If Carter anticipated most of the major elements of what was to become the
Reagan agenda, why did he lose the election? No doubt Mr. Carter has though
of this often since 1980 and may still be at a loss to explain fully the reasons.

Clearly, it is easy to demonstrate, as was done in the last chapter, the frus-
tration, anxiety, and apprehension of the American public at the close of the
Carter administration; the lack of confidence in his administration's ability to
confront the issues of the day was evident. The economy was in a recession,
foreign policy setbacks were fresh in the minds of the public, and fears over
high interest rates, energy shortages, and so on worked against him. When the
hostages were seized by Iran, his popularity plummeted, it rose again for a
time, and then fell when the rescue attempt failed.

Still, Carter did manage to defeat the challenges from within his own party,
so there must be more to his decline and Reagan's rise than just the vague
feeling that the administration was not capable of governing the nation. The
public was well aware, even if it did not always articulate it, that the problems
facing the country were complex and not always of our own doing. Still, some-
one had to pay for our unhappiness, and that someone was Jimmy Carter who
became the lightning rod for all the ills that had befallen the nation. Yet, curi-
ously, according to the Gallup poll that asked those who voted for Reagan,
22% said they were dissatisfied with Carter, 21% said it was time for a change,
and only 12% said Reagan would make a better leader; moreover, only 17%
said they liked Reagan's economic policies. ¹

Mr. Reagan told the nation what it wanted to hear. His message was upbeat
and optimistic just as he himself had always been; it was not a phony stance
nor was it perceived as such. The public wanted hope, the restoration of pride
of country, and it wanted to dream. Reagan was determined to provide them
and set out on a course designed to harvest these underlying and often unspo-
ken yearnings.

He had a simple program, easily understood, and he surrounded it with one-
liners, anecdotes, quips, and self-deprecating humor. He seemed warm, friendly,
and trustworthy, a fellow who would be nice to know. It was the same image
he projected as a movie actor, and he learned how to make the best use of his
experience from that occupation. He was always prepared (with those 4 × 6
cards from which he read or that he used to remind him of the subject at hand),

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