What would have happened if Reagan had chosen Ford as his running mate in 1980? (economic, presidents)

[MJoseph42286]

You know the "Dream Ticket" of Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford at the 1980 Republican convention? After Reagan clinched the nomination, there was an out of the box choice for a running mate, Former President Gerald Ford. Reagan broached the subject with Ford and Ford said no many times. Finally, at the convention, Ford said, "Maybe." But he would not be a typical Vice President. Fist he demanded veto power over all of Reagan's cabinet picks, and then he had his people basically negotiate for almost a co-presidency. Kissinger would be Secretary of State. The National Security Team and Economic Team would report to Ford. Basically, Reagan would be a figurehead President and Ford would really be the guy in charge. You can see Ford really did not want to do it, but you can't fault him for saying, "If I were to do this, I would want X, Y, and Z." Eventually, the negotiations broke down, and when that happened, George Bush was really the only other viable alternative. Reagan could not start vetting other candidates at that late hour. Bush was there at the convention, they knew he would accept, he had been the runner up in the primaries, he had won the large industrial states of Pennsylvania and Michigan in the Primaries over Reagan, and Reagan would need those states in November. Bush provided geographical balance to the ticket. He had foreign policy experience to offset Reagan's lack thereof.

What do you think would have happened if the "Dream Ticket" happened? I think it would have been an unmitigated disaster from Day One and would have fallen apart within a week. For starters, Reagan and Ford hated each other. The campaign would be fraught with fights between Reagan and Ford, fights between Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan, and turf battles between the Reagan team and the Ford team. And if they won, the whole power sharing agreement was unconstitutional anyway. You can only have one President of the United States at one time.

Any thoughts?

[North Beach Person]

I don't really remember it as a "Dream Ticket". Dan Rather was one of the first to break the "news" which turned out to be incorrect.

I seem to remember that there were discussions between the Reagan and Ford camps, but they broke down with the alleged demand from Ford that it ne a "Co-Presidency". That wouldn't have happened in any event.

You also have to remember that Ford was "Establishment". Reagan was also, but not to the extent that Ford was.

You're correct in your assessment.

[MJoseph42286]

Ford could have run for President in 1980 too. He wanted to run. He made noise about running in 1980 basically from the day after Election Day in 1976.

Ford was conflicted. On one hand, he really liked being a former President. He was one of two living former Presidents at the time, the other reviled. He liked the perks that came with the title. But he was a very competitive person. He really seethed over his narrow loss to Carter. He wanted another shot at Carter. But he didn't want to come off his pedestal and go to New Hampshire and grub for votes. So he hoped for a draft. Or for the Republican primaries to produce a deadlocked convention, where he could throw his hat in the ring at the convention. That was not happening. His advisors told him, "If you want to be President again, you have to run in the primaries." Ford balked.

And even after the primaries were under way, the Republican establishment wanted to stop Reagan and tried to get Ford to jump in. But it was too late then. If Ford jumped in at that point, all he would have done was help Reagan by dividing the anti Reagan vote more.