Editing John B. Anderson (section)

=== Early campaign ===

[[File:Republican Debate with Ronald Reagan, Philip Crane, George Bush and John Anderson with moderator Eric Sevareid in Chicago, Illinois.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Anderson (far right) in a [[League of Women Voters]]-sponsored presidential forum alongside fellow Republican candidates, March 13, 1980]]

In 1978, Anderson formed a presidential campaign [[exploratory committee]],<ref>Campaign Jon Moore, ed., The Campaign for President: 1980 in Retrospect (Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1981), p. 5</ref> finding little public or media interest. In late April 1979, Anderson made the decision to enter the [[Republican Party presidential primaries, 1980|Republican primary]], joining a field that included [[Ronald Reagan]], [[Bob Dole]], [[John Connally]], [[Howard Baker]], [[George H. W. Bush]], and the [[perennial candidate]] [[Harold Stassen]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1979/07/29/page/J12/article/from-back-in-the-pack-john-anderson-begins-to-move | title = From back in the pack John Anderson begins to move (July 29, 1979) | access-date = January 18, 2017}}</ref> Within the last weeks of 1979, Anderson introduced his signature campaign proposal, advocating that a 50-cent a gallon [[Fuel taxes in the United States|gas tax]] be enacted with a corresponding 50% reduction in [[Social Security (United States)#Taxation|Social Security taxes]].<ref>CBS Evening News, December 10, 1979; NBC Nightly News, December 13, 1979.</ref> Anderson built [[Republican Party presidential primaries, 1980|state campaigns]] in four targeted states—[[New Hampshire primary|New Hampshire]], [[Massachusetts]], [[Illinois]], and [[Wisconsin]].<ref name="CTobit"/> He won some political support among Republicans, picking up endorsements along the way that helped legitimize him in the race.<ref name="WPobit">{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-b-anderson-fiery-third-party-candidate-in-1980-presidential-race-dies-at-95/2017/12/04/dd25dfda-d92a-11e7-b1a8-62589434a581_story.html | title = John B. Anderson, fiery third-party candidate in 1980 presidential race, dies at 95 | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | date = December 4, 2017 | access-date = December 4, 2017}}</ref> He began to build support among media elites, who appreciated his articulateness, straightforward manner, moderate positions, and his refusal to walk down the conservative path that all of the other Republicans were traveling.{{sfn|Mason|2011| pp = 53–119}}

Anderson often referred to his candidacy as "a campaign of ideas". He supported tax credits for businesses' research-and-development budgets, which he believed would increase American productivity; he also supported increasing funding for research at universities. He supported lowering interest rates, antitrust action, conservation, environmental protection and limiting oil companies from absorbing small businesses through legislation. He opposed Ronald Reagan's proposal to cut taxes broadly, which he feared would increase the [[National debt of the United States|national debt]] and the inflation rate (which was very high at the time of the campaign), believing it to be "[[Calvin Coolidge|Coolidge]]-era economics".<ref name="auto"/> He also supported a [[Fuel taxes in the United States|tax on gasoline]] to reduce dependence on foreign oil.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.4president.org/brochures/andersonlucey1980brochure.htm | title = John Anderson for President 1980 Campaign Brochure | website = www.4president.org | access-date = January 30, 2014 | archive-date = December 4, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171204070103/http://www.4president.org/brochures/andersonlucey1980brochure.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> He supported the [[Equal Rights Amendment]], [[LGBT rights in the United States|gay rights]] and [[Abortion in the United States|abortion rights]] generally; he also touted his perfect record of having supported all civil rights legislation since 1960. He opposed the requirement for registration for the [[Conscription in the United States|military draft]], which Jimmy Carter had reinstated. This made him appealing to many liberal college students who were dissatisfied with Carter.<ref>''A Campaign of Ideas: The 1980 Anderson/Lucey Platform (Contributions in American Studies)'' by Clifford W Brown Jr. (Author), Robert J. Walker (Author) {{ISBN|978-0313245350}}</ref> However, he also voiced support for a strong, flexible military and support for [[NATO]] against the [[USSR]], as well as several other positions associated with Republicans, including deregulation of some industries such as natural gas and oil prices, and a balanced budget to be achieved mainly by reductions in government spending.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1980/02/john-anderson-the-nice-guy-syndrome/306028/ | title = John Anderson: The Nice Guy Syndrome | first = Walter | last = Shapiro | magazine = [[The Atlantic]] | date = February 1980}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0514/051419.html|title=John Anderson: the independent and issues|magazine=Christian Science Monitor }}</ref>