In November 1982, in former President Ronald Reagan’s first midterm election, House Republicans lost 26 seats, effectively ending the conservative Republican-Democratic coalition that had passed the Reagan tax cuts in 1981. The economy was still mired in a recession in 1982, as the Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy, and the election pundits were quick to declare Reaganomics a failure.

The New York Times said the “Reagan Revolution has stalled,” and political observers predicted that the House losses were going to put a check on Reagan’s policies.