At the federal presidential election of 18 May 1980, Willfried Gredler stood as the FPÖ’s candidate. He obtained 16.96 per cent, which amounted to about 750,000 votes.

The incumbent, Rudolf Kirchschläger, was able to defend his office in the first ballot and thus re-elected Federal President.

The FPÖ had since 1957 never nominated a federal presidential candidate of its own, but it did so in 1980, in order to provide an adequate challenge to the joint candidate of the SPÖ and ÖVP, Kirchschläger, who was also the incumbent.

Accordingly, the FPÖ’s slogan for Gredler was “Wahl heißt auswählen” (Voting means choosing). Gredler’s result could well have been higher, if Norbert Burger had not also entered the race.