1980 if the GOP nominated Gerald Ford for a non-consecutive second term

[brucejoel99]

1980 was a referendum on Carter's incompetence, the hostage crisis, & the economy, so Ford wins their re-match comfortably. He'd probably pick a VP from the conservative wing, as they were dominant by that time.

Former President Gerald Ford (R-CA)/Congressman Jack Kemp (R-NY): 445 EV; 55%
President Jimmy Carter (D-GA)/Vice President Walter Mondale (D-MN): 93 EV; 43%

No Reagan victory has huge butterflies for American politics, though. Ford wasn't a hawk on the Cold War or a supply-sider, so the effects on economics & foreign policy would be huge.

[brucejoel99]

I think Ford would pick a running mate that he'd want to succeed him in 1984 seeing as how he'd be term limited.

Who? Poppy? Or Howard Baker?

Howard Baker wouldn’t say yes cause VP would be like a step down from Party Leader in the Senate . That’s why he said no to being Reagan’s vp because it’s a step down and not only is that true , it became even more true when he became not only party leader but the Senate Majority Leader as well.


As for succeeding to the Presidency, Van Buren was the last sitting vp to be elected President at that point so the VP job wasn’t viewed as a direct line to the Presidency either

Well, he mas only minority leader, which is a job you can give up for the vice president (with a good shot at becoming president after one term). LBJ even gave up Majority Leader for the vice presidency. And he was probably the most powerful Majority leader in senate history.

Yeah, & especially for somebody like Ford, who'd be guaranteed to be out of office come the 1984 election, I think he'd jump at the chance in this scenario.