Bicentennial Man: Ford '76 and Beyond

Surveying the Damage
"...whatever political cachet Ford may have had left was effectively gone; already a near-lame duck upon his election to a term of his own right, especially under its narrow circumstances, and then the social and economic fallout of the Panama Crisis had left him adrift. That the Democratic majorities in Congress were so aggressively expanded, and the GOP reduced to 10 Governorships (though they flipped Pennsylvania and held Ford's native Michigan, as one of the few bright spots), left Ford a Hooverian figure, dismissed as a loser and "wimp" according to many. It created a slew of recriminations throughout the RNC and the White House, two institutions already beset by infighting. The thinking was that heads were going to roll, somewhere. The question was merely who..."

- The Seventies

"...Bob got a lot of the heat. He had been out campaigning much more than the President, because he still had a foot in both the right and the middle, and still we managed to lose both Senate seats in fucking Kansas plus the Governorship. Bob was stunned, in a daze for days. He had seen the midterms as his big coming out party, that his successful barnstorming for candidates would earn him chits he could cash in two years later. Suddenly, he was mortally wounded, and the sharks were out. Dole '80 was on life support, and there were a number of people who were pleased to see that, from Reagan in Sacramento to Connally down in Texas..."

- Former White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney

"...with the winds at their back, Democrats felt much more confident at aggressively posturing against the administration with investigations and messaging bills; the Church Committee revved to life again as reports of CIA clandestine activities in Central America and Iran were leaked in the aftermath of the midterms, potential Presidential candidates began sizing up their messaging and how they would approach the coming campaign, and as the Ford White House retreated and retreated. President Nixon's series of interviews that fall brought him back into the public eye, in tandem with an expenses scandal that engulfed Chief of Staff Cheney. The biggest surprise, though, was Don Rumsfeld's surprise resignation shortly before Christmas after three years at the Pentagon; rumors buzzed around Washington that he had been responsible for the damaging CIA leaks to try to damage Bush and Carlucci, while others suggested that he wanted out in order to start plotting his own Presidential run beyond Ford's shadow. The smoking crater where the Republican Party in Congress had been claimed a number of victims; conservatives blamed Bush for weakness in the Panama Crisis, moderates blamed Cheney's aggressiveness as Chief of Staff. Both men's careers were effectively over as the Ford administration limped into its final two years; for the Republican Party, it was now all about 1980 and a hope for a miracle..."

- Rendezvous with Destiny
 
Journey to Jonestown
"...the stories coming out of Guyana were now impossible to ignore, not just in San Francisco where the matter had become a massive headache for Moscone but nationally, earning the attention of Congress. Ryan announced shortly after the midterms that he intended to fly to Jonestown himself to investigate with members of the Concerned Families and perhaps bring some members of the People's Temple who no longer wanted to participate back; at the last minute, a cancellation of plans allowed young, 31-year old freshman Republican Congressman Dan Quayle of Indiana to accompany him, giving the visit a bipartisan imprimatur and Quayle a potential profile boost as he pondered a Senate run in 1980 [1]...."

- Jonestown

"...I always said to my volunteers who stopped by the People's Temple, you gotta watch out for them. There's something off about Jones, his followers are weird and can be dangerous. Everybody in San Francisco politics was touched by them at some point - hell, Jones had hobnobbed with Governor Reagan at times and hung out on Bob Dole's plane one time - but the difference was the people who saw them as just another interest group you shook hands with and moved on or as something more. So I wasn't surprised things started going south, but boy did I not expect the turn things were going to take..."

- Former Congressman Harvey Milk, 2008 Interview


[1] This is true to life - Quayle almost went to Jonestown with Ryan, whom he was friends with
 
"...the stories coming out of Guyana were now impossible to ignore, not just in San Francisco where the matter had become a massive headache for Moscone but nationally, earning the attention of Congress. Ryan announced shortly after the midterms that he intended to fly to Jonestown himself to investigate with members of the Concerned Families and perhaps bring some members of the People's Temple who no longer wanted to participate back; at the last minute, a cancellation of plans allowed young, 31-year old freshman Republican Congressman Dan Quayle of Indiana to accompany him, giving the visit a bipartisan imprimatur and Quayle a potential profile boost as he pondered a Senate run in 1980 [1]...."

- Jonestown

"...I always said to my volunteers who stopped by the People's Temple, you gotta watch out for them. There's something off about Jones, his followers are weird and can be dangerous. Everybody in San Francisco politics was touched by them at some point - hell, Jones had hobnobbed with Governor Reagan at times and hung out on Bob Dole's plane one time - but the difference was the people who saw them as just another interest group you shook hands with and moved on or as something more. So I wasn't surprised things started going south, but boy did I not expect the turn things were going to take..."

- Former Congressman Harvey Milk, 2008 Interview


[1] This is true to life - Quayle almost went to Jonestown with Ryan, whom he was friends with
Could we see a Guyanese hostage crisis?
 
Have Kissinger or Defense Secretary James Schlesinger resigned already in this TL? I got the impression that even in our real-life TL, both Kissinger and Jim Schlesinger simply could not get along or work together. Thoughts?
 
Have Kissinger or Defense Secretary James Schlesinger resigned already in this TL? I got the impression that even in our real-life TL, both Kissinger and Jim Schlesinger simply could not get along or work together. Thoughts?
Kissinger and Schlesinger are long since out; both pre POD, and Kissinger got fired as SoS before Ford’s second inauguration
 
Birch Bayh or John Glenn in 1980, definitely.
This may be cliche, but Ted Kennedy would be very well set up for a run if he decides to like he did OTL. Not running in the primary against an incumbent is obviously a big boost, and being one of the highest profile dissenting voices during four years of disastrous GOP governance is bound to help him. Its always possible he runs a poor campaign though, but I think he'd have to be the heavy frontrunner going in.
 
This may be cliche, but Ted Kennedy would be very well set up for a run if he decides to like he did OTL. Not running in the primary against an incumbent is obviously a big boost, and being one of the highest profile dissenting voices during four years of disastrous GOP governance is bound to help him. Its always possible he runs a poor campaign though, but I think he'd have to be the heavy frontrunner going in.
Depends on if the public forgave him for that fiasco in '69.
 
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