Vice-President Reagan 1968

in 1968 late in the game California Governor Ronald Reagan put his name into consideration at the Republican National Convention, getting strong support from Southern Conservatives, Nixon had to go on bended knee to Senator Strom Thurmond to help keep the south in line and save him from a Reagan overthrow, as a result Thurmond got to draw up the VP short list, and both Thurmond and Nixon met with every member of the Southern delegations to hold it together of Tricky Dick, but what if Reagan was just a little bit stronger, what if the only way Nixon could sow up the nomination was with Ronald Wilson Reagan on the ticket?
 
I'm pretty sure it's unconstitutional for the presidential nominee and the vice presidential nominee to be from the same state.
 
I'm pretty sure it's unconstitutional for the presidential nominee and the vice presidential nominee to be from the same state.
It means that their mutual state can't cast their electoral votes for both of them, which would be a bad thing when you are from a large state like California.

But, according to Wikipedia, Nixon was actually officially living in New York at the time of the 1968 election, so it wouldn't matter.
 
He gets saddled with Watergate and is ruined for any future politics like Ford.

more so, even if Reagan never does anything illegal if he's stuck in the role of Nixon's Nixon like Spiro Agnew in OTL he gets tarred by the dirty tricks and the hostel temperament of the Nixon White House, Ford was an outsider and managed to more or less keep the image of being a kind nice likable guy, Reagan would always be Tricky Dick Jr.
 
more so, even if Reagan never does anything illegal if he's stuck in the role of Nixon's Nixon like Spiro Agnew in OTL he gets tarred by the dirty tricks and the hostel temperament of the Nixon White House, Ford was an outsider and managed to more or less keep the image of being a kind nice likable guy, Reagan would always be Tricky Dick Jr.

Well the assumption here is that Reagan isn't dropped in the second term, has been around the entire time and isn't an outsider like Ford, so yeah, he may do worse. Dole or a moderate (not Ford) may primary him in '76 (assuming the VP runs) and has a good shot at winning.
 
more so, even if Reagan never does anything illegal if he's stuck in the role of Nixon's Nixon like Spiro Agnew in OTL he gets tarred by the dirty tricks and the hostel temperament of the Nixon White House, Ford was an outsider and managed to more or less keep the image of being a kind nice likable guy, Reagan would always be Tricky Dick Jr.

Except that this likely butterflys Watergate, and Tricky Dick managed to win a huge landslide reelection, AFTER the public got to know him for 4 years.
 
Except that this likely butterflys Watergate, and Tricky Dick managed to win a huge landslide reelection, AFTER the public got to know him for 4 years.

a POD in 1968 isn't going to make Nixon a different human being, sure maybe Watergate the break in itself isn't caught, but the Plumbers, the dirty tricks the spying all of it, that still happens, and given the nature of them, at some point he'll be caught.
 
Well the assumption here is that Reagan isn't dropped in the second term, has been around the entire time and isn't an outsider like Ford, so yeah, he may do worse. Dole or a moderate (not Ford) may primary him in '76 (assuming the VP runs) and has a good shot at winning.

Why would Nixon drop Reagan for the second term? Reagan wouldn't be more of a liability than Agnew, and dropping his VP would make him seem weak, and make conservatives mad and more likely to back the American Independence Party or stay home. Reagan has no reason to voluntarily drop out; the last two incumbent Vice Presidents who ran for the nomination won the nomination after all. In any case, being incumbent Vice President would certainly be a better bet than being just ex-vice President, and with no Senatorial or Gubernatorial election being held in 1972 in California, Reagan doesn't have any option to immediately hold another office.
 
a POD in 1968 isn't going to make Nixon a different human being, sure maybe Watergate the break in itself isn't caught, but the Plumbers, the dirty tricks the spying all of it, that still happens, and given the nature of them, at some point he'll be caught.


He had a long career in politics. He went though one whole term without issue.

If was in his last campaign that Watergate occurred.

From my reading of how they got caught it is completely reasonable that with a 1968 POD that Watergate or any analog is butterflied.

And once past that...
 
He had a long career in politics. He went though one whole term without issue.

If was in his last campaign that Watergate occurred.

From my reading of how they got caught it is completely reasonable that with a 1968 POD that Watergate or any analog is butterflied.

And once past that...

he was already bugging people in 1969, broke into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist office in summer 1971, also in summer 1971 they had people stalk Ted Kennedy, forged fake cables to link JFK to the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, in May 1972 Nixon personally blessed sending E. Howard Hunt to Milwaukee to plant McGovern and other left wing materials in the apartment of the shooter of George Wallace.
 
I think one of the pillars the case for Butterfly-Watergate here is that Reagan would've scored him a lot more votes than Agnew, especially if you had the likes of Barry Goldwater praise and endorse the decision.
 
I think one of the pillars the case for Butterfly-Watergate here is that Reagan would've scored him a lot more votes than Agnew, especially if you had the likes of Barry Goldwater praise and endorse the decision.
Nixon didn't need any more votes, he destroyed McGovern in a 49-state landslide. Nixon didn't act out of some rational motive, he acted out of paranoia, and that is not going to change.
 
Reagan is better respected than Agnew. He becomes the leader of the conservative movement. Since this does not cancel Watergate, he becomes President on August 8, 1974. Since he is controversial he does not enjoy Ford's wave of popularity. hHe pardons Nixon. He compromises with the Democratic Congress. He loses to Jimmy Carter in the bad economic times of 1976.
 
Reagan is better respected than Agnew. He becomes the leader of the conservative movement. Since this does not cancel Watergate, he becomes President on August 8, 1974. Since he is controversial he does not enjoy Ford's wave of popularity. hHe pardons Nixon. He compromises with the Democratic Congress. He loses to Jimmy Carter in the bad economic times of 1976.

Are we sure he pardons Nixon?
 
Reagan was, if I recall correctly and if I have not been duped by some conservative propaganda, one of the earlier Republicans to call out Nixon on Watergate, and unlike Ford he might be fine with upsetting the status quo. But then it would make him look hypocritical if some big scandal erupted.
 
Reagan was, if I recall correctly and if I have not been duped by some conservative propaganda, one of the earlier Republicans to call out Nixon on Watergate, and unlike Ford he might be fine with upsetting the status quo. But then it would make him look hypocritical if some big scandal erupted.

you've been duped, Reagan was one of the most supportive of Nixon, even supportive of the Watergate burglars themselves saying they were good men, not criminals at heart and that it was normal campaign hijinks gone a bit too far, Reagan stayed in total support of Nixon till two days before Nixon resigned, and was one of the few who totally supported Ford's Pardon

http://www.thewire.com/politics/2013/08/ronald-reagan-richard-nixon-watergate-too-shall-pass/68590/
 
I don't think a different running mate would change Nixon's character. It seems likely to me that if Nixon had Reagan as his Vice President, he'd still get up to the crooked stuff he did.
 
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