1980 CAMPAIGN AND INAUGURAL

During the summer and fall of 1980, there were many problems facing our nation: the tragic neglect of our military establishment, high unemployment and an ailing economy, the continuing expansion of Communism abroad, the taking of the hostages in Iran. But to me none was more serious than the fact America had lost faith in itself. We were told we would have to lower our expectations; America would never again be as prosperous or have as bright a future as it once had. Well, I disagreed with that.

I believed - and I intended to make it a theme of my campaign - that America's greatest years were ahead of it, that we had to look at the things that had made it the greatest, richest, and most progressive country on earth in the first place, decide what had gone wrong, and then put it back on course. I tried to focus the campaign on the things that had gone wrong in America during the previous four years, especially regarding the economy, and to present my vision of how, working together, we as a people could get our country back on track again and advance it toward the fulfillment of its destiny. Carter took a low road of personal attacks on my character. I think the voters saw through these false and often mean-spirited personal attacks; I do know that they made me even more anxious to beat him. Nothing has ever aroused me more than competing against someone who I think isn't fighting fairly.

During the 1976 campaign, Carter had come up with what he called the "misery index" to attack Gerald Ford. He'd added together the rates of inflation and unemployment (it had come to something like twelve percent), and claimed no man responsible for giving the country a misery index that high had a right to even ask to be president. Well, he didn't mention the misery index in 1980, probably because it was then more than twenty percent.

As the campaign for the presidency got under way late that summer in 1980, for a second year in a row Americans were trying to cope with the ruthless effects of double-digit inflation. It was eating away at their savings, their paychecks, and their way of life like a horde of locusts. Interest rates were over fifteen percent, depriving millions of American families of a chance to buy a home. In countless communities, the unemployment rate, like inflation and interest rates, was in double digits. Militarily, our nation was seriously in danger of falling behind the Soviet Union at a time a former naval officer was holding the watch as Commander in Chief. The Soviets were modernizing their fleet, ground, and air forces on a massive scale. Yet on any given day, I was told as many as half the ships in our navy couldn't leave port because of a lack of spare parts or crew. Half our military aircraft couldn't fly for lack of spare parts; the overwhelming majority of our military enlisted personnel were high school dropouts.

Abroad, the Soviet Union was engaged in a brutal war in Afghanistan and Communism was extending its tentacles deep into Central America and Africa. In Iran, more than fifty Americans had been held captive for almost a year under the regime of a vicious religious despot who had risen to power while a loyal ally of the United States had been forced from power and our country had done nothing to help him. I made a decision not to criticize President Carter regarding Iran, I knew anything I might say could interfere with efforts to free the hostages. Being governor had taught me that sometimes there are things going on that only the top person in the government knows about, and I thought it was best for me to keep quiet. But I wasn't happy with the events in Iran. Our government's decision to stand piously by while the Shah was forced from office led to the establishment of a despotic regime in Teheran that was far more evil and far more tyrannical than the one it replaced. And, as I was to learn through personal experience, it left a legacy of problems that would haunt our country for years to come.

When Carter finally agreed to a debate, the date was set for October 28, one week before the election, and we were delighted. The debate went well for me and may have turned on only four little words. They popped out of my mouth after Carter claimed that I had once opposed Medicare benefits for Social Security recipients. It wasn't true and I said so: "There you go again " I think there was some pent-up anger in me over Carter's claims that I was a racist and warmonger. Just as he'd distorted my view on states' rights and arms control, he had distorted it regarding Medicare, and my response just burst out of me spontaneously. The audience loved it and I think Carter added to the impact of the words by looking a little sheepish on the television screen.

To me, the finish of the debate was probably more significant: In my closing statement, I asked people if they thought they were better off now than they had been four years earlier. If they were, I said they should vote for my opponent; if not, I said I thought they'd agree with me that it was time for a change. After a final week of campaigning, Nancy and I returned to Los Angeles for election day and to await the people's decision. Late that afternoon, I was in the shower, getting cleaned up for the evening, when Nancy, who'd already taken her bath and was wrapped in a towel, came into the bathroom and shouted above the drizzle of the shower water that I was wanted on the telephone. "It's Jimmy Carter," she said.

I turned off the water and got out of the shower and dried off a little, then grabbed an extension phone in the bathroom while Nancy stood beside me. After listening for a few minutes, I said, "Thank you, Mr. President." Then I hung up the phone and looked at Nancy and said, "He conceded. He said he wanted to congratulate me." Instinctively, she gave me a big hug and I hugged her. The polls in California wouldn't even close for another two hours. But standing in my bathroom with a towel wrapped around me, my hair dripping with water, I had just learned I was going to be the fortieth president of the United States.

Inauguration

For the first time, the inauguration was being held on the West Side of the Capitol. When we arrived, tens of thousands of people were already waiting on the Capitol grounds and streaming down the Mall in a great river of humanity. George Bush was sworn in as vice president and then it was my turn. As I took my place, the sun burst through the clouds in an explosion of warmth and light. I felt its heat on my face as I took the oath of office with my hand on my mother's Bible opened to the seventh chapter, fourteenth verse of Second Chronicles:

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Inaugural Address 1981