WI: Ronald Reagan Dies in June 1964?

From what I remember reading in Rumsfeld's auto-biography, Nixon was tossing around Charles Percy, John Volpe, and Mark Hatfield. Other names that have been mentioned on various wikipedia pages, books, and whatnot include George H.W. Bush and Gerald R. Ford.

As for a substitute for Reagan, that's interesting. Looking at the list of "potential candidates" in the 1968 GOP primaries wikipedia page, names that pop out are Senator Peter H. Dominick of Colorado and Senator John Tower of Texas. There's also Congressman John Ashbrook of Ohio, the man who challenged Nixon in '72. I can see Tower launching some sort of bid in '68. He'd served close to eight years in the Senate by now and had proven he was able to carry the state of Texas and could really bite into the South. While not as charismatic as Reagan, he seems the most viable to me. Of course that involves convincing him to run in the first place...
 

Stolengood

Banned
Hmmmm... I think with Reagan dead, the GOP'd need to find a new keynote speaker for '64, and quick. They'd probably flub it and try John Wayne. :p

Without Reagan as a viable alternative, the conservative movement probably doesn't have as good a shot for '76/'80 as they did with him.
 
Hopefully someone else wont say " Mr. Gorby tear down this wall"
But the IRON LADY might take care of that.
Without Regan we might see serious sympathy for perstrokia in the 80's among Liberals, maybe Socialist might not be as bad as a dirty word in America.
 

Stolengood

Banned
Without Reagan we might see serious sympathy for perestroika in the 80's among Liberals, maybe Socialist might not be as bad as a dirty word in America.
So, you're saying the USSR would fall, anyway, and liberalism would remain untarnished in the process?

Sounds good to me. :)
 
What this TL needs is to follow the events from 1964 on. Who will give the keynote address at the GOP convention? Will someone else give a riveting conservative speech in the Rendezvous With Destiny TV show? Will someone else step into that gap and be the post-Goldwater leader of conservativism or will it be less focused?

Phyllis Schlafly. In 1972, she makes a surprise upset in the Republican primaries against the liberal senator Charles H. Percy who had been reluctant in endorsing Barry Goldwater back in '64. She wins the election and becomes Senator from Illinois, winning re-election in 1978. In 1980, this conservative front-figure (compared by a dotting Republican base to Margaret Thatcher) breaks the glass ceiling and becomes the Republican nominee for President, defeating Jimmy Carter in a landslide. :D
 

Stolengood

Banned
Phyllis Schlafly. In 1972, she makes a surprise upset in the Republican primaries against the liberal senator Charles H. Percy who had been reluctant in endorsing Barry Goldwater back in '64. She wins the election and becomes Senator from Illinois, winning re-election in 1978. In 1980, this conservative front-figure (compared by a dotting Republican base to Margaret Thatcher) breaks the glass ceiling and becomes the Republican nominee for President, defeating Jimmy Carter in a landslide. :D
Awww, you're no fun... :p
 
Wait--- can't believe I forgot about him, Senator James L. Buckley of New York. Daniel Patrick Moynihan decides not to jump into the race for NY Senator and Buckley wins re-election over Bella Abzug. Not only a reliably conservative senator, but also one from friggin' New York, and one elected on the Conservative Party ticket. In '76 he was endorsed by the Republicans, so by 1980, he's "one of them" enough to switch party affiliation and run in their primaries.
 
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