Reagan , who had served as Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 , narrowly lost the 1976 Republican presidential primaries to incumbent President Gerald Ford . With the defeat of Ford by Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election , Reagan immediately became the front-runner for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination . A darling of the conservative movement , Reagan faced more moderate Republicans such as George H. W. Bush , Howard Baker , and Bob Dole in the 1980 Republican presidential primaries . After Bush won the Iowa caucuses , he became Reagan 's primary challenger , but Reagan won the New Hampshire primary and most of the following primaries , gaining an insurmountable delegate lead by the end of March 1980 . Ford was Reagan 's first choice for his running mate , but Reagan backed away from the idea out of the fear of a " copresidency " in which Ford would exercise an unusual degree of power . Reagan instead chose Bush , and the Reagan-Bush ticket was nominated at the 1980 Republican National Convention . Meanwhile , Carter won the Democratic nomination , defeating a primary challenge by Senator Ted Kennedy . Polls taken after the party conventions showed a tied race between Reagan and Carter , while independent candidate John B. Anderson had the support of many moderates
1980 Republican National Convention
1980 Republican National Convention
Presidency of Ronald Reagan