WI: Nancy Reagan is elected President in 2000

After her years of political activism, Nancy Reagan decides to seek the Republican Nomination in 2000 and wins the election, what are the 00's like with her at the helm?
 
she was 78 in 2000, and had never been elected anything and was the only full time care giver to President Reagan at the time.
 
she was 78 in 2000, and had never been elected anything and was the only full time care giver to President Reagan at the time.

This can be changed if we have to, but she's still quite electable due to America's love for Reagan, if not, have her pull a Hillary and run for senate in New York in the 80's.
 
She was a California resident. In order to get a seat, she'd have to go up against one of two incredibly popular senators in the form of Feinstein and Boxer.
 
There was serious talk of her running in 88 as a way of getting around the two term limit stopping Ron from running again. Perhaps a POD where GW Bush doesn't want to run?
 
Maybe, but in '88 the Iran-Contra affair had brought Reagan's approval ratings down significantly. While he still had many devoted followers, there was fatigue regarding him and his policies, and the Cold War attitudes weren't resounding with the electorate as much due to the rise of Gorbachev. I think that all of this would have spilled over to Nancy, and it's good to remember that her approval ratings were never as high as her husbands, nor had she had any experience in any elected office whatsoever.

A Senate run wouldn't be out of the question if they moved anywhere but California.
 
This can be changed if we have to, but she's still quite electable due to America's love for Reagan, if not, have her pull a Hillary and run for senate in New York in the 80's.

I don't think that you can change the woman's age.

America's "love for Reagan" is a rather... contentious subject. Electing her in the 80s means that a lot of more negative impressions of Reagan are still hanging around. Some of those may fade by, say, 2000, but at this point she is ancient. And really has next to no practical experience to qualify her for the presidency, aside from being a darling to the GOP.

New York senate... The class 1 senator is Daniel Patrick Moynihan until 2000. Class 3 senator is Al D'Amato, until Schumer defeats him for re-election in 1998. Moynihan is far from a soft target, and I don't think that Reagan can just waltz into New York and demand that the GOP replace D'Amato with herself on the ballot (or, for that matter, convince the state to vote for her vs. Moynihan; a carpetbagger won't fair very well against an established, moderately popular incumbent).
 
She would need to have political experiance prior to running president, and if she has that, then she could very well get the nomination,due to her popularity with the Republicans , athough due to her age, 1996 might be a more likely date. But let's imagine she is the nominee for 2000...

Who would her running mate be? George W. or Jeb are possible, or maybe McCain, although I seem to recall that they disliked each other. So if I had to guese, I would pick Jeb Bush. How she would fair against Gore is interesting, but she could do better than Bush, since Nancy appears a bit more intelligent the GWB. Her age would be a problem though. On the other hand, after the Lewinsky affair, maybe she could make the argument that she would restore morality and ethics to the White House.

So lets say she becomes President. Would she be a copy of her husband? How would she handle 9/11? Personally, I'm not sure the American Public would be reassured with having an elderly woman as president after the attacks, but than Maggie Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth proved that women can be just as though as men in politics. I'm not sure if she would invade either Iraq or Afganistan, but at least limited attacks on both countrie seem likely.

At any rate, she probably won't be re-ellected in 2004 due to her being over 80, so perhaps she bows out and let's Jeb Bush run in her place. He would probably be a one-termer, and since a woman has proved to be a capable president whilst in the White House in this Time Line, today we would have President Hillary Clinton. :cool:
 
There was serious talk of her running in 88 as a way of getting around the two term limit stopping Ron from running again. Perhaps a POD where GW Bush doesn't want to run?

Maybe if Reagan were to be assassinated in '87 (as fortold by Tecumseh), and Bush for some reason does not want to run for a term of his own. Widow's succession was how many of the first female officeholders in this country got their positions, but I'm not sure if it would work for the Presidency.
 
Top