WI Ronald Reagan chooses someone other than George Bush as his VP

[Caliban]

It's really startling to think how dramatically Ronald Reagan's choosing George H. W. Bush as his VP effected history. Had he not been the sitting VP, George Bush probably doesn't become President in 1988 and there's a very different history then for a number of different reasons and his son George W. probably doesn't go on to become the Governor of Texas or eventually the President meaning we have a completely different administration when 911 happens(assuming it still happens).

The question is who might Reagan have picked and how would history have gone from there.

 

[History Learner]

The question is who might Reagan have picked and how would history have gone from there.

There is the well known pitch to Ford, the consideration of Rumsfeld, and finally Paul Laxalt, who was close to Reagan and well liked by his (Reagan's staffers). Alexander Haig is another potential choice I've heard/read about, as is Bob Dole.

 

[David T]

See https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...esnt-choose-bush-for-vp.348849/#post-10533118 on alternatives to Bush. Despite Richard Allen's story about how close Rumsfeld came, Theodore White maintained that only three candidates for vice president were ever seriously considered--Howard Baker, Gerald Ford, and George Bush. Michael Deaver, Edwin Meese, and Richard Wirthlin agree that those were the three on the top of Reagan's list.