Reagan's Victory

"Busch tells an important story here about what he calls 'the Earthquake of 1980.' Well-organized, well-paced, and well-argued, this is a first-rate political history."--Gil Troy, author of Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s

"A new series needs a worthy inauguration. The University Press of Kansas has provided the former in its series on crucial elections. Andrew Busch has provided the latter with Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right. Busch gathers all the elements of that sour, unpredictable, bubbling, confused, but ultimately iconic affair: the issue context, the cast of contenders, the campaign dynamic, and a view of the aftermath. And he ties them together with a focus on crisis and renewal, giving the 1980 election its claims on political consequence--and on our attention."--Byron E. Shafer, author of The Two Majorities and the Puzzle of Modern American Politics

"A meticulous, almost surgical, analysis of the 1980 election."--Burton I. Kaufman, author of The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr..

"Conservative domination of American life may or may not be ending, but among some circles, nostalgia for Ronald Reagan will likely linger. Busch's compact, celebratory account reminds readers how the Right came to power in the first place."--The Historian

"A very good, comprehensive, useful book on the 1980 election."--Reviews in American History

"The 1980 election remade not only American politics and American government, but America itself. That is Andrew Busch's striking argument. And his graceful narrative does a fine job of telling us just how it happened."--Claremont Review of Books

"An illuminating investigation of this key contest, which brought Reagan and the Republican Party's conservative wing to power. Busch offers an admiring but fair appraisal of Reagan's victory over a hapless Jimmy Carter. . . . [He] succeeds admirably in providing an election analysis that is concise and informative."--ForeWord Magazine

"An exciting new review of America's march into the new age of Ronald Reagan."--Washington Times