Presidency of Jimmy Carter taken on the eve of the election showed a close race, Reagan won a decisive victory. In polls of historians and political scientists, Carter is usually ranked as a below-average president. Carter was elected as the Governor of Georgia in 1970, and during his four years in office he earned a reputation as a progressive, racially moderate Southern governor. Observing George McGovern's success in the 1972 Democratic primaries, Carter came to believe that he could win the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination by running as an outsider unconnected to establishment politicians in Washington, D.C. Despite scant backing from party leaders, McGovern
Jimmy Carter draft. His campaign manager and former appointments secretary, Timothy Kraft, stepped down some five weeks before the general election amid what turned out to have been an uncorroborated allegation of cocaine use. On October 28, Carter and Reagan participated in the sole presidential debate of the election cycle. Though initially trailing Carter by several points, Reagan experienced a surge in polling following the debate. Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan in a landslide, and the Senate went Republican for the first time since 1952. In his concession speech, Carter admitted that he was hurt by the outcome of the election