For those of you who were alive during the Jimmy Carter Administration, you'll remember that he propagated the phrase “malaise” in referring to the “stagflation” (definition: Persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and a stagnant demand in a country's economy) that gripped our country during those years. Gas prices were soaring as gas became scarce with long lines at the pump; home prices and interest rates were going through the roof; and food items were in short supply - indeed we were in a “malaise” due to Carter's policies at the end of the 1970s.
As a result of Carter's misplaced and misguided policies, Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate for president against Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, beat Jimmy Carter in the general election much to the chagrin of Carter and the Democrats.