‘The labor movement should be treated as a partner, not a special interest’ - organized labor and the 1980 U.S. Presidential election

Abstract

ABSTRACT The 1980 election victory of Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter marked a pivotal moment in U.S. labor history, yet the specific role organized labor played in the contest remains underexplored. Existing scholarship often emphasizes the rise of social and economic conservatism, focusing on the decline of the New Deal coalition and the emergence of the New Right. In this narrative, labor leaders are typically portrayed as resistant to the new economic realities brought about by the stagflation of the 1970s, while rank-and-file members are depicted as disillusioned middle-class voters motivated primarily by social issues. This article draws on extensive archival research from the Carter and Reagan Presidential Libraries to challenge the view that organized labor was merely a declining special interest group within the Democratic coalition with minimal influence on the 1980 election. It argues that labor leaders such as Lane Kirkland and Douglas Fraser made efforts to forge a new economic structure for the nation, which included a greater role for organized labor and government in economic management. However, Carter’s unpopular austerity measures and neglect of labor issues allowed the Reagan campaign to attract support from rank-and-file members through traditionally Democratic selling points of economic prosperity and full employment.