In the 1980 election, Republican nominee Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter, resulting in 12 years of continuous Republican presidency, producing a change in economic policies and a much more favorable environment for stocks. From January of 1965 through December of 1981, the annual S&P 500 price return was 2.2%. From January of 1982 through June of 2024, the annualized S&P 500 price return was 9.4%. The first period was a 17-year bear market. During Reagan’s eight years, the annualized price return was 11.4%. The second period was a 42 ½ year bull market. In the first period, four presidents, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter, presided over the bear market. In the bull market period, there were seven presidents: Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden. Presidents from both parties held office in the bear and bull markets. In the first period, the annual inflation rate rose from 1.6% to 10.3%, averaging 7.0%. In the second period, inflation fell from 10.3% to 3.2%, averaging 2.9%. In the first period, tax rates and regulations increased. In the second, tax rates remained low, and on average, regulations were less aggressive than in the first period. Ronald Reagan’s economic policies were the foundation for the bull market, while Johnson’s and Nixon’s policies sustained the bear market.