[Vigilanteman]

It was in the crapper first two years of the Carter Administration (1977-1978) when it was down 20.5%. It recovered quite nicely in the next two years (1979-1980) when it gained 19%.

You can look it up here.

The point I was trying to make is not that the economy did well under Carter, of course it did not. The Dow got pulled along for the inflationary ride just as is happening now. Look at the chart.

A rising Dow is not necessarily an indicator of presidential popularity. It was up 15% in 1980 and Carter lost in a 44 state landslide. It was down 4% in 1984 and Reagan got re-elected in a 49 state landslide.

[SamAdams76]

I never tied the stock market to presidential popularity. There are other forces at work besides who sits in the White House!

I happen to be very bullish on the stock market because we are in a time of great innovation.

[Romulus]

Yeah, I think everybody understands that the stock market fluctuates. But for the Carter years as a whole, the Dow was -4%. That is a poor showing and there’s no way to sugarcoat it.