Reagan wins the '76 Republican nomination. Facing Democratic nominee Mo Udall (who slightly edged Carter), Reagan wins the presidency. But then he faces many of the same headwinds Carter did in the late '70s.
Jimmy Carter stays relevant by taking occasional longish trips and talking with a broad cross-section of citizens. The idea of solid delegation with spot-checking catches his interests. He talks with several sitting governors and a range of people in other walks of life. And that's the twist. Jimmy Carter takes to delegation with all the energy of a new convert.
Jimmy Carter wins the 1980 Democratic nomination and wins the presidency. He leads the country through eight generally good years. For example, he easily convinces Congress to try a series of medium-scale experiments on energy policy, some of which work. And when he gives his farewell address with five days to go on Sunday night, January 15, 1989, his is viewed as a highly successful presidency.
With Reagan's instincts more in the Keynesian direction esp. regarding tax cuts, bonus points if he's slightly more successful with late '70s stagflation than Carter.
Extra bonus points if Reagan has a particularly successful and notable post-presidency.
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Trigger Warning: page 2 we start talking about Cambodia and a bunch of other serious shit, sorry, but we do.
I used to say that a major aspect of the Cambodia genocide was teenagers with guns, and perhaps that's one aspect. But a major aspect was in fact the communist ideology and particularly the parts of back to the land and collectivized agriculture, and esp. the idea that you can simply will a three-fold increase per acre. And if this isn't happening, it's taken as automatic evidence that there are enemies and saboteurs somewhere. All in all, a very grim, sad, and infuriating chapter in human history.
Justice and Starvation in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge Famine
The Cambodia Law and Policy Journal, Randle DeFalco, Dec. 2014.
http://cambodialpj.org/article/justice-and-starvation-in-cambodia-the-khmer-rouge-famine/