February of 1983, Andropov, shortly after his meeting with Gerald Ford, fell even sicker and went into Central clinical hospital in western Moscow. He would spend the rest of his life there.

The Ford Administration hoped that the next Soviet leader would be willing to work with them in Nuclear Arms reductions, something they couldn't achieve with Andropov. They were also fearful of a real hardliner getting into power as well, as they feared if that were to be the case, the progress they did make would be undone.

Within a few days, a new Soviet leader was elected. While the rank and file of the party wanted to elect Konstantin Chernenko to replace Andropov, they knew he was terminally ill, and that younger leadership was needed, so a younger Mikhail Gorbachev was elected and became leader on February 13th.

Debates before the New Hampshire Primary:

Both Parties had debates before the February 28th New Hampshire Primary. The Democratic Debate was held on the 15th of February. All five candidates were in attendance. Vice President Mondale attacked Ford over the deficit. Senator Kennedy ran a similar campaign to the one he ran against President Carter four years earlier, and also argued that if he had won the nomination in 1980, he would've defeated Gerald Ford in the General election and the country over the past four years would've been better off for it. Jesse Jackson argued for stricter enforcement of the voting rights act, creating public works programs, giving reparations to descendants of black slaves, and a reprioritization of the war on drugs. Kennedy, Jackson, and Mondale supported a nuclear freeze. Gary Hart attacked Mondale, Jackson, and Kennedy for having old ideas saying "The '60s and '70s are over, the 1980s call for a different kind of leadership and call for new ideas." He went on to say that "I am the candidate of new ideas and am the candidate that best represents the future of the Democratic party." John Glenn ran on his military record and his record as an astronaut and also called for a lower deficit and public works programs. All candidates supported the equal rights amendment.

Polls in New Hampshire before the debate had Gary Hart at a lead in the state with 35%. Post debate, he led with 42% with Senator Kennedy in second with 21%, Vice President Mondale in third with 19%, Senator John Glenn with 11% at fourth, and in last place, Jesse Jackson with 4% of the vote. 3% of New Hampshire Democrats were undecided.



The Republican debate took place on February 21st, one week before the Primary. All three candidate participated. Howard Baker in his opening statement praised Ford for "cleaning up the mess he inherited" and said history would remember him well. He also talked about his record as the republican leader, specifically his role in getting the Kemp tax cuts passed in the Senate and said that if elected President, he would build on the progress President Ford had made and that he as President, with his record of getting things done in the Senate, would be the best at working with congressional leaders. Senator Dole tried to used the debate to position himself ideologically in between Baker and Laxalt. He argued that he was the best option for the party because he had a long record as a congressman, Senator, and chairman of the Republican party of working with all Republicans, conservative and moderate a like, and also argued that he, like Baker had a record of bi partisanship. Paul Laxalt ran as the conservative candidate. He campaigned for another tax cut, deep cuts to social welfare programs, and an increase in defense spending. He also criticized Ford for conceding too much to congressional democrats after the '82 midterm elections when he undid the tax cut on the top marginal tax rate and undid the cut in estate taxes. He also criticized Ford for agreeing to defense cuts in his agreement with Andropov. Dole shot back at Laxalt by saying "You know, by criticizing the President as much as you are, you really sound like a Democrat." He received laughs and applause. Laxalt responded by saying "I'm not saying the President did bad. I agree that the President came into a mess, and thank god everyday Jimmy Carter wasn't re elected because if he were there'd be an even bigger mess today. We have made progress over the last four years, and the President deserves credit. I believe however, that we still have a long way to go."

While Laxalt certainly had a strong debate performance, it wasn't enough for him to overtake Baker's lead of 49% in New Hampshire as voters there seemed to prefer his brand of moderate Republicanism, nor was Laxalt able to pass Dole, who was in second place with 30%. His only hope at this point was to win South Carolina. If he lost that and the next few Primaries, his path to the nomination would be close to impossible.

The New Hampshire Primary:

The New Hampshire Primary took place on February 28th. On the Democratic side, Senator Gary Hart won with 41.5% of the vote. In second was Senator Ted Kennedy with 22% of the vote. Mondale came in third with 17%, and surprising everyone, Senator Glenn came at a strong 4th with 15% of the vote. Reverend Jackson came in last with 2.5% of the vote. 2% of New Hampshire voters were unpledged.

On the Republican side, Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker won the state with 48% of the vote. In Second was Senator Dole with 27% of the vote, and at a surprisingly close third was Senator Laxalt at 25%. Many attribute this to a good debate performance and attribute Baker's win to New Hampshire republicans being more moderate as well as strong backing from the party establishment.

A Former President goes to Russia

On March 1st, Former President Richard Nixon went to the Soviet Union to meet new General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Upon his return, Nixon sent President Ford some foreign policy suggestions, and his personal impressions of Gorbachev. Ford hoped to meet with Gorbachev sometime before his Presidency ended to better diplomatic relations with them, as Soviet and U.S. relations became a bit strained after the U.S. intervention in Grenada, and hopefully reach a Nuclear Arms reduction agreement.

Another unfortunate death of a Senator:

On March 30th, 1984, Senator Frank Church, an Idaho Democrat who was very narrowly re elected to his seat in 1980, died due to complications of a pancreatic tumor. He was first hospitalized for this in late December.

Idaho Governor John V. Evans appointed Democrat Richard Stallings, who ran against four term Republican congressman George Hansen in 1982 and narrowly lost.

The March Primaries:

The Democratic Side:

Walter Mondale (2 states, plus 1 territory): Michigan, Minnesota, Puerto Rico

Gary Hart (14 states plus Democrats abroad): Vermont, Wyoming, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Democrats abroad, Nevada, Oklahoma, Washington, Maine, Arkansas, Alaska, Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas,

Ted Kennedy (5 states): Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware

John Glenn: 0 states carried

Jesse Jackson (3 States): Hawaii, Mississippi, Alabama

Unpledged: South Carolina


The Republican side:

Howard Baker (15 States): Vermont, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Washington, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, Virginia, Maine, Delaware, Minnesota

Bob Dole (3 states, plus 1 territory): Michigan, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Kansas

Paul Laxalt (6 States): South Carolina, Wyoming, Nevada, Alaska, Alabama, Mississippi

Italics= Close contests


The Soviets plan to particiapte in the 1984 Summer Olympics:

At the end of 1983, it was said that the Soviet Union was planning to boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles California over the U.S. intervention in Grenada. While leaving a meeting with Pope John Paul II, Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev was asked by a news reporter if the USSR was planning on boycotting the Summer Olympics. Gorbachev answered by saying that "The Soviet Union will participate in the Olympic games. It would be wrong to boycott and punish athletes who trained so hard to compete."

One candidate drops out. Another gets in

On April 3rd, 1984, Senator John Glenn, after not winning any primaries and due to financial troubles, ended his Presidential campaign. In his speech, he said that running for President was a good experience and thanked everyone who supported him. While he didn't endorse anyone, he made it clear that he felt it was very crucial that a Democrat win the Presidency in 1984.

Two days later, another candidate threw his hat in the race for the Presidency, only this candidate was running as an independent. Republican Congressman Phil Crane of Illinois. In his announcement speech, Crane, who supported Ronald Reagan in 1976, and reluctantly supported Senator Dole in 1980, argued for a more conservative America, with a smaller federal government, lower taxes, and higher defense spending. Pundits argued that Crane's platform was nothing more than a carbon copy of Senator Paul Laxalt's and that there was no point for him to run. He responded in an interview on CBS by saying that he entered this campaign so that Conservatives across America were guaranteed a conservative choice in November, should moderate Baker or center right Dole become the GOP nominee. Crane did state however that if Laxalt did in fact become the Republican nominee, he would consider dropping out.

Economic News and President Ford's approval rating:

Economic conditions only continued to improve since December of '83. GDP growth was at a strong 7%, unemployment finally fell below 8% and was now at 7.8%. Inflation also remained low.

However, the deficit was still high, standing at $95 billion and the national debt was at almost $1.3 trillion.

Despite the debt and deficit, the continued growth caused President Ford's approval rating to remain good and it was now at 53%.


April Presidential Primaries:

The Democratic Side:

Walter Mondale (0 States carried)

Gary Hart (4 states carried): Arizona, Missouri, Wisconsin, Utah

Ted Kennedy (2 States carried): New York, Pennsylvania

Jesse Jackson (0 States carried)


The Republican side:

Howard Baker (4 states carried): Missouri, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania

Bob Dole (0 States carried)

Paul Laxalt (2 States carried): Utah, Arizona

Italics= Close contests


Mondale exits the race: Who's Next?

On April 19th, just one day after the Missouri Primary, Former Vice President Walter "Fritz" Mondale withdrew from the Presidential race. His speech ended with him saying that "I will continue to fight the right fight. I will fight for a more fair and level economy, a stronger budget, and for a more peaceful word, and in order to achieve this, we must elect a Democratic President this November and I will do everything I can to help our nominee win this election." Many political pundits, some who thought he would win the nomination, believe Mondale was hurt by Former President Carter's exploratory committee and a divide in the liberal faction of the party, caused by Senator Kennedy and to some extent Reverend Jackson.

Now heading into the next primaries, which take place in May, the question on everyone's minds was "who's going to drop out next?" It certainly wasn't going to be Senate Majority leader Baker or Senator Gary Hart, the front runners of there respective parties. Kennedy and Laxalt were unlikely to withdrawal from the race anytime soon as well, depending on how they do in the next few contests. So that leaves Senator Dole and Reverend Jackson, who have very few primary wins.


May Primaries:

The Democratic Side:

Gary Hart (9 States): Colorado, Indiana, Idaho, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon

Ted Kennedy (1 State, plus D.C.): Maryland, District of Columbia

Jesse Jackson (1 state): Louisiana


The Republican Side:

Howard Baker (7 States, plus D.C.): North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon, Maryland, Indiana, Ohio, District of Columbia

Bob Dole (0 States)

Paul Laxalt (4 States): Colorado, Nebraska, Idaho, Louisiana

Italics= Close Contests


Bob Dole exits the race: Endorses Howard Baker

On May 15th, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas ended his candidacy for President. Dole, who only won 4 states and Puerto Rico, ended his campaign after placing third place in a series of contests and also due to financial troubles. In his speech, he endorsed front runner Senator Howard Baker. Saying of Baker that he "is a good man, a great senator, and will make a great President, which is why he gets my endorsement."

The final Primaries:

The Democratic Side:

Gary Hart (6 States): California, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia, North Dakota

Ted Kennedy (1 State): New Jersey

Jesse Jackson (0 States)


The Republican Side:

Howard Baker (3 States): California, New Jersey, West Virginia

Paul Laxalt (4 states): Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota


Hart and Baker secure the nominations of their parties, Kennedy drops out, new polls

On June 5th, after losing the California primary, Senator Ted Kennedy ended his campaign for the Presidency and endorsed Gary Hart, who secured the Democratic nomination for President. Kennedy in his concession speech said of Hart that "he is committed to guaranteeing justice opportunity for all Americans. He is committed to insuring equal rights so that women get fair pay for their work, and is committed to making the world safer and more peaceful. Senator Hart is not only the candidate for the future of the Democratic Party, he is also the candidate for the future of America and I am proud to have him as our party's nominee and will do everything on my part to make sure he wins in November."

Howard Baker, after the June primaries, had secured the Presidential nomination for the Republican party, though he secured it more narrowly than Hart did the Democratic nomination. When asked if he was going to withdraw from the race, Senator Laxalt said that he would at the convention. Congressman Crane, in a CNN interview, urged all those who supported Laxalt to support him, claiming he was the only true conservative left in the race, despite Laxalt not officially ending his campaign.

With the general election starting up, the first General election polls were released. An CBS poll, despite Crane's third party candidacy, had Howard Baker in the lead with 50.5%, with Gary Hart taking 44% of the vote. Phil Crane had 3% of potential voters supporting him and 2.5% of voters were undecided.

 

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The 1984 Olympics:

The 1984 Summer Olympics took place in Los Angeles California from July 28th to August 12th. There were 221 events in 21 sports. The top five nations in the events were:

1. The United States
2. The Soviet Union
3. Romania
4. West Germany
5. Italy

Iran and Libya, as well as Albania chose not to participate in the games.

The Democratic National Convention:

The Democratic national convention took place from July 16th to July 19th, 1984. New York Governor Mario Cuomo gave a very well received keynote address and three primary candidates, Kennedy, Mondale, and Jackson also gave speeches at the convention.

The convention officially named Gary Hart it's nominee for President. Hart chose one of his former rivals, Ohio Senator and former Astronaut John H. Glenn to be his running mate, and he was nominated by the convention. Hart's Speech was well received. He argued for a simpler tax code, pledged his support for the ERA, and talked about the future of the Democratic Party and of the country. The Democratic convention ended with a fired up and surprisingly united Democratic party.

The Democrats also received a slight boost in the polls from the convention as well. An ABC poll taken one day after the Democratic convention showed the polls were practically even with Baker at 48.5% and Hart at 47%. Congressman Crane also went up to 4% from the poll taken in June. One pundit said it best when he said this was going to be "one hell of a race."

The Republican Convention:

The GOP convention took place in Dallas Texas, from August 20th to August 23rd, 1984. The keynote speaker was Senator Bill Roth of Delaware. The RNC also did a brief tribute to Former Vice President Jack Kemp at the convention as well.

Other speakers at the convention were Vice President Reagan, Former Democrat Jeane Kirkpatrick, Treasury Secretary Alan Greenspan, and Republican leaders from the state and local level.

President Ford also gave a speech to the convention:

"Fellow Republicans. My fellow Americans. It has been the honor of my lifetime to twice serve as your President. Over these last four years, we whipped inflation, brought our economy out of the worst recession since the great depression and cut taxes. We also made our country stronger and more respected and we made the world a safer place. I'd like to thank my Vice President and friend Ronald Reagan for rising to the occasion after the late Jack Kemp was tragically taken from us. He has served me and our nation well over these last 3 years. I'd also like to take this opportunity thank the members of my cabinet for their service over these last 4 years. We made a lot of progress over these last four years and our nominee for President played a key role in making this progress. Senator Howard Baker brought leaders of both parties together to keep this country going forward. He is one of the most talented and knowledgeable leaders I've ever worked with and he will bring that talent and knowledge to the campaign trail and then to the White House. The Democrats want you to believe that the world is more dangerous and that only the rich are better off because of our policies. That is so untrue. Thanks to the tax cuts we passed in 1981, poor and working class Americans have more money in their pockets and have more opportunities than they did four years ago. The Democrats will undo the progress we've made. Senator Baker won't. He will build on the progress we've made and our great nation will be even greater when he is inaugurated January 20th, 1985. Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless America."

There was also some drama over who would be Senator Baker's running mate. Baker went to the convention with out one. An obvious choice to many was Baker's main rival, Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada. Baker supposedly talked to Laxalt about the Vice Presidency, but Laxalt told him no. Baker than approached Laxalt's personal friend, Ronald Reagan and asked him to try talking Laxalt into accepting. After a long talk with him, Reagan told Laxalt "no offense Mr. Vice President, but if I have to chose between the Vice Presidency and my senate seat, I'll take the Senate." Senator Baker's short list was similar to the list President Ford had after Jack Kemp's assassination, with the additions of Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming, and Governor Jim Thompson of Illinois. Finally, when Lugar, Simpson, and Thompson declined the offer, Baker made a last minute offer to another primary opponent, Senator Bob Dole. Dole, accepted the offer, knowing he had his Senate seat to return to if the Baker/Dole ticket lost.

The choice was revealed the final day of the convention. Both men would give addresses the final day and both speeches were well received.

The Republicans, like the Democrats in July, also got a boost from their convention. A Gallup poll had Senator Baker leading Senator Hart and Congressman Crane 51%-47%-2%.

The Presidential Race rages on, Crane's running mate, and a budget passes

Congressman Crane announced his running mate after the Republican convention in late August. He chose Conservative Republican Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina.

The Presidential race raged on through September. All three candidates and their running mates campaigned hard throughout the country. Neither candidate even took their home states for granted. Senator Hart campaigned in the West Coast states, as well as his home state of Colorado and neighboring state New Mexico, as well as Nevada. The Hart campaign also had Senator Glenn campaigning hard in his home state of Ohio and other states such as Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

Senator Baker campaigned in his native south through the first week of September and at the same time, his running mate Senator Dole campaigned in the Western states. Both planed to campaign in the northeastern states in the second week of the month. Congressman Crane and Senator Helms kept their focus on the South and kept their focus on very conservative Western states like Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Crane also held two campaign rallies in his home state of Illinois.

The Presidential campaigns also had other politicians out on the campaign trail as well. President Ford held three rallies for Baker in Michigan from September 5th-Spetmebr 8th, Vice President Reagan held two big events for Baker in California from September 10th to the 12th. Senator Kennedy campaigned for Hart in Massachusetts and other key New England States and President Carter campaigned through the south for Hart.

The poll numbers also narrowed in September as well. A September 20th poll showed numbers similar to those after the Democratic convention in July, only these were much closer. Hart and Baker were essentially tied, with Hart getting his first lead with 48%. Senator Baker had 47.5% and Senator Crane had his highest number of support with 4.5%. No one polled was undecided. If this truly represented the nation, this was going to be a very close race.

Also, just before the September 30th deadline, a budget for the 1985 fiscal year was passed. It saw a slight reduction in the deficit, going from $300 billion to $275 billion. Defense Spending saw no increases or decreases, all cuts came from domestic spending. Senators Baker and Hart voted for the bill, while Senator Crane voted against it, claiming that the reductions weren't deep enough. President Ford signed the bill praising congress for it's bi partisan effort and said he hoped that deficit reduction would continue after he left office.

Ford to meet with Gorbachev after the Presidential election:

In an October 3rd Press conference, President Gerald Ford announced that he was going to be meeting Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on November 13th, one week after the presidential election. When asked why he didn't meet with Gorbachev earlier in the year, Ford answered with "We tried to set up an earlier meeting, but with the summer Olympics and other scheduling conflicts, it just wasn't possible. I guess it's one of those 'better late than never things."

October 7th: The First Presidential Debate

On October 7th, the first of two Presidential debates took place in Louisville, Kentucky. All three candidates were participating in the debate and they discussed the economy and other domestic issues such as the ERA, and they also discussed foreign policy, particularly how they would deal with the Soviet Union and it's leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Senator Baker, who struggled through the debate, as he was still getting over the flu that he had two days earlier, told audiences that if elected he would continue the conservative, but responsible approach to the economy that President Ford took over the last four years, and would, like Ford, be strong yet level headed in dealing with foreign affairs.

Senator Hart argued that while our economy was growing, the growth wasn't strong enough, as unemployment was still over 7%, and that if elected, one way he would increase employment in our country would be investment in our infrastructure. He was the only candidate of the three who supported the ERA. Hart also criticized Ford for intervening in Lebanon and said he would only use military force when U.S. interests were at stake.

Congressman Crane spent his time attacking both candidates, calling Baker a carbon copy of Ford, and calling Hart's proposals big government liberalism. Crane said Ford brought the U.S. into another period of détente and that the U.S. needed to be stronger to defeat the evil empire. He also criticized Ford and Baker for caving too quickly on the tax cut reversal in 1982 and that if he were President, the cuts wouldn't have been touched. He also called for more power for the state and local governments.

Pundits and viewers alike all agreed that Baker lost the debate. There was some debate as to how well Hart did, but most everyone agreed that he won, and Phil Crane surprised everyone by how well he did. An ABC poll released after the debate showed Hart, who very, very narrowly led Baker at the end of September was now ahead with 49% to Baker's 45%. Congressman Crane had 5% support and 1% of respondents were undecided.


The Vice Presidential Debate and the 2nd Presidential Debate:

Senators Dole, Glenn, and Helms all participated in the Vice Presidential debate that took place on October 11th. The questions for the Vice Presidential candidates were similar to those asked of the Presidential candidates in the first debate. Senator Dole talked about the accomplishments of himself, Senator Baker, and President Ford, and told viewers that in order to prevent what he called "another Democrat recession" voters had to vote Baker/Dole on election day. Senator Helms argued that the federal government has gotten too powerful and the Democrats and Rockefeller Republicans like Howard Baker and Bob Dole created that. He, like Congressman Crane in the first debate, said he and Crane were running to give voters a real conservative option. Senator Dole responded to this by saying "by running all you're doing is giving the Democrats the White House on a silver platter." John Glenn responded to both of them by saying that "Voters don't care about who's more conservative than who. They care about the issues, let's use this debate to show voters how we plan to address them." Glenn received an applause for his remark. Pundits described the debate as Dole and Helms arguing back and fourth, and believed that Glenn was definitely the only adult on the stage.

In the second Presidential debate, Senator Baker did significantly better than he did in the first debate, but because Senator Hart and Congressman Crane's performances didn't worsen, it didn't make much difference. An October 30th NBC poll showed Hart leading 48% to 47% for Baker and 5% for Crane.




The Election of the 41st President of the United States:

The Presidential election that took place on November 6th, 1984 was a close election and a bit of an odd election. The GOP went into election day with a popular incumbent President, whos approval rating stood at 60% on election day, a good economy, and stability abroad. One would think that would've led to a decisive GOP victory. However, thanks to a reasonably strong conservative third party candidate and Senator Baker's failure to recover from his poor debate performance, that wasn't the case.

On the morning of November 7th, once all the votes were counted, it was announced that Democratic Senator Gary Warren Hart was narrowly elected the 41st President of the United States:

Senator Gary W. Hart (D-CO)/ Senator John H. Glenn (D-OH): 48.5% PV, 273 EV

Senator Howard H. Baker (R-TN)/ Senator Robert J. "Bob" Dole (R-KS): 46.8% PV, 265 EV

Rep. Philip M. Crane (R Ind.-IL)/ Senator Jesse A. Helms Jr. (R Ind.-NC): 4.7% PV, 0EV

Once the results were in, Senator Baker conceded the election. He thanked all those who supported him in this election and to thanked the people of Tennessee for sending him to the Senate. He thanked his running mate Senator Dole and said that he will make a great Senate majority leader. He congratulated President-Elect Hart and urged all those who supported him and Phil Crane to rally behind the new President. He also said that while he looked forward to spending time with his family, he was going to miss all his friends and colleagues in the Senate.

Congressman Crane also conceded and congratulated Hart.

President Ford also gave a speech early in the afternoon congratulating Hart and said he looked forward to meeting with him and looked forward to beginning a smooth transition Process.

1984 House and Senate Races:

The Senate Majority, which was split prior to the election now belonged to the Democrats. While Republican Senator Charles Percy of Illinois narrowly defeated congressman Paul Simon, Senator Walter Dee Huddleston defeated Jefferson County Judge Executive Mitch McConnell in a close race, and Senator Howard Baker's senate Seat, went to Democratic Congressman Albert Gore Jr., son of Former Senator Al Gore Sr.

In the house however, the Republicans made gains, gaining 12 seats, so with this, the Democrats now had control of the executive and full control of the legislative branch.

Many wondered, considering the GOP controlled the Senate for most of Ford's elected term, how long the Democrats would have full control. Would the elections in '86 or '88 give the GOP back control of the Senate? The house? Will Hart suffer the fate of every Post WWII Democratic President and only be elected to one term? We'll have to wait and see...

 

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President Ford's last major act:

On November 13th, President Gerald Ford took his last foreign trip as President to Geneva to meet with Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The two both wanted to meet earlier in the year, but scheduling conflicts prevented it from happening. Ford hoped to get achieve a Nuclear arms reduction agreement with Gorbachev, something he couldn't do with Brezhnev or Andropov.

Ford took the opportunity to praise Gorbachev for continuing the Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Gorbachev told Ford that all troops would be out by January 6th. Gorbachev said Ford made the world a safer place by keeping his end of the 1983 agreement.

After that, negotiations began. Both men came to that meeting wanting to discus nuclear arms reduction, and eventually both reached an agreement. Both countries agreed to a 10% reduction of Nuclear Arms by the year 1994. The treaty signing ceremony would be held at the White House next month. Ford and Gorbachev, before leaving went to a press conference to announce the agreement. Both said that the world was safer for this agreement, and hoped that future leaders of their countries will make the world even safer. Gorbachev also said he hoped to meet with President Elect Hart after he is sworn in as President.

The Final Days of the Ford Administration

On December 10th, 1984 President Ford and General Secretary Gorbachev signed the Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty of 1984 at the White House. Also in attendance was Secretary of State Bush.

On January 17th, 1985 President Gerald R. Ford gave his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office:

"My fellow Countrymen. Tonight will be the last time I speak to you from this historic office as your President. It has been my honor to serve as both the 38th and the 40th President of this Great land. I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to Vice President Ronald Reagan for rising up at a time of tragedy to serve as our Vice President. He has been a great asset for me and has served our nation well, and I will always be grateful to my previous Vice Presidents Nelson Rockefeller and Jack Kemp. I am also grateful to all those who have served in my cabinet past and present. I also want to thank my wife Betty and my children for standing by my side at all points of my political career, and I look forward to spending a lot of time with them for many years to come. We've overseen and overcome a lot together. When I first ascended to this office in August of 1974, our nation was shaken by the biggest scandal of our time, and together we healed our nation and restored confidence in our system of government. We dealt with a recession and inflation, and together by January 1977 when I first left this office, we steered our country on to a path of recovery. In 1980, at a time of double digit inflation, an energy shortage, strained relations with the Soviet Union and a Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and a hostage crisis in Iran, you elected me to serve as your President again, and I will be forever grateful to you the American People, for giving me the opportunity to serve once more. Over these last four years, we made our country stronger and more prosperous, and made the world a safer place. Inflation has finally been whipped, unemployment is falling, and business is booming again. Thanks to the Kemp tax cut of '81, Americans have more money in their pockets to use as they please. We addressed the AIDS epidemic, and spared millions of lives. Our military is stronger, and Lebanon and Grenada are better and safer thanks to our intervention. The Soviet Union has finally withdrawn from Afghanistan, and thanks to our most recent agreement with General Secretary Gorbachev we will finally see a reduction in Nuclear Arms over the next 9 years. I hope that this agreement will be ratified by the Senate in the coming months, and I hope that the progress we've made since January of 1981 can be built upon in the years to come. I've used this opportunity to talk a lot about the progress that we've made, and we did make a lot of it. However, we also have some more work to do. Our last budget saw a reduction in our deficit, and while that's great, we need to get our budget balanced. We also need to get our debt under control, so that hopefully, we can begin to pay the debt down in the near future. There is also more that can be done to make the world more peaceful and more secure, but I can't stress enough that we must not make ourselves less secure, to attempt to bring this about. Well my fellow Americans, it's time for me to end this speech by again thanking you for the opportunity to serve. Our land is a great land with great people, and a very bright future, and I wish the Next President Gary Hart and the Next Vice President John Glenn the very best over these next four years. Thank You for listening, good bye, God Bless this great nation, and may God bless you all.

The Start of the Hart Administration:

Due to January 20th falling on a Sunday, two inaugural ceremonies would take place. The official Swearing in of the 41st President and the 45th Vice President took place at a private ceremony in the Grand Foyer of the White on January 20th. Even though the event was private, it was televised. Outgoing President Gerald Ford, and outgoing Vice President Ronald Reagan were in attendance as were members of the Hart and Glenn families. Also, movers, who were moving the Ford's belongings out of the White House and moving the Hart's belongings in were allowed to take a break from moving furniture and watch the President Elect and Vice President Elect take the oath of office. Chief Justice Warren Berger administered the oath of office to Gary Hart and Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall administered the oath to John Glenn. Hart gave a brief speech after taking the oath.

After the events of the official ceremony took place, President Hart and Vice President Glenn and their wives walked Former President Ford (who's exit approval rating was 61%) and Former Vice President Reagan and their wives to Marine One, which was parked on the White House lawn, which would take them to Andrews Air Force base where they would board SAM 26000 to fly back to California. A "welcome home" ceremony was waiting there for them.

The Public inaugural Ceremony would take place the following day. Due to historically cold weather, the ceremony would be held inside the Capitol Building. Many other outdoor events were canceled. Hart and Glenn retook their oaths, and President Hart gave is inaugural address:

"Chief Justice Berger, Vice President Glenn, Speaker O'Neil, Senator Byrd, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans. Today marks the beginning of a new era, and one I hope will be a bi partisan one. In the spirit of bi partisanship, as I did yesterday in my speech, I want to thank President Ford for his many years of service to this nation and thank him for a very smooth transition of Power. I would also like to thank my former rivals, Senator Howard Baker and Congressman Phil Crane for a hard fought and spirited campaign. Our Country is a Country that saw a revolutionary War, a Civil War, two World Wars, and a Great Depression, and we have emerged out of those a better and stronger country. We are in a time where our economy is growing, but growing very un evenly and a lot of people are out of work as a result. I hope to work with members of Congress to pass a program that puts people to work and invests money in out crumbling infrastructure. With that program, we must ensure that a woman who does the same work as a man, gets paid the same amount of money....

Internationally, we must work to make our world safer. While we have agreed with the Soviet Union to reduce our Nuclear Weapons by 10% over the next decade, we must go further and do away with other deadly weapons. We must also get other countries to join us to achieve peace...

So my fellow Americans, let's work to make our country even greater and create a more peaceful and just world. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless The United States of America."

President Hart's Address Before a Joint Session of Congress on the State of the Union

On February 6th, 1985, President Gary Hart addressed a joint session of congress and the nation about the State of the Union:

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the 99th congress, and my fellow Americans. Tonight is the first time I will address you from this chamber as your President and like all who have served before me, I will use this opportunity to talk to you about the state of our union and outline my agenda for the year. The State of Our Union is not weak, but it is not as strong as it should be.

Over the last 2 years, we've seen economic growth, however many of our fellow Americans are still out of work. We can put our unemployed back to work by investing in our infrastructure, and I look forward to working with members of Congress, Republican and Democratic alike, to create a program that modernizes our infrastructure and puts our fellow citizens back to work, and with that we must give them the resources to be successful at their job, so we must also invest in job training and education. We must ensure everyone who wants a job a job gets a job and everyone who wants a post secondary education gets one, and gets it without financial burden. We must also guarantee equal pay for equal work, so I will ask members of congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. It is sad that in 1980s America, a woman who does the same exact job as a man is not paid the same wage. We can do better than this and must...

Internationally, we must use our influence around the world to promote Human rights. We must also work for peace in the Middle East. In 1978, the President Carter helped broker peace between Israel and Egypt with the Camp David accords. That agreement is still intact today, and that is proof that more peace is achievable. Our next step in the Middle East should be achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinian State. At the end of last year, my Republican predecessor achieved an agreement with the USSR to reduce Nuclear Weapons by 10% over the next decade. The agreement just needs to be ratified, and I as a Democrat and in the spirit of Bi partisanship ask the U.S. Senate to ratify that agreement. This agreement will make this world safer, and I hope to meet with Secretary Gorbachev very soon so that we can build on that progress and make the world even safer...

I have talked a lot about what I believe needs to be done to make the State of our Union stronger. Our great country has accomplished many great things in its 200 plus years of history, and I hope to work with you to make history and to make our country stronger. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless this Great Nation."


March 10th: The Senate Ratifies Nuclear Weapons reduction Treaty

On March 10th, 1985, the United States Senate voted 56-44 to ratify the Nuclear Arms reduction treaty signed by Former President Ford at the end of the previous year. The agreement is to take affect in April.

President Hart said in a press conference that he was glad that this agreement was ratified and that the world was safer for it. He told the press that he hoped that the progress can be built upon over the course of his Presidency.

Former President Ford also issued a statement congratulating the Senate, claiming that it was a victory for diplomacy and that the world was better for this agreement being ratified.


Hart's Jobs and Infrastructure Bill Passes the House fails in the Senate:

The House version of President Hart's Jobs and Infrastructure program was introduced on May 6th, 1985. It included $100 billion towards infrastructure investment, $25 billion in job training programs, and another $50 billion towards education. After 4 days of debate, the bill passed by 230-205.

The Senate version, proposed a week later, however was smaller. It had $75 billion for infrastructure, $10 billion for job training programs, and $25 billion for education spending. 51 senators (48 Republicans, 3 Democrats) voted against the bill and 49 voted in favor of it. Republicans in both chambers attacked the bill because of the costs and because they felt the jobs training programs hurt business. Senate minority Leader Bob Dole said on the Senate floor that "For a President that campaigned on New ideas, this bill he proposed is full of old and tried ideas."

President Hart responded in an interview on ABC about the bills failure to pass the Senate that "It is important to invest in our people and modernize our infrastructure. This is the best way, in my opinion to do it, but I'm open to working with members of both parties to hear their ideas and come up with a compromise. The failure of this bill in the Senate does not mean the debate is over. We need a jobs program."

Congress goes on Summer recess, Hart's Approval Ratings begin to fall:

When congress went on recess at the end of June 1985, the only major act that was accomplished was the ratification of the Nuclear Arms reduction treaty. President Hart's jobs and infrastructure bill failed to pass in the Senate and the Equal rights amendment didn't even make it to the floor of the house for a vote.

The President, in the eyes of voters, was starting to look like a lame duck. Hart's approval ratings, which were 63% when he took office in January, had fallen to 51% by the end of June and this was despite economic growth.

When asked about his fallen approval rating at a press conference, President Hart responded by saying that "It shows that the American people a frustrated with the lack of progress, and keep in mind, that same poll showed congress' approval ratings also took a hit as well. When the congress returns from recess this August, I plan to meet with leaders of both parties and both houses, and in those meetings I hope to get a deal on infrastructure. Any concerns of costs members may have about this will be addressed in this meeting as we are also going to begin budget negotiations for next year as well. As I said before, the American people need jobs, and because of that, I am determined to get an infrastructure bill passed."


The Budget Battle of '85:

August and September of 1985 saw a month long budget battle. The President and congressional Democrats wanted to push for the President's infrastructure plan and congressional Republicans fought hard against it, calling it wasteful spending and telling voters that inflation would return if this bill were to pass. The President and congress did however eventually work out a deal on infrastructure spending in early September. What was finally passed was smaller than both the house bill that passed and the Senate bill that failed to pass, as $60 billion would be invested in infrastructure, $10 billion would be used for job training (one part that was the same in the Senate bill) and $12.5 billion would be put towards education.

The battle did not end there however. President Hart, and most of the congressional Democrats wanted cuts in defense spending, while Republicans and Conservative Democrats would not allow any cuts. Some members even wanted an increase in defense. The President argued that there was no major war going on and would be wasting tax payer dollars if we kept defense spending at current levels. Opponents of Defense Cuts argued that "We saw what happened when we cut defense after the Vietnam war. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan and our people were taken hostage in Iran, we did not have the means to respond, and both President Carter and President Ford increased defense spending as a result, and even after agreeing to a cut in defense in 1983, President Ford still left with a defense budget higher than it was in 1979. We cannot allow ourselves to cut our defenses only to be unprepared when a crisis happens." A battle continued until exactly one day before the end of the fiscal year.

Not wanting a Government Shutdown in the first year of his Presidency, the President agreed not to cut defense. The deficit, due to an increase in domestic spending, increased for the first time in two years. The President said of the deal that while he was happy that he got some infrastructure spending passed, he didn't feel it went far enough and was also upset that the deficit saw an increase, as he felt it was congresses' failure to cut defense that caused it.

The President's approval rating, which was stuck at 51% from the end of June through August had fallen to 49% at the end of September, reinforcing the belief that Hart was a lame duck. Pundits predicted that if this continued through 1986, the Republicans would retake the Senate and make gains in the house in the '86 midterms and that Hart risked being a one term President. Will this be the case??? Stay tuned to find out...

Hart Meets Gorbachev:

On November 11th, 1985, President Gary Hart flew to Geneva to meet Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev for the first time. Hart praised Gorbachev for getting Soviet Forces out of Afghanistan earlier in the year and Gorbachev expressed his happiness that the Nuclear Arms Reduction treaty was ratified in the Senate.

Both men spent most of their meeting discussing Human rights, particularly in Eastern Europe. While no agreement was achieved, many observers believed that something would be achieved within the next year. Both Hart and Gorbachev said of the meeting that this was a good meeting. They both got to know what the other's goals were and had an idea of what they both could achieve. The President's Press secretary stated that Hart and Gorbachev would be meeting sometime in the following year.

January 1986:

The Space Shuttle Challenger launch, which was supposed to launch on January 22nd, was delayed due to concerns over the O Rings that sealed the field joints. The launch would not take place until these concerns were addressed and any problems were fixed.










On January 28th, President Hart gave his Second State of the Union address:

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of congress, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans. Tonight, I can say that the state of our Union is stronger than it was when I gave my first state of the Union a year ago. We passed an infrastructure bill that is set to create millions of good paying jobs and put millions of people back to work, and we are beginning to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world. These are great accomplishments, however our work does not end yet. While it is great that we have new jobs being created, we need to insure that the people filling these jobs as well as every other hard worker in this country has protected leave so that if they or a family member of theirs gets sick and they need to take time off, they can and won't have to worry about losing their job. A bill that will guarantee every worker protected leave has been brought to the floor, if it gets passed, I will gladly sign it. We must also, as I said last year, work to ensure that every worker in this country is paid an equal wage for women who do the same work as men. We had an opportunity to get an Equal Rights Amendment last year and we failed. Now is the time to do it, and for those of you who say this legislation is anti business, I must ask. What's so anti business about ensuring equal pay for equal work?...

This Past fall, I met with Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, while nothing of significance was achieved, it was a good meeting, and I hope to work with him to make the world a safer place the next time we meet this year. I have also paid close attention to the situation in South Africa this past year as well. It has come to my attention that members of both parties want to put sanctions on South Africa to end Apartheid. Well, I have news for you, so do I. Let's make these sanctions a reality so that we can eventually put an end to this brutal system once and for all... I also hope to work for a more peaceful Middle East as well...

There is a lot of work to do both at home and abroad. I hope to have a very productive year and one with less partisanship. The American people sent us here to make progress and if we work together, a lot can be done to make our already great nation, even greater. Thank You, God bless you, and God Bless America."

Overall, the President's speech was well received and his approval ratings, which were between 48 and 49 percent throughout November and December we now at 50 percent. Unemployment was now down to 6.8%, it finally bellow 7% for the first time in almost a decade, and some projected that President Hart's infrastructure program would accelerate Job creation.


Education Secretary resigns due to Sex Scandal:

In late February of 1986, it was leaked that Secretary of Education Bill Clinton was involved in an extra marital affair with an intern. He initially denied the affair. However, it didn't end there. A woman named Gennifer Flowers came forward and alleged that she and Clinton had a four year affair when he was Governor of Arkansas. Finally, after about of month of controversy surrounding both alleged affairs, photos of Clinton and his mistress and his intern were released in his Washington office and Clinton finally resigned. He, his wife Hillary, and his daughter Chelsea left Washington to live in Mrs. Clinton's home state of Illinois instead of Secretary Clinton's home state of Arkansas.

President Hart nominated another southern Governor, Richard Riley of South Carolina, to replace Clinton as Secretary of Education on April 3rd. The Senate voted 53-47 to confirm the appointment.


Family Medical Leave Passes Congress. Hart signs legislation:

On May 20th, 1986, President Gary Hart signed the Family Medical Leave Act of 1986. The bill passed both houses relatively easily although not decisively. After signing the legislation, the President said that this was a great day for working Americans and no longer did they have to fear losing their job when they or a loved one got sick.


September 1986: The month that started good and ended with a budget battle

On September 8th, 1986, after being delayed, yet again for almost 8 months, mission STS-51-L, the tenth mission for the Space Shuttle Challenger had successfully launched. President Hart addressed the nation shortly after, congratulating the crew and NASA for the successful launch. He also, however announced that he was establishing a new Presidential commission on Safe Space travel, headed by Vice President John Glenn. This commission would establish better safety requirements and inspections of Space Shuttles and would also work to find ways, through research, to make better parts for shuttles and to develop and build better Space Shuttles. The main purpose of this commission was to ensure the safety of the men and women sent to space without long delays in launches.


The Country was happy about the success of the Challenger launch. However, that happiness wouldn't last. Late September 1986 saw a budget battle just like in 1985. This battle however was not about infrastructure. It was about the deficit and how to lower it. House and Senate Republicans proposed a cut in entitlements and a simplification of the tax code. The President, and a majority of his party, as it did a year earlier, proposed defense cuts and tax increases on the wealthy and undoing the corporate tax cut that was part of the Kemp tax Cuts of 1981. Southern Democrats again sided with the GOP when it came to defense cuts and opposed them, taking defense cuts off the table. The President said doing anything to the tax code as of now would risk cutting revenues, causing a bigger increase in the deficit, and his party agreed that taxes could not be cut.

Finally, after failing to get a budget passed by the September 27th deadline, causing a two day government shutdown, congress finally passed and the President signed the budget for 1987. The budget, saw no increases or decreases in spending or taxes, leaving the deficit unchanged from the year before.

The midterm elections of '86:

The midterm elections of 1986 did not go well for President Hart and the Democrats. The Democrats went into the midterms with a 265 seat majority in the house. That majority was reduced by 35 seats, leaving them at 230 seats. A notable race was Congressman and Conservative third Party Candidate Phil Crane, who faced and lost a primary challenge in his district. Despite Crane losing the Primary race, his seat stayed Republican.

The Senate fared even worse for the Democrats. Going into the elections with 51 seats, they lost 8 seats, giving the GOP a 57 seat majority. The President's former Senate Seat in Colorado, went to Republican Ken Kramer and Richard Stallings, Idaho Democrat who was appointed to the Senate after the death of Frank Church, lost his Senate seat to Republican Steve Symms. Nevada Senator and former Presidential candidate Paul Laxalt's seat (Laxalt retired from the Senate) went to Republican James David Santini, defeating Democrat Harry Reid. California Democrat Alan Cranston also lost his seat, and incumbent Republican Paula Hawkins of Florida defeated Democratic Governor Bob Graham.

The GOP also managed to gain 8 seats in the Governors races.

Despite keeping the house majority however a new Speaker of the house would be sworn in in January 1987 as Incumbent Speaker Tip O'Neil was retiring. Texas Democrat Jim Wright would replace him.

Bob Dole would become the new Senate Majority leader.

President Hart, whos approval ratings were 47% on election day, congratulated the Republicans and said he looked forward to meeting with Senator Dole in the coming weeks.

Hart meets with congressional leaders, Muskie goes to the Middle East:

President Hart met with the new Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and Speaker Elect Wright in the Oval Office to discuss the following year. Dole and Wright left the meeting believing the meeting was a productive one and hoped that working with the President throughout the next year could be as productive as their meeting was.

The President in a press conference that took place after his meeting with Dole and Wright announced that he was going to be meeting Premier Gorbachev in early January after the holidays wrapped up. He hopped that this next meeting could be more productive than his first.

Also, Secretary of State Edmund Muskie spent the first two and a half weeks of December traveling throughout the Middle East where he would meet numerous leaders to discuss the issues of the region and discuss with them how the Middle East could be more peaceful. He was to meet with the President upon his return to Washington.


Hart Meets Gorbachev again: A Reduction in Intermediate Range Missiles reached

Early January of 1987 was a significant point, not only for the Hart Presidency, but a significant point in the Cold War. On January 7th, 1987, President Gary Hart and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, at a meeting in Iceland, agreed to a reduction in both conventional and Nuclear Intermediate Range Missiles in Europe. Hart and Gorbachev would meet again at the White House in early February to officially sign the agreement.

President Hart in a press conference that took place two day later said that "Wednesday was a great day for diplomacy. This agreement not only makes the world a safer place, but it also brings us one step closer to ending a conflict that has been going on for close to four decades. I look forward to having General Secretary Gorbachev here at the White House to sign this treaty next month, and I hope that once it is signed that the Senate can ratify it as soon as possible."


State of the Union 1987:

On January 27th, 1987, President Hart gave his third State of the Union Address:

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, my fellow citizens. Tonight, I want to first congratulate all of you who are a part of this historic 100th congress, especially those of you, Republican and Democratic alike, who were just elected this past November. Our Senate has a new majority and a new leader and while our House is still in Democratic hands, it to has a new leader. I want to also take this opportunity to congratulate Speaker Jim Wright and Senate Majority leader Bob Dole. I was glad to have met with them one month ago to discuss the work that needs to be done this following year, and my hope is that work can and will be done.

Many of you who are here tonight were elected to Simplify the tax code. Let me say to you and to the American People that I am open to doing that. However, it must be done in a responsible way. We cannot do this in a way that hurts so many working families, nor can we do this in a way that increases our deficit, and speaking of the deficit, it needs to be lowered and lowered in a balanced way, and hopefully it can be done without a government shutdown. The American people deserve better than what they got this past September when the Government shut down, and we must give them better this year....

This Past December, Secretary of State Muskie traveled the Middle East. In that region, We have a war between the Iraqis and the Iranians. Despite our mission in that Country earlier this decade, we still have issues in Lebanon, and most importantly, we have what seems like a never ending feud between Israel and Palestine. This year, my hope is to finally begin making the Middle East more peaceful, and in the coming months, I will be meeting with the leaders of Israel and Palestine to hopefully bring some peace. Earlier this month, I traveled to the Soviet Union to meet with Secretary Gorbachev, and together we reached an agreement to reduce both conventional and Nuclear Intermediate Range Missiles in Europe. He will be coming to Washington in the coming weeks and we will both sign this treaty, but it's enactment is dependent on the ratification of the treaty by the Senate, and my hope is that partisanship doesn't get in the way of diplomacy...

Members of congress, let's work together for the American people. Let's work to make 1987 a productive year and let's work to make this historic Congress the most productive in history. Thank you, God bless our Great Country, and may God bless all of you.


A Supreme Court Justice is Retiring:

One day after the State of the Union Address, Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall announced his intentions to retire as a Supreme Court Justice, once a new appointment by the President was confirmed.

President Hart in a press conference praised Marshall for his near 20 years on the court and said that he would begin vetting possible replacements and would nominate someone as soon as the best choice was found.


IRM Reduction Treaty signed:

On February 9th, 1987, the Intermediate Range Missile Reduction treaty was signed by President Gary Hart and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev at the White House. After signing the treaty, the two men shook hands. Hart said in a speech he gave after the ceremony that "Mr. Gorbachev and I did our part, now it's time for the Senate to do its part and ratify this treaty, and bring it into effect.


Hart makes an appointment for the Court, the First candidate for '88 enters the race:

On February 25th, President Hart nominated 46 year old Harry Edwards, a Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit, to replace outgoing Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. The appointment was well received by Democrats, but Republicans questioned whether Edwards was qualified for the highest court considering he had only been on the U.S. court of Appeals for only 7 years. Despite this, Hart was confident that the appointment would be confirmed.

Also, On March 2nd, retired Nevada Senator and former Presidential candidate Paul Laxalt declared himself a candidate for the 1988 Republican Presidential nomination. In his speech, Laxalt said that the Country was heading in the wrong direction, that government grew thanks to the policies of the Hart/Glenn administration, and that the President was giving way too much to the Soviet Union. Laxalt went on to say that he "fought tooth and nail" against Hart's policies the last two years he was in the Senate, and that he would undo all of Hart's policies if elected President.

Howard Baker and Bob Dole not running for President:

A week after Paul Laxalt declared his candidacy, Former Senator Howard Baker, who was narrowly defeated by President Hart in 1984, in an interview with ABC's Peter Jennings said that he would not be a candidate for the President. He said that "one run was enough. I'm enjoying retirement and spending time with my family." Asked if there was anyone particular in his party he'd like to see run for the Presidency, he said that the GOP has plenty of great candidates and that he'd make an endorsement later in the process.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole also said in an interview with CBS that he would not be a candidate for President in 1988, saying that "I've just been given the honor of being the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, I feel my time and focus would be better spent on the role as majority leader. Plus, I ran for President twice in the last eight years, it would be nice to take a break from Presidential politics." When asked if there was a possibility of a future Presidential run, he responded by saying "we'll see what the future holds."


Edwards confirmed by the Senate, sworn in on May 1st.

On May 1st, Harry Edwards was sworn in to replace Thurgood Marshall as an associate Justice of the Supreme Court after being confirmed by the Senate three days earlier by a vote of 69-31, making him the second African American appointed to the United States Supreme Court.

A Suprise Candidate throws his hat into the race for President.

On May 4th, to the shock of many, Former Secretary of State George Bush of Texas declared his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States, calling for "a kinder, gentler nation" at home and made the case that he was the best candidate to bring peace and stability abroad and do so on our terms. Polling taken days after showed Laxalt ahead of Bush 45% by 25% with 30% undecided.

IMR Treaty Ratified by the Senate, New Jersey Gevernor enters race for President:

On May 7th, the United States Senate ratified the Intermediate Range Missile Reduction treaty by a vote by 53-47. The bill would officially take effect in early June. Many were wondering, with the ratification of this treaty and with Nuclear Arms reduction treaty of 1984 being in effect, if the end of the Cold War was finally near.


Two days later, New Jersey Governor Tom Keane entered the race for President of the United States, coming off of a landslide re election in 1985. He said he was the candidate to reform Welfare, Protect our environment, and reform education, as he did these things as governor.

 

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Hart meets with Arafat and Shamir:

Since the President first took office, many, including some in the his own party said that when the President talked about bringing peace to the Middle East, he was just paying lip service to the problem. However, in June of 1987, President Hart flew to the Middle East to meet Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel, and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat to discuss the conflicts between the two states, meeting first with Yitzhak. Instead of discussing peace however, Yitzhak spent most of the meeting urging Hart to stop issuing visas to Soviet Jews, arguing that they weren't refugees as Israel was already their homeland. Hart said he would look into it and tried to change the conversation back to peace. Unfortunately, not much would be discussed.


Despite the meeting with Yitzhak making any Peace summit in the near future close to impossible, Hart still decided to meet with Arafat to discuss the conflict between Palestine and Israel. While it seemed to Hart like Arafat would be willing to work towards Peace, Hart questioned whether Arafat was willing to go the distance to achieve it. The President returned to Washington disappointed that nothing came about after these meetings took place.


Unemployment Rate, Hart's Approval Ratings, First polls for '88:

The unemployment rate in July of 1987 was down to 5.9%, the lowest it had been since 1979. Democrats credited this to President Gary Hart's spending on infrastructure and job training, while Republicans believe that this decline in unemployment would've happened despite the President's spending on jobs and infrastructure, and argue that these declines in unemployment were the long term effects of President Ford's economic policies.

With declining unemployment and with the IRM Reduction Treaty going into effect the previous month, President Hart's approval rating through June and July was at 52%

Also, the first of the Presidential polls were released at the end of July. Former Senator Laxalt, who was the first of the Republican candidates to declare himself a candidate, was in the lead with 45% of Republicans backing him, a majority of his support coming from conservatives in the party. Laxalt hit the campaign trail hard once he entered the race. Former Secretary of State Bush and New Jersey Governor Tom Keane were tied at second with 25% each, getting their support from moderates in the party. 5% of Republicans were undecided as to who they were going to back.

Pat Robertson enters the race for President:

On September 3rd, 1987, Evangelist Pat Robertson entered the race for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. He announced in his speech that he was in this race for all those who wanted to bring a return of Christian socially conservative values and that he was the candidate to bring back those values. He also proposed eliminating the departments of energy and education and proposed a balanced budget amendment. Some conservatives feared that he would tear into Laxalt's support and that instead of running, he should endorse the former Nevada Senator.

The Tax Code is simplified:

On October 23rd, 1987 congress passed and President Hart signed the Tax Reform Act of 1987. In this, the Top marginal Tax Rate was reduced from 70% to 55% and left the bottom rate at 9%. It also consolidated and reduced the number of income brackets, increased incentives for investment, required people who claimed children as dependents to list a social security number for each child claimed. Also, interest on consumer loans was no longer deductible and depreciation was also curtailed.

President Hart vetoed the first version of the bill, as it reduced the top marginal rate to 35% and raised the lower tax rate from 9% to 12%. After vetoing the bill, the President said he would allow congress to hurt lower income Americans, but when the final version was signed, both he, and congressional leaders called it a victory for bi partisanship.

Hart's approval rating and Presidential race polling:

With the economy still doing well, unemployment falling, and no major battles with congress, President Hart's approval rating in late November stood at 53% in late November of '87.

In the race for the Republican nomination, a Gallup poll taken in late November showed Senator Laxalt still in the lead, although his lead fell to 40%. New Jersey Governor Tom Kean was in second place with 30% of republicans supporting him, up from 25% in July. Former Secretary of State Bush was in third with 15%, falling 10 percent from the last poll and Evangelist Pat Robertson was in last place with 10% of Republicans supporting him. 5% of Republicans were undecided.

However, despite Laxalt being in the lead, in a head to head match up with the President, Governor Keane faired the best, tying with the President 49-49. President Hart beats Paul Laxalt by a 51-48% margin of victory and Secretary Bush loses to Hart by 52-45%. Pat Robertson faired the worst, losing to Hart 53.5-40%. Hart, according to this poll, clearly had the advantage going into 1988. The question however was would that advantage last? Would Gary Hart be the first President since Richard Nixon in 1972 to be elected to a second consecutive term? At this point in time, it looked unlikely that he'd suffer the fate of President Ford in 1976 and lose to a primary challenger, but something could happen that would cause Hart to suffer the same fate as the last Democrat to occupy the White House, Jimmy Carter.

January 14th, 1988: The Michigan Republican Caucus

The surprising victor of the 1988 Michigan Republican Primary was Former Secretary of State George Bush, winning 38% of the votes. Immediately after jumping into the race, Bush campaigned hard in the state that would hold the first caucus and his efforts paid off. The second place winner was Former Senator Paul Laxalt with 35% and at a close third was Governor Tom Keane with 24%. Pat Robertson came in last place with 3%.

The 1988 State of the Union:

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the United States Congress, my fellow citizens. Tonight, I can report to you that the State of our Union is Sound. Our unemployment is the lowest it's been in a decade and is continuing to fall. We've simplified our tax code and did so in a responsible way, and did so in a way that did not hurt millions of working and middle class Americans...

The United States and the Soviet Union came together and signed a treaty that reduced the number of Intermediate Range Missiles in Europe, making our world safer, and we are now one step closer to ending this decades long Cold War. While we made a lot of progress with the Soviet Union, we have not however, made any progress in the Middle East. A more Peaceful Middle East is crucial to a stable and safe world, and as long as I am President, I will not stop until Peace is achieved...

This year is an election year and I ask everyone in this chamber tonight to not allow the campaigns to get in the way of doing what we were sent here to do. We've made a lot of Progress over these last four years and we must build on that progress. Thank you. God bless you, and God Bless the United States of America."


February Caucuses and Primaries:

Bold= Winner

Hawaii (Feb. 4th):

• Paul Laxalt: 40%
• George Bush: 9%
• Tom Keane: 9%
• Pat Robertson: 42%

Kansas (Feb. 7th):

• Paul Laxalt: 49%
• George Bush: 11%
• Tom Keane: 10%
• Pat Robertson: 30%

Iowa Caucus (Feb. 8th):

• Paul Laxalt: 42%
• George Bush: 15%
• Tom Keane: 20%
• Pat Robertson: 23%

New Hampshire (Feb. 16th):

• Paul Laxalt: 20%
• George Bush: 25%
• Tom Keane: 50%
• Pat Robertson: 5%

Nevada (Feb. 18th):

• Paul Laxalt: 57%
• George Bush: 20%
• Tom Keane: 15%
• Pat Robertson: 8%

Minnesota (Feb. 23rd):

• Paul Laxalt: 43%
• George Bush: 11%
• Tom Keane: 15%
• Pat Robertson: 31%

South Dakota (Feb 23rd):

• Paul Laxalt: 45%
• George Bush: 12%
• Tom Keane: 14%
• Pat Robertson: 29%

Wyoming (Feb. 24th):

• Paul Laxalt: 48%
• George Bush: 22%
• Tom Keane: 15%
• Pat Robertson: 15%

Maine (Feb. 28th):

• Paul Laxalt: 18%
• George Bush: 22%
• Tom Keane: 58%
• Pat Robertson: 2%

Number of Contests won:

• Laxalt=6
• Bush=1
• Keane=2
• Robertson=1

Former Vice President Reagan makes an Endorsement:

On February 29th, Former Vice President Ronald Reagan endorsed Former Senator Paul Laxalt for President of the United States. Reagan said of Laxalt that "Paul happened to be Governor of Nevada during my first term as Governor of California. We worked well together on issues of mutual interests of our states, and we achieved a lot. Paul is a great honorable man who will keep the Government off of our backs and will keep our great nation strong. That is why I am endorsing my good friend for President of the United States and think he will be one of the very best."

Reagan also went on to say that "The other three candidates we have running in our party are great honorable men as well. George Bush is a man who dedicated almost all of his adult life to pubic service, and I came to know and like Secretary Bush very much during my days as Vice President. Governor Tom Keane has been a great Governor of New Jersey and Pat Robertson is a man of great faith. I hope they continue to serve our country for many years to come."


March 1st Contests:

March 1st GOP primaries and Caucuses:

Alaska:

• Paul Laxalt: 40%
• George Bush: 10%
• Tom Keane: 5%
• Pat Robertson: 45%

Vermont:

• Paul Laxalt: 20%
• George Bush: 21%
• Tom Keane: 51%
• Pat Robertson: 8%

Contests Won:

• Laxalt: 6
• Bush: 1
• Keane: 3
• Robertson: 2

Hart officialy launches his re election campaign:

On March 4th, 1988, President Gary Hart officially launched his re election campaign for President:

"My fellow Americans. Today I am proudly announcing that I am seeking a second term as your President. We've accomplished a lot over these last four years. We've put our people back to work by investing in our infrastructure and through education and jobs training programs, and we also guaranteed every working American paid family medial leave. We are safer now as well thanks to the IMR treaty. The work however does not end there. Of course if it did, why would I be seeking another term. We must build on our accomplishments, and this is especially true as we head into a new decade. Thank you and God Bless."

South Carolina Primary:

The March 5th, South Carolina Primary:

Paul Laxalt: 47%

George Bush: 25%

Tom Keane: 9%

Pat Robertson: 19%


Super Tuesday:

On March 8th, 1988 Super Tuesday took place. 17 states were holding a primary or caucus, and Paul Laxalt carried all but five George Bush narrowly carried his home state of Texas while Tom Keane carried Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, and narrowly carried Washington State.


Contests Won:

•Laxalt: 18
•Bush: 2
•Keane: 8
•Robertson: 2


One day after Super Tuesday, Former Secretary of State George Bush ended his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States after only carrying Michigan and narrowly carrying his home state of Texas. Bush said in his speech that he was going to take some time off to be with his family before making an endorsement.

Illinois and Connecticut Primaries:

Illinois (Mar. 15th):

• Paul Laxalt: 31%
• George Bush: 8%
• Tom Keane: 53%
• Pat Robertson: 8%

Connecticut (Mar. 29th):

• Paul Laxalt: 29%
• George Bush: 9%
• Tom Keane: 56%
• Pat Robertson: 6%

A candidate withdrawals from the Race. Endorses Laxalt:

On March 29th, Evangelist Pat Robertson exited the Presidential race for the Republican nomination. In his speech he said that "it wasn't it God's plan for me to win the nomination. Therefore, I endorse Paul Laxalt for President of the United States. This man will bring us a more conservative and Christian America, which is why I ask that all of my delegates go to him and ask all my supporters to rally behind the former Senator, as it is very important that we win in November."

Laxalt wins April Primaries. Keane Withdrawals:

Senator Paul Laxalt won Colorado on April 6th and pulled off upsets in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. With these wins, Governor Tom Keane decided that he would be unable to overtake Laxalt and withdrew from the race on April 27th. He also endorsed the former Senator turned presumptive nominee.

An ABC poll released one day after Keane's withdrawal showed President Hart beating Laxalt by a 52-46% margin. 2% were undecided. So begins the General Election. Who will win??????


Hart takes a break from the campaign:

The President took the second week of May off of the campaign to take a trip to the Soviet Union, and on May 11th, he spoke to over 600 students at Moscow University. In Hart's speech, he said that "People of the Soviet Union are hurting due to economic problems and a system in need of reform, and one way to bring about prosperity and needed reforms is to bring down the wall that divides Germany."


Senator Laxalt attacked Hart calling him weak and said that if he was President, he wouldn't go to the Soviet Union to beg a bunch of College Students to bring down the Berlin Wall.


The Democratic Convention of '88:

After an uneventful month of June, The Democratic convention took place from July 18th-the 21st of 1988 in Atlanta Georgia. The Keynote speaker was Congressman Dick Gephardt of Missouri. Other speakers included Senator Ted Kennedy, Former Vice President Walter Mondale, Former President Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson, and Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, whos speech was panned for being long, boring, and robotic.

The theme of the convention was continuity for the future. President Hart and Vice President Glenn gave their speeches on the last day of the convention arguing that Hart's infrastructure and jobs programs brought down unemployment and that the tax code was simplified responsibly thanks to them. They also touted the Family Medical leave law and IRM treaty as successes of the administration, and argued that if a Republican is elected in 1988, the progress that they made would be undone and that the GOP was the party of the past. The convention gave Hart a boost in the polls. He led Senator Laxalt 58-42% in a poll taken in late July.

Laxalt choses a running mate:

On August 4th, just two weeks before the Republican convention, Paul Laxalt at a rally in Texas announced his selection of a running mate. George Bush, the Former Secretary of State and Presidential candidate, was chosen for his moderate views and foreign policy experiences to balance the ticket. Laxalt's short list for VP was leaked hours after the announcement was made. On it was Governor Tom Keane of New Jersey, who also ran for President, House Minority Leader Bob Michel of Illinois, and Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. It was also leaked that Laxalt originally wanted Keane, but the Governor declined the offer. Bush said he was honored to be chosen and would do all he can to bring the ticket to victory in November.


The GOP Convention of '88:

The Republican Convention took place in New Orleans, Louisiana from August 15th-August 18th of 1988. The Keynote address was given by conservative congressman Newt Gingrich of Georgia. Other speakers included Former Senator and 1984 GOP nominee Howard Baker, Former Vice President Reagan, Former President Gerald Ford, Evangelist Pat Robertson, and Governor Tom Keane of New Jersey. The theme of the convention was unity, in the hopes that the mistakes of 1984 wouldn't repeat themselves.

Senator Laxalt and Secretary Bush spoke on the final day of the convention. Bush spoke mostly about foreign policy and said that Hart made too many concessions and that if elected, he and Senator Laxalt would be strong but steady on foreign policy. Laxalt said of Hart's economic record that "at the Democratic nomination, the President talked about his policies lowering unemployment. Unemployment fell despite his polices, he inherited a growing economy from President Ford." Laxalt also said of the President that "He talked about simplifying the tax code at his party's convention. The simplification of the tax code would've never happened if Republicans hadn't retaken the senate, he deserves no credit for it at all." Laxalt ended his speech by saying that "Americans want less government, less regulation, and a nation that is strong and respected. Ladies and Gentlemen of this convention, let's give them that this November. Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless America."


The First Presidential Debate:

The first of two Presidential debates between President Gary Hart and Former Senator Paul Laxalt took place on September 25th, 1988 at Pauley Pavilion at University of California at Los Angeles. The questions for the candidates were divided between foreign and domestic policy. The Senator said of Hart that "Four years ago, the President said that he was a candidate of 'new ideas.' I can say today that after four years of President Gary Hart, his ideas have been the same old failed liberal polices of the past." Laxalt called for a complete reversal of Hart's domestic policies, saying that we needed a Supply Side tax cut, a cut in regulations, and also called for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. Hart responded by saying that "What the Senator is calling for is reckless. His tax cut would blow a hole in the budget, his deregulatory measures would be damaging in the long term, and while I to would like to see a balanced budget, a balanced budget amendment would cause a lot of pain in times of economic hardship."

When things shifted to Foreign Policy, Laxalt said to Hart that "The Soviet Union loves working with you Mr. President. They do because they get a lot out of us and don't have to make any concessions for it. The Middle East is no safer or no more peaceful than it was when you took office. You said that making peace in that region would be one of your top goals. Mr. President, with all due respect, you failed to deliver." Hart responded by saying "Senator, what's wrong with working to make the world a safer place. My administration, with Secretary Gorbachev made the world safer with the IRM treaty, I don't see how a world with less Intermediate Range Missiles is a bad thing. You also criticized President Ford for working with the Soviet Union to reduce the number of Nuclear Arms in the world. Again, I don't see how this is a bad thing. What is bad however, is your policy of antagonizing our advisories and starting another arms race with the Soviet Union. This kind of thinking is dangerous. Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan before you proposed doing the same thing and were thankfully rejected at the polls."

As for the winners of the debate, while Hart didn't do terribly, many were quick to point out that he spent his entire time on stage defending his record and said absolutely nothing about what he would do if given a second term. For this reason, many considered Laxalt the winner of the debate.


Post debate polls:

A Gallup poll taken two days after the first debate showed that President Hart had a 50-49% lead over Senator Laxalt, essentially giving them a tie. Many attributed this to Laxalt's win in the debate, as President Hart was leading 52-47 earlier in the month. The debate between Vice President Glenn and Secretary Bush on October 5th and another Presidential debate on the 13th of October could change the polling, but if the polls remained the same, the race in November was going to be a close one.


The Vice Presidential Debate:

On October 5th, Vice President John Glenn and Former Secretary of State George Bush. The debate took place in Omaha, Nebraska and the candidates were asked questions about both domestic and foreign policy. On domestic policy, Vice President Glenn was the clear victor as he was able to both defend the administration's policies and successfully laid out what he and the President would do if given a second term. Secretary Bush, who admitted that domestic policy was a weak spot of his, struggled with the questions he was asked about domestic policy.

On foreign policy, it was a draw. Secretary Bush, given that his time as Secretary of State ended only four years earlier, had a good understanding of the situation abroad and was able to make the case for Senator Laxalt's foreign policy. Bush called it a policy of "strength with a steady hand." Vice President Glenn to however, was able to point out the success of the IRM treaty and improved diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. He also said that while he and the President were not happy with their inability to secure peace in the middle east, he was quick to point out that an effort was made, and this will be a top foreign policy priority if they are given a second term.

The Second Presidential Debate and the final days of the campaign:

The Second Presidential debate took place on October 20th in Winston-Salem North Carolina. This debate centered around foreign policy and defense. The talking points from the candidates with regards to foreign policy were the same as the first debate. The difference came when discussions of defense spending came about. Defense spending was not discussed in the first debate. Laxalt attacked Hart for his attempts to cut the defense budget, pointing out that he "proudly voted against the President's attempt to make our country weaker and less safe." Hart responded by saying that "In no way would I, as Commander in Chief, do anything to make our country less safe and would do everything in my power to make sure that the men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line for us have everything they need to carry out their mission. What I was trying to do, before I was blocked by Republicans and unfortunately a few members of my own party, was cut waste from the defense budget. Senator Laxalt's plans would only add more waste to the defense budget, especially his missile defense program, which many experts have said time and time again would not work."

Many considered this debate to be a close one. Republicans were quick to call Laxalt the winner, while Democrats gave the President the win. Polls taken four days after the debate were also showing a close race, with the polls dead even at 49-49 %. These numbers did not change much in the final days of the campaign as the former senator and the President both hit the campaign trail hard. People across the nation were expecting a close election, and that November 8h was going to be a long night. Little did they know just how close it was going to be....


The Election that Rocked a Nation:

The polls in the final days of the 1988 campaign suggested a close election. Paul Laxalt, who had been running for President since he lost the 1984 Republican nomination to Howard Baker, managed to close the gap between himself and President Hart in the fall, in part because of strong campaigning on his part and also in part because of Hart's lackluster performance in the first debate and his failure to do significantly better in the second debate. Many also accused Hart of not campaigning hard enough for the job. Despite all of this though, Hart went into election day with a 51% approval rating, mostly due to the economy.

Along with the polls being close, voter turnout was projected to be at a record low. No one had any idea who would prevail. Would the strong campaigning on the part of the Laxalt campaign pay off? Would enough of the country feel President Hart deserved another term to give him the win? After a long night, the answer to both of those questions, in one form or another, proved to be yes. When all the votes were counted, President Hart had a narrow popular vote win of 50.2%. However, the electoral vote was tied:

President Gary W. Hart (D-CO)/ Vice President John H. Glenn (D-OH): 50.2% PV, 269 EV

Fmr. Senator Paul D. Laxalt (R-NV)/ Fmr. Sec. of State George H.W. Bush (R-TX): 49% PV, 269 EV

Three States made changes from four years ago. New Jersey and Iowa, which narrowly went for President Hart in 1984 went to Senator Laxalt, and Michigan, which went narrowly for Howard Baker in 1984, narrowly went to President Hart. Many expected the President to lose New Jersey and polls suggested that Hart would very narrowly win Michigan in the polls since Laxalt won the Republican nomination, but some believe if Former President Ford campaigned in Michigan on behalf of the Republican nominee, it would be enough for Laxalt to narrowly carry the state. This did not happen however, so the election boiled down to Iowa, where Senator Laxalt won by 0.25% of the vote.

Many in the country were puzzled when they woke up the next morning to find out that no one won the election, and were wondering what would come of this electoral deadlock. Would a recount in Iowa, or Michigan bring one of the candidates above 270 electoral votes, or would the election go to the house? We'll have to wait and see...


1988 House and Senate Races:

Very little changed with the house and senate majorities. The Democrats picked up four house seats, keeping their majority, and in the Senate the Democrats picked up two seats, but it was not enough to take back the majority.

 

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Hart and Laxalt address the nation about the election:

On the night of November 9th, President Hart invited Senator Laxalt to the White House where they both addressed the nation about the election:

Hart: "Good Evening. Yesterday, Americans across this great nation exercised their right to vote. Today, due to a tie in the electoral college, we do not have a winner of this election. This is why I have invited my opponent, Senator Laxalt, to the White House to discuss this issue and we did privately not too long ago. We both have agreed to have recounts in the two closest states of last nights election, the states of Iowa and Michigan. If for what ever reason the electoral college is still tied after these recounts take place, the President will be decided by the house of representatives, while the senate will chose the Vice President. Mr. Laxalt and I both hope that the election doesn't come down to that, and hope that through these recounts, we will find out who won this election. I would also like to take this opportunity to assure the American people that despite this problem, our government will still function as usual. Now I would like to give the Senator time to speak to you."

Laxalt: "Thank you Mr. President. I for one, and I think President Hart would agree, hope that this issue is resolved as quickly as possible and is solved with out any controversy, and hope that once this is all said and done, the American people will unite behind whoever comes out the winner of this election. This is not a time for us to become divided and argue, this will only make it more difficult to solve this tie in the electoral college. As the President said, my hope is that this is decided by a recount and not by the house and senate. Thank you and God Bless."

Hart: "Thank You."

The Recounts begin:

The recounts in Iowa and Michigan began two days after the two candidates spoke from the White House. The recounts were to be state wide and done in multiple ways to be sure that every vote is counted. If by November 30th, neither candidate reached the required 270 votes needed, the election would be decided by the house.

A Gallup poll taken a week after the election asked eligible voters if they supported doing away with the electoral college. 40 percent of respondents were unsure if they would support doing so, while 29% said they would do away with the electoral college and 31% said they would keep it in place. Most voters who supported keeping the electoral college lived in rural areas of the country, while those who supported doing away with the system lived in mostly urban areas.

November 30th: Still no Winner....

After almost a month of recounts in Iowa and Michigan, neither Gary Hart or Paul Laxalt reached the required 270 electoral votes, meaning that the President would be chosen by the House of Representatives and the Vice President by the Senate. With the Senate being controlled by the GOP and the House by the Democrats, there was a good chance that there would be a President Hart and Vice President Bush, making the government even more divided that it already was. However, Laxalt's chances in the house weren't impossible due to the fact that a good number of Democrats in the senate were southern conservatives, or Dixiecrats as they were once called, and there was a chance that enough of them would side with Republicans giving Laxalt the Presidency. The question was, how could Vice President Glenn get votes in a Republican controlled Senate?

Either way, pre election day, no one would've guest that the 101st congress' first act would be choosing the President and Vice President of the United States.

January 3, 1989: New Congress is Sworn in, begin process of selecting the President.

The New Congress was sworn in on January 3rd, 1989, and began the process of selecting the President and Vice President immediately after.

The House, after almost a week, narrowly gave Gary Hart a second term in the White House on January 9th, making him the first President since Richard Nixon in 1972 to be elected to a second consecutive term, and the first Democrat since Franklin Roosevelt to be elected to more than one term. The Republican controlled Senate, on the other hand, also voted down party line and voted for George Bush to be the next Vice President of the United States one day after the Democratic House chose the President, giving us a Republican Vice President and a Democratic President, thus making the Government even more divided than it already was.

Shortly after the Senate vote was revealed, Senator Laxalt officially conceded the election, congratulating his running mate and congratulating President Hart and wished them both the very best over the course of the next four years, which he said would not be easy given the outcome. He thanked his supporters and urged them to get behind the President and the new Vice President, telling them that the Country needed to unite after such an outcome. Laxalt went on to say that while he was not happy with the outcome, he accepted it, and believed that the system worked.

President Hart's acceptance Speech:

Shortly after Senator Laxalt conceded, President Hart addressed the nation from the White House:

"Good evening. My fellow Americans, yesterday the House of Representatives cast their votes choosing the President of the United States, and through their vote, I was given a second term as your President. One day later, the Senate chose Former Secretary of State George Bush to be the next Vice President of the United States. This is the first time in over a century that America has had a President and a Vice President that were not of the same party affiliation. Not long ago, I had spoken to Vice President Elect Bush, and while neither one of us expected this outcome and we both agreed that this was not the outcome we wanted, we both accept the outcome for what it is. Mr. Bush pledged to work with me over the course of the next four years and I pledged to him and pledge to all of you tonight that I will work with him to make the very best of this situation. I also spoke to Senator Laxalt today. I want to congratulate him on running a great and spirited campaign and thank him and his team for working with my team to try and solve the problem we were dealt on election night. I wish Mr. Laxalt and his family the very best in the years ahead. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my current Vice President John Glenn for working with me over the last four years. Vice President Glenn served his country well, first in the military, then as an astronaut, as a Senator, and then as our Vice President. I think the worst part of all of this is that I won't be able to work with him over these next four years. I hope that John Glenn continues to serve our country for many years to come and I also wish him, his wife Annie and their family the very best in the years ahead.

This is not a time for Americans to become divided. We must all unite and work together and make the best of this outcome, as it is said 'United we stand, divided we fall.' As I have said, I will be meeting with the Vice President elect in the coming days and I also invite congressional leaders of both parties to join us, to discuss how we can move our country forward. Thank you and God Bless America."

The Vice President Elect and Outgoing Vice President Speek to the Nation:

On January 11th, Vice President Elect George Bush held a press conference in Houston, one day before he was to leave for Washington to meet with the President. He said that he had a good conversation with the President the day before and was looking forward to meeting with him at the White House. Bush said he pledged to the American people that he would serve the people of the nation to the best of his ability and pledged that he would work with the President in any way that he could. He also told reporters that Senators Dole and Mitchell as well as Speaker Wright and House Minority leader Bob Michel would also be meeting with him and the President at the White House and Bush said he looked forward to meeting with them as well.

In an interview with Peter Jennings of ABC airing that night, Vice President Glenn said that it was an honor to serve as Vice President. He said that he would do everything he can to ensure the Vice President elect had a transition into office that was as smooth as possible. Glenn also said that he hoped to continue to serve the country in any way possible.

The leaders in Washington Meet:

On January 12th, President Hart, Vice President Glenn, Vice President Elect Bush, and the leaders in the House and Senate met at the White House. All of those involved said the meeting was a good one, and hoped that the next four years could be productive.

Inauguration Day 1989:

On January 20th, 1989, Gary Hart was sworn in as President for a second term and George Bush was sworn in as Vice President at the Capitol Building on the West Front. The Vice President Elect was sworn in by Associate Justice William Rehnquist. President Hart was sworn in at 12:00 Pm by Chief Justice Warren Burger. Shortly after taking the oath, the President gave his inaugural address:

"Mr. Chief Justice. Mr. Vice President, Vice President Glenn, distinguished quests, my fellow Americans. Today, for the second time, I have taken the Oath that George Washington took 200 years ago. The 1980s are ending and America Is heading into the last decade of the 20th century. As we head into the 1990's are economy is strong and our world is safer than it was four years ago. Progress has truly been made. We also head into the next decade however with not only a divided legislative branch of Government, but also, a divided executive branch. While we have made progress, there is still work to be done, and we must not let the divisions get the best of us and prevent us from doing what needs to be done....

The future of our Country is bright, and can be brighter, but it can only be brighter if we work together to make it that way. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."

After taking their Oaths, President Hart and Vice President Bush escorted Former Vice President John Glenn to Marine One, which was waiting outside of the Capitol Building, to take him to Andrews Air Force Base, and from their he would board Executive Two (Civil Aircraft where the Vice President is aboard), which would bring him home to Ohio. Mr. Glenn would leave office with a 65% approval rating, equal to that of Vice President Bush's starting approval rating and 6 percent higher than that of President Hart.

January 25th: The New Presidential term starts with a Supreme Court Retirement:

On January 25th, 1989, just five days after the Presidential inauguration, Chief Justice Warren Burger announced that he was retiring from the Supreme Court as soon as a replacement was appointed. He was stepping down from the court due to health concerns. Berger served longer than any other Chief Justice appointed in the 20th century, being appointed by President Richard Nixon in 1969.

President Hart, shortly after Burger's announcement, said he would begin the process to find a replacement for Burger immediately. Hart said he hoped for a smooth confirmation process by the Senate.

Many however, were skeptical of Hart's wish for a smooth confirmation process by the Senate becoming a reality, as the Senate was controlled by Republicans and Hart, a Democrat, was faced with appointing a replacement for a Conservative justice.

The 1989 Address to a Joint Session of Congress:

President Hart Addressed a Joint Session of Congress on February 9th, 1989 to discuss the State of The Union and outline his agenda for the coming year. In his speech, he called on Congress to "continue improving our Education system. Four years ago, we invested money in secondary education as part of the jobs and infrastructure program. In doing so, we improved our secondary education system and made it more accessible. We must do the same to our primary education system. Our children are our future and we must invest in their education and in the process make our education system the best in the world. Many in this chamber believe that the best way to improve our education system is through giving parents more choices in where they want to send their children to get an education, and want more accountability. I agree, but we must not work to achieve this at the expense of our public education system and risk denying a child an education."

Hart went on to say that "We must also invest in research and technology and we must lead the world in producing this technology as well. Our budget, over the course of the last two years has not seen an increase in the deficit. It also has not seen a decrease. We must work over the course of this year and beyond to lower our deficit and eventually balance our budget. Our economy is strong, and therefore a balanced budget is possible. We must not however, balance it on the backs of poor, working, and middle class Americans."

"Our healthcare system is also in need of reform. Too many of our fellow citizens do not have health insurance and therefore do not have access to the care that they need. We must make healthcare accessible and must also work on ways to better the quality of care as well. I look forward to working with members of congress to bring about much needed reform."

"On the international scene, we must continue to work with the Soviet Union to bring an end to a long and bitter conflict. We have taken steps in recent years to do this. Before leaving office, President Ford secured a 10% reduction in Nuclear weapons over a span of 10 years. In 1987, my administration worked with Secretary Gorbachev to a reduction in intermediate range missiles in Europe. Mr. Gorbachev himself to his credit has been bringing about much needed reforms since becoming the leader of his country, and I hope to meet with him again this year and work with him to hopefully bring an end to the Cold War."

"Just last year in the Middle East, an eight year long war with Iran and Iraq ended. Hopefully an end to that war will bring about more stability in that region. In State of the Union addresses of the past, I've said my goal was to make the Middle East more peaceful and that I would work as long as it took to make that a reality. That still remains true, which is why I will be sending our new Secretary of State Warren Christopher to the UN and to key Middle Eastern countries to outline my plans to make this a reality."

"Many said after the results of this past election that our government could not function being as divided as it is. Members of Congress I ask that we prove the naysayers wrong... Thank you, God Bless you, and many God Bless the United States of America."

 

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Hart appoints a replacement for Burger:

On March 6th, 1989 President Hart announced his nominee to replace Chief Justice Warren Burger. The President announced that he would nominate Gilbert S. Merritt, Jr. Merritt, a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, who was appointed to that position by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, was a moderate judge and a choice the President felt could win support of some Republicans.

The President hoped that the confirmation process in the Senate would go smoothly and hoped that Merritt would be confirmed as soon as possible.

March 14th: Hart bans importation on what he calls "Assault Weapons"

On March 14, 1989, President Hart banned the importation of Guns that he considered Assault Weapons. After banning these weapons through executive order, the President said this action was necessary to keep the most dangerous of weapons out of the hands of criminals.

Congress was divided on this action and not by party, but by region. Members of congress who hailed from the Northeast, the West Coast, and urban areas such as Chicago and Detroit supported the President's action, while members of congress from the South and the West opposed it calling it an infringement on American's second amendment right.

The NRA also issued a statement saying that this was an infringement on their second amendment right and also said that this executive order will not keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

Merritt confirmed by the Senate. Sworn in shortly after:

On April 3rd, Gilbert Merritt Jr. was confirmed by a vote in the Senate of 69-31, with all Democrats and 24 Republicans voting in favor of Merritt. He was sworn in as Chief Justice the following day by outgoing justice Warren Burger.


The Make up of the Court after Merritt was sworn in:

Chief Justice: Gilbert Merritt Jr. (appointed by Hart, 2nd term)

Associate Justices:

William J. Brennon (appointed by Eisenhower, 2nd term)
Byron White (appointed by Kennedy)
Lewis F. Powell Jr (appointed by Nixon, 1st term)
Harry Blackmun (appointed by Nixon, 1st term)
William Rehnquist (appointed by Nixon, 1st term)
John Paul Stevens (appointed by Ford, Unelected term)
Sandra Day O'Connor (appointed by Ford, Elected term)
Harry Edwards (appointed by Hart, 1st term)

June 9th, 1989: A barrier falls.

On June 8th, 1989, The Berlin Wall that divided Berlin since 1961 finally began to fall and continued to fall in the days and weeks that followed. Now at last, the Cold War was physically coming to an end.


President Gary Hart said, in a televised address to the American people said that "June 8th, 1989 would be remembered as the day the freedom prevailed. He urged the American people and the world that he and his administration would do everything in its power to help bring about a smooth reunification of Germany, and looked forward to meeting with Secretary Gorbachev in the coming weeks to discuss the recent events."

Democratic strategist throughout the country said that President Hart would be remembered as the President who brought the Wall down and ended the Cold War. Republicans argued that the President was in the right place at the right time and that these were arguably the long term effects of Former President Gerald Ford, as he was the President who showed strength, got the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan , and reduced the number Nuclear Weapons in the world. Historians argued though that we have yet to know who or what was responsible for the events that had take place, and that we won't know for years to come.

Unemployment rate, President Hart's Approval Rating:

The unemployment rate in the month of June was 5.2%, higher than the 5% unemployment rate that was seen in March, which was the lowest since the early 1970s, but still low. With unemployment low and the fall of the Berlin Wall happening earlier in the month, President Hart's approval rating, which was 59% on inauguration day surged to 67% in June.

Are the good times really just beginning, or will they end soon was the question that was on everyone's minds at the time. Coming off of the 1988 election, Americans were hoping that the good times would keep on rolling.

Hart and Gorbachev meet in Berlin. Both see Cold War ending soon:

Gary Hart and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in West Berlin on July 10th, 1989 to discuss the fall of the Berlin Wall and to begin discussions about the reunification of Germany. Both stated in a joint Press Conference that they will be meeting again over the course of the next year and both stated that they see an end to the Cold War coming soon.

 

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Hart holds a Joint Session of Congress to discuss Health Care:

On September 4th, 1989, President Gary Hart addressed a Joint Session of Congress to outline his health care reform plan. The plan called for Universal coverage, and called for it to be achieved through an mandate for employers to provide health insurance to all employees. His plan also called for people to be able to keep their coverage after leaving employment and did not allow disenrollment until coverage was provided by the next employer. Insurance companies were also not allowed to deny coverage to people with pre existing conditions and were mandated to provide more coverage.

Hart argued that "many Americans were one job loss away from losing their health insurance, and one medical bill away from losing everything that they worked very hard for. We spend more than any other country on health care, yet too many of our people do not have access to affordable health care... I ask you to work with me to give millions of Americans access to affordable health care. Thank you and God bless America."

While Congressional Democrats supported the President's plan, Republicans were very much against the plan. Vice President Bush gave the Republican Response to the President's plan shortly after the President addressed congress:

"Good Evening. This is George Bush, your Vice President. Moments ago, the President addressed congress and the nation about health care. While I, and many in my party agree that our health care system is in need of reform, the President's plan in it's form is the wrong way to bring about reform. His plan to mandate employers to provide insurance to all it's employees would be harmful to business, especially our small business. Many jobs would be lost, as business would have to let people go in order to obey this mandate... We in the Republican party believe that this issue would be best solved by free enterprise and not by government mandates. I pledge tonight that I will do my part and work with the President to come up with common sense solutions to this problem and I ask members of Congress of my party to do the same... Thank you, Good Night, and God bless The United States of America."

Bob Dole: The President's Health Care Plan won't pass the Senate:

On September 6th, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole held a press conference about the President's health care plan. At this conference, he said that "Health Care reform can pass, but not in its current form. Like the Vice President, I to pledge to work with the President to come up with a common sense solution, and agree that members of both parties should work together to do the work that the American people sent them to Washington to do." Dole said he planed to meet with the President, the Vice President, and congressional leadership of both parties at the White House a week later.

A Compromise Health Care Plan Passes. President Hart signs the Bill:

After 2 months of debate, congress passed, and on November 8th, 1989 President Hart signed the "Insure America Act of 1989." This act gives tax deductions to employers to provide health insurance to employees, gives individuals and families tax credits to buy health insurance, and gives Government Subsidies for families with incomes of less than $20,000 and individuals making less than $15,000 a year, and these incomes were to adjust for inflation. The bill also allows individuals to keep their insurance after leaving a job and employers cannot deny them until another employer insures them. Insurance companies are now required to provide a minimum amount of coverage, which includes mental health and a person with a pre existing condition cannot be denied coverage. The bill was to begin to take effect in 1992.

The President said at the bill signing that the legislation, while not perfect, was a massive step that gave millions of Americans access to health insurance. Congressional leaders called the bill a great victory for bipartisanship.

Trouble in Panama:

On December 15th, 1989, a third coup attempt against Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega took place, only this one, unlike the other two attempts (they took place in March and October respectively) ended with almost one thousand Panamanian citizens dying and Noriega officially declaring himself dictator.

An election took place in May, where Noriega's opposition won by a three to one margin. However, Noriega declared these results null. President Hart shortly after urged Noriega to follow the will of his people. However, he refused, and when asked if the U.S. would intervene militarily, Hart said it was not worth sending our armed forces in.

Now, after such a bloody massacre, some, including some Democrats, believed the President now had no choice but to send in troops to take Noriega out of power, and those same people believed that if Hart sent troops in earlier, this slaughter could've been prevented.

President Hart issued a statement the morning of December 16th. He said that "what happened to the Panamanians who lost their lives was a tragedy. It is clear to me now that Mr. Noriega has no intention to follow the will of his people, and that the United States must get involved to hand power back to the Panamanian people. All options, including military force, are on the table."


Sanctions are placed on Panama. All aid is cut off:

When the congress reconvened in January, the Senate passed a resolution to cut all economic and military aid from Panama. Sanctions were also put in place. The President hoped that these sanctions would solve the problem, but most observers were skeptical. Many believed that intervention would be inevitable, even those who were at first opposed to intervention.


The 1990 State of the Union Address:

On January 31st, 1990, President Gary Hart delivered his 6th State of the Union Address:

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the United States Congress, My Fellow Americans. The 1980s have ended, and my goodness was the final year of that decade eventful. A wall that served as a barrier for the German people for almost three decades has fallen. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is the end of the Cold War. There is still work to be done in order to reach that light however.... With that said, not all is well in the world either. Over the course of the last month, Panama has fallen into Chaos. Mr. Noriega has refused to follow the will of his people, causing one coup attempt after another, and finally after a third attempt, he killed close to one thousand Panamanian people. In recent weeks, the United States has cut off all aid to Panama and has placed Sanctions on the country. We hope that these sanctions will take effect, so that we don't have to put our men and women in uniform in harms way. However, I say to Mr. Noriega tonight that if we are forced to do so, we will unleash the full might of the United States military to put this crisis to an end...

On the domestic side, in a bipartisan effort, we reformed health care in the United States. With the 'Insure America Act," millions of Americans who did not have access to health insurance will soon have access to affordable, quality, health care. Business who provide insurance for their employees will be rewarded with a tax deduction and those who unfortunately are not covered by their employer will now have access to health insurance through a tax credit or subsidy. I hope this year, we can work together in the same fashion to reform our education system, and improve our quality of air...

With the 1980s behind us, we are now in the 1990s. Together let's make the final decade of the 20th century, or as it is sometimes referred to as, 'The American Century' the best decade of the century. Thank you, God Bless you, and May God Bless the United States of America."


Noriega responds to Sanctions. Calls them an Act of War by the U.S:

Just one month after the Senate imposed sanctions on Panama, Manuel Noriega called the sanctions an act of war. Hart responded by saying that the sanctions were a response his actions and that his actions had consequences, and that there will be more consequences if this crisis does not end.

A poll taken February 4th showed 48% of Americans did not approve of the Presidents handling of Panama, 30% approved, and 22% were unsure or had no opinion.

Protest in Panama. Guillermo Endara jailed. More Protest break out and end bloody:

On February 27th, after two days of protests by his supporters, Guillermo Endara, who was elected President by the Panamanian people in May, was taken prisoner. These protests happened because the Panamanian people were now starting to feel the effects of the U.S. cutting off aid and imposing sanctions, and demanded Noriega step down so they could be lifted. After Endara was imprisoned, more protests broke out, and ended bloody with a little over 500 people being killed.

March 2nd: Hart addresses the Nation on Panama:

On March 2nd, 1990, President Hart addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Panama:

"Good evening. My fellow Americans, just hours ago, I have sent our Armed Forces into Panama to depose and arrest Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega from power. Mr. Noriega repeatedly failed to follow the will of his people. After his country held an election in May of this past year, Noriega declared the election invalid. Three coup attempts were taken against Noriega. One in March, one in October, and a third in December that resulted in close to one thousand Panamanians killed. Earlier this year, the United States cut off all economic and military aid to the country and imposed sanctions. After over a month of sanctions, President Elect Guillermo Endara and supporters protested and demanded that Noriega step down. As a result, Endara was arrested, and more protest broke out as a result of this unjust arrest. Over 500 protesters were then killed by members of the Panamanian Defense Forces, or PDF, who were loyal to Noriega. Noriega, by ordering this slaughter to take place, crossed the line. Sending Americans into harms way is not something I, or anyone else that held this office before me, takes lightly. I pledge to the American people tonight that our men and women carrying this mission will have everything they need to carry out this mission and will be brought home as soon as it is completed. Our thoughts and prayers are with them tonight and in the days and weeks ahead as they carry out this mission.

Thank You for listening. Good Night and God Bless America."

20,000 troops would be sent in to carry out this mission.


GDR'S First Free Election:

On March 18th, 1990, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), held it's first Democratic elections. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) heavily defeated the Party of Democratic Socialism (formerly the Socialist Unity Party of Germany).

The West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, in the Summer of 1989, announced a plan, calling for the two Germanys to expand cooperation and work towards an eventual reunification.

With the CDU winning heavily in East Germany, the process of reunification was going to begin rapidly. However, many were skeptical of a reunified Germany, mainly the British and the French. With U.S. forces in Panama, President Hart was more focused on his countries mission their than he was with Germany, and many wondered where the U.S. stood on the issue as it was not reveled from the meeting held between Hart and Gorbachev in July of '89.


President Hart holds a Press Conference on Foreign Policy:

Just two days after the elections in East Germany, President Hart held a Press Conference on Foreign Policy, mainly about the East German elections and about the mission in Panama.

The President said of the mission in Panama that an additional 8,000 troops would be sent in as more assistance would be needed to both fight the PDF and find and capture Noriega. Hart said that he hoped the additional troops would help bring this conflict to an end soon.

On the East German elections and German reunification, the President said, unlike the British and many other nations in Western Europe, he supports having a unified Germany. He did say however that the reunification should be brought about in a timely, responsible manor and that Germany, once unified, must remain a part of NATO.

Hart's approval ratings were at 56%, according to a March 23rd, ABC poll.


Byron White Stepping Down from the Court:

On March 30th, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Byron White, who was appointed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 announced that he was retiring from the Supreme Court. He said that "someone else should be permitted to have a like experience."

President Hart, later that day, issued a statement saying that "Justice White Served the Court and our nation well for many years and his service is much appreciated. We will begin the process of selecting a replacement."


Our Mission In Panama is Over:

On the night of April 10th, 1990, President Hart announced the capture of Manuel Noriega and that shortly after Noriega's capture, President Elect Guillermo Endara took was sworn in as the President of Panama. Hart also announced that our troops would be returning home within a matter of days. He congratulated them on the success of their mission and for their service to the country.


Despite Noriega being captured, Hart wasn't spared of criticism. Critics of the President, as well as the Vice President, argued that a small number of troops should be left in Panama to help restore order in the country. The President responded that our mission was accomplished and that the Panamanian people were responsible for restoring order to their country.


Hart nominates a Replacement for White:

On April 30th, just one month after Justice White announced that he was retiring from the Supreme Court, President Hart announced in a Press Conference that he was nominating New York Governor and Keynote Speaker at the 1984 Democratic convention, Mario Cuomo to the retiring Justice. The nomination was well received by Democrats, liberal Democrats in particular, but was not well received by Republicans who saw Cuomo as too liberal. Many felt that the hearings in the Senate were not going to go smoothly. None the less, Hart stood by and defended his decision.

 

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Cuomo confirmed by the Senate:

On July 1st, after over two months of hearings, Governor Mario Cuomo became Justice Mario Cuomo. Cuomo, the first Italian American to serve on the court, was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 60-40. Stan Lundine, the Lieutenant Governor of New York, was sworn in as Governor of New York. President Hart now had three justices on the court that he appointed.


President Hart. The Unfaithful President (the moment you've been wating for):

On July 5th, just four days after Justice Cuomo nomination was confirmed by the Senate, allegations that the President had an extra marital affair had surfaced. The affair supposedly started during the 1988 Presidential campaign and was with a campaign worker, who became the President's Secretary and served in that position until the start of the year.


Two days after the allegations came out, the President addressed the issue during a Press Conference:

"Good Afternoon. In recent days, it has come to my attention that allegations that I have been engaged in an inappropriate relationship with my former secretary have surfaced. I assure the American People right here and now that these allegations are utterly false. We must move past these allegations so that we can continue to do the business of the country. Thank you."


The Middle East, Hart's Approval ratings Post Allegations, and Economic Numbers:

It was revealed that in the Middle East, that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was threatening to invade neighboring country Kuwait, as he believed that the country was stealing Oil from Iraq. President Hart in a July 10th statement said that "under no circumstances will the United States or its' allies allow Mr. Hussein to invade Kuwait. I have told Saddam Hussein that we will assist him in solving this issue diplomatically, but an invasion will not stand. That is why, I am asking congress for authorization to send troops into Kuwait to ensure its' security and to deter Saddam from invading. If Mr. Hussein does invade Kuwait and especially if our Men and Women protecting the country get hurt, there will be dire consequences."

After the allegations of infidelity broke out in early, President Hart, who in March had a 56% approval rating, was now down to 49% in mid July. The CBS poll taken also showed that 49% of the public believed the President is telling the truth over the allegations of infidelity, while 47% believed the President was lying. 4% had no opinion or didn't know. The majority of those who believe the President was being truthful identified as Democrats, while those believing he lied identified as Republicans.

In Economic news, many economists believed the economic recovery that began in the later half of President Ford's elected term was starting to come to an end. With the federal reserve taking a restrictive monetary policy over the course of the last year for fear of inflation returning and due to the increased fear of rising oil prices, due to fears of the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait escalating, it looked likely that the economy was heading towards recession, if it wasn't in one already.

Troops Are Sent to Kuwait:

On July 24th, 1990 President Hart announced that he had sent troops to Kuwait to deter Iraq from invading. Hart said that after two weeks of negotiating, Saddam Hussein still felt the need to invade Kuwait. The President assured the American people that the men and women stationed in Kuwait had everything they needed to defend themselves in the event that Iraq does in fact invade its neighbor, and that the United States was working with its allies from around the world to bring this issue to an end. Hart made very clear to the President of Iraq that if the Kuwait is invaded and our soldiers were harmed, the United States had all options on the table, up to and including war.


President Hart accused of distracting public from scandal:

Opponents of troop deployment to Kuwait, most of whom were conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives, accused Gary Hart of distracting the Public from the alleged extra marital affair that had take place between the President and his secretary. Leading the allegations that the President was distracting the public was Congressman Newt Gingrich of Georgia.

Fights break out on boarder between Iraq and Kuwait:

ON August 2nd, 1990, fights between U.S. troops stationed in Kuwait and Iraqi troops broke out as the Iraqis were trying to invade. 500 U.S. troops were killed in this fight. However, thanks to the efforts of U.S. troops, Iraq was unable to conquer Kuwait.


Hours later, President Hart in a Press conference said that "Our thoughts and prayers are with the 500 brave American men and women who tragically lost their lives today. What happened today is proof that Saddam Hussein will stop at nothing to invade Kuwait. That is why, today The United States is placing sanctions on Iraq. We will work with our allies at the United Nations to bring this conflict to an end, and I also want to make very clear that if Iraq commits one more act of aggression against any U.S. soldiers or against Kuwait, it will be seen as an act of war, and the U.S. will respond with military force."


The President gets backlash over casualties. Congress authorizes force against Iraq.

An August 6th Gallup poll showed President Hart's approval rating fall to 45% in light of the recent tragedy in Iraq. Critics of the President's actions in the Middle East questioned the legality of his placing troops in Kuwait. The President's Press Secretary, however responded to critics by saying that what the President did was legal through the War Powers Act of 1973. Congress was notified within 48 hours after troops were deployed there and the President had 60 days to get Congressional approval to keep troops there or to withdraw them.

That same day, congress very narrowly authorized the Use of Force against Iraq in the event that Iraq commits another act of aggression. Secretary of State Christopher would address the U.N. the next day over the situation in the Middle East.


The Speaker Declines to seek another Term:

On August 15th, Speaker Jim Wright announced that he was declining to seek another term in congress amid allegations of ethics violations. Many saw this as an admission of guilt. With Speaker Wright caught up in a scandal, allegations of marital infidelity against the President, a recession, and an increasingly unpopular policy toward Iraq, many believed that the Republican Party, for the first time since 1954, would win the majority in the house in the upcoming midterm election.


Unemployment rate and Midterm polls:

The Unemployment rate at the end of August was at 6% the highest it had been in over two years. The recession was getting deeper. Polls in early September showed the Republicans gaining seats in the Senate and the House. The polls also showed the Republicans would narrowly take control of the House of Representatives.


Republicans reveal the "American Contract":

On September 28th, House and Senate Republicans proposed the "American Contract." This contract was their plan for America, which included plans such as across the board tax cuts, cuts in regulations, and proposals for job creation. The plan, was received with mixed reviews, with all Republicans in support of it, a majority of Democrats opposing it, calling it irresponsible, while independents were divided.

Polls heading into October were also favorable to the GOP, more so than the polls of early September.


An October Suprise:

On October 30th, just one week before the midterms, a 1988 photo of President Hart kissing the woman he allegedly had an affair with was leaked. Other photos from the same year and some from the President's Inaugural ball of the two together were leaked just one day later. President Hart's former Secretary and campaign worker, whom the President was pictured with, admitted that the affair happened and that the President asked her to keep silent on the issue.


Then, finally on the evening of November 3rd, just three days before the midterm elections, President Hart addressed the nation about the matter from the East room of the White House:

"Good Evening. In recent months, allegations that I had an improper relationship with one of my campaign workers from 1988, who eventually became my personal secretary have surface. Then in recent days, photos of us were leaked to the public. Initially, I denied the allegations that I was involved in an extra marital affair. Unfortunately, I have not been very truthful. There was an affair between myself and this young woman that lasted around a year.... I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the American people and especially, my wife and children, and I ask that my family be left out of this. They did nothing wrong, this was my mistake, and I own it and take full responsibility for it..."


The 1990 Mid Term Elections:

Many across America expected the 1990 midterm elections to be a Republican sweep, and while the Republicans made gains, they weren't as big as initially expected, at least not in the Senate, as the Senate only saw a 2 seat gain for the GOP, with Senator Bill Bradley being defeated by Christine Todd Whitman and Senator Huddleston of Kentucky being defeated by the man who ran against him in 1984, Mitch McConnell. Another notable senate race was in Illinois where former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was elected to succeed Retiring Republican Senator Charles H. Percy.

The House saw a 16 seat gain for the Republicans, giving them the required 218 seats needed to control the chamber, making Bob Michel the newly elected Speaker of the House. This also marked the first time since 1954 that the Republican party has controlled the house of Representatives. With Speaker Wright retiring, the Democratic minority would see a new leader in House Majority leader, soon to be minority leader Tom Foley of Washington.


A Gallup poll released on election day had President Hart's Approval rating at 43%, and also showed that 53% of the nation felt the country was heading in the wrong direction. The President was now a lame duck.

 

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Another Court Vacancy:

On December 1st, 1990, Justice William Brennan suffered a debilitating stroke, causing an opening on the Supreme Court, making this the fourth court opening of Gary Hart's Presidency. President Hart, who's approval ratings were in the low 40s, would have to start of the new year finding a replacement for Brennan and the Senate would eventually have to vote on that appointment. Hart said of Brenan that he served his country well in the over 30 years that he was on the Supreme Court.


The 102nd Congress is Sworn In:

On January 3rd, 1991, the 102nd congress was sworn in. Speaker Michel after receiving the gavel from House Minority Leader Foley addressed congress:

"Thank you. It is my honor to be speaker of the house... I pledge today that I will work with the President and ask that he work with us to do the business of the country... Thank you and God Bless America."


U.S. and U.N. solve dispute between Iraq and Kuwait. All U.S. forces set to withdraw:

On January 10th, President Hart announced to the nation that the U.S. and the United Nations solved the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait. The President said that the U.S. and it's allies got the two countries to agree to a payment plan for Iraq to pay off its debts it owed to Kuwait from the Iran/Iraq war of the 1980s, and the U.S. also set up a plan where the United States and its allies would receive oil from Iraq and in exchange, the US and its allies would pay for the oil by helping pay the debts Iraq owed to Kuwait. The agreement also said that Kuwait had to agree to not slant drill into Iraqi oil fields and had to allow the UN to annually inspect to make sure that they weren't drilling into Iraqi oil fields.

The President announced that with this agreement, all U.S. troops would begin to withdrawal from Kuwait, and all troops would be out in one month. Hart made clear however that if Iraq commits acts of aggression to Kuwait or any other neighboring countries or doesn't uphold his end of the agreements, there would be dire consequences, up to and including military force. He said that there would also be consequences if Kuwait failed to uphold its end of the agreement on slant drilling as well.

The 1991 State of the Union Address:

On January 29th, 1991, President Hart gave his State of the Union Address:

"Mr. Speaker. Mr. Vice President. Members of the 102nd congress and my fellow Americans. In the sprit of bi partisanship, I want to congratulate Speaker Michel on becoming the new Speaker of the House and I also want to congratulate all of you who were just elected to the House or Senate for the first time this past November.

Tonight as I speak, our men and women who were sent to Kuwait to secure it, are coming home and will all be home in the coming weeks. Thanks to their efforts, Iraq was unable to invade Kuwait and thanks to the United States and its allies, the dispute between Iraq and Kuwait is over. The people in Panama have also been liberated from Manuel Noriega. The will of the Panamanian people has been followed again thanks to our men and women in uniform, and I would like to say to those that serve in our armed forces, that over the course of the last year, you have made your Commander in Chief and your Country proud and we thank you for your service. We have a lot to be proud of abroad. The Cold War is finally ending and Germany is finally unified. With that said, we still have work to do. Our relationship with the Soviet Union is important and must remain strong. We must help the people in eastern Europe live to their aspirations. Punishing the Soviet Union is not the way to do this. We worked to solve one conflict in the Middle East. We must try to solve other conflicts in that region...

We also have work to do at home. Our economy, unfortunately, is in recession. Joblessness and unemployment are on the rise. We must work to reverse these trends and not let partisanship stop us from doing so. Many of you here ran on an 'American Contract.' I'm open to discussion about the proposals in this contract. I'm open to cutting outdated regulations. I'm open to discussing tax relief and I'm even open to discussing Welfare reform. If we work to achieving these initiatives, we must do so responsibly. We must not allow corporate America to run amuck and hurt our environment for the sake of less regulation. We must not blow a hole in our budget for the sake of Tax relief and we must not take food off of a families table for the sake of reforming Welfare... Next year, the 'Insure America Act' comes into full effect, we must work to prepare for a smooth roll out of this plan...

Over the last decade, the American people time and time again have elected divided Government. At times, good has been achieved. Other times, partisan bickering has prevented good from happening and I'll admit that I have made mistakes as your President, both political and most recently, personal, that have contributed to partisan bickering, and for that I am sorry from the bottom of my heart. We must work to achieve great things despite the obstacles that come with divided government. Thank you, God bless you, and God Bless America."


Hart appoints replacement for Brennan:

On February 15th, President Hart announced that he was appointing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of the DC Court of Appeals to replace retired justice William Brennan. Ginsberg, who would turn 58 the following month, officially accepted the nomination that day. Now that the President appointed a replacement, it was time for the Senate to hold hearings and confirm or deny the nomination. While most people expected her to be confirmed, and have an easier time getting confirmed than Justice Cuomo did a year earlier, Conservatives were still very vocal in their opposition to Ginsburg.


The first Person to declare himself a Candidate for President:

On March 5th, 1991, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who ran for President in 1980 and 1984, announced that he was running for President and said that he was not going to seek re election to the Senate in 1992 so that he could focus on his Presidential campaign. Dole said he was running to make the Government work for the people again, to get our economy growing again, and to make America more respected in the world.

Economic News:

The Unemployment Rate for March of '91 was 6.4%. President Hart's approval rating, which got a slight boost after troops were withdrawn from Kuwait, began to fall again as unemployment continued to rise through February and March. They were at 43% at the end of March, down from 49% in early February.


One Vice President explores a Presidential run, another says he's out:

On April 6th interview on ABC, Former Vice President John Glenn, when asked if he was considering a run for the Presidency, said a Presidential run was out of the question. Glenn, who ran in 1984, said he just didn't have it in him to run for President a second time.

Sources around Incumbent Vice President George Bush however, say that Mr. Bush, who ran in 1988 and was Paul Laxalt's running mate in the General election that year, is exploring a Presidential run. James Baker, an aide and personal friend to the Vice President said that Bush wanted to see if the support and the funding was there for a second Presidential run. Baker said that the Vice President would declare whether he was running or not within the next month.

Ginsburg Confirmed by the Senate:

On May 1st, almost 3 months after President Hart nominated her to the court, the Senate, by a vote of 65-35 voted to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court to replace William Brennan. Ginsburg, after being confirmed said she looked forward to being on the Court, thanked the Senate for confirming her, and again thanked President Hart for nominating her. She was sworn in by Chief Justice Merritt the next day.


The first Democrat enters the race for President:

On May 9th, Former Senator Bill Bradley, at a rally in home state of New Jersey, announced that he was seeking the Democratic nomination for President. Bradley, in his speech, proposed very liberal policy positions, such as expanding the "Insure America Act" into a universal health care plan, increased gun control, and increasing the minimum wage. He also pledged to address child poverty if elected.


Bush makes his decision:

On May 18th, Vice President George Bush, in an interview with Dan Rather on CBS News, announced that we was going to seek the Republican nomination for President. The Vice President, who was previously a congressman, an ambassador to the United Nations, envoy to China, CIA Director, and Secretary of State under President Ford, had a long resume to run on.

When asked what role he had being Vice President under a President of the opposite party, Bush said that he played a key role in crafting the "insure America Act" in its current form. He said that "After the president proposed his initial plan for health care reform, as you know I gave the Republican response to the plan, and as you know I opposed it. So I worked with the President to craft a bill that he and members of congress in both parties could support, and sure enough, it passed. I had some influence on our policies towards Russia as well." When asked where he disagreed with the President, Bush said that "there are areas where the President and I disagree. An example of this was Panama, I think the President should've acted sooner and should've left some troops in after the mission was complete to help bring about some long term stability. He did not unfortunately and I question the long term success of our mission there. On the Middle East, while the President did avoid a war with Iraq and an Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, I think sanctions should've been placed on Iraq sooner than he did, I feel that if he did that, Saddam Hussein wouldn't have tried to invade, and we wouldn't have had that battle at the boarder."

Bush said that he hoped to, if given the nomination and if elected President, bring both sides of the isle together, and he said given his experience, he was the best person to do that.



Two More Candidates enter the Race:

On June 1st, Former California Governor, Democrat Jerry Brown, who also ran for President in 1976 and 1980, declared himself a candidate for President of the United States. Brown proposed policies such as a living wage, campaign finance reform and term limits in congress, raising the corporate tax, and eliminating more loopholes than the 1987 tax code reform bill did. He also said he would only take donations from individuals and would take no more than $100. While most of what he proposed seamed liberal, some of his other proposals were conservative, such as replacing the progressive income tax with a flat tax, and some of his proposed spending cuts.

On June 8th, just one week after Brown declared himself a candidate, House Minority Whip Dick Gephardt also declared himself a candidate at a rally in his home state of Missouri. Gephardt, having strong ties to Unions and being very pro labor, proposed very populist economic ideas, ran in support of fair trade, and also, like Bill Bradley, proposed expanding the "Insure America Act."

A third entry for the Republicans:

On July 1st, Former New Jersey Governor and 1988 Presidential candidate Tom Kean declared himself a candidate for President of the United States, touting his credentials as a reformer. He said in his press conference that "Washington is in desperate need of change and reform. Folks I reformed New Jersey as the Governor and if given the chance, I can reform Washington."

A July poll showed for the Republican race that Vice President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole tied in first place, each getting 35% of the vote. Senator Kean came in second with 20% of the vote, with 10% saying that they preferred someone else or were undecided.


Two Democrats Decline:

On July 6th, Tennessee Senator Al Gore, who was narrowly re elected to his seat in 1990, said in an interview on ABC News that he was not going to seek the Democratic nomination for President, citing family reasons. He said "The Democratic field, even this early in the process is strong, and I will gladly back the nominee of our party."

Two days later, Senator Ted Kennedy, who ran for President in 1980 and 1984, also made clear that he would not be a candidate, saying that his time had passed. He declined to make an endorsement, saying it was too early in the process to do so.


July 10th: The first Russian Presidential Elections.

On July 10th, 1991, following a March referendum, the first Russian Presidential election was held. Independent candidate Boris Yeltsin, who was supported by Democratic Russia, was elected to become the first President of the Russian federation. Yeltsin won with 58% of the vote.


Two More Candidates enter the Race:

On July 30th, 1991, Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis declared himself a candidate for President, touting what was called "The Massachusetts Miracle" of the 1980s when he was Governor.
Another candidate that entered the race was Reverend Jesse Jackson, who proposed a similar campaign platform to the one he ran on in 1984.


First Polls for the Democratic race:

On August 10th, the first set of polls for the 1992 Democratic primary Race were released. The polls showed the following:

1. Jerry Brown: 40%
2. Bill Bradley: 29%
3. Dick Gephardt: 10%
4. Jesse Jackson: 9%
5. Michael Dukakis: 7%
6. Undecided/other: 5%

Jerry Brown was the clear front runner, but this early in the process, it was far too early to determine whether he would prevail in the end or not. The fact that Brown and Bradley were the two top choices did suggest however that Democrats were ready to, in one way or another, move in a more liberal direction after 8 years of moderate President Gary Hart.


The budget takes up September:

The month of September saw a Democratic President fighting a battle against a Republican controlled congress over the budget for the next year. The Republican controlled congress used the budget negotiations as an opportunity to begin enacting provisions of the "American Contract" that they ran on almost a year earlier and they also tried to push cuts to Medicare in the budget as well.

Budget negotiations began on September 2nd, meaning the President and Congress had exactly four weeks to come up with a budget or the federal government, as it did in 1986 would shut down. The President, in a September 4th press conference, said that "it is crucial that we get a budget passed by the end of the month so that the federal government doesn't shut down. I am willing to work with them on coming up with a budget that is balanced an one that members of both parties could get behind. With that said, under no circumstances will I allow the Republicans in congress to hurt Senior Citizens by cutting Medicare, especially in economic times such as these."

While Speaker Michel and Senator Dole were willing to work with the President to come up with a compromise, they could not get a majority of the members of their party behind it. The Republican opposition to a compromise was led by House Majority Whip Gingrich and Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi. Gingrich said in a September 12th interview on NBC news that "The American people, in these tough economic times, are tightening their budgets, I think we owe it to them to do the same and cut their taxes so that they can stay afloat." When asked about the proposed cuts to Medicare and the effect it will have on Seniors, Gingrich said "The cuts to Medicare that we are proposing do not effect current retires."

A compromise budget, which had small across the board tax cuts and a one year spending freeze on discretionary spending was brought to the house and the Senate on September 23 for a vote. There was a lot of debate on the floor of the house. Liberal Democrats argued that a budget like this was not appropriate for the tough economic times that faced the country as it did not do enough for poor and working class Americans. Conservative Republicans argued that the budget was not serious about getting the Country's fiscal house in order, nor did it offer enough in the form of tax relief. Debates on the floors of both houses of Congress continued for days. Would Congress Pass a budget by September 30th????


A Shutdown is avoided:

On September 30th, congress and President Hart avoided a Government shutdown by passing the compromise budget that was brought to a vote a week earlier. It passed the house 218 to 217 and passed the Senate 51-49, passing both houses of congress narrowly. President Hart signed the bill immediately after it was passed. This bill had a small 5% across the board reduction in income taxes, a spending freeze on all discretionary spending, and minor deregulations of lending laws. There were also no cuts to Medicare.


Presidential Candidates respond to Budget:

Throughout early October, Presidential candidates from both parties expressed their views on the budget. On the Republican side, all candidates, Bush, Dole, and Kean all said that while they didn't feel the bill was perfect, they felt it was better than a government shutdown, and thus supported it. All three of them also said, in one form or another, that they would work to get the country's fiscal house in order.


The Democrats on the other hand were more divided. Jerry Brown, who despite being socially liberal was a fiscal conservative, had a position on the budget that was similar to those of the Republicans. Senator Bradley and Governor Dukakis believed that it was not the right time for spending freezes given the fact that people were struggling economically, Jesse Jackson and to a lesser extent, Congressman Gephardt had views that were similar to those of Bradley and Dukakis.


The Soviet Union Dissolves:

On December 26th, 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved, and the Cold War officially ended. The Previous day, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, the 7th and final leader of the Soviet Union, resigned from his position, declared his office extinct, and handed all powers as well as the Soviet nuclear codes to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. December 25th also marked the last day that the Soviet Flag was flown and lowered.

 

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President Hart's Final State of the Union Address:

On January 28th, 1992, President Gary Hart delivered his final State of the Union Address:

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of the United States Congress, my fellow Americans. Tonight, I can say that after a little over 40 years, the Cold War is over. People who have never experienced freedom before are now experiencing it for the first time. With that long conflict being over however, we cannot isolate our selves from the world. We must be aware of any and all challenges and conflicts in the world and if necessary, act on to solve them... America must also ensure that Iraq and Kuwait remain at peace with themselves and their neighbors, and make sure that both uphold their end of the agreement that was reached this past year....

Economically, we are now recovering from recession. However, far too many people are still out of work. We, as well as the business world should do everything we can to change these trends and make it so that everyone who wants a job can get a job.... At the end of this past year, congress passed and I signed a budget that would give Americans tax relief, freeze discretionary spending, and deregulate lending laws. Even though we were cutting it close, bi partisan ship prevailed. However, there are a great many in this chamber that wanted to cut millions of dollars out of Medicare, and are still trying to achieve those cuts. Let me say to the American people, especially our Senior Citizens, that I, so long as I hold this office will not allow any cuts to Medicare. Far too many of our seniors rely on this program and would be devastated if any of these cuts were to be made....

Starting this year, the 'Insure America Act' goes into full effect. Millions who did not have access to health insurance will now have access to it. While this legislation gives many access, there are still many Americans who still be unable to get health insurance. Moving forward, our goal as a nation must be to work towards a day that all Americans have access to affordable Health Care. One way we can do this is through an expansion of Medicaid....

Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight is the last night that I will address this nation from this chamber. Over the last seven years we have overseen a lot together, good and bad. Let me end this address by asking members of congress to work with me to make this year a year of great progress. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."


The Iowa Caucus:

The Iowa Caucus for both the Republicans and the Democrats took place on February 10th, 1992. On the Republican side, just as he did in 1980 and 1984, Senator Bob Dole won the caucus, and won it with 40% of the vote, with Governor Kean coming in second with 30% of the vote. Vice President Bush came in last with 21% of Iowa Republicans backing him. 9% of Iowa Republicans were uncommitted.

On the Democratic side, House Minority Whip Dick Gephardt won the caucus with 35% of Democratic caucus voters supporting him. Former Governor Jerry Brown came in second with 30% of voters supporting him, Former Governor Dukakis and Former Senator Bill Bradley were tied at third with each receiving 10%. Jesse Jackson won 8% of the vote and 7% of Democratic caucus goers were uncommitted.


The New Hampshire Primary:

The New Hampshire Primary took place on February 18th. On the Republican side, Tom Kean narrowly won the primary with 40% of the vote. Vice President Bush came in second with 34% of the vote and Senator Dole took third place with 26%.

On the Democratic side, Governor Jerry Brown narrowly came in first place with 35% of the vote. Governor Michael Dukakis came in second with 34% of the vote and Dick Gephardt took third with 15% of the vote. Jesse Jackson came in fourth with 9% of Democrats supporting him, narrowly edging out Senator Bradley, who came in last place with 7% of the vote.


South Dakota:

The South Dakota Primaries took place on February 25th. On the Republican side, Senator Dole won the state with 40%, with Vice President Bush coming in at a close second with 39%. Senator Kean took third with 18%. 3% of South Dakota Republicans were uncommitted.

On the Democratic side, Governor Brown, who narrowly lost the Maine Caucus to Michael Dukakis two days earlier, had won the state with 40% of the vote. Congressman Gephardt came in second place with 25% and Governor Dukakis took third with 19%. Senator Bradley received 9% of the vote and Jesse Jackson took 7%.


March 3rd. Three contests for the GOP, seven for the Democrats:

March 3rd saw three contests for the Republicans. The first being in Georgia where Vice President Bush won with 50% of the vote. Senator Dole came in second with 39% of the vote and Governor Kean won 11%. The second contest for the GOP was in Maryland. Governor Kean won the state with 51%. Vice President Bush took 40% of the vote and Senator Dole, after winning two contests, only won 8%. The third state for the Republicans was Colorado, where Vice President Bush surprised many by narrowly carrying the state. Bush, who after losing the first three contests, spent a lot of time and resources in the state managed to carry it with 49% of the vote. Senator Dole got 48% and Governor Kean came in third with only 3%. With Bush winning two states and Kean winning his second, the Republican race was now competitive.

On the Democratic side, seven contests were being held on March 3rd. Like the Republicans, the Democrats had primaries in Colorado, Georgia, and Maryland. Governor Brown won Colorado with 34.5% of the vote. Congressman Gephardt came in second 29.5% and Governor Dukakis took 18%. Senator Bradley and Jesse Jackson each took 9%. In Maryland, Governor Dukakis took first with 41% and Governor Brown came in Second with 29% Surprising to all, Jesse Jackson took third place with 15% of the vote. Congressman Gephardt took 10% with Bill Bradley taking just 5%. In Georgia, Jesse Jackson shocked everyone by winning the state carrying 45% of the vote. Congressman Gephardt took second with 38%, Jerry Brown took 10% and Governor Dukakis and Senator Bradley tied for last with each winning 3.5%.

The other four March 3rd Democratic contests were caucuses in Idaho, Minnesota, Washington State, and Utah. Congressman Gephardt won Minnesota caucus with 40%. Governor Dukakis came in second with 30%, Jerry Brown took 3rd with twenty percent and Jesse Jackson and Bill Bradley each won 5%. In Utah, Governor Brown won the caucus with 48%. Dick Gephardt took second with 32%. Governor Dukakis took 10%, Bill Bradley took 2% and Jesse Jackson took 1%. 7% of Utah caucus votes were unpledged. In Idaho, Brown, yet again took first with 46% of the vote. Gephardt won 28% and Dukakis won 11%. Bradley won 8%, 4% went to Jackson, and 3% of the votes were uncommitted. Finally, in Washington, Governor Brown trounced all of his opponents winning a whopping 55% of the vote. Governor Dukakis won 25%, Dick Gephardt received 10% of the vote, Jesse Jackson won 5%, and Bill Bradley ended up with 2.5% of Washington Democrats backing him. 2.5% of the votes in Washington were unpledged.


States Won:

Contests Won (Republicans):

• George Bush: 2
• Bob Dole: 2
• Tom Kean: 2

Contests Won (Democrats):

• Jerry Brown: 6
• Dick Gephardt: 2
• Michael Dukakis: 2
• Jesse Jackson: 1
• Bill Bradley: 0

A Democrat Drops Out:

On March 6th, just one day before the South Carolina Primary, and the Arizona and Wyoming Caucuses, Former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley withdrew from the Presidential race, after not winning any primaries or caucuses and placing last or second to last in all that have taken place thus far. Bradley said in his press conference that "running for President was the experience of a lifetime, and I thank all of those who have supported me. Unfortunately, the time just isn't right for me to be President yet. Our Party has a great field of candidates, and I will support whoever emerges as our parties nominee." Bradley, who was in Second place in a poll released in August, plummeted and was in last place in a national poll released the day before he exited the race.

That same poll had Governor Brown still in first place with 44%, with 4% more support than he had in early August. Dick Gephardt jumped to Second place, going from 10% in August to 25% in the latest poll. Michael Dukakis now had 17% and Jesse Jackson went from 9% to 12%. 2% of Democrats were undecided.


South Carolina:

The South Carolina Primary took place on March 7th. On the Republican side, Vice President Bush carried the state with 53% of the vote. Senator Bob Dole came in second with 27% and Governor Kean won the support of 20% of South Carolina Republicans. Vice President Bush was largely helped in the state due to receiving the endorsement of South Carolina's Governor Carrol Campbell.


On the Democratic side, Reverend Jesse Jackson won the South Carolina primary with 42% of the vote. Congressman Gephardt carried 40% of the votes, while Michael Dukakis and Jerry Brown each received 9%.


President Hart discusses Medicaid Expansion:

On March 8th, President Hart, in a press Conference, discussed expanding Medicaid:

"Good Afternoon. Just a little over a month ago, in my State of the Union Address, I discussed working towards the goal of every American having access to health care, and I also proposed expanding Medicaid to more Americans. While I feel that the 'Insure America Act' is a massive step towards this goal, I feel expanding Medicaid is one more step, and a necessary step towards the goal of everyone having access to affordable health care and that is why I am proposing legislation to do this. I ask the leaders in the United States Congress to bring this legislation up for a vote as soon as possible. Than you."


Also on March 8th:

March 8th also saw the Democratic caucuses in Arizona, Wyoming, and Nevada. Governor Brown won all three with 34%, 30%, and 45% respectively. Congressman Gephardt came in second in all three states with 28%, 29%, and 19% respectively. Governor Dukakis t00k third place and Jesse Jackson took fourth place in all three states as well. These string of victories gave Governor Brown three states, giving him 9 victories overall, with the other three Democratic contenders carrying 2 states each.


Will Brown continue to dominate and be the front runner, or will Supper Tuesday make the race more competitive, handing the title of front runner to someone else? Stay tuned to find out....



Super Tuesday for the GOP:

Super Tuesday took place on March 10th and the Republicans had primaries in 8 states. Those states being, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas. Vice President Bush carried his home state of Texas by a whopping 61% and carried Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana by margins between 45 and 60%. He also narrowly carried Massachusetts by 44% to Governor Kean's 43%.

Governor Kean carried the state of Rhode Island with 47% of voters in the state supporting him. Senator Dole's only victory on Super Tuesday was Oklahoma, which he only narrowly carried with 42%. Vice President Bush to second in the state carrying 40%, 10% of Oklahoma votes were unpledged and Governor Kean took 8%.

Vice President Bush now had nine states and Senator Dole and Governor Kean each had three states. It now seemed like America was going to have a Bush vs. Brown race. However, 8 months in politics is a long time and anything can change.



Super Tuesday for the Democrats:

Super Tuesday on the Democratic side saw primaries in all the states where the Republicans had primaries and also had caucuses in Delaware, Hawaii, and Missouri. Jerry Brown narrowly carried the state of Florida with 48% of the vote, carried Oklahoma with 50.5% of the vote, and narrowly carried the state of Rhode Island with 47.5% to Michael Dukakis' 46%. Brown also managed to pull off a narrow victory in Delaware, taking 47% of the vote to Dukakis' 45%.

Congressman Gephardt, as expected, won the caucus in his home state of Missouri, taking 57% of the vote there. The House Minority leader also managed to win the State of Texas with 48% of the vote.

Reverend Jackson won Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and narrowly won the state of Hawaii 45% to Brown's 42%.

Governor Dukakis, while coming it at a close second in Delaware and Rhode Island, only managed to win his home state of Massachusetts. Granted, he won the state decisively, but as far as the number of states won are concerned, he's only at 3. Mr. Gephardt now had 4, Jesse Jackson now had 6, and Governor Brown now had 12 states. Many were wondering just how long Dukakis could stay in the race. A majority of the contests left took place outside of Dukakis' home region, the north east, the only part of the country he was competitive in.



Dukakis exits Presidential Race:

On March 11th, Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis exited the Presidential race. Dukakis said in his speech to a crowd of supporters that he would always be grateful to all who supported him during the campaign. He thanked his family for all the work did during the campaign and said that he wished he could continue. The Governor used his concession speech to endorse a candidate and endorsed Dick Gephardt.


Illinois and Michigan Primaries:

The Illinois and Michigan primaries took place on March 17th. On the Republican side, Vice President Bush carried the state of Michigan with 52% of the vote and Governor Kean took 36%. Senator Dole took third with 12%. The Vice President also narrowly carried the Illinois Primary with 49% to Governor Kean's 47%.

On the Democratic side, Congressman Gephardt carried the state of Michigan with 50% of the vote. Jesse Jackson took 28% and Brown took 22%. Reverend Jesse Jackson carried the state of Illinois with 48%. Governor Brown took 30% and Congressman Gephardt took 22%.



Two Former Republican Nominees make Endorsements:

On March 20th, just four days before the Connecticut primary, Former Nevada Senator and 1988 Republican Presidential nominee Paul Laxalt endorsed his former running mate George Bush for President of the United States. Laxalt said of Bush that "Bush is a man who served his country well for half a century. He was a great help to the ticket in 1988, and when the electoral college became deadlocked, Bush handled it with resolve and when the United States Senate called on him to serve as Vice President, despite the house choosing a President of the opposite party, Bush accepted their call and yet again served his country well. This is what we need as President of the United States."

Two days later, Former Senate Majority Leader and 1984 Republican Presidential nominee Howard Baker also endorsed George Bush instead of his former running mate and current Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. Baker said in his speech that "I think Bob Dole is a great man, a good servant to our country, and a great Senate Majority Leader, however George Bush is the man we need for President. He had the experience in both domestic and foreign policy needed to get our country on the right track again, which is why I am endorsing him for President of the United States."


March 22nd: North Dakota Caucus for the Democrats:

Governor Jerry Brown, after losing Illinois and Michigan, won the March 22nd North Dakota Caucus and won it decisively with 55.5% of the vote. Congressman Gephardt took second place with 25.5% and Jesse Jackson won 15% of the vote. 4% of the voters were uncommitted.


Bob Dole responds to Baker's endorsement of Bush

Senator Bob Dole in an ABC interview responded to Howard Baker's endorsement of George Bush. Dole said that "I will always be grateful to Howard Baker for choosing me to be his running mate in 1984. It was a pleasure to work with him as Senate Majority whip when he was majority leader a decade ago. I have no ill will against Howard Baker, he is a good man and he is entitled to endorse whoever he feels is right for the job. When asked if he was going to exit the race soon Dole said "Well we don't expect to win Connecticut, however we have my home state of Kansas coming up soon, as well as other primaries where we are competitive in. For that reason, I'm staying in the race."


The Connecticut Primary:

The Connecticut primary took place on March 27th, and Vice President Bush won the state he called home earlier in his life with 53.5% of the vote. Governor Kean came in second with 40%, 13.5% less than Bush had. Senator Dole only won 6.5%

On the Democratic side, Governor Brown won the state with 51% of the vote. Dick Gephardt won second place with 35% and Jesse Jackson took 14% of the vote.


Governor Kean Exits the Race:

On the night of the Connecticut Primary, Former Governor Tom Kean of New Jersey exited the race for the Republican nomination for President. Kean, in his concession speech told a crowd of supporters that "we gave it our best, but unfortunately it just wasn't ours to win. I want to thank each and every one of you across the country who supported me during this campaign and I especially want to thank my family for all their love and hard work. I wouldn't have gotten this far if it weren't for them. Now is the time for us as a party to unite behind one candidate and that candidate is Vice President George Bush. This is the first step towards victory in November. Vice President Bush has what it takes to be a great President and I am proud to give him my endorsement. I will do what I can to get him elected. Thank you all and God bless."

Kean exited after a poor showing in the state of Connecticut and due to the fact that only few of the remaining contests were in the North East, his strongest region. His path to the nomination was just no longer possible. With Kean exiting, Bush and Dole were the only two Republicans standing, and Dole's path to the nomination was as impossible as Kean's was. Many believed Bush was now going to focus on the General election.


Delegate Count for the Democrats (So Far):

Brown:
1. New Hampshire: 18
2. South Dakota: 15
3. Colorado: 47
4. Utah Caucus: 23
5. Idaho Caucus: 18
6. Washington Caucus: 71
7. Arizona Caucus: 41
8. Wyoming Caucus: 13
9. Nevada Caucus: 17
10. Florida: 148
11. Oklahoma: 45
12. Delaware Caucus: 24
13. Rhode Island: 31
14. North Dakota: 14
15. Connecticut: 53

Total: 578

Gephardt:
1. Iowa: 49
2. Minnesota Caucus: 78
3. Missouri Caucus: 77
4. Texas: 251
5. Michigan: 131

Total: 586

Dukakis:
1. Maine Caucus: 23
2. Maryland: 67
3. Massachusetts: 94

Total: 184

Jackson:
1. Georgia: 76
2. South Carolina: 43
3. Louisiana: 60
4. Mississippi: 39
5. Tennessee: 86
6. Hawaii: 14
7. Illinois: 164

Total: 482

Total Delegates taken by all candidates: 1830
Needed for the Nomination: 2103

Looks likely that we may have a brokered convention on our hands. Not even I saw that coming.

(Not 100% certain I did the math right. Most of the Delegates for the Dems were on Wikipedia, a few I had to use theev and jpj1421's formula.)

 

[dw93]

Delegate Count for the GOP (So Far):

Bush:
1. Georgia: 76
2. Colorado: 47
3. South Carolina: 43
4. Texas: 251
5. Florida: 148
6. Mississippi: 39
7. Louisiana: 60
8. Tennessee: 86
9. Massachusetts: 94
10. Michigan: 131
11. Illinois: 164
12. Connecticut: 53

Total: 1192 delegates

Kean:
1. New Hampshire: 18
2. Maryland: 67
3. Rhode Island: 31

Total: 116

Dole:
1. Iowa Caucus: 49
2. South Dakota: 15
3. Oklahoma: 45

Total: 109

Total Delegates taken by all Candidates: 1417
Needed for the nomination: 1092 (Half of the 2,182 total delegates from the GOP primary of OTL)

(The number of delegates in each state is the same number (or similar) of delegates for each state in the Democratic race.)


Bush Secures Republican nomination:

With his wins in Connecticut, Michigan, and Illinois, Vice President George Bush secured the Republican nomination for President and is now the presumptive Republican nominee.

Despite this, Senator Dole is still going to stay in the race, although many sources around the Senate majority leader say he's planning on withdrawing from the race after his home state of Kansas holds its primary in early April. With Bush securing the delegates needed, the Republicans were now ready to focus on the general election. Only time would tell how long it would take until the Democrats were able to do the same.


3 Caucuses and a Primary:

At the end of March into early April, there were three caucuses, one in the Virgin Islands on March 28th, another in Vermont on March 31st, and a third in Alaska that took place on April 2nd. Governor Jerry Brown won all three caucuses, and also won the Puerto Rico primary, bringing his delegate count up to 680. Dick Gephardt took second place in all the contests except Vermont where Reverend Jackson took Second Place.

On the Republican side, Vice President Bush swept all four of the contests, solidifying the number of delegates the presumptive front runner now has.


The Medicaid Expansion Fails in the House and Senate:

On April 7th, 1992, the expansion of Medicaid failed to get support in the Senate, after failing to get support in the House a day earlier. The votes were all cast on party lines, with all the House and Senate Democrats voting in favor of the plan and the Republican majorities in both houses of Congress voting against it.


President Hart said when asked about the failure of the expansion that he was disappointed, saying that with the expansion, even more Americans could have medical coverage. He said he hopes to work with congress to work towards his goal of eventually achieving Universal Health Care coverage.


April 7th. Three Primaires and an end to a Candidacy:

On April 7th, three states held primaries. On the Democratic side, Jesse Jackson narrowly won the state of New York. However, its 244 delegates were not winner take all, so Jackson got 123, Brown got 120, and Gephardt got 1 delegate. In Kansas, Jerry Brown carried 33 out of 36 of the states delegates. Gephardt coming in second place got 3 delegates. In Wisconsin, Jerry Brown took first place getting 50 of the states 82 delegates. Gephardt received 30 delegates and Jackson received 2.


On the Republican side, Bob Dole won his home state of Kansas, taking all of the state's delegates. Vice President Bush won the other two contests decisively, being the presumptive front runner.

In front of a crowd of supporters in his hometown, Senator Bob Dole announced that he was withdrawing from the race. He ended his campaign thanking his supporters and his campaign workers for their support and hard work, thanked his family, and thanked the people of Kansas for giving him the opportunity to serve in congress, both as a congressman and as a senator. Dole said he planned on finishing his term in the Senate and looked forward to spending time off next year. The Senate Majority leader asked all those who supported him to rally around Bush in order to ensure a Republican victory in November.


The First Polling for the General Election are in, as are President Hart's Approvals:

With George Bush being the presumptive Republican nominee, Gallup released the first of the head to head match ups for the General election on April 8th. The polling showed that in a head to head match up:

George Bush 50% vs. Gephardt 45.5%

George Bush 49% vs. Brown 47.3%

George Bush 53% vs. Jackson 41.5%

*BOLD= Winner


While each Democratic candidate fared differently against Bush, one thing the three had in common was that they'd each lose to Bush in November no matter who was the nominee, so long as current trends continued.

That same day, President Hart's approval ratings were released as well. With Unemployment still on the rise and an expansion to Medicaid failing to pass in congress, the President's approval rating was at 43%. This could also be contributing to the Democratic candidates faring poorly against Bush.


Gary Hart asked about Democratic Primary and the State of his Party:

In an interview with CBS News on April 10th, President Gary Hart was asked about the Democratic Primaries and the possibility of a brokered convention. Hart said that "I think we have a great field of candidates in our party. All of those who have previously ran this cycle and have since exited were great. As to whether or not we will have a brokered convention, I believe that our party will unite behind a candidate before the convention." Hart was also asked about the current state of the Democratic party, and he responded by saying that "The state of our party is strong. We've had our setbacks, particularly in the midterms, but none the less, we've survived and I think we'll only get stronger moving forward."


Virginia Caucus and Pennsylvania Primary:

The Virginia Caucus took place on April 11th and Jesse Jackson won taking 50% of the vote and Dick Gephardt took second place with 30% of the vote. Jerry Brown took third place with 21% of the vote. Jesse Jackson took 39 of the states 78 delegates, Dick Gephardt took 20 and Jerry Brown 19 delegates.


In the April 28th Pennsylvania primary, Dick Gephardt took first place with 51% of the vote and Jesse Jackson took second with 29% and Jerry Brown took 20%. Gephardt won 85 of the 169 Delegates, while Jackson took 51 delegates and Brown took 33.


The Polls for the Democratic Race:

An April 30th poll showed a close Democratic race:

1. Jerry Brown: 35%
2. Dick Gephardt:33%
3. Jesse Jackson: 30%
4. Undecided: 2%

Jerry Brown, who had been the frontrunner throughout the campaign was now seeing his lead shrink and his status as frontrunner be threatened by Dick Gephardt, and Jesse Jackson had exceeded everyone's expectations by placing a very close third place. The Delegate count, like the polls, showed not only a close race but showed that there was a possibility of a brokered convention.


Gephardt's interview on CNN:

On May 2nd, just one day before the Guam Caucuses, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt was interviewed by Larry King on "Larry King Live." In his interview, Gephardt said of his opponents, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Former Governor Jerry Brown that "nominating either one of them would be a disaster for the party. It would be a repeat of 1972 and during that election you had Democrats for Nixon. If Jerry Brown or Jesse Jackson end up the nominee of our party, you'll have a group called 'Democrats for Bush.' I don't want that and I think I can say that the rest of the Democratic party doesn't want that either."

King was quick to point out that Jerry Brown has been the front runner for the entire campaign and is still the front runner, and that according to recent polling, Brown is fairing better against George Bush than he is. King also pointed out that Jesse Jackson has surpassed everyone's expectations and has just as much of a shot at taking the Democratic nomination as he or Brown. Gephardt responded by saying that "Brown's poll numbers are falling fast, I'm only two points behind him nationally and am catching up with him with the delegates." The House Minority leader also argued that he had more cross party appeal than Brown or Jackson as well.


Brown, Jackson, and George McGovern respond to Gephardt:

On the morning of May 3rd, Former Governor Brown, at a campaign rally, responded to the comments Dick Gephardt made the night before. Brown said that "The American people want change. I represent change more than anyone else running for the nomination, Dick Gephardt is the least likely of the three of us to bring change. Best case scenario is that Gephardt will win due to a third party candidate splitting the Republican vote or a deadlock in the electoral college. If that is the case the current trends will continue. I don't think the majority of Americans want that."


Many pundits believe that Brown was taking a jab at President Hart when the former Governor said Gephardt's best shot at the Presidency was a third party candidate splitting votes or a deadlock in the electoral college.

That evening Jesse Jackson responded as well in an interview on ABC news. In that interview, when asked to respond, Jackson said that "Mr. Brown is not George McGovern and neither am I, and 1972 is not 1992. The times and the issues are much different. I will say that these comments will make unifying the party difficult in the event that Mr. Gephardt is the Democratic nominee."


On CBS news, George McGovern was interviewed and he to was asked to respond to the comments made by Dick Gephardt. McGovern said "Look, he can say what he wants to say. It doesn't hurt me at all and I don't think his comments will hurt the two candidates who were mentioned in his remarks. The process will continue and I will support whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee."


Guam Caucus, Indiana, North Carolina, and DC primaries:

The Guam Caucus took place on May 3rd, 1992 and Jesse Jackson carried the territory with 50% of the vote. Jerry Brown and Dick Gephardt tied with 25% each.

Also, three primaries took place on May 5th. The first one was in Washington DC where Dick Gephardt won 48% of the vote. Jesse Jackson took 47.5% and Brown took 4.5% of the vote. Gephardt took all 17 delegates.

The second primary in Indiana also gave Gephardt a win as he took 48% of the vote to Jerry Brown's 40% and Jesse Jackson's 12%. Gephardt took all 77 of the states delegates.

The third primary took place in North Carolina, where Jesse Jackson won 51% of the vote. Dick Gephardt won 30% of the vote, and Jerry Brown won 19%. Jackson took all 84 of the State's delegates.


The Primaries for the rest of May:

On May 12th, two primaries took place, one in Nebraska and another in West Virginia. Jerry Brown won the Nebraska primary with 65% of the vote, with Gephardt taking 30% of the vote and Jackson taking 5%. All of the states 25 delegates went to Brown. In West Virginia, Dick Gephardt narrowly won the primary with 46% to Jackson's 45%. Brown took 8% of the vote. Gephardt took all of the states 31 delegates.

May 19th saw a primary in Oregon that Jerry Brown won with 65% of the vote. Dick Gephardt took 18% and Jesse Jackson took 17%, and with the state being a "winner takes all state," all 47 delegates went to Governor Brown.

May 26th had two southern primaries, in Kentucky and Arkansas, both of which Jesse Jackson won with 50 and 51% respectively and with both states being "winner takes all" primaries, Reverend Jackson won a total of 88 delegates..


The June Primaries:

Six Primaries took place on June 2nd, 1992. In Alabama, Jesse Jackson won 51.5% of the vote to Congressman Gephardt's 35% and Governor Brown's 13.5%. Jackson won all 55 of the states Delegates.

The state of California overwhelmingly voted for its' former Governor Jerry Brown. Brown carried 70% of the states votes. Reverend Jackson got 17% and Congressman Gephardt took 13%. Brown won all 348 delegates from the state. Brown also went on to win the Montana primary with 55% of the vote, carrying all 16 of the states delegates, and also narrowly won the state of New Jersey with 49% of the vote taking all 105 delegates. Reverend Jackson came in second in New Jersey with 30% of the vote and Dick Gephardt took last with 21%.

A fourth win for Brown came in the state of New Mexico where Brown won 53% of the vote and all 25 of the state's delegates. Congressman Gephardt won 32% of the vote and Jesse Jackson took 15% of the vote.

The sixth and final primary took place in Ohio. Gephardt won a slim victory of 39.5% to Jackson's 35.5% and Brown's 25%. Gephardt won all 151 delegates.

 

[dw93]

The Final Democratic Delegate Count. The Convention will be Brokered.

Final Delegate Count (They are a bit off from OTL):

Brown:
1. New Hampshire: 18
2. South Dakota: 15
3. Colorado: 47
4. Utah Caucus: 23
5. Idaho Caucus: 18
6. Washington Caucus: 71
7. Arizona Caucus: 41
8. Wyoming Caucus: 13
9. Nevada Caucus: 17
10. Florida: 148
11. Oklahoma: 45
12. Delaware Caucus: 24
13. Rhode Island: 31
14. North Dakota: 14
15. Connecticut: 53
16. Vermont: 13
17. Alaska: 13
18. Virgin Island: 25
19. Puerto Rico: 51
20. New York: 120
21. Kansas: 33
22. Wisconsin: 50
23. Virginia: 19
24. Pennsylvania: 33
25. Nebraska: 25
26. Oregon: 47
27. California: 348
28. Montana: 16
29. New Jersey 105
30. New Mexico: 25
Total: 1501

Gephardt:
1. Iowa: 49
2. Minnesota Caucus: 78
3. Missouri Caucus: 77
4. Texas: 251
5. Michigan: 131
6. New York: 1
7. Kansas: 3
8. Wisconsin: 30
9. Virginia: 20
10. Pennsylvania: 85
11. Indiana: 77
12. DC: 17
13. West Virginia: 31
14. Ohio: 151

Total: 1001

Dukakis:
1. Maine Caucus: 23
2. Maryland: 67
3. Massachusetts: 94

Total: 184

Jackson:
1. Georgia: 76
2. South Carolina: 43
3. Louisiana: 60
4. Mississippi: 39
5. Tennessee: 86
6. Hawaii: 14
7. Illinois: 164
8. New York: 123
9. Wisconsin:2
10. Virginia: 39
11. Pennsylvania: 51
12. North Carolina :84
13. Guam: 10
14. Kentucky/Arkansas: 88
15. Alabama: 55

Total: 934

Needed for the Nomination: 2103

Italics= Withdrew from Race

With all three candidates failing to get the required amount of Delegates, the convention in July would be brokered. Who will win?!?!?! Stay tuned....

 

[dw93]

Noriega convicted of assisting Columbia's cocaine cartel. Panama falls into Chaios:

On June 3rd, 1992, Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was convicted of assisting Columbia's cocaine cartel by a Miami Florida Jury. He would be sentencing would take place in early November.


Unemployment Rate for June. Vice President Reagan's health declining?:

Unemployment for June hits 7.6%, the highest since 1985. The rising unemployment took a hit on President Hart's approval ratings, which were now down to 40%. When asked about the economic downturn in a press conference, the President said that "People are hurting right now. There's no doubt about it. However, we will recover, in fact most economic indicators suggest we are, and as we saw in the 1980s, it takes longer for the unemployment rate to fall than it does for the overall economy to recover."

Despite the President's claim that the economy was beginning to recover, which was true, Republicans were still quick to attack him on it. Former Vice President Ronald Reagan, at a July 10th campaign rally for current Vice President Bush said that "When President Ford and I left office 7 years ago, we left them a strong and growing economy, and now it is weakened, and the American people and businesses are hurting. We already took one step towards making our nation great again in giving the Republicans back the majority in congress. We already took one step towards making our nation great again in giving the Republicans back the majority in congress. We must now take another step towards greatness and put George Bush in the White House this November."

Many in the audience at that rally and many political pundits were quick to notice that the former Vice President repeated himself often at the rally, and seemed very tired, and many wondered if the Former VP's mental state was on the decline. An aide close to Mr. Reagan said however that the Former Vice President was in good health.


Pre Democratic Convention Polls:

Polls were released on July 12, just one day before the Democratic Convention, which was going to be brokered. The polls for the Democratic race showed:

Jerry Brown: 33.5%

Dick Gephardt: 33.3%

Jesse Jackson: 33.2%

The race was practically dead even. Would deals be made? Would the candidate with the majority of delegates get the nomination? Many speculated that a deal between Governor Brown and Reverend Jackson was in the works, giving Brown the nomination with Jackson as his running mate, but would that be a winning ticket? Would Gephardt supporters get behind it? General election matchups showed that:

George Bush: 50%/ Jerry Brown: 48.5%

George Bush: 50.5%/ Dick Gephardt: 47.8%

George Bush: 52%/ Jesse Jackson: 45%

George Bush defeats all three Democratic candidates in a head to head match up, with Brown doing slightly better than Gephardt. Would Jesse Jackson being on the ticket weaken Brown in the general? It's too soon to say as four months in politics is a long time and Brown getting the nomination isn't a certainty.


The 1992 Democratic Convention:

The 1992 Democratic convention took place from July 13th-July 16th at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Keynote Speaker was Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards who gave the memorable line of "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a Silver Foot in his Mouth." about Vice President Bush. Also Speaking at the convention were Former Vice President John Glenn, Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder, Senator Lloyd Bentsen, and Governor Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who gave a controversial anti abortion Speech, which was ill received by most in attendance.


The Convention was unable to nominate a candidate on the first ballot. After that however, and before the second round of ballots were cast, Governor Jerry Brown and Reverend Jesse Jackson pulled their delegates together and Jerry Brown was chosen on the second ballot. Shortly after, the convention narrowly nominated Reverend Jackson to be Brown's running mate, making Jackson the first African American to be nominated Vice President for a major party.

After this, Congressman Gephardt gave a speech officially ending his candidacy. In his speech, he made it clear that "Democrats need to get out and vote. We need to retake the house and we need to retake the Senate." He went on to say that "in the almost two years that the Republican party has controlled both houses of congress, nothing has gotten done. We've made progress over the last 8 years and we need to build on that progress, not undo it." Many pundits were quick to point out that while Gephardt spoke about Democrats turning out to vote and taking congress back, not once in his speech did he endorse the nominee or his running mate.

After Gephardt gave his speech, Revered Jackson gave his speech accepting the nomination for Vice President: "Mr. Chairman, fellow Democrats. I am honored to receive the nomination for Vice President of the United States... The first Tuesday of this November, election day, is important. If you want to make the playing field level in America, vote for us. If you want to reign in on Special interests groups buying off our elected officials, vote for us. If you feel that your voice isn't heard, vote for us and it will be... Thank you and God Bless."


On the final day of the convention, President Hart and Governor Brown were to give their speeches to the convention. The President would give his first: "Fellow Democrats. For almost 8 years it has been my honor to serve as your President. A lot of progress has been made over these last 8 years. Our infrastructure is more modern, more of our people have access to higher education and job training, and our tax code is simplified. We also reformed our health care system giving millions of Americans who did not have access to affordable health care access to it. Our world is also safer. We stopped Iraq from conquering Kuwait, the will of the people in Panama is being followed, and the Cold War is finally over. With that said, there is still work to be done. We have many Americans out of work and struggling to make ends meet. We must make it clear to those who are struggling right now that we hear them, and that we will do everything we can to help... Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve our great nation. May God bless you, and may God bless America."

Governor Brown gave his Acceptance Speech shortly after: "Mr. Chairman, fellow delegates and fellow citizens. I accept your nomination for President of the United States. 1992 is the year that we take our democracy back from the Special interests and reform how we finance campaigns. It is the year that we level the playing field and have our wages and tax rates reflect that. 1992 is when we vote to make our environment safer and cleaner and ensure that every child has access to a quality education. Our economy right now is hurting and so are those that have lost their jobs. We must work to put these people back to work and oppose the trade deals that the congress and the Republican nominee for President are proposing that will take away even more jobs than the recession did.... We have a lot of work to do to build a better future for America, and for that reason I am asking for your vote... Thank you, God Bless you and God Bless the United States of America."


The convention was received with mixed results. Many, including some Democrats, did not feel that there party was unified and that the party didn't have a unifying message, with President Hart and Congressman Gephardt speaking about continuing the policies of the Hart Administration and Governor Brown and Reverend Jackson more focused on fighting Special interest and reforming the system to make things more level. Polls showed that Governor Brown got a slight boost from the convention, with he and Bush being tied 49% to 49%. The Republican convention would take place in August. After that, the general election campaign would officially begin.

 

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The Vice President Responds to the Democratic Convention. His VP Shortlist is leaked:

One day after the Democratic Convention, Vice President Bush, in a speech to a crowd of supporters in New Jersey responded to the Democratic convention. In his speech, Bush said "How are they going to unite the country and build consensus if they couldn't decide on who they wanted to have as their nominee and can't decide on which direction they want to take the country over the course of the next four years."

Also, the Vice President's Vice Presidential shortlist was also released. On the list were:

Former Governor George Deukmejian of California
House Majority leader Dick Cheney of Wyoming
Former Governor Tom Kean of New Jersey
Senator Pete Domenici of California
Senator John Danforth of Missouri
Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana
Governor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin


The Campaign through the month of July:

Now that the Democrats officially have a nominee, there were now able to run a general election campaign, something the Republicans have been able to do since April. Governor Brown and Reverend Jackson hit the campaign trail hard, sometimes campaigning together and sometime campaigning separately. Brown attacked Bush on several occasions, calling his economic and trade policies irresponsible and said that his calls for unity and consensus are nothing more than pandering.

Bush responded to Brown's attacks saying that "when he calls my economic plans irresponsible, at least my position on taxes, he's calling his plan irresponsible as there aren't many differences between the two plans. As for his claims of me being a panderer, in order to get our country moving again, we first need to unify and we need to build consensus. If the former Governor isn't willing to do that than he's part of the problem and not the solution. I understand that people are frustrated. The governor does to, we both want to get special interests out of our politics and give power back to the people. Governor Brown's way of doing that however would prove to be damaging, especially to businesses."


George Bush announces his VP Pick:

On August 12th, Vice President George Bush announced his choice for his running mate in a Press Conference in Houston. Bush chose former California Governor George Deukmejian. Deukmejian, being the first and only Governor Armenian decent, was now the first Armenian Vice Presidential candidate of either major party. The former Republican governor had a conservative record as governor, cutting taxes, environmental regulations and consumer protection regulations, as well as steep spending cuts. The choice was well received in the party, especially by conservatives.

 

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The 1992 Republican Convention Part One:

The Republican National Convention took place from August 17th-August 20th, 1992 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The Keynote Speaker was Indiana Senator Richard Lugar. Other Speakers included Speaker of the House Bob Michel, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, 1988 Republican Presidential nominee Paul Laxalt and Senator Phil Graham of Texas.

Former Vice President Reagan also spoke, giving the final speech of his political career. In his speech, Reagan endorsed the ticket and called for a Republican Revolution. However, it was the end of his speech that was most remembered and most heart breaking. At the end of his speech, the former Vice President revealed to the convention an the nation that: "Recently, my doctors have told me I'm one of millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease. Nancy and I contemplated as to whether or not we wanted to make this public, but felt it would be best to do so in order to bring attention to this disease. At the moment I feel fine, but unfortunately, this will progress, and I only wish I could spare Nancy and my family the hardships that will come as a result. I want to close this speech by saying thank you. Thank you for all your support over the years and for allowing me the great honor to serve in public life. May God bless you all, and may God bless the United States of America."

After Mr. Reagan spoke, Former California Governor and Vice Presidential candidate George Deukmejian spoke:

"Mr. Chairman, fellow delegates, fellow Republican, fellow Americans. Let me start off by saying that the Reagans are in my prayers. Ronald Reagan will be remembered as a great Vice President and one of the best Governors California ever had, if not the best. Most importantly, he will be remembered as a great American and a great man. I humbly and graciously accept the nomination for Vice President of the United States. This land is a great land, and a land of great opportunities, and me, the son of Armenian Immigrants, speaking to this convention as the Republican nominee for Vice President is proof of that. The state of our Country, however is not so great. We have millions of our people out of work, and a President in the White House who believes that everything thing is fine and getting better. This does not help those who are out of work. We need to get the private sector moving again by cutting corporate taxes and regulations so that jobs can be created. Increasing the size and scope of the federal government will not do. This worked in California, it will work for America and George Bush will do this for America. We also, with the Cold War being over, need to demonstrate leadership in the world, George Bush will do this... This election is an important one. Do you want to continue down the path of gridlock and stagnation? Or do you want to take American down a new path, a path that will lead us to prosperity? If you answered yes to the latter question, vote for George Bush this November. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America."


After Mr. Reagan spoke, Former California Governor and Vice Presidential candidate George Deukmejian spoke:

"Mr. Chairman, fellow delegates, fellow Republican, fellow Americans. Let me start off by saying that the Reagans are in my prayers. Ronald Reagan will be remembered as a great Vice President and one of the best Governors California ever had, if not the best. Most importantly, he will be remembered as a great American and a great man. I humbly and graciously accept the nomination for Vice President of the United States. This land is a great land, and a land of great opportunities, and me, the son of Armenian Immigrants, speaking to this convention as the Republican nominee for Vice President is proof of that. The state of our Country, however is not so great. We have millions of our people out of work, and a President in the White House who believes that everything thing is fine and getting better. This does not help those who are out of work. We need to get the private sector moving again by cutting corporate taxes and regulations so that jobs can be created. Increasing the size and scope of the federal government will not do. This worked in California, it will work for America and George Bush will do this for America. We also, with the Cold War being over, need to demonstrate leadership in the world, George Bush will do this... This election is an important one. Do you want to continue down the path of gridlock and stagnation? Or do you want to take American down a new path, a path that will lead us to prosperity? If you answered yes to the latter question, vote for George Bush this November. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America."


The 1992 Republican Convention Part Two:

On the final Day of the Convention, Former President Gerald Ford and Republican Presidential nominee Vice President George Bush gave speeches. Former President Ford gave his first:

"Mr. Chairman, fellow Republican, my fellow Americans. Thank you for inviting me to speak here today. As is the case with every convention, we nominate a candidate to be our nominee for President of the United States. This convention is no exception, and this year we nominated a great candidate. George Bush is a great man and a great American who gave his country almost a half century of service. First as a military man, then a congressman, an ambassador to the UN, chairman of the Republican party, an ambassador to China, director of the CIA, Secretary of State, and when called to do so by the United States Senate, Vice President. This is a remarkable resume and these are great qualifications to have in a President. This is why today I am endorsing George Bush for President of the United States, and I pledge to him and to this convention that I will do everything in my power between now and election day to get him elected the next President. Tonight I also want to give my endorsement for Vice President to Former California Governor George Deukmejian. One thing that makes a good President is a good Vice President, and Governor Deukmejian will be a fine Vice President. I also want to use this opportunity to say that my thoughts and prayers are with my Vice President and friend Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy, and their family. I will always be grateful to Ron for agreeing to be my Vice President. We made a great team and history will remember Ronald Reagan as one of the best Vice Presidents this country ever had.

Eight years ago, my Presidency came to an end. Our economy was growing and America was a liked and respected leader around the world. Unfortunately, today that is not the case.... We need to get our economy growing again, and, especially in the post Cold War era, be an example and a leader in the world. George Bush has what it takes to do this, and if this is what you want for America, than vote for George Bush and George Deukmejian this November. Now, I'd like to introduce the next President of the United States, Vice President George Bush."

Vice President Bush, after being introduced by President Ford, gave his Acceptance Speech:

"Mr. Chairman. Fellow Delegates, fellow Citizens. I stand here today honored and will always be grateful to you for giving the nomination to be your President, and thank President Ford for your kind words and for all the opportunities he has given me over the years, and thank you for all you have done for America. History will remember you well and Barbara and I wish you and Mrs. Ford many years of happiness. I also want to thank Vice President Reagan for all he has done for my campaign and want him to know that he and his family are in my thoughts and prayers. He is a great man and a great American. Thank you also to Governor George Deukmejian for agreeing to be my running mate. I look forward to working with you over the next 3 months and look forward to working with you in the White House over the next four years. Finally I want to thank my campaign staff and give a special thanks to my family, most importantly, my wife Barbara for all they've done for me...

Our Country is the greatest country in the world and a land of many opportunities. However, while our country is still a great country, it is currently hurting. Our economy is stagnant, people are out of work, our people are divided, and our government is even more divided and gridlocked. Our country is in desperate need of healing. We need to unite our people by working together to get our economy moving again and to put people back to work, and make the final years of the 20th century the strongest years of the 20th century. I want a kinder, gentler nation, with a thousand points of light...

The world is also looking to America for leadership in the post Cold War era. We must show our allies that they have a friend in America, and friend that will do all it can to make the post war world safe and peaceful. We must also make clear to our enemies that we will be respected...

All of this and more can be done, but only if we work together... Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."

The Convention was well received, even some Democrats conceded that this convention was more organized than theirs that took place in New York. After he revealed his illness, the Reagans received outpouring support from across the country from people of all political affiliations. Former President Ford also received praise for his speech, as did Governor Deukmejian and Vice President Bush. George Bush also received a boost in the polls from the convention. He was now beating Governor Brown by a 54%-44% margin of victory.

 

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The Campaign through the month of September:

The campaign raged on through the month of September. The candidates hit the campaign hard, especially in the swing states, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, California, New Mexico, and Colorado.

At a campaign rally in California on September 1st, Governor Brown said of the Vice President that "He claims to be a candidate of unity, a candidate that's going to get the country moving again. The truth is, he's part of the problem. He's bought and paid for by the interests that have created this mess..."

George Bush, at a rally in Michigan on September 2nd, said of Jerry Brown that "He's an extremist. Extreme economically, socially, internationally, and otherwise. That doesn't make a good President. How is a man who can't unify his own party, unify the Country."


The polls showed Vice President Bush being correct about Jerry Brown being unable to unify his Party. 19% of Democrats, according to a September 2nd Gallup poll, were planning to vote for the Republican nominee in November, as opposed to only 4% of Republicans who planned to vote for the Democratic nominee. That same poll showed the Vice President beating the former Democratic governor by a margin 52-46%.

President Hart is interviewed about his role in the Campaign:

On September 7th, President Hart was interviewed by ABC news about the Presidential campaign and his role in it. The interviewer, Peter Jennings asked the President if he supported his party's nominee. The President responded by saying that "I do. We need to keep the White House and take back the congress." Jennings asked the President why he hadn't been on the campaign trail and the President responded by saying that "I have been. I've made appearances for numerous candidates across the country." Jennings followed up with "Why haven't you campaigned for Governor Brown?" The President said that the Brown campaign never asked him to. "Would you if they did Mr. President." "Of course I would Peter."

The President also was asked about the budget agreement that he and congress reached. He said that "well, we all agreed that we didn't want a fight over the budget and we certainly didn't want a shutdown. I was happy that the congress did not put Medicare on the table again, and that there wasn't a budget freeze. Millions of Americans were hit hard by the budget freeze of last year, this budget expands unemployment benefits for those who lost their jobs." The President's approval ratings stood at 41%.

 

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The Debates:

The first of two Presidential Debates took place on October 11th, 1992 in the Field House at Washington University in St Louis. The candidates were asked questions about both domestic and foreign policy. On taxes, Governor Brown called for a flat tax, except on corporations, who would see their taxes increase under the former Governor's plan. The Vice President rebutted by saying that raising taxes on corporations would only hurt corporations and hurt their ability to create jobs, which Bush said were desperately needed. On foreign policy, Vice President Bush said that the United States in a post Cold War era has an obligation to be a leader in the world to ensure Peace and must act when necessary, claiming that President Hart waited too long to intervene in Panama. The Vice President also said that the U.S. may have to intervene in the humanitarian crisis in Somalia if necessary. Governor Brown said the United States needs to intervene less and focus on the problems at home.

The Vice Presidential Debate between Reverend Jackson and Former Governor Deukmejian took place two days later in Atlanta Georgia. The debate took place for 90 minutes, and just like in the first Presidential debate, the candidates were asked questions about both foreign and domestic policy. The debate was pretty uneventful until Reverend Jackson was asked about his support of restitution for descendants of slaves, and if restitution would be a priority of a Brown administration. Jackson answered by saying that "I do still support restitution for descendants of slaves, and while it is not a top priority of our administration, I hope it is something we can eventually achieve." When asked if Governor Brown shared his views, Jackson said "I'm not sure, that's something you'd have to ask him."

The second Presidential debate that took place on October 15th in Richmond Virginia was a town hall format. With Reverend Jackson's remarks about restitution at the Vice Presidential debate, Governor Brown, at the start of the debate, was asked by many people, both for and against restitution, if he shared the views of his running mate and if this would be a priority of a Brown administration. Brown responded by saying that "It's something that I have to look into" and that "as of now it is not a priority of my administration." Vice President Bush responded by saying that "I do not support restitution. I understand why those who support it are in support of it, I would like to work towards strengthening race relations in our Country, but I do not feel restitution is the correct way to do it." The Vice President was also asked about how he was going to bring people together, and Bush responded by saying "I will sit down with leaders of both parties and we find common ground. Health Care reform was a perfect example of this. The President, myself, and members of congress agreed that Health care needed reform, but didn't agree on how to reform it. We then sat down, worked together, and passed reform that we could all agree on. That is how you bring people together, and that's how you get things done." Governor Brown also answered the question by saying that "I agree that we need to work together to solve problems. However, you also need to not compromise principle, and if elected, I pledge that I will not compromise my principles."


The Final Polls:

The final polls of the election were released on November 2nd, one day before the election. With Restitution now an issue in the race, Vice President Bush saw his poll numbers increase, he was now leading Governor Brown by 55-44%. The Vice President was leading in all of the swing states, including California. The Republicans were also set to make gains in congress as well, so election day was not going to be a good day for Democrats.

Election Day '92:

On November 3rd, 1992, Americans cast their vote for who they wanted to be the 42nd President of the United States. After the two prior Presidential elections being as close as they were, the American people overwhelmingly came together and voted for a change:

Vice President George HW Bush (R-TX)/ Former Governor C. George Deukmejian (R-CA): 465 Electoral Votes, 55.5% Popular Votes

Former Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown (D-CA)/ Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr. (D-SC): 73 Electoral Votes, 44% Popular Votes

Bush was declared the winner very early in the night. However, Governor Brown decided to officially concede the election an 8 Pm Pacific time at his campaign headquarters in Sacramento :

"Thank You. Thank you very much. Over the last year, we've fought a good fight to take our country back from the special interest. While I will continue that fight and urge all of you to continue to do so, I will not be able to fight on your behalf as President of the United States. I want to congratulate Vice President Bush and my successor George Deukmejian on their victory tonight. They ran a strong campaign, and I wish President Elect Bush and Vice President Elect Deukmejian all the best in governing our country over the next four years. I hope the President Elect can achieve his goal of unifying the country and hope that he will work with us in giving the power back to the people... I want to thank all of you who supported me and all those who worked and volunteered for my campaign, and I also want to thank Reverend Jackson for agreeing to be my running mate and for all he did on behalf of our campaign.... Thank you, and God Bless America."

Shortly after Brown conceded, President Elect George Bush, gave his acceptance Speech at his campaign headquarters in Houston Texas:

"Thank you. Thank you all very much. I just received a call from Governor Brown out in California. It was a very gracious call, and I want to thank him and his running mate reverend Jackson for a spirited campaign and wish them both all the best. I also received a call from President Gary Hart. The President assured me that there would be a smooth transition into office, and I look forward to meeting him in the coming days and working with him over the course of the next two months to bring about that transition. Tonight the American people spoke. They called for unity, a strong economy, and leadership, and I pledge to you tonight that I will do my very best over the course of these next four years to deliver on that.... I also want to take this time to thank my running mate, the next Vice President of the United States George Deukmejian for all he did on behalf of the campaign, I want to thank my campaign manager James Baker and all those who worked and volunteered for my campaign, as well as those who supported me, but most importantly, I want to thank my family, for their love and for all they've done for me over the years, especially my wife Barbara. I wouldn't have been elected President if not for them... I would also like to take this opportunity to reach out to those who voted for Governor Brown. I want to pledge to them that I will do my best to earn their trust and their support over these next four years.... Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."