Presidency of Walter Mondale (America Needs A Change)

Walter Mondale's tenure as the 41st president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1985, and ended on January 20, 1993. Mondale, a Democrat from Minnesota, took office following a narrow victory over incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. Four years later, in 1988, he defeated former Republican vice president George Bush to win re-election in a landslide. Mondale was succeeded by TBD. Mondale's win in 1984 resulted from a gradual movement away from the conservative right in American politics, including a loss in confidence in Reaganomics and peace through strength, both were large policies of the Reagan administration.

International affairs proved major in the Mondale presidency, he would handle easing tensions with the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Having supported the nuclear freeze movements, Mondale would enter negotiations with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to work towards ending nuclear development in September of 1985. Mondale would oversee the signing of the Nuclear Freeze treaties in early 1986. Mondale would send support to the Contras in Nicuragua in close following of the Boland Amendment. In his second term, Mondale successfully pushed for the reunification of Germany under Chancellor Helmut Kohl after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Mondale would also lead over the Kuwait Crisis in 1990, in which Iraq invaded Kuwait and a request for a UN response was denied by Mondale due to America carrying the majority of the burden. Mondale also signed the North American Free Trade Agreement which created a trilateral trade bloc consisting of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Domestically, being faced with a large federal budget deficit, Mondale would raise taxes on wealthy Americans and end loopholes by signing the Fair Share Act in 1986. The Mondale presidency also saw a reduction in federal spending, particularly in the defense budget. He would also put a heavy focus on education, domestic programs, and healthcare, using the money taken from the defense budget towards domestic programs and giving more money to public schools. Mondale would also sign the Assault Rifle ban in response to the rise in crime under the Reagan administration. The Mondale administration would mark the first time the government responded to the AIDS Crisis, with the Department of Health and Human Services including HIV in its list of “communicable diseases of public health significance” in 1987. Mondale would also begin research into HIV and AIDS in 1987. Mondale would appoint three Supreme Court justices, Amalya Kearse, Gilbert S. Merritt, Jr., and George J. Mitchell.

Mondale left office in 1993 with a 51% approval rating and went on to campaign for Vice President Geraldine Ferraro in the 1992 presidential election. Historians tend to rank Mondale as an average president.

1984 election
Having served as vice president under Jimmy Carter, Mondale ran for the nomination in the 1984 Democratic primaries. His main opponents were Jesse Jackson and Gary Hart. Mondale was considered the front-runner for the nomination, and while Hart won the New Hampshire primaries, Mondale successfully came back after using the Wendy's slogan "Where's the beef?" to describe Hart's policies as lacking in depth. Jackson, widely regarded as the first serious African-American candidate for president, held on longer, but Mondale gained the nomination with the majority of delegates.