A Nation Healed Again and Broken Again (Gerald Ford elected in 1980.)

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1992 Congressional Elections:

The Congressional elections that took place on 1992 saw very little change, despite George Bush's landslide victory in the Presidential election. The Republicans gained 9 seats in the House, giving them a 227 seat majority, and in the Senate there were no gains or losses for either party, leaving the Senate Majority at 57 seats. This would mark the first time since 1954 that the Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress at the same time.

President Hart and President Elect Bush meet at the White House:

On November 6th, President Gary Hart and President Elect George Bush met at the White House, thus beginning the transition process. In the Rose Garden of the White House, President Hart, with the President Elect standing next to him, said to a crowd of reporters that "This past Tuesday, the American people cast their vote and voted for a new President. Today begins the process of Transition. I want to congratulate President Elect Bush and Vice President Elect Deukmejian on their victory. As I told the President Elect when I called him on Tuesday, I will do everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition of Power, and will do everything I can to help the new President. Thank You"

Sources around the two men say that the meeting took place for a little under two hours and that it went very well.


President Elect Bush meets with Former President Ford in California:

On January 13th, 1993, President Elect George Bush met with Former President Gerald Ford at his home in California. Ford wanted to have this meeting with the President Elect, as he would be unable to go to the Inauguration that would take place a week later. The two met to talk about the Presidency and the responsibilities of the job. They also reminisced about the times they worked together during Ford's Presidencies. The President Elect said to reporters, as he was getting out of his limo at the airport, said that he was glad to meet with President Ford, as he gave him a great deal of advice. Bush also said it was nice to reminisce about the past with the Former President.

 

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Gary Hart gives his Farewell Address to the Nation:

On January 15th, 1993, President Gary Hart gave his Farewell Address to the Nation from the Oval Office:

"Good Evening. My fellow Americans, this is my last opportunity to speak to you from this office as your President. It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as your President for the last 8 years, and in that time, we've accomplished a lot together. We invested in and modernized our infrastructure, we've made higher education and job training more accessible, and we simplified our tax code. We also gave millions of Americans who never had health insurance, access to health insurance. Internationally, we made the world safer, we saw the reduction of Intermediate Range Missiles, we took a brutal ruler out of power in Panama, and we also settled a dispute between Iraq and Kuwait, but most importantly, after 4 long decades, the Cold War came to an end... Despite the success however, there is still work to be done. We must, as I said in my last State of the Union Address, achieve the goal of every American having Health Insurance. One of the biggest regrets of my Presidency was that I was unable to achieve peace in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Palestine, this is something we must also work towards in the years to come... While I look forward to returning to Colorado with my wife Lee, I was glad to serve and will always be grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to do so, and I will always be grateful to Vice President Glenn and my cabinet members for their service. I also want to thank Vice President Bush for his service, and I wish him and Vice President Elect Deukmejian all the best as they lead our nation over the next four years. I hope to be able to continue to serve our great nation as a Private Citizen. Thank you for listening. Good Night, may God Bless America, and may God Bless all of you."

The President, who aged significantly over the course of his eight years in office, used this speech to thank the American people, and to discuss the accomplishments of his administration, and to make clear that there was still work to be done. His final approval rating was at 48%, the highest it had been in over a year.

 

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Former President Ford gives an Interview Two Days Before Inauguration Day:

On January 18th, 1993, Former President Gerald Ford was interviewed by Barbara Walters on ABC News:

Walters: "Good Evening Mr. President."

Ford: "Good evening Barbara, thank you for having me on your show."

Walters: "Mr. President, President Hart gave his farewell address to the nation 4 days ago, and in his address he, as I think you did in your farewell address 8 years ago, talked about the success of his administration and made clear that there was still work to be done. What was, in your opinion, President Hart's greatest success?"

Ford: "Well Barbara, at the end of my Presidency, we achieved the Nuclear Arms Reduction treaty, which would reduce the number of Nuclear Weapons that we and the Soviet Union had over the course of 10 years. However, my Presidency ended before the agreement could be ratified by the United States Senate. President Hart, when he took over, made it one of his top priorities to see to it that the United States Senate ratified that agreement, and it was ratified, if I remember correctly less than 6 months after he took office. I will always be grateful to him for doing that, as I feel that agreement truly did make the world safer and was really a turning point in the Cold War. I think to, that the IRM Treaty of 1987 was a great success of his as well."

Walters: "The President also said in the address that he gave on Friday that there was still work to be done. He said that he hoped that we could achieve the goal of every American having health insurance and that we needed to work towards a more peaceful Middle East, he said not being able to achieve that was the biggest regret of his Presidency. Do you agree with President Hart, and also what else needs to be done in the coming years?"

Ford: "The President is right, there is still work that needs to be done. I do think we need to work towards peace in the Middle East, especially between Israel and Palestine, and while it would be nice if we could ensure that every American has health insurance, I question how achievable that is. We must certainly work to make health insurance as accessible as possible, but we must do so responsibly. I also think that we need to get our people back to work again, it can be done. Unemployment is high right now and people are hurting. This, I think should be and will be President Elect Bush's top priority domestically."

Walters: "Speaking of President Elect Bush, Mr. Bush served in various positions under your administrations and under President Nixon's, all of which, except for his chairmanship of the Republican party, were related to foreign policy. How do you think George Bush will do as President?"

Ford: "Well, any time I ever gave a job to George Bush, he did it well. Be it Envoy to China, Director of the CIA, or Secretary of State, and because of that, I feel he can achieve a lot with regards to foreign policy, he played a key role in the Nuclear Arms Reduction treaty and in our successful intervention in Grenada as Secretary of State. Let's remember to that George Bush was also a successful business man, a Congressman, and a Vice President, and from what I know, he played a role in crafting the health care reform bill that was passed. There is quite a bit he can achieve with regards to domestic policy and working with the legislature. I would say, of all those who have become President in my lifetime, he's certainly one of the most qualified men to take the office of the Presidency, and for that reason, I think he will be a great President."

Walters: "You met with George Bush recently. What was the meeting about, what advice did you give the President Elect?"

Ford: "I invited the President Elect out here to California, mainly to congratulate him on his victory in person, to wish him all the best, and to tell him that we would be rooting for him here on Inauguration Day, as Betty and I will be unable to attend the Inauguration. The only advice I really had for him was to do his best and to not let the pollsters and pundits bring him down."

Walters: "Well Mr. President, that's all the time we have, thank you sir."

Ford: "Thank You Barbara."

On January 19th, Gallup released a poll that asked Americans "Who, of the living President, was the best?" President Ford received the most votes, taking 35%, Former President Jimmy Carter took second with 29%, and President Hart, who was leaving office the next day, took third place with 23%. 9% of those polled said Richard Nixon was the best of the living Presidents and 4% of respondents were undecided.

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This is the end of this Alternate History Timeline. I hope you all enjoyed this timeline and I thank all of you for viewing, commenting, and thank you to all of you who nominated this for the 2017 Turtledove for finished timelines.