What if Reagan was elected in 1976?

[MATTROSE94]

Among Jimmy Carter's foul-ups is his inability to maintain the unity and loyalty of congressional Democrats. Reagan would face a somewhat similar problem in that he lacked majorities altogether. That said, after a first year of difficulty he would likely be forced to compromise more on domestic policy. That said, circumstance would still doom him.

I could question Carter's inability to deal with Congress but I agree that Reagan would have a difficul time but what about Foreign Policy?

Ronald Reagan probably would have handled foreign policy somewhat better than Jimmy Carter, especially regarding the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Sandinista takeover of Nicaragua. On domestic policy, I am not entirely sure how Reagan would have done if elected in 1976. He might have appointed Paul Volker as Federal Reserve Chairman in 1977 or 1978 and attempted to pass a tax cut proposal, but that would all depend on how the 1978 midterm elections played out.

[MATTROSE94]

Camp David would likely have still happened, just not at Camp David.  Both Sadat and the Israelis were desirous of peace at the time.

Reagan might well have given the Shah sufficient support to keep things from reaching a revolutionary pitch, tho that would have been more a case of leaving the slow fuse to set off the spark at some later time.

Also while Reagan might not have made a good choice for Chairman of the Federal Reserve, there is no way he would have made the disastrous choice of William Miller. (To be fair, Carter could have had no way of knowing how bad a choice Miller would prove to be.)

Camp David: Reagan would never support Camp David and it's very unlikely that the accords would happen there. There were some other pro-middle-east-peace Presidents other than Carter in 1978, ironically, I believe that President Giscard of France could have helped Saddat and Begin to find an agreement. The french would delay their Nuclear Programs on the Middle East but I believe that the French Diplomacy would support the first step for peace on that region.

On Iran: A lot of butterflies can happen in my opinion. The hostage crisis may not have happened because things would get so messier that it's very likely that a Civil War shall happen making the ambassadors leave the country earlier than the Islamists take the power and maybe even a military intervention from the United States would occur and it would be largely disapproved by the International Community.

Iraq: With no support from a France due to the "The french camp david" nuclear energy would be delayed and interrupted by the Iranian War. The Iran-Iraq war is also a important thing to think and it could have happened.... I believe that it would take longer time because the islamists in Iran would take more time to get in the government and Khomeini would not enjoying entering in a war after a bloody Civil War.

Regarding the Federal Reserve: I don't know who Reagan would choose.... My shortlist: Herbert Stein, an antecipated Alan Greenspan or even Paul Volker....

Now, talking about the Secretary of State, nice names I have in mind, they would do a mess but they would be nice anyway... Scoop Jackson, John Connally and even George Bush...

Scoop Jackson would definately be an interesting choice for Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State in a late-1970s Reagan andministration.