WI: Gerald Ford doesn't run in '76

What if Gerald Ford chose to not run for President in 1976?, so he could run for Senate in Michigan., and hopefully gain position as the Republican Leader of the Senate. I believe the Republican nominees would be very reminiscent of 1980. It would either be Reagen or Bush. Who would win the Republican Nomination? Would the Democratic Field be the same or something else entirely?
 
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Why would he not? He's already the incumbent President, and anything else would be a huge step down. Even Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter ran for reelection.

But, if, for some reason, Ford decided not to run for reelection, I can see Reagan being the nominee instead. He almost won in OTL 1976 against an incumbent. ITTL, there's really no other candidate strong enough to oppose him. I can also see Reagan doing better against Carter than Ford did IOTL. He might still be defeated in 1980 just like Carter was IOTL, but then again, maybe Reagan handles the situation better and gets reelected.
 
Why would he not? He's already the incumbent President, and anything else would be a huge step down. Even Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter ran for reelection.

But, if, for some reason, Ford decided not to run for reelection, I can see Reagan being the nominee instead. He almost won in OTL 1976 against an incumbent. ITTL, there's really no other candidate strong enough to oppose him. I can also see Reagan doing better against Carter than Ford did IOTL. He might still be defeated in 1980 just like Carter was IOTL, but then again, maybe Reagan handles the situation better and gets reelected.

I believe Ford hated the Presidency, and he preferred Congress much more, maybe Ford will go the Senate instead of the House in this TL, like what Andrew Johnson did.
 
I can't imagine Ford not running, but I agree that if he didn't, then it most likely will be Reagan running in his place. Now, assuming this doesn't somehow butterfly Carter away, then what happens in November? I have always believed that Reagan would have won Texas, but Carter still does well in the rest of the south. And Reagan doesn't do nearly as well as Ford did in the mid-west. In short, I give Carter the edge in the general. Although what hurt Ford a lot was his pardoning Tricky Dick, and Reagan can't be blamed for that.
 
What if Gerald Ford chose to not run for President in 1976?, so he could run for his old seat in Wisconsin

Rather weirdly, you are the second poster here to confuse Michigan with Wisconsin in recent days... https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=10859456&postcount=6

Anyway, Ford couldn't even be sure he would get his old Grand Rapids-based congressional district back; a Democrat, Richard Vander Veen, had won it in a special election in early 1974 and retained it in November 1974. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Vander_Veen And if Ford did win the seat back, he couldn't be sure the Republicans would elect him Minority Leader again; and even if he did, that would be the most he could hope for, since in those days the chances of the Republicans ever getting a majority in the House seemed dim. I can see him getting tired of politics altogether, but hardly of giving up the White House for a chance to regain leadership of what looked like a permanent minority in the House.

I know that lots of presidents are said to hate the presidency, but did you notice that in modern times at least, they generally do run for re-election? Taft was often said to dislike the presidency, to be more suited temperamentally to be a judge, etc., but he did run again in 1912, despite the long odds against his winning...
 
Ford's initial instinct was to consider announcing that he would not be seeking re-election. He allowed Kissinger to talk him into the idea that as a caretaker presidency, he wouldn't be able to get much done in foreign policy.

Maybe if he had taken it one step further and asked, a partisan Republicsn with a Democratic Congress vs. caretaker presidency with Democratic Congress, where can he get more done? (and I'm not implying it's an obvious answer, just that it's a real question)

And somewhere along the way, maybe 1973?, he had promised Betty that he would serve out this term, and then one more term, and then that would be it.
 
But, if, for some reason, Ford decided not to run for reelection, I can see Reagan being the nominee instead. He almost won in OTL 1976 against an incumbent. ITTL, there's really no other candidate strong enough to oppose him. I can also see Reagan doing better against Carter than Ford did IOTL. He might still be defeated in 1980 just like Carter was IOTL, but then again, maybe Reagan handles the situation better and gets reelected.[/QUOTE]

Reagan would get the nomination and lose. He is of the president's party in bad economic times. Carter can also use Reagan's unpopular views like his opposition to Medicare. I don't see anybody being reelected in 1980, The only way to Handel it better would be to not lot the Shah in. I don't know of any plausible president who not let the a Shah in. Even if the hostage crisis is avoided you still have the bad economy.
 
Reagan would get the nomination and lose. He is of the president's party in bad economic times. Carter can also use Reagan's unpopular views like his opposition to Medicare. I don't see anybody being reelected in 1980, The only way to Handel it better would be to not lot the Shah in. I don't know of any plausible president who not let the a Shah in. Even if the hostage crisis is avoided you still have the bad economy.
OTL Ford came very close in 1976 IOTL, and Reagan would be a stronger candidate. In addition to being less gaffe-prone and more charismatic, Reagan would also not be hurt by having to pardon Nixon. The economy wasn't doing too badly in 1976, anyways. It got worse by 1980.
 
OTL Ford came very close in 1976 IOTL, and Reagan would be a stronger candidate. In addition to being less gaffe-prone and more charismatic, Reagan would also not be hurt by having to pardon Nixon. The economy wasn't doing too badly in 1976, anyways. It got worse by 1980.

The economy was not good in 1976. The Carter campaign used the phrase misery index to describe the high inflation and unemployment. ITTL Reagan would be in the same position as John McCain was in 2008. In addition there are his unpopular positions I think he does worse than Ford.
 
The 1976 Booby Prize Thesis, which I'll subscribe to 80%:

Whoever is elected in '76 has an 80% chance of having a really rough go of it,

and only a 20% chance of threading the needle on various thorny problems.
 
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