Ronald Reagan lured many Democrat voters away from their party for several reasons. First, he was seen as a much stronger leader than Jimmy Carter. The Iran hostage crisis had proved to many that Carter was weak and unwilling to defend American interests abroad. Many longed for a stronger President and saw Ronald Reagan as the answer. The release of the hostages within minutes of Reagan’s inauguration proved that, at least in the eyes of America’s enemies, Reagan would make the same mistakes that Carter did.

Reagan also benefited from growing dissatisfaction among the old party faithful of the Democratic Party. Many white, blue collar working men felt that their party had left them behind in courting special interest groups, radical liberals, and minorities. They felt that their party no longer represented them and saw Reagan as an alternative to the ever liberalizing party line of the Democratic party. Reagan appealed more to their conservative beliefs on social issues, so he enjoyed widespread support among them. So many Democrats abandoned their party in favor of Reagan in the 1980 and 1984 that a new term, Reagan Democrats, was coined to describe them.

Some voted for Reagan fearing that Carter would lead them towards yet more inflation, economic stagnation, soaring oil prices. After being elected Reagan was, in fact, able to turn around the economy by reducing taxes. This pulled the country out of economic recession and ensured even more support for Reagan in the 1984 election. It also ensured that the country chose his Vice President, HW Bush, to succeed him as President in 1988, believing that the economic growth and prosperity would continue under his leadership.

Of course, Reagan could count on the Republican party faithful, social conservatives, and economic libertarians to vote for him in his election against the liberal Jimmy Carter in 1980. The fact that he implemented to many of the reforms he had promised them ensured that they came out in even larger numbers to support him in the 1984 election. Again, most of these faithful supporters passed their support to HW Bush in 1988 believing he would lead the country down the same path.

These and other factors helped Reagan gain support across broad sections of the electorate, but perhaps the biggest reason so many people voted for Reagan was his personality. He offered a vision for the United States, much like President Kennedy had done twenty years previously. He was optimistic about the future of American and was able to communicate that optimism to the American people. As The Great Communicator, he was able to clearly articulate his vision for a better, more successful future and many people responded to that vision.