Reagan Revolution Averted: A Ron Paul Presidency Collaborative Timeline

June 7th, 1979: U.S House of Representative Ron Paul announces his Presidential candidacy. "I want to restore American strength and help us grow past mistakes such as Vietnam, while restoring our economy", the Texan says.

June 9th, 1979: Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan is surprised by Paul's decision to run. "Ultimately, the better man is going to win this one, but good luck to him."
 
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Not going to lie, this interests me very much. I consider myself economically conservative and socially liberal ... an American libertarian. Interesting to see if you still have Ron Paul pursuing his more libertarian values this early in his career and if a "Ron Revolution" for libertarianism supplants OTLs "Reagan Revolution" for conservatism.
 
Yes, Ron Paul is going to stay true to his libertarian beliefs while running for President. He has a distaste for Reagan's ass-kissing to the Christian Conservatives and pledges to govern areligiously as President.
 
Well if an insane business mogul with no experience could be elected President, maybe Ron Paul could be too.

Donald Trump is not an excuse. This was a different time with different issues. America in 2016 is more open to the idea of a president without any prior political experience (Eisenhower doesn't count as he was a commander who helped defeat a country which we were at war with) than in 1980. I honestly do not see how Ron Paul can win in 1980.
 
Donald Trump is not an excuse. This was a different time with different issues. America in 2016 is more open to the idea of a president without any prior political experience (Eisenhower doesn't count as he was a commander who helped defeat a country which we were at war with) than in 1980. I honestly do not see how Ron Paul can win in 1980.
There is no way. It's a stretch to even get him on the ticket period.
 
Barry Goldwater is the only libertarian from the time that I can think of, and there's no way he's getting nominated in 1980.

Who could have realistically stopped it?
Depends on what you mean by stopping it. If you're looking for a libertarian, I assume you want the economic move to the right to some degree without the social conservatism or interventionism. In that case, I'd say a moderate Republican like George Bush or even John B. Anderson could appease fiscal hawks without flirting with the religious right or going overboard with interventionism. I've seen quasi-libertarian Jack Kemp become the 1980 nominee in TLs where Reagan lost 1976, but he was a Reagan-ite in most regards.
 
Hmmm....John B. Anderson might be the answer.
Anderson actually becoming the Republican nominee is an interesting idea since most of the focus is typically on his independent campaign. By 1980, there's no way he could single-handedly stop the Republicans' move to the right, but he could at least keep them a big-tent party, especially on social issues. His presidency would probably be a perpetual conflict between pursuing his own agenda and appeasing conservatives in the party.
 
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