We have lived and are still living through tumultuous times. The America we inhabit today in many ways bears scant resemblance to the post-World War II world into which we were born.

      So much has changed that it’s hard to fully grasp, let alone place it in any kind of order. But we have had a go at it. Here is our list, in ascending order, of the ten biggest changes in American life our generation has seen.

      What did we get wrong?

     When we first started this site, the idea was to make it a conversation among an alert group of people who have shared some wild times and experiences. And we have succeeded in giving voice to a lot of interesting folks with a lot of interesting things to say about Our Generation—where we’ve been and where we are. We could use more perspectives. Please email us at WritingAboutOurGeneration@gmail.com with your ideas.

     However, to our disappointment, we have not yet succeeded in getting a much of a dialogue going. Some of this was the fault of the clunky, restrictive commenting software that came with this Squarespace blog.

     So we have switched. . . .

     In reverse order of terribleness: 

7.  Reagan defeats Mondale 1984. President Ronald Reagan seemed astoundingly lucky. He had survived a deep recession, which knocked out inflation, and then benefited from a booming economy. Walter Mondale, a fine senator, seemed miscast as a presidential candidate and hurt by having served as vice president in the seemingly mostly unsuccessful Carter administration. The result of this election was not surprising.

6.  Nixon defeats Humphrey 1968. Richard Nixon’s awfulness was manifest. Nonetheless, it was difficult to get too upset over this election because we were so unexcited about the guy who lost: Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who, while a committed liberal, proved unwilling to break with President Lyndon Johnson on the Vietnam War.

5. Reagan defeats Carter 1980 . . . .

      Some months ago, we ranked the presidential elections of our lifetime in order of how consequential we believe they were or would prove to be—consequential in a good or bad way. For that list, with explanations, click here. Here is the election we selected back then as the most consequential.

#1  2024  Trump versus Harris. This is the only election on this list upon which we do not yet have the benefit of hindsight. And it must be kept in mind that it is always easy to see the current election as among the most consequential ever. However, we do have reason to believe that Trump’s far-right backers might be less ineffectual this time—as evidenced by their “Project 2025.”  And he, or his family–as evidenced by the 2021 attack on the Capitol–might, if they gain power, never agree to peacefully surrender it. 

      And the short version of the other rankings: #20 1976 Carter defeats Ford. #19 2012 Obama defeats Romney. #18 1956 Eisenhower defeats Stevenson. #17 1992 Clinton defeats Bush. #16 1948 Truman defeats Dewey. #15 1996 Clinton defeats Dole. #14 1960 Kennedy defeats Nixon. #13 1984 Reagan defeats Mondale. #12 1952 Eisenhower defeats Stevenson. #11 1988 Bush defeats Dukakis. #10 2004 Bush defeats Kerry. #9 1968 Nixon defeats Humphrey. #8 2008 Obama defeats McCain. #7 1972 Nixon defeats McGovern. #6 2020 Biden defeats Trump. #5 1980 Reagan defeats Carter. #4 2016 Trump defeats Clinton. #3 1964 Johnson defeats Goldwater. #2 2000 Bush defeats Gore.

      Will November 5 be the most consequential election of our lifetimes? It sure seems that way, right now, but every four years it can seem that way.

      So, we decided to look back and, with the perspective of time, consider how consequential each election in more or less our lifetimes turned out to have been for the United States and for the world.

      Our leanings are decidedly liberal, but consequential does not necessarily mean furthering peace, human rights or the lives of the poorest among us. Ronald Reagan’s first election proved, for example, quite consequential, though we were not fond of the consequences. 

      Your conclusions may vary.  Let us know where you think we went wrong. 

      The 20 elections since 1948, near the beginning of our generation, are listed here from least to most consequential . . . .