George H. W. Bush

== 1980 presidential election ==
{{Further|Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign|1980 Republican Party presidential primaries|George H. W. Bush 1980 presidential campaign}}

Bush's tenure at the CIA ended after Carter narrowly defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election. Out of public office for the first time since the 1960s, Bush became chairman on the executive committee of the [[First International Bank]] in Houston.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/timeline.php?id=41 |access-date=July 30, 2016 |publisher=Presidential Timeline of the Twentieth Century |title=George H. W. Bush |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503064357/http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/timeline.php?id=41 |archive-date=May 3, 2008}}</ref> He also spent a year as a part-time professor of Administrative Science at Rice University's [[Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business|Jones School of Business]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kiev.usembassy.gov/files/georgehwbush_speech_May04_eng.html |title=President George H. W. Bush: Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University |date=May 21, 2004 |access-date=March 29, 2008 |publisher=Ukrainian Embassy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080519115716/http://kiev.usembassy.gov/files/georgehwbush_speech_May04_eng.html |archive-date=May 19, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> continued his membership in the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], and joined the [[Trilateral Commission]]. Meanwhile, he began to lay the groundwork for [[George H. W. Bush 1980 presidential campaign|his candidacy]] in the [[1980 Republican Party presidential primaries]].{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=209–210}} In the 1980 Republican primary campaign, Bush faced Ronald Reagan, who was widely regarded as the front-runner, as well as other contenders like Senator Bob Dole, Senator [[Howard Baker]], Texas Governor [[John Connally]], Congressman [[Phil Crane]], and Congressman [[John B. Anderson]].{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=211, 214–215}}

[[File:Reagan-Bush Nashua 1980 debate.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Ronald Reagan, moderator Jon Breen, and Bush participate in the Nashua, New Hampshire, presidential debate, 1980]]

Bush's campaign cast him as a youthful, "thinking man's candidate" who would emulate the pragmatic conservatism of President Eisenhower.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=215–217}} Amid the [[Soviet–Afghan War]], which brought an end to a period of détente, and the [[Iran hostage crisis]], in which 52 Americans were taken hostage, the campaign highlighted Bush's foreign policy experience.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=221–222}} At the outset of the race, Bush focused heavily on winning the January 21 [[Iowa caucuses]], making 31 visits to the state.<ref>{{cite news |last=Noble |first=Jason |date=November 30, 2018 |title=George H.W. Bush in Iowa: The family campaign |url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/11/30/george-bush-died-iowa-caucuses-obituary/545814002/ |work=[[The Des Moines Register]] |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> He won a close victory in Iowa with 31.5% to Reagan's 29.4%. After the win, Bush stated that his campaign was full of momentum, or "[[the Big Mo]]",<ref>{{cite news |last=Quinn |first=Ken |date=January 18, 2004 |title=Caucus-goers gave Bush 'Big Mo' |page=A15 |work=Des Moines Register |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15854185/caucusgoers_gave_bush_big_mo/ | via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 1, 2018}} {{free access}}</ref> and Reagan reorganized his campaign.<ref name="senate" /> Partly in response to the Bush campaign's frequent questioning of Reagan's age (Reagan turned 69 in 1980), the Reagan campaign stepped up attacks on Bush, painting him as an elitist who was not truly committed to conservatism.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=228–229}} Prior to the [[New Hampshire primary]], Bush and Reagan agreed to a two-person debate, organized by ''[[The Nashua Telegraph]]'' but paid for by the Reagan campaign.<ref name="senate" />

Days before the debate, Reagan announced that he would invite four other candidates to the debate; Bush, who had hoped that the one-on-one debate would allow him to emerge as the main alternative to Reagan in the primaries, refused to debate the other candidates. All six candidates took the stage, but Bush refused to speak in the presence of the other candidates. Ultimately, the other four candidates left the stage, and the debate continued, but Bush's refusal to debate anyone other than Reagan badly damaged his campaign in New Hampshire.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=230–233}} He decisively lost New Hampshire's primary to Reagan, winning just 23 percent of the vote.<ref name="senate" /> Bush revitalized his campaign with a victory in Massachusetts but lost the next several primaries. As Reagan built up a commanding delegate lead, Bush refused to end his campaign, but the other candidates dropped out of the race.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=233–235}} Criticizing his more conservative rival's policy proposals, Bush famously labeled Reagan's [[supply-side economics|supply side]]–influenced plans for massive tax cuts as "[[Reaganomics|voodoo economics]]".<ref>{{cite news |last=Neikirk |first=William R. |date=March 13, 1988 |title=Bush conjures up voodoo economics |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-03-13-8802290552-story.html |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> Though he favored lower taxes, Bush feared that dramatic reductions in taxation would lead to deficits and, in turn, cause inflation.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=211–212}}

[[File:ElectoralCollege1980.svg|right|thumb|The Reagan–Bush ticket won the 1980 presidential election with 50.7% of the popular vote and a large majority of the electoral vote.|upright=1.22]]

After Reagan clinched a majority of delegates in late May, Bush reluctantly dropped out of the race.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=236–238}} At the [[1980 Republican National Convention]], Reagan made the last-minute decision to select Bush as his vice presidential nominee after negotiations with Ford regarding a Reagan–Ford ticket collapsed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cannon |first1=Lou |last2=Broder |first2=David S. |date=July 17, 1980 |title=Reagan Nominated, Picks Bush |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/07/17/reagan-nominated-picks-bush/a1badab9-a12b-4e7f-86a2-1bde75e03346/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> Though Reagan had resented many of the Bush campaign's attacks during the primary campaign, and several conservative leaders had actively opposed Bush's nomination, Reagan ultimately decided that Bush's popularity with moderate Republicans made him the best and safest pick. Bush, who had believed his political career might be over following the primaries, eagerly accepted the position and threw himself into campaigning for the Reagan–Bush ticket.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=242–255}} The 1980 general election campaign between Reagan and Carter was conducted amid a multitude of domestic concerns and the ongoing Iran hostage crisis, and Reagan sought to focus the race on Carter's handling of the economy.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|pp=23–27}} Though the race was widely regarded as a close contest for most of the campaign, Reagan ultimately won over the large majority of undecided voters.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|pp=27–28}} Reagan took 50.7 percent of the popular vote and 489 of the 538 electoral votes, while Carter won 41% of the popular vote and John Anderson, running as an independent candidate, won 6.6% of the popular vote.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=149–151}}