alternatehistory.com

I know, technically this actually happened, since he didn't unseat Ford and obtain the Republican nomination. But I'm sure it is clear what the title here means. Reagan obtains the nomination, but ends up losing in the general election. Most threads about a Reagan 1976 nomination discuss the possibility of an earlier Reagan Presidency, perhaps because that's the reality that, at least initially seems to be the most divergent from our own. But, as best I can tell, Reagan's victory is by no means assured or inevitable in a 1976 contest. 1976 is a very favorable year for the Democrats, so there's at least a slimmer of a possibility that Reagan would lose just as Gerald Ford lost. So despite Reagan's best efforts, he loses to Jimmy Carter. What happens four years later? Since he lost four years earlier, would the Republicans consider renominating Reagan? Would Reagan even run again? If not, who would the Republicans nominate, and what would his Presidency look like?
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