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This is one of the USA's great political could-have-beens, and I wouldn't be surprised if this has been asked before, but what if Ronald Reagan became President?

As far as I can see, most obvious scenario is Reagan winning his challenge for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976 against incumbent President Ford, and going on to win the general election against Governor Carter.

On the other hand, there is the possibility that Reagan could have become President in 1980. Perhaps if he'd decided to challenge Vice-President Bob Dole for the nomination - but that'd be unlikely, I think. Or on the other hand, if Ford had lost in 1976, maybe Reagan could have won the nomination four years later - he wouldn't be tarred by having been on a losing ticket like Dole would have, and he would be running against Carter and not Teddy Kennedy like in OTL. At any rate he couldn't have done worse than Dole did, or George Bush in 1984.

But the best bet would be 1976 - by 1984 Reagan would probably be too old to run for re-election and win, so if he were elected in 1976 he'd be able to potentially serve two terms.
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