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In this episode we look back at the end of two campaigns in 1980, the Democratic race between Senator Ted Kennedy and President Jimmy Carter and then the end of the general election between Carter and former California Governor Ronald Reagan.  It was one of the most exciting races in modern American history and it was, almost until the end, much closer than history has portrayed it. 

The Democratic race was a bitter fight and that bitterness would linger for decades after the race was over. As we show you in this episode Ted Kennedy would, after delivering his famous concession speech, stall coming to the hall to congratulate Carter, leaving the convention organizers stuck for nearly a half hour, stalling the dropping of the gavel in order to get, what is commonly called in the political world, the money shot, of Ted Kennedy and Jimmy Carter together on the podium to present a unified message for the country. They finally got the picture but John Chancellor of NBC News summed up the obvious, "Ted Kennedy is there but he didn't look happy about it" 

Then we move on to the closing days of the race. Jimmy Carter was actually still in a close race with Ronald Reagan. It took literally into the final days for an agreement to be struck for a the one and only debate between the two men to occur. It was then in the final minutes of that debate that Ronald Reagan asked the historic question that would undo the Carter campaign, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" It resonated with the public and with hostages in Iran, an economy struggling, and inflation high, the Carter campaign collapsed. 

In 1980, Ronald Reagan would be elected the 40th President of the United States of America, and George Bush would be his Vice President. 

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