Ronald Reagans upcoming election in 1981 created an uproar of negative attitudes towards him, the following link is to an article called What Happened on Election Day? By Gil Troy who is a professor of history at McGill University and the author of "Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s. The article portrays many negative comments thrown at Reagan and his chance at Presidency.
The following quote is said by Coretta Scott King in November 1980, before the election; 'I am scared that if Ronald Reagan gets into office we are going to see more of the Klu Klux Klan and a resurgence of the Nazi Party.' This immediately provides the analogy of Reagan and Hitler, which is quite the comparison for a possible future President. This provides a huge hatred towards Reagan.
Another quotation is from Hamilton Jordon; 'The American People, are not going to elect a 70 year old right wing ex - movie actor to be President.' This gives the impression that people did not respect Reagans 'rags to riches' past or the fact that he was a very successful actor previously. This portrays how most people just did not want him as their President and did not want to give him a fair chance. This negative attitude was also shown by pollsters, who collected information to show this inevitable hatred. Pollsters in 1980 reported that, 'More voters held negative attitudes towards each Presidential candidate than in and campaign since.' To put this in perspective, this report of negative attitudes has not been beaten until the recent election in November 2016, this report has not been broken until one of the most hated people Donald Trump. However, he did leave Americans richer and safer after two terms as President, yet this could be because the previous President, Carter, was awful. Overall, Reagan comes across as one of the most hated Presidents.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/opinion/election-night-2016/the-example-of-ronald-reagan
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