Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 1980. Republican nominee, former California governor Ronald Reagan, defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory. This was the second consecutive election in which an incumbent president was defeated, although Gerald Ford assumed the presidency after President Richard Nixon resigned and was not elected, as well as the first election since 1888 that saw the defeat of an incumbent Democratic president.
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American lawyer and prosecutor known for his role as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, when he assisted McCarthy's investigations of suspected communists. In the 1970s and during the 1980s, he became a prominent political fixer in New York City. He represented and mentored Donald Trump during Trump's early business career.
Kenneth Marc Duberstein was an American lobbyist who served as U.S. president Ronald Reagan's White House Chief of Staff from 1988 to 1989.
Paul Dominique Laxalt was an American attorney and politician who served as the 22nd governor of Nevada from 1967 to 1971 and a United States senator representing Nevada from 1974 until 1987. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of Ronald Reagan's closest friends in politics. After Reagan was elected president in 1980, many in the national press referred to Laxalt as "the first friend". He was the older brother of writer Robert Laxalt and maternal grandfather of Adam Laxalt, who served as the 33rd attorney general of Nevada from 2015 to 2019.
Mayer Jacob Hecht was an American Republican politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1983 to 1989, and as U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas from 1989 to 1993.
Benny Frank Barnes is an American real estate magnate, politician, and crisis manager, who formerly served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1965 to 1969 and the 36th Lieutenant Governor of Texas from January 21, 1969, to January 16, 1973, for two two-year terms. He was a vice-chair, as well as top fund-raiser, of John Kerry's presidential campaign. Barnes was also one of only eight persons who raised over $500,000 for Kerry.
Wallace Amos Jr. was an American television personality, businessman, and author. He was the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and was the host of the adult reading program Learn to Read.
The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group that advocates for conservative and Republican Party initiatives in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHaye and the Christian right, to "bring more focus and force to conservative advocacy". The membership list for September 2020 was later leaked, showing that members included prominent Republicans and conservatives. Members are instructed not to reveal their membership or even name the group.
A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be employed to write for weddings and other social occasions.
James Sun (Korean: 선우신; is an entrepreneur, television host, and public speaker. He is the owner of Dramabeans.com and Beautytap.com He is also the owner and cofounder of Devblock.net, a software agency focused on AI and digital transformation. He was the former CEO and Founder of Pirq.com, which was an integrated payment & loyalty application for small and medium sized businesses which was successfully acquired by one of the largest payment processing companies, iPayment, in the U.S. This application has been deployed to over 10,000 merchants through a successful integration with iPayment. James was the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Products for iPayment for 2.5 years where he launched new payment integrations, technology, and products through a distribution to 120K small business merchant accounts. During his career, James worked at Intel Corporation as a database programmer and Deloitte Consulting as a management consultant for several Fortune 500 clients including Honeywell, Microsoft, Daimler Chrysler, and Boeing.
Nina Jane Easton is an American author, journalist, TV commentator, entrepreneur, and film producer. In 2016, she co-founded SellersEaston Media, a private-client storytelling service that chronicles the legacies and impact of leaders in business, public service, and philanthropy. A former senior editor and award-winning columnist for Fortune Magazine, she chaired Fortune Most Powerful Women International, with live events in Asia, Europe, Canada, and the U.S., and she co-chaired the Fortune Global Forum, bringing together top business and government leaders from around the world. At the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), she founded and hosts a live event series on global affairs called "Smart Women Smart Power." She is a frequent political analyst on television and was a 2012 fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Bernard Lawrence Madoff was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange. Madoff's firm had two basic units: a stock brokerage and an asset management business; the Ponzi scheme was centered in the asset management business.
Anne Levy Wexler was an influential American Democratic political consultant, public policy advisor, and later the first woman to head a leading lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.
Stephen Mark Studdert is a geopolitical strategist and international problem solver. He served on the White House staff as Advisor to United States presidents George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford and had special assignments in the Clinton, George W Bush, and Trump administrations.
The Economic Club of New York is a U.S. nonprofit and non-partisan membership organization dedicated to promoting the study and discussion of social, economic and political questions.
Mari Maseng Will is a Republican adviser who has worked for President Ronald Reagan, Senator Robert Dole and Governor Rick Perry. She was also an adviser to Scott Walker's presidential campaign and Ted Cruz’s and Tim Scott’s presidential campaigns.
Charls Edward Walker was Under Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1969 to 1972, and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in 1973 under John Connally.
Margot E. Machol is an American author and former United States government official. She is author of Raising an Entrepreneur: 10 Rules for Nurturing Risk Takers, Problem Solvers, and Change Makers. She is also a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and a former chief-of-staff of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers.
John Dwyer Heubusch is an American political and private-sector executive and author, best known for his current work directing the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Simi Valley, California, overseeing the legacy of the 40th President of the United States. The Reagan Foundation funds the permanent Reagan Museum and the activities of the Reagan Presidential Library, including presidential primary debates, a speaker's program featuring world leaders and national political figures and youth education, as well as the Reagan Institute located in Washington, D.C. Heubusch manages an organization with assets of $400 million and an endowment that has grown to over $250 million.
Washington Speakers Bureau (WSB) is a privately held speakers agency founded in 1980 and headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The company was founded in 1980 by Bernie Swain, Paula Swain, and Harry Rhoads, Jr. In 2000, the company was acquired by Omnicom Group but continues to run as an independent business within Omnicom's diversified-services division.
