Gerald Ford assassinated in 1975

[sanders]

It’s widely known that Reagan was shot in 1981. However, Ford was almost killed in 1975.

Of course, Nelson Rockefeller who had become Vice President following Nixon’s resignation and Ford’s ascent to the Presidency.

So Rockefeller would’ve become President, but I don’t see him having a chance of winning the nomination against Reagan in 1976.

So Reagan wins the nomination in 1976 - let’s assume Rockefeller drops out passes away in 1979 like in our timeline.

I think Reagan would’ve beaten Carter in ‘76, but what happens in 1980?

[johnloony]

Aug 4, 2024 8:50:10 GMT sanders said:

It’s widely known that Reagan was shot in 1981. However, Ford was almost killed in 1975.

Of course, Nelson Rockefeller who had become Vice President following Nixon’s resignation and Ford’s ascent to the Presidency.

So Rockefeller would’ve become President, but I don’t see him having a chance of winning the nomination against Reagan in 1976.

So Reagan wins the nomination in 1976 - let’s assume Rockefeller drops out passes away in 1979 like in our timeline.

I think Reagan would’ve beaten Carter in ‘76, but what happens in 1980?

Reagan would have handled the Iranian hostage situation much better (or avoided it in the first place) and would have been better at enthusing people in the economic sphere. He would have been re-elected in 1984. President Bush (or similar) would have been successful in dealing with Gorbachev from 1985 onwards.

[pericles]

I'm not sure if the mood was right for Reagan's conservatism yet. Carter had a lot more credibility as an outsider in 1976, and Reagan's policies would be more of a liability (in particular, his opposition to detente would land worse in 1976). Carter also was popular in the South where Reagan did well, Ford won almost the entire West anyway, and some more liberal Northern states that Ford won would be vulnerable against Reagan. It's not like Ford was a terrible candidate, he had a decent approval rating as President and ran a good campaign, his party had just had a nightmare term and so barely lost.

So Reagan winning the primary could mean Carter beats him, and perhaps a different Republican-maybe conservative, maybe more moderate-wins in 1980.

[mattbewilson]

Yes I think Carter would have got the tail end of the post war consensus as he did in our timeline