What if Nixon nominated Reagan instead of Ford to replace Agnew? Would Reagan have been confirmed? Would he have pardoned Nixon? How would Reagan be seen in 1976?
He can't - both are from California. What'd be really sneaky is if he picked John Connally before he switched parties to be a "bipartisan president."
So, why did Dick Chaney say he was from California?
He can't - both are from California. What'd be really sneaky is if he picked John Connally before he switched parties to be a "bipartisan president."
Not true. The only restriction is during the election, and it's on the electors not on the candidate. So the electors from California could only vote for Nixon or Reagan, not both.
Incorrect. Nixon declared his home state in 1968 and 1972 as New York. In addition, the state restriction is a matter for the Electoral College, and Nixon has already won 1972, and cannot nor will he run in 1976, so the point is moot. But the point is already moot as Nixon's electoral home state was New York. So it is arguing how many angels can fit on the head of a pin when neither the angels nor the pin even exist.
Not that Wikipedia's anything resembling a concrete source on this, but there's a note on the 1968 election page indicating that while Nixon was registered as being from New York in 1968, he re-established residency in California during his first term. If this is correct, he would, IIRC, technically be considered a resident of California for the 1972 election; however, past the election the point would, as you pointed out, be moot since the Electoral College has nothing to do with the appointment of a Vice President during a President's term.
Apologies if I'm mistaken on the residency point; I was a little over a decade away from breathing at that point, so I don't have any first hand knowledge to refer to here. I just happened to recall that note because it struck me as unusual that they recorded Nixon as having two different residencies for his two elections.
Not so sure. By Oct. '73, he had been governor of California for close to seven years. And whatever his public statements, his policies were middle-of-the-road in a number of ways. Ronnie even pulled off a trick in which he raised taxes his first year and was then able to lower taxes in each subsequent year, and thereby was seen as a successful governor. Somehow he played the Democratic legislature on this one.Returning to the original question - Reagan was seen as a nutty Goldwaterite at this point. He would not have been confirmed. . . .