One score and seven years ago...

From here:

Reagan Easily Beats Carter; Republicans Gain in Congress
By HEDRICK SMITH

Published: November 5, 1980

Ronald Wilson Reagan, riding a tide of economic discontent against Jimmy Carter and promising ''to put America back to work again,'' was elected the nation's 40th President yesterday with a sweep of surprising victories in the East, South and the crucial battlegrounds of the Middle West.

At 69 years of age, the former California Governor became the oldest person ever elected to the White House. He built a stunning electoral landslide by taking away Mr. Carter's Southern base, smashing his expected strength in the East, and taking command of the Middle West, which both sides had designated as the main testing ground. The entire West was his, as expected.

Mr. Carter, who labored hard for a comeback re-election victory similar to that of Harry S. Truman in 1948, instead became the first elected incumbent President since Herbert Hoover in 1932 to go down to defeat at the polls.

Concession by Carter

Despite pre-election polls that had forecast a fairly close election, the rout was so pervasive and so quickly apparent that Mr. Carter made the earliest concession statement of a major Presidential candidate since 1904 when Alton B. Parker bowed to Theodore Roosevelt.

At 9:50 P.M., Mr. Carter appeared with his wife, Rosalynn, before supporters at the ballroom of the Sheraton Washington Hotel and disclosed that an hour earlier he had telephoned Mr. Reagan to concede and to pledge cooperation for the transition to new leadership.

''The people of the United States have made their choice and, of course, I accept that decision,'' he said. ''I can't stand here tonight and say it doesn't hurt.''

At a celebration in the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, Mr. Reagan claimed his victory and said: ''There's never been a more humbling moment in my life. I give you my sacred oath that I will do my utmost to justify your faith.''

And the rest, shall we say, is histoire.