Gerald Ford Wins 1976 Presidential Election

Wait. Are people really going to elect a guy back into office that they never elected to office in the first place? Does that make any sense? Did he even want to run for reelection in the first place?

1. Yes. Ford ran an incredible campaign and almost pulled off a win. I saw somewhere that if the election were held a few days later, Ford would have won outright. And the American people do have a history of reelecting unelected presidents. Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson were all elected to terms in their own right after being elevated from the vice-presidency.

2. Ford had plenty of opportunity and reason to not run for reelection. Yet he struggled through a bitter primary season, a divided convention, and a losing presidential campaign, and in the end nearly won. So it seems logical to assume that ford probably wanted reelection.
 

Ford1976

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Actually.......

If Ford won in '76, things would have been dramatically different and better. The economy was rebounding rapidly because of the 1975 Middle Class tax cuts. The Ford Administration created 16 million new jobs in the agriculture, industrial, and manufacturing fields in 2 1/2 years. He never had a chance to sign legislation that would have created another 5 million by 1983, as well as haivng kept many more millions of jobs in the U.S. Carter ignored it despite its bi-partisan support.

When Carter took over he reversed a majority of the things Ford did and it resulted in what we got from 1977-1981. I have heard economists say that if Ford won, there would have been a surplus by '78 or '79, the unemployment and inflation rate would have been lower than it was under Eisenhower. Ford had a welfare program similar to Tommy Thompson's in WI that never got a chance to go through the legislative process. The interest rates would have been historically lower, the dollar would have been stronger and the cost of living would be dramatically lower.

All in all, the GOP would have still stayed more moderate instead of transforming into the Tea Party 30+ years later. Reagan would have retired as an actor and a former governor, G.H.W. Bush may have won the nod in 1980, but not likely. Clinton would still have won, No W. in 2000, that would have been McCain's.

The energy crisis would not have happened because The Ford Administration would have given the green light on a bi-partisan drilling bill, that once again, Carter ignored.
 
Ted Kennedy would go into 1980 with something of a frontrunner status, but I think he'd struggle -- I'd bet that a (proto-)DLC-er like Jerry Brown or Gary Hart beats him in the primaries. As to the GOP, I agree we're likely to see a Ford-Reagan match-off, but in this scenario, I'd put my money on the Gipper. Even with his "outsider" status though, after 12 years of GOP rule and a faltering economy*, Ron is probably going to lose the general election. So I'd say -- President Jerry Brown 1980.

This is going to sound odd...but Chevy Chase would've had more time to work on his impression on Saturday Night Live.

That'll be sweet :D

*even if Ford does better than Carter (which I won't weigh in on either way), the late 70's are going to be bitch
 
Senator Edward Kennedy might not even run in 1980 here. After all, he ran against Jimmy Carter because he was opposed to the direction Carter was moving the party. Without Carter in the White House, I'm not sure Kennedy would feel as motivated to run.
 
Gerald Ford 1974 - 1981
Walter Mondale 1981 - 1989
Hugh Carey 1989 - 1993
Jack Kemp 1993 - 2001
Lamar Alexander 2001 - 2009
Barack Obama 2009-
 
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