AHC: President John Ashbrook

John M. Ashbrook was a Republican Congressman from Ohio, noted for his extreme conservative views. He was the only Ohioan to vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and later ran against President Richard Nixon in the 1972 Republican Primaries, claiming that Nixon was too liberal. He won no contests, and would later die suddenly in 1982, not remembered by many outside of the conservative sphere.
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to make Ashbrook President of the United States at some point before his death in 1982. Whether he wins the Presidency as the head of a ticket, or assumes the office in a line-of-succession scenario is up to you.
 
Boy, this is a toughie! I actually remember
Ashbrook. He was not a particularly dyna-
mic, inspiring figure, one reason why he is so obscure today. But if Reagan decides he needs help in Ohio maybe he would have
gone with Ashbrook. After all, @ least up to
1980 IOTL no Republican had ever been
elected President who did not also carry Ohio. Furthermore, Reagan was perceived
as being weak in the NE. Problem was, Ash-
brook was not anywhere near as known as
George H.W. Bush or Ford(who Ronnie also
considered for Vice President before taking
Bush). Plus, despite his rock-solid conservative views, I would bet that many Republicans viewed Ashbrook with
suspicion for daring to run against Nixon in
1972. Be that as it may, IF Ashbrook is Ronnie's 1980 running mate, & all the other
circumstances of this ATL 1980 America are
the same as they were IOTL, Reagan wins &
Ashbrook is VP. Then, if Hinckley's 1981 ass-
ination attempt on Reagan this time suc-
ceeds, that makes Ashbrook President.
Eureka!
 
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