I was politically active, aware, and THERE for Watergate...

[Honeycombe8]

12. I was around but young, so didn't recall that. Thanks. But Carter wasn't torpedoed.

If what you mean is that he was torpedoed in some unfair way. It was obvious that Carter was going to lose. Carter was well liked personally, but was immensely unpopular at the end because of the economy. His approval rating was a very low below-30.

It was all about the economy. You know the saying, "It's the economy, stupid." As a young person, buying a car or house or anything with financing was impossible at the time because interest rates were double digit. 15%, then 16%, then 18%. I swear I saw on the news that interest rates hit 22% for a short time. Can you imagine trying to afford a car with an 18% interest rate? The stock market had a huge decline, as well.

Inflation was double digit in the teens, too. I could literally see grocery prices rising on a weekly basis.

I was standing in front of the tv ironing, when I saw Reagan on tv giving a speech. I was very young, but when I saw and heard Reagan, I knew it was over for Carter. I was perplexed how Carter couldn't see what most Americans could see, and baffled that the Democratic Party was letting him be the nominee, when they surely knew that he was going to lose. (Ted Kennedy had challenged him to be the party's nominee.) But Carter was the nominee, and the rest, as they say, is history. Reagan won by an historical landslide, winning almost all states.