The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982. Reagan carried 48 of the 51 states. Mondale's electoral votes came from his home state of Minnesota, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, all of which have been states with more liberal tendencies. Reagan's 515 electoral votes (out of 545) is the most electoral votes received by a presidential candidate. In the national popular vote, Reagan received 56.0% to Mondale's 43.4%.