Ronald Reagan had the position of president.
Ronald Reagan . He twice ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency in 1968 and 1976 ; four years later , he easily won the nomination outright , becoming the oldest elected U.S. president up to that time , defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980 . Entering the presidency in 1981 , Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives . An icon among Republicans , he is viewed favorably in historian rankings of U.S. presidents , and his tenure constituted a realignment toward conservative policies in the U.S.