Bicentennial Man: Ford '76 and Beyond

[KingSweden24]

"...though it wasn't until 4am that we got the final counts, and realized what a squeaker it was. Jerry Ford had pulled it out in Ohio by 7,000 votes and in Wisconsin by about 4,000. We couldn't believe it. We'd led by 33 points coming out of the DNC and we thought we had them when Bob Dole made that comment about "Democrat wars." And now, Ford - f**king Jerry Ford, unelected when he was inaugurated and now elected despite barely losing the popular vote, he must be the luckiest son of a bitch in America. Well, maybe not..."

- Hamilton Jordan, strategist for Jimmy Carter's 1976 campaign

Bicentennial Man: Ford '76 and Beyond​

 

[KingSweden24]

Part I - The Poisoned Chalice: 1977-1981​

 

[KingSweden24]

United States Senate Elections, 1976

Arizona - Dennis DeConcini (D) 52.5%, Sam Steiger (R) 44.8% (D+1)
California - SI Hayakawa (R) 51.7%, John Tunney* (D) 44.5% (R+1)
Connecticut - Lowell Weicker* (R) 60.0%, Gloria Schaffer (D) 38.1%
Delaware - William Roth* (R) 56.8%, Thomas Maloney (D) 42.6%
Florida - Lawton Chiles* (D) 61.5%, John Grady (R) 38.5%
Hawaii - Spark Matsunaga (D) 52.2%, William F. Quinn 42.1% (D+2)
Indiana - Richard Lugar (R) 60.3%, Vance Hartke* (D) 39.0% (R+2)
Maine - Ed Muskie* (D) 59.2%, Robert Monks (R) 40.8%
Maryland - Paul Sarbanes (D) 55.0%, John Glenn Beall Jr.* (R) 40.3%) (D+3)
Massachusetts - Ted Kennedy* (D) 68.8%, Michael Robertson (R) 29.5%
Michigan - Donald Riegle (D) 50.5%, Marvin Esch (R) 48.8%
Minnesota - Hubert H. Humphrey* (D) 67.5%, Gerald Brekke (R) 25.0%
Mississippi - John Stennis* (D) unopposed
Missouri - John Danforth (R) 58.4%, Warren Hearnes (D) 41.0% (R+3)
Montana - John Melcher (D) 62.2%, Stanley Burger (R) 37.8%
Nebraska - Edward Zorinsky (D) 50.4%, John McCollister (R) 49.5% (D+4)
Nevada - Howard Cannon* (D) 61.5%, David Towell (R) 32.9%
New Jersey - Harrison Williams* (D) 60.7%, David Norcross (R) 38.0%
New Mexico - Harrison Schmitt (R) 57.8%, Joseph Montoya* (D) 41.7% (R+4)
New York - Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D) 52.7%, James Buckley* (R) 46.4% (D+5) [1]
North Dakota - Queintin Burdick* (D) 61.1%, Robert Stroup (R) 37.6%
Ohio - Robert Taft Jr.* (R) 48.0%, Howard Metzenbaum (D) 48.0% [2]
Pennsylvania - John Heinz (R) 53.9%, William Green III (D) 45.3%
Rhode Island - John Chafee (R) 58.7%, Richard Lorber (D) 41.0% (R+5)
Tennessee - James Sasser (D) 51.0%, Bill Brock* (R) 48.5% (D+6)
Texas - Lloyd Bentsen* (D) 55.8%, Alan Steelman (R) 43.2%
Utah - Orrin Hatch (R) 54.7%, Frank Moss* (D) 43.8% (R+6)
Vermont - Robert Stafford* (R) 51.0%, Thomas Salmon (D) 44.3%
Virginia - Harry Byrd* (I) 57.2%, Elmo Zumwalt (D) 38.3%
Washington - Henry M. Jackson* (D) 70.8%, George Brown (R) 25.2%
West Virginia - Robert Byrd* (D) unopposed
Wisconsin - William Proxmire* (D) 70.2%, Stanley York (R) 29.0%
Wyoming - Malcolm Wallop (R) 55.7%, Gale McGee* (D) 44.4% (R+7)

Senate Before Election - 61D, 37R, 2I
Senate After Election - 60D, 39R, 1I

Senate Majority Leader - Robert Byrd
Senate Minority Leader - Howard Baker

[1] Buckley was elected in 1970 as a Conservative, ran in 1976 as a Republican
[2] The only result that differs from OTL

 

[KingSweden24]

1976 US House of Representatives Elections

Will only include flipped seats and notable races

CA-4 - Albert Dehr (R) defeats Robert Leggett (D, inc) R+1 [1]
CA-16 - Leon Panetta (D) defeats Burt Talcott (R, inc) D+1
CA-34 - Dan Lungren (R) defeats Mark W. Hannaford (D, inc) R+2 [1]
CO-2 - Ed Scott (R) defeats Tim Wirth (D, inc) R+3 [1]
CO-3 - Melvin Takaki (R) defeats Frank Evans (D, inc) R+4 [1]
IL-10 - Samuel Young (R) defeats Abner Mikva (D, inc) R+5 [1]
IL-15 - Tom Corcoran (R) defeats Tim Lee Hall (D, inc) R+6
IN-4 - Dan Quayle (R) defeats J. Edward Roush (D, inc) R+7
IN-8 - Belden Bell (R) defeats David L. Cornwell (D) R+8 [1] [2]
IA-1 - Jim Leach (R) defeats Ed Mezvinsky (D, inc) R+9
IA-2 - Tom Riley (R) defeats Mike Blouin (D, inc) R+10 [1]
KS-4 - Garner Shriver (R, inc) defeats Dan Glickman (D) [1]
MI-5 - Harold Sawyer (R) defeats Ricard Van Der Veen (D, inc) R+11
MO-6 - Tom Coleman (R) defeats Morgan Maxfield (D) R+12
MT-2 - Ron Marlenee (R) defeats Thomas Towe (D) R+13
NE-2 - John J. Cavanaugh III (D) defeats Lee Terry (R) D+2
NJ-9 - Harry Hollenbeck (R) defeats Henry Helstolski (D, inc) R+14
NJ-13 - William Schluter (R) defeats Helen Meyner (D, inc) R+15 [1]
NY-29 - Joseph A Martino (R) defeats Edward Pattison (D, inc) R+16 [1]
OH-2 - Tom Luken (D) defeats Donald Clancy (R, inc) D+3 [3]
OH-13 - Donald Pease (D) defeats Woodrow Mathna (R) D+4
OH-19 - Charles Carney (D, inc) defeats Jack Hunter (R) [3]
PA-8 - John S. Renninger (R) defeats Peter Kostmayer (D) [1]
PA-17 - Allen Ertel (D) defeats HJ Hepford (R) D+5
PA-18 - Doug Walgren (D) defeats Robert J. Casey (R) D+6
PA-23 - Joseph Ammerman (D) defeats Albert Johnson (R, inc) D+7
PA-24 - Marc L. Marks (R) defeats Joseph Vigorito (D, inc) R+17 [4]
TX-5 - Jim Mattox (D) defeats Nancy Judy (R) D+8
TX-22 - Ron Paul (R, inc) defeats Robert Gammage (D) [1]
UT-2 - David Daniel Marriott (R) defeats Alan Howe (D, inc) R+18
VA-1 - Paul Trible (R) defeats Robert Quinn (D) R+19
WA-2 - John Nance Garner (R) defeats Lloyd Meeds (D, inc) R+20 [1]

Seats Before Election - 291D, 144R
Seats After Election - 279D, 156R

Speaker of the House - Tip O'Neill (D-MA)
House Majority Leader - Jim Wright (D-TX)
House Majority Whip - John Brademas (D-IN)
House Minority Leader - John Rhodes (R-AZ)
House Minority Whip - Robert Michel (R-IL)

Much like IOTL, the GOP picks off ossified, long-term incumbents and a number of Watergate Babies who were swept in by the anti-GOP wave in 1974. However, with a *slight* national adjustment towards Ford by a percent or two (stronger in the Midwest and West, weaker in the South thanks to Carter), the Democrats lose more close races, both dropping more incumbents and failing to pick off a handful GOP incumbents they defeated IOTL. Thus, rather than Democrats going +1 in the House, Republicans use Ford's minimal coattails to net 12, still at a daunting disadvantage as Tip O'Neill takes over as Speaker for Carl Albert. Some notable races include Ron Paul in Texas surviving after his spring special election win; Pete Kostmayer not winning in PA despite the state otherwise being a bright spot for Democrats (this one is pretty small scale); and Dan Glickman, Tim Wirth and most prominently Abner Mikva not being in Congress.

[1] Result differs from OTL
[2] Here's a fun one - in OTL the previous Rep here, Watergate Baby Phil Hayes, challenges and loses to Vance Hartke in the Senate primary after one term, probably softening up the incumbent for Dick Lugar to beat him. Here, for his trouble, the open seat also flips R. Good work Phil!
[3] This race will come up in an entry on Ohio at the Presidential and Senate levels, too, due to its closeness
[4] The original Marky Mark

 

[KingSweden24]

Arkansas - David Pryor (D) reelected
Delaware - Sherman Tribbett (D, inc) DEFEATED by Pete Du Pont (R) R+1
Illinois - Dan Walker (D, inc) DEFEATED in Primary. James Thompson (R) Elected R+2
Indiana - Otis Bowen (R, inc) Re-Elected
Missouri - Kit Bond (R, inc) Re-Elected [1]
Montana - Thomas Lee Judge (D, inc) Re-Elected
New Hampshire - Meldrim Thomson (R, inc) Re-Elected
North Carolina - James Holshauer (R, inc) Term-Limited; Jim Hunt (D) Elected D+1
North Dakota - Arthur Link (D, inc) re-elected
Rhode Island - Philip Noel (D, inc) Retired; J. Joseph Garrahy (D) Elected
Utah - Cal Rampton (D, inc) Retired; Scott Matheson (D) Elected [2]
Vermont - Thomas Salmon (D, inc) Retired to Run for Senate; Richard Snelling (R) Elected R+3
Washington - Daniel Evans (R, inc) Retired; Dixy Lee Ray (D) Elected D+2 [3]
West Virginia - Arch Moore (R, inc) Term Limited; Jay Rockefeller (D) Elected D+3

In essence, no change - each party picks up three gubernatorial mansions and Otis Bowen and Kit Bond are both reelected in prominent, Midwest state races for the GOP.

Democrats have 36 mansions, GOP has 13 (Maine had an Independent governor at this time).


[1] This is a different result than OTL. Slightly better numbers for Ford and Danforth in Missouri probably help Bond over the line, even though I kept Robert Young as the winner in MO-2
[2] Rare bright spot for Dems in '76 in Utah both OTL and TTL
[3] Somehow. She was... a character

 

[KingSweden24]

"...things got tricky in the week after the election when the Carter campaign - understandably, I should add - decided they were going to ask for recounts in Wisconsin and Ohio, the latter more so because the results were so narrow in a handful of races down that way. Bob Taft Junior had just gotten reelected by 700 votes. Tom Luken had knocked off an incumbent Congressman in the Cincinnati area by less than 100 votes. And up in Youngstown, Charles Carney won by the skin of his teeth as well - I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was something tiny, maybe 150 votes total? So with Jerry winning so narrowly, everybody is looking at Ohio, and the Democrats start wanting canvasses in the western part of the state, in the Columbus suburbs, down in Cincinnati. Dick [Cheney] had the idea that we should contest Cuyahoga County's count, look for "irregularities" as he called it. I'll give Wisconsin credit, Pat Lucey up there, the governor at the time, he had a good county operation. We sent some of our lawyers up there, some guys from the DoJ too, to take a look. They had their recount done in three days, and only two votes changed hands - towards us, actually. Pair of Ford-Proxmire voters, if you'll believe that. But Ohio... Ohio was a mess."

- Excerpt from "Campaign '76" by James A. Baker

"...Ohio was the ballgame. Whoever came out of the recount there had the election. It was obvious Wisconsin had gone to Ford after that quick recount, but Ohio was not so obvious. Two days after the election, some county clerk down in Ohio Valley outside of Cincy finds two boxes of ballots that somebody forgot to deliver to the courthouse. There's a lawsuit from the Carter campaign in the Ohio Supreme Court about not certifying the results. Some of the younger, more radical liberal members of Congress start shouting about having a re-run of the election, which was, well, it was nuts. Governor Jim Rhodes goes on TV on November 14th, two weeks of county-by-county recounts rather than a statewide recanvass, and immediately throws his Secretary of State, Ted Brown, under the bus, criticizing him and declaring that Ford won the race. And he did. Barely, by less than 7,000 votes, it turned out that Carter actually netted out about 600 votes when all was said and done. Ford won the state fair and square, but the recounts, the protests in Columbus, Ronald freaking Reagan decides it would be helpful to fly in to hold a "Fair Count" rally in Lima and chop Ford off at the knees when the President is trying to cool the temperature down, everybody is worried there's gonna be a second Kent State and riots over the results... as if Jerry didn't have enough of an asterisk, those idiots down in Ohio just made it so, so much worse."

- Excerpt from "The Gatekeeper" by Richard B. Cheney

"...I was satisfied the results were legitimate. My advisors told me they were, and when the recounts in Ohio were done I flew to Washington to meet with the President so that everybody could see us on TV together, see me shaking his hand and congratulating him. I think it was the right thing to do. It took years for us to become friends, which we did eventually long after Gerald left office, and he told me, "Jimmy, that time you came and stood next to me at the White House, and we chatted... you really helped. Imagine what it would have done to America, otherwise." I think that may have helped soothe some wounds, at least with some people. I'm proud of the campaign we ran in 1976, the vision we presented to the American people. It pains me that we came so close, the good I think we could have done, but seeing what that full term was like for Gerald, well, sometimes I wonder if maybe it wasn't a bullet we dodged. Literally, perhaps, there at the end."

- Interview with Senator James Earl Carter, 1976 Democratic Nominee for President of the United States (11/15/1986, ABC News)

"...after Watergate, and the pardon of Nixon, and inflation and WIN and the fall of Saigon, to have the President reelected by only 11,000 voters in two Midwestern states to get him to 277 electoral votes, a bare win and without the legitimizing effect of a popular vote win, buffeted by the news media every night playing footage of protests in Ohio and conspiracies swirling about both the vote count for President and Senate, it poisoned the well between the White House and Congress further. Whatever legitimacy Ford had had with Democratic voters - which was not much after the pardon - was effectively gone after his win."

- "The Seventies: The Decade That Changed America"

 

[KingSweden24]

"...humbled as I ever am by the awesome responsibilities of this office, I give thanks this year particularly to our Constitutional system, to the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democracy, and the confidence instilled by me by the people. While I recognize that I was inaugurated once under the most unique circumstances of any President, and will be inaugurated a second time in two months under circumstances not seen in a century, I ask you, the American people, as I did two years ago at the White House upon my swearing in, for your prayers. Whether I earned your vote, or whether I did not, let this narrow election season behind us serve not as a wound that will scar but as a reminder instead of the strength of our institutions, now in their third century, and continue to nourish and invest in them, together, as our forefathers did in Philadelphia in 1776, and as the first brave pilgrims to this land did at the first instance of this holiday we celebrate today. And so, without further ado, I hereby pardon BOTH turkeys before me today..."

- Gerald Ford's "Thanksgiving Speech," 1976

 

[KingSweden24]

"...you lose with Humph, okay, sure. Fine. Vietnam, MLK and RFK are killed, the Chicago riots during the convention, LBJ was unpopular, Nixon ran on law and order, Wallace poached the South... though let's be real, Humph wasn't winning the f**king South. McGovern, the less said the better. Great guy, smarter than he gets credit for, but too easy to paint as the hippie candidate, the scion of the New Left. But after Nixon, after Watergate, the pardon and the economy going in the crapper in '75? Sure, it recovered a *bit*, but come on? Jerry Ford's a nice guy but how do you lose that race? How do you win the popular vote by 300,000 votes but drop the ball in Ohio like that? Why are you telling f**king Playboy you've lusted after other women when the entire basis of your campaign is that you're this decent Southern Sunday school teacher, a genuine saint personally and politically, going up against the ugliness of the Nixon years? I just don't get it. Still don't. Still don't get to this day how Carter blew that race."

- James Carville Interview 1994

"...the Democratic civil war during Ford's full term in the late 70s was ugly but it was better to hash out those rivalries then, while we had both Houses of Congress, than during the 80s once we actually wielded genuine power again. I think the frustration of the McGovern-Carter one-two punch, of getting the doors blown off by the crook then it being so heartbreakingly close, the disaster in Ohio and all, against the hapless stooge who came after him, yeah, I really think that was what the party needed. I think that helped eliminate the do-gooder, managerial, New Left idealism for a lot of people. Twelve years out of the White House, I mean, that was unheard of since Hoover. It really was. People couldn't believe it. I really think we needed that time to reassess."

- Excerpt from "My American Life" by Gary Hart

"...with everything that happened in the late 70s, even as early as inauguration, some people were rolling out "Carter 80" signs, pushing for a rematch. Jimmy went back to Plains and I don't think he ever publicly indulged that speculation. For a long time it seemed like he was leaving politics forever, to go be a hermit in south Georgia and just be a footnote in history, a modern day Sam Tilden, coming oh-so-close but no cigar then fading into obscurity. Of course, thankfully for Georgia and the American body politic, he found a path where he could contribute and use his fame and cachet within the Democratic party for some good. That said, a lot of the more progressive actors in the party who never warmed up to Jimmy really cringed when talk of a rematch swirled around in the early days. He had his shot, was their stance, and honestly I think they were right. I sometimes wonder if he would have wanted to have made the leap. I don't think he loved the spotlight or what that campaign was like, personally."

- Former Georgia Governor George Busbee Interview, "Remembering '76 - A Historical Symposium on the 1976 Presidential Election"

"...there was talk about drafting me to run for President again in four years but I never really looked into it. I didn't feel the fire a second time. I had been an obscure Southern governor nearly vaulted to the White House but there were so many talented Democrats who wanted to lead us into the 1980s, after what would have been 12 years of Republican administrations. I have a few "Carter 80" items in my home, actually, but I would have actual "Carter 80" memorabilia from a very different but very important race that year anyways."

- Georgia Senator James Earl Carter Interview with The Washington Post, 1989

 

[KingSweden24]

KISSINGER OUT!

- New York Times Headline​

"...unlike the "Halloween Massacre" last year that overhauled the entire Cabinet, this year the President elected only to give one of his Cabinet officials the pink slip as he heads into his first full term as President of the United States - Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State since 1969 and also concurrent holder of the National Security Advisor portfolio for much of that time, has been relieved of his duties. Though the move was expected, the announcement over the weekend caught even some administration insiders off guard..."

- The Washington Post, November 1976

"...canning Henry over Thanksgiving had Don [Rumsfeld] written all over it. The knives had been out for a long time and it was well known that Jerry didn't particularly like him either. Still, it was a sudden and harsh move. Don's hope had been that Dick Cheney would get the job and that both him and his protege would then act as "co-architects" of American foreign policy. Whatever hope there was of that was dashed by the end of the week when Ford announced he was tapping George Bush from the CIA to do it. It was the right move, honestly, both from practical experience - George had done really well in China, at the UN, and as CIA Director - and in terms of Jerry being a little leery of the Don and Dick Show, as it came to be known, having full control over his foreign policy decisions. One factor that became really important in the second term was how much power Jerry distributed to his Cabinet secretaries, too - personnel decisions were routed through them first. That's how Charles Robinson got dismissed and Bush tapped Jim Baker to be his Number Two at Foggy Bottom. Baker had earned that spot, that's for sure, and Dick had initially been eyeing State because he was worried Baker was being lined up to replace him as Chief of Staff. In the end though, he joined his friend at State, and the cliquishness at the White House only intensified..."

- Former Vice President Robert Dole

 

[KingSweden24]

"...the assassination of Bob Marley and his manager, Don Taylor, and Marley's wife Rita, at their home in Jamaica on December 3, was an event that shocked not only Jamaica but the entire world. The killing was thought to immediately have political implications - Michael Manley, the Prime Minister, was suspected to have been using Marley's scheduled concert for that night as a fulcrum for his reelection campaign and conspiracy theorists have long surmised that Edward Seaga, Manley's right-wing opponent, ordered the killing. Mass vigils spread around the world in places where Marley's reggae music was popular, and the singer received a state funeral in Jamaica. Manley, of course, won in a landslide."

- "Assassinations in the 1970s"

"...I have always wondered about if Seaga had help from foreign countries. I'm not saying he did, or that the CIA was involved in Bob's death, I just wonder, sometimes. Some people do more than wonder, that's been the case for almost twenty years. It's an article of faith for some that the CIA killed Bob Marley. Me, I just wonder."

- Michael Manley, 1995

 

[KingSweden24]

"...incomplete on 3rd and 18! Stabler throws incomplete! Now 4th and long, they need a touchdown to win it, or the NFL-best Raiders go home... INTERCEPTED! Patriots intercept in the endzone, McCray with the interception! [1] That's it, the game's over! Less than a minute left, the Patriots have the ball! Wow! 21-17, one of the biggest upsets I have seen in years!"

- Don Meredith, Raiders-Patriots on NBC

"...Minnesota here in its 4th Super Bowl, Pittsburgh aiming to make it three championships in a row here at the Rose Bowl this afternoon..."

"...Tarkenton with the score! Minnesota up 7 to start us off..."

"Bradshaw throws another interception! Wow, he is not having his day today! That injury he picked up against New England is still really nagging him out there on the field, and boy are they missing not having Franco Harris on the field today either [2]..."

"And that's it, folks! The Vikings get the monkey off their back, take Super Bowl XI 21-10 over the Pittsburgh Steelers! The two-time world champion Steelers miss out on making it three straight, and the Vikings finally get to the promised land! Fourth time's the charm, eh Scully?"

- Don Meredith, Super Bowl XI on NBC

FOURTH TIME'S THE CHARM: VIKINGS BEAT STEELERS 21-10 IN SUPER BOWL

- Star Tribune Headline, January 10, 1977​

[1] IOTL Stabler got a key roughing the passer call on 3rd and then McCray got a pass interference call. No call, and no McCray is the hero of the game.
[2] Franco Harris missing with injury was a big reason the Steelers lost to the Raiders in the '77 AFC title game instead of making it three straight. Here, this comes back to bite them against the Vikings

 

[KingSweden24]

"...Bijedic himself was generally skeptical of the rotating Vice Presidency and, well aware that the country would need a strong leader in the mold of Tito once the Marshal passed. All through 1977 he began aligning himself as closely with Petar Stambolic as he could, nudging him and positioning him to be groomed as a successor to Tito..."[1]

- "Yugoslavia and Communism"

[1] The butterfly here is Djemal Bijedic not dying in January of 1977 in a plane crash and becoming ever-more influential in Belgrade

 

[KingSweden24]

"...as I consider the ideals of this nation, of the peaceful transition of power and our constitutional system of government that has girded our way of life for two hundred years now, I nonetheless reflect on the circumstances of my own initial ascension to his office. It calms me, and bears mentioning, that even in the most unusual and unprecedented of circumstances - for me, personally, and for our nation thirty long months ago - the traditions and precedents that have marked the renewal of government, through oath and law, every four years, endure as ever before. I ponder in particular that this year is the first year of our third century as a free republic. Though none of us here today will live to see its close, I am confident that a hundred years from today, a free President will stand on the steps of the Capitol that houses the free Congress, elected by and answerable to the people of a free republic, to continue this nation's promise into our fourth century.

"...two years ago I stood before Congress and declared, that the state of the union is not good. Today, I see a marked improvement since I began my stewardship as President of this great republic. But nevertheless, there is room for improvement. Too many Americans remain out of work, too many businesses struggle with high prices and high taxes, and too many wonder if they will enjoy the same prosperity as the generation that emerged from the crucible of the Second World War. I cannot answer these questions alone. I call now for all Americans to come together and work as one people and one country. I remain as confident as I have ever been, that if we join hands, if we propel ourselves towards common purpose, that the answer to this question will be resoundingly positive.

"...and so I conclude with no words other than to make the same humble request I made to you, the American people, who though they did not hire me the first time I took this oath saw it fit to renew my stewardship for a full for years. Whether or not I earned your vote, and whether or not you find me to align with your values and beliefs, I ask for your prayers. In return, I pledge again: to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God helps me see to that right, and to do my very utmost for this country. God helping me I shall not let you down. Thank you."

- Inaugural address of Gerald Ford, January 20, 1977

"...Ford's address had the same blunt, straightforward and folksy style that all his speeches did. Perhaps most notably, he repeated the closing remarks from his first inaugural, emphasizing a continuity with his previous approach to taking office..."

- "On Inaugurations Through the Years"

 

[KingSweden24]

"...reports from overnight of a major, high-magnitude earthquake behind the Iron Curtain, in Romania..."

- ABC News, March 4, 1977

"...the earthquake most notably took the life of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, who had meant to take a trip to Nigeria during that week but postponed it to meet instead with Yugoslav Premier Djemal Bijedic. The earth shook both literally and figuratively within the Communist Bloc, as one of the East's most eccentric figures was gone, leaving his debt-ridden and deeply impoverished country reeling. The Soviets breathed some sigh of relief - Ceausescu had often marched to the beat of his own drum and now the opportunity was there to find a figure more willing to toe Moscow's line. For the Romanian people, of course, the devastation in Bucharest and the countryside only furthered the calamities and economic mismanagement of their land..."

- Behind the Iron Curtain

 

[KingSweden24]

"...the state of emergency ending in India and the Congress Party getting waxed looked like a new dawn inside the White House. I know George [Bush] was particularly interested in visiting, now that Indira was gone, and that nutjob son of hers too. A major focal point of the administration was going to be a peace through strength approach, of rebuilding American prestige abroad in new lands to carve them away from the Soviets after Vietnam..."

- Dick Cheney, Interview with ABC

"...the State of Emergency remains supremely controversial in India even today. It was a dark time if you cared about democracy, human rights... such a big country for something that dark to be going on in."

- Denis Healey, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

 

[KingSweden24]

"...Ford wanted an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days, and floated a return of the Whip Inflation Now! campaign, only to be persuaded that that was a poor idea. An orthodox conservative on budget matters, Ford made an address to Congress in early April where he proposed "to solve the economic crisis of our time, by reducing the tax expenditures of the average American in tandem with reducing their daily energy costs and thus growing their pocketbooks." The Economic Stimulus Act of 1977 was relatively small-bore and built around a package of personal and business tax cuts [1], a policy of deregulation of the airline, trucking and railroad industries in what he promoted as an omnibus National Transport Reform Act, and finally what became known as the National Energy Policy Program, or NEPP, which would have as its "spearpoint" the creation of a Cabinet-level Department of Energy to coordinate American energy policy, most prominently reviewing national coal and oil reserves as well as substantially financing an even more aggressive expansion of the country's nuclear fleet..."

- The Presidency of Gerald Ford

"...Miller's loose monetary policies were a problem, of course, as was the fact that [Treasury Secretary] Simon was a lot more right-wing than Jerry was on the issues, on all this spending, that is to say. The "Trident Plan" to shake up the economy - tax cuts, deregulation and energy reform - were pretty boilerplate conservative stuff at this point, but a lot of the right wanted Jerry to go even further. I think it was Reagan, that asshole, always stepping on the White House messaging, who remarked "we need fewer Cabinet departments, not more!" in some interview. Of course, all this was really just shadowboxing over the real problem - Panama."

- David Gergen, White House Communications Director, 1999 Interview for "Ford and America, 25 Years On"

[1] I'm basing these largely on Carter's proposal to Congress in 1977

 

[KingSweden24]

"...Ford revived the stalled negotiations with Panama over the Canal's status, though the process was driven primarily by Bush. Cheney and Rumsfeld expressed skepticism; conservatives in Congress, upon hearing that talks with the Torrijos government had restarted, were outraged and sought to kneecap the negotiations before they could proceed much further. Barely a few months into his full term, Ford was already facing a major revolt on his right, led primarily from within Washington by Senators Helms and Thurmond and from outside of it by Reagan, who that same year started a widely syndicated radio show to keep his name - and views - in the public sphere..."

- The Ford Presidency

"...Panama was really pushed by George, and its really all because when he flew with the President to the G-7 in '77, to England that is, he had brought with him a book on the Suez Crisis to read on the trip. He was really shocked by it, by how Nasser - who he thought Torrijos reminded him of, and Torrijos compared himself to Nasser more than once, of course - well, Nasser just took the Canal. And it was a disaster. And then the UK and France, they, they - they went it, and it was one of the biggest embarrassments of the early Cold War. Right after Vietnam, another jungle country, our own Suez... George was absolutely petrified of the idea, and he and Ford had similar worldviews and temperaments. George more than anything pushed to start talking to Torrijos again..."

- Brent Scowcroft, "Remembering the Panama Crisis"

"...it was a really terrible fucking idea. I didn't always see eye to eye with Henry [Kissinger], but if we'd kept him around instead of George and Brent... well, Henry showed how you deal with people like Torrijos. Ask Salvador Allende. Oh wait, you can't."

- H.R. Haldeman, Interview from Prison

 

[KingSweden24]

"...Star Wars is just sort of part of the national consciousness today but it's hard to emphasize what a big deal that was when it came out. Nobody had seen anything like it before, it was just on a whole 'nother level. People were lined up around the block, and the TOYS, oh, man, the toys that movie sold..."

- JJ Abrams interview, "Forty Years of Star Wars" (2017)

"...and with that Liverpool has the treble! The first English club to secure the honor and the third European side after Celtic and Ajax of Amsterdam... wow, what a season by the Reds! What a season!"

- BBC Radio Call, Liverpool victory in FA Cup, 1977

 

[KingSweden24]

"...the gay community was really thrust into the national limelight for the first time largely thanks to the Save Our Children campaign down in Florida but also the way the SFPD overreacted to the two hundred thousand strong march in San Francisco that June after the measure in Miami passed. [1] It really galvanized an activist group that hadn't existed before, and you can sort of see an emerging split emerge on the right. I don't think Ford really cared much about gays one way or another. He was definitely of that generation that looked at them a bit side-eyed but thought the hysteria from the Bryant types was too much. The police beating the snot out of marching gay men on Castro Street and turning water cannons on them was a turning point too; I think after that there was a bit of a siege mentality in the gay community that developed, a more formalized activism..."

- Former White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney

"...Cronkite describing the scene in San Francisco as "like Bull Connor in Birmingham" was a major turning point. Change was very much soon in the air in San Francisco. This is a liberal city, to be compared to Alabama did not go over well with a lot of the people here..."

- Former Congressman Harvey Milk

[1] OTL this march was peaceful; butterflies flap their wings a bit, though.

(San Fran in the 1970s is a really interesting subject, IMO - something we're going to explore with the People's Temple debacle coming up soon, various political butterflies, etc)

 

[KingSweden24]

"...yeah, the blackout was basically it for Beame. All that looting, vandalism... you could say that was probably the nadir, right on the heels of Ford basically telling the city to fuck off. Yeah, no, I know the headline was "Drop Dead," but still. It really crystallized for the city too that the Republicans hated our guts. Hated the city. Ford in that press conference sounded smug, dismissive... not a good look. And I think in the end that's what helped position us for the primary, because Ed [Koch] was generally on pretty good terms with the administration, and we found our wedge there. The GOP had a good relationship with the Italian community, with some of the white ethnics, and that press conference really blew things our way, even if the primary was razor tight before the runoff..."

- Senator Andrew Cuomo, Interview for "New York '77: 25 Years Later", ABC News, 2002

"...if there was one incidence I could take back, one moment where I thought "This is a mistake," it would be the President's press conference after the New York blackout. We all know that the media has a certain... shall we call it, "method" of portraying Republicans. Jerry didn't need to comment on it, but New York and its troubles had been headlines for years. The Seventies were rough in the city. There was heat on the right thanks to restarting the Panama talks, which George did WAY too publicly, the economic package was stagnating as we negotiated with Congress, which Jerry insisted on taking the lead on, as if he were back on the Hill... he hated the way Reagan and other Republicans were criticizing him, that he wasn't getting his honeymoon after winning the election. I think he just wanted to sound tough. I sympathized. But going off the cuff on New York that way, the way he described the city, its leadership, it flew close to basically saying that the people there had brought it on themselves. The media coverage was ugly. A few sentences, that's all I would have said. Not the whole screed, not the testy answers to questions from Dan Rather. That was a landmine we didn't need to step on."

- Former Vice President Robert Dole, 2007

"...let President Ford come down here and see the empty buildings in the burnt Bronx while he proposes cutting taxes for his millionaire friends; let President Ford go to the struggling stores owned by working families on Jamaica Avenue, as he talks about deregulating major corporations; let him walk up and down Times Square, and Broadway, and Flatbush Avenue, and tell the people who can't afford to put a roof over their heads or food on the table that it's just too bad! Maybe if he understood this city he'd think different!"

- Governor Hugh Carey, Cuomo For Mayor Rally, July 2nd, 1977

"...the whole ordeal really sparked something in Hugh, too. He'd worked with the Ford administration in '75, really thought he was being an honest broker, was working really hard to save the city... and then Ford basically comes out and gives him the finger in public. Hugh took it personally. I'd never seen him like that before."

- Former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "New York '77: 25 Years Later", ABC News, 2002