DBWI Ronald Reagan runs for a second term

Ronald Reagan's announcement that he would not be running for re-election in 1984 took most people by surprise, though it turned out to be completely understandable given the dementia that set in a few years later. But what if he had run for a second term? Could the dementia have been covered up?

One wildcard is whether there would be a different reaction to Iran-Contra if the scandal had broken when Reagan was in the White House, assuming he didn't intervene to stop the arms deals.
 

CaliGuy

Banned
Oh, Iran-Contra would certainly result in Reagan getting impeached just like Bush was in our TL!

As for his dementia, though, I think that, Yes, it could have been covered up due to the lack of a desire on anyone's part to send a signal to the Soviets that the incumbent U.S. President is senile; indeed, something such as this would certainly be a godsend piece of information for the Soviets! :(
 

CaliGuy

Banned
Also, we would probably still have Michael Dukakis win the U.S. Presidency in 1988 in this TL; after all, just like in our TL, Dukakis could portray himself as Jimmy Carter 2.0! :)
 
Also, we would probably still have Michael Dukakis win the U.S. Presidency in 1988 in this TL; after all, just like in our TL, Dukakis could portray himself as Jimmy Carter 2.0! :)
Would he still lose to Bob Dole in 1992?

OOC: You said Jimmy Carter 2.0.:p
 
I wonder what the international situation would be like during a second Reagan Presidency.

How would he react to Grigory Romanov's crackdown on Soviet dissent?
Would we even have anything resembling the Red Square Massacre in that timeline?
Maybe with Reagan we could have twice the tensions than in OTL resulting in WW3!

He wouldn't take kindly to Colombia's FARC takeover either.

I don't see much changes in Western Europe, the EEC is gonna strenghten its ties regardless of what happens, though maybe France and the UK wouldn't be so dominant if we get someone different ruling in Bonn.
 
Then I guess Carter would lose the distinction of being the second person to serve two non-consecutive terms, since I don't see him running in 1988.
 
I think Kemp from 86-89 is a totally underrated president.

Stupid Ohio recount was totally rigged. I still think Kemp won not Dukasis
 

CaliGuy

Banned
I think Kemp from 86-89 is a totally underrated president.

Stupid Ohio recount was totally rigged. I still think Kemp won not Dukasis
Yeah, the U.S. Supreme Court case called Kemp v. Dukakis was quite something; indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court endured a lot of hate for effectively deciding the 1988 election! ;)
 
So OTL:

40. Ronald Reagan | George HW Bush (Republican): 1981-1985
Def. 1980: Jimmy Carter | Walter Mondale (Democratic) / John Anderson | Patrick Lucey (Independent)

41. George HW Bush | Jack Kemp (Republican): 1985-1986
Def. 1984: Walter Mondale | Geraldine Ferraro (Democratic)

42. Jack Kemp | Vacant (Republican): 1986-1987
42.
Jack Kemp | Jim Thompson (Republican): 1987-1989

43.
Michael Dukakis | John Glenn (Democratic): 1989-1993

Def. 1988: Jack Kemp | Jim Thompson (Republican)

44. Bob Dole | Carroll Campbell (Republican): 1993-1997
Def. 1992: Michael Dukakis | John Glenn (Democratic)

45. Bill Clinton | Paul Wellstone (Democratic): 1997-2001
Def. 1996: Bob Dole | Carroll Campbell (Republican)

46. John McCain | Dan Quayle (Republican): 2001-2009
Def. 2000: Bill Clinton| Paul Wellstone (Democratic)
Def. 2004: Al Gore | Bob Graham (Democratic)

47. Hillary Rodham Clinton | Mark Warner (Democratic): 2009-2017
Def. 2008: Dan Quayle | J.C. Watts (Republican)
Def. 2012: George W. Bush | Rob Portman

48. Barack Obama | Martin O'Malley (Democratic): 2017-?
Def. 2016: Marco Rubio | John Kasich (Republican) / Donald Trump | Jim Webb (Independent)

I think Reagan winning a Second Term would look something like this (I don't know what the defeated tickets would be):

40. Ronald Reagan | George HW Bush (Republican): 1981-1989

41.
George HW Bush | Dan Quayle (Republican): 1989-1993

42.
Bill Clinton | Al Gore (Democratic): 1993-2001

43.
Al Gore | Bill Bradley (Democratic): 2001-2005

44.
John McCain | George Allen (Republican): 2005-2013

45.
Russ Feingold | Joe Biden (Democratic): 2013-2021
 
Well, Bob Dole lost to Bill Clinton who in 2000 lost to John McCain who became the first president since Nixon to win reelection in 2004.

Both 1996 and 2000 were close. If a any other Democrat was nominated in 1996, I think Dole would've won as he got the economy back on track and things were stable abroad. It took Bill Clinton being a skilled once in a lifetime politician to beat an incumbent with such favorable conditions. I also think that if he kept his pants zipped, Clinton would've crushed McCain in 2000 and even with the sex scandal, we saw 1988 repeat itself as Bill still won the popular vote.

I think Kemp from 86-89 is a totally underrated president.

Stupid Ohio recount was totally rigged. I still think Kemp won not Dukasis

Dukakis won for the same reason McCain won in 2000. While the incumbent wasn't unpopular, there was enough of the public that wanted to move past Iran Contra and felt that in order to do so, a new President was needed.
 
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