Paul V McNutt
Banned
I was inspired to write this when I read that was a new story in fall 1970, that said Nixon planned to dump Agnew in 1972 and replace him with George H W Bush. Bush was running against Lloyd Bentsen for the Senate at the time. The story hurt him with Texas voters who wanted their Senator to serve his full term.
Barring an earlier revaluation of Agnew's tax evasion and bribery, I don't see Nixon changing running mates in 1972. George H W Bush could, however, have been Nixon's Vice President. He was on the short list both in 1968 and 1973. So what if George H W Bush became president on August 8, 1974 not January 20, 1989? I think policy wise, he would not have been much different than Ford. I think his ties to the Eastern Establishment would give an edge to Reagan in 1976. If he does get the nomination and has similar support to Ford's OTL support, he could win. The economy would still be bad. He would probably pardon Nixon, but he would not say there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.
Barring an earlier revaluation of Agnew's tax evasion and bribery, I don't see Nixon changing running mates in 1972. George H W Bush could, however, have been Nixon's Vice President. He was on the short list both in 1968 and 1973. So what if George H W Bush became president on August 8, 1974 not January 20, 1989? I think policy wise, he would not have been much different than Ford. I think his ties to the Eastern Establishment would give an edge to Reagan in 1976. If he does get the nomination and has similar support to Ford's OTL support, he could win. The economy would still be bad. He would probably pardon Nixon, but he would not say there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.