In his masterful two-book history of Ronald Reagan and his times, titled The Age of Reagan, Steven Hayward wrote of the dollar’s notable move upward on November 5, 1980, the day after Reagan won the presidency in landslide fashion. The dollar’s upward tick was further confirmation of what had taken place throughout much of 1980.
For background, a routine line in Reagan’s campaign speeches went like this: “No nation in history has ever survived fiat money, money that did not have a precious metal backing.” The latter rates prominent mention simply because the dollar surged upward from all-time lows after Reagan won the New Hampshire primary, and continued to rise right through his election. It seems currency markets priced in a Reagan victory more quickly than the polls did.
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