alternatehistory.com

In OTL, George H.W. Bush---fmr TX Congressman, UN Ambassador and CIA Director--was not fmr CA Governor Reagan's first choice as his running mate. After Reagan clinched the nomination with a long string of primary victories over Bush in the spring of 1980, the Reagan campaign team assembled a short list of potential running mates. List included TN Sen. Howard Baker (the Senate Minority Leader), NY Congressman Jack Kemp, IN Sen. Richard Lugar, NV Sen. Paul Laxalt, fmr Treasury Sec. William Simon, and George H.W. Bush. As the GOP Convention in Detroit approached, speculation began to build that fmr President Gerald Ford might be interested. Negotiations between the Reagan campaign staff and Ford's team for such a 'Dream Ticket" were ongoing during the Convention itself, but fell through at almost the 11th hour. Reagan then called Bush--who had given assurances earlier in the evening that he could support the entire conservative Reagan platform, incluidng the pro-life plank and the supply-side economics plank--and offered him the vice-presidential spot on the 1980 ticket.

What If Reagan picked someone else as his running mate in 1980? Might the Dream Ticket have been salvaged and the 1980 Republican ticket been Reagan-Ford after all? Who would Reagan have picked if not Ford or Bush? Does Reagan still beat Carter in November 1980 with a different running mate? If Reagan wins, who gets the Republican nomination in 1988? What happens to Bush?
Top