President's Choice 1984

The 1984 United States presidential election was the 50th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1984. Republican nominee EEdward "Buddy" Crocket of Texas defeated incumbent Democratic President Frank Cassidy of Pennsylvania by a narrow margin of 308 electoral votes to Cassidy’s 230. Additionally, it was only the second time, and the first in nearly 100 years, that a Republican candidate defeated an incumbent Democrat.

Cassidy was initially popular, signing the Civil Rights Act of 1982 and the Social Security Protection Act of 1983. However, the American Steel merger and ensuing corruption scandal damaged his popularity, as did the South African government’s refusal to sell key computer chip components to the United States in the aftermath of the Tambian Crisis. Meanwhile, Cassidy’s staunch opposition to many “pork-barrel” schemes of Crocket spurred the oil millionaire and ex-Congressman to run for the Republican nomination. Cassidy trailed by wide margins in polls taken throughout the summer of 1984, but after his popular response to the 1984 Ohio River floods, Cassidy narrowed the gap in late August. After a strong performance in the presidential debate, the race became very close up until election day. Cassidy won a majority of the popular vote, but narrowly lost the election to Crocket. He was able to carry several Northeastern swing states such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, as well as a number of states in the South. However, narrow losses in Ohio, Crocket’s home state of Texas, and crucially, California, ultimately cost Cassidy the election. The race was too close to call on election night, with fewer than 5,000 votes separating the two candidates. It was only two weeks later that Crocket was officially declared the winner and Cassidy conceded.