Challenge: POTUS William F. Buckley Jr.

POD 1955, make it happen. Bonus if before 1980, double bonus for a matchup with his fellow New Yorker RFK before then.
 
A less than serious attempt:

George S McGovern should pick Pat Brown (ex Governor of California, defeated Nixon in his run in 1964) for his VP straight off, with no Eagleton nonsense: with him on the ticket some of the "scary radical" perception of McGovern is lost, there is no loss of momentum in the campaign. A McGovern/Brown ticket narrowly beats Nixon in 1972. They pull out of Vietnam amid howls of protest from the right about "a stab in the back." The Oil Shock and economic stagnation follow. When Watergate is uncovered half the country believe it's a conspiracy to smear former President Nixon to distract from McGovern's woes.

William F Buckley runs for the Republican nomination for Mayor of New York in 1961 and unexpectedly wins, after he is endorsed by Lawrence E Gerosa, who decides not to run, as Buckley has the fiscal conservative, law and order bases covered. He uses this a jumping off point to run for Senate against RFK but sadly loses. However he is able to win on the Conservative ticket in 1970 (rather than his brother James Buckley.)
In 1976 the Republican National Convention narrowly nominates WFB over Nelson Rockefeller for President, with Ronald Reagan as the choice for VP. J G Ballard writes a short story "Why I Wanna Fuck William F Buckley Jr" which pranksters photocopy and distribute at the RNC, without the title attached. WFB calls Ballard a "queer" and an "evangelist for bisexuality" and threatens to sock him in the face, if he ever gets the chance.
WFB easily bests George McGovern in the debates, and the Republican ticket wins. However the Conservative Revolution fails to solve the nation's economic problems and their re-election bid are buffeted by challenges in the 1980 Republican primaries by both Jesse Helms (unhappy with progress in fulfilling the conservative dream) and Richard Schweiker (in a desperate attempt to drag the party back to the centre.)
The nation is exhausted by the back and forth between radical left and right, and votes overwhelmingly for Jimmy Carter and Lloyd Bentsen, who promise gentle reform, an end to dependence on foreign oil and new era of moral and diplomatic leadership for the US on the world stage.
In a final humiliation, the Iranian hostages are released just a few minutes after Carters inauguration, allowing him to take credit for the results of exhausting negotiations Buckley had put in over the previous months, after the failed commando raid.
 
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