If President Ford had won in '76...
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  If President Ford had won in '76...
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Author Topic: If President Ford had won in '76...  (Read 3800 times)
LBJ Revivalist
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« on: October 31, 2010, 08:27:28 PM »

If Ford had won in 1976, how do you think his presidency would've been?

1) Would Detente have continued, or would the Cold War have reignited anyway?
2) How would Ford have likely dealt with the Iranian Revolution? Would it still have happened if he were President? Would the Hostage Crisis have occurred, and if so, how would Ford have dealt with it?
3) Could you foresee any cabinet shake ups had he won? Would he have dumped Kissinger?
4) What about the economy?
5) Would Ford have been able to end the Israel-Egyptian war?
6)) Would he have governed as a liberal, centrist or as a conservative fiscally?

I think that election was more important in the long run in regards to the rightward swing of our country than most people think....
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Phony Moderate
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« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2010, 08:28:36 PM »

There would have probably been no President Reagan.
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LBJ Revivalist
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« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2010, 08:32:27 PM »

There would have probably been no President Reagan.
You don't think Reagan would have made a second play for the Presidency in 1980? He was considered a front runner as the next GOP nominee; He had just barely lost to Ford for the nomination. Ford would not have been able to run in 1980 and thus the GOP primaries would've been wide open.
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FEMA Camp Administrator
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« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2010, 06:51:10 PM »

I can see Jerry Brown, Lloyd Bensten, Henry Jackson, Ted Kennedy, or some other Democrat creating their own "era" from 1981-1989, and maybe even giving the Democrats control over the Whitehosue for three consecutive terms.
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Peter the Lefty
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« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2012, 10:41:17 AM »
« Edited: December 24, 2012, 10:43:29 AM by Peternerdman »

There would have probably been no President Reagan.
You don't think Reagan would have made a second play for the Presidency in 1980? He was considered a front runner as the next GOP nominee; He had just barely lost to Ford for the nomination. Ford would not have been able to run in 1980 and thus the GOP primaries would've been wide open.
Wait, how?  No one can be elected POTUS more than twice.  1976 would have been the first time he was elected.  Now, given his probable unpopularity in 1980 due to the Iranian hostage crisis, he might choose not to run again, in which case Vice-President Dole has to duke it out with Reagan for the primaries.  Dole would probably end up with most of the major dark horse candidates (Bush Sr., John Anderson, etc.) behind him.  Reagan might still be able to pull it off, though.  Now, if Ford did decide to run again, Reagan would have a very good shot at it.  Though whoever the nominee would be would probably have a difficult time overcoming 12 years of incumbency fatigue, which included both Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis.  So it could allow someone like Lloyd Bensten, Mo Udall, Frank Church, Birch Bayh, Jerry Brown, Walter Mondale, or Ted Kennedy to win comfortably.  
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MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!
Kalwejt
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« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2012, 10:54:10 AM »

There would have probably been no President Reagan.
You don't think Reagan would have made a second play for the Presidency in 1980? He was considered a front runner as the next GOP nominee; He had just barely lost to Ford for the nomination. Ford would not have been able to run in 1980 and thus the GOP primaries would've been wide open.
Wait, how?  No one can be elected POTUS more than twice.

Ford served more than two years out of Nixon's term. Therefore he was allowed to run only once. See the Twenty-second Amendment.
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Peter the Lefty
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« Reply #6 on: December 26, 2012, 04:30:31 PM »

Ah.  I'd never known about the second part. 
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Kalwejt
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« Reply #7 on: December 26, 2012, 06:05:03 PM »

Yes. From Vice Presidents who succeeded the Presidency after the Amendment was passed two were allowed to run more than twice: Truman (grandfathered, as he was President at the time it was passed) and LBJ (served less than two years out ot JFK's term). Ironically, none of them seek their own second terms.
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Mechaman
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« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2012, 01:48:01 AM »

The Republicans enjoy their stay as the longest lasting minority party since the Federalists.
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Peter the Lefty
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« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2013, 02:33:55 PM »

Actually, I've been thinking about this lately, and as much as I hate to say it, Scoop Jackson would've been well-positioned in 1980, in this scenario, given the Iranian hostage crisis and the recession.  He'd be able to run as economically left-of-center, but as a Mid-east expert and defense hawk who could "stick it" to the Iranians and the Soviets and "protect Israel."  I'd hope for it to be someone like Mondale, Bayh, or Church though.  Mo Udall had too many health concerns by this point, and probably wouldn't have run.  The Republicans would've had a Reagan vs. Dole fight, presumably.  This would be a really interesting election.
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True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
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« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2013, 07:33:51 PM »

No guarantee that there would be an Iranian Hostage Crisis under a different president, be he Democratic or Republican.  (That isn't to say that there wouldn't be an Iranian Revolution, but the Hostage Crisis itself would be fairly easy to butterfly away.)
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MATTROSE94
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« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2013, 07:00:54 PM »

Keep in mind that Gerald Ford probably would not have picked Paul Volker as Fed chairman, so the problems with inflation might have continued until the mid-1980s or so.
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True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
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« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2013, 01:34:44 AM »

Keep in mind that Gerald Ford probably would not have picked Paul Volcker as Fed chairman, so the problems with inflation might have continued until the mid-1980s or so.

Ford also would likely have not picked William Miller either, Carter's first appointment as Fed chair, and such a disastrous one Carter had to name him as Treasury Secretary to get him out of the way so he could appoint someone else.  He had much better luck with Volcker, but not enough to win a second term.

Hopefully Ford would not reappoint Burns, as he was almost as bad as Miller.  Possibly he would have appointed Greenspan.
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MATTROSE94
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« Reply #13 on: January 17, 2013, 11:40:24 AM »

Actually, I've been thinking about this lately, and as much as I hate to say it, Scoop Jackson would've been well-positioned in 1980, in this scenario, given the Iranian hostage crisis and the recession.  He'd be able to run as economically left-of-center, but as a Mid-east expert and defense hawk who could "stick it" to the Iranians and the Soviets and "protect Israel."  I'd hope for it to be someone like Mondale, Bayh, or Church though.  Mo Udall had too many health concerns by this point, and probably wouldn't have run.  The Republicans would've had a Reagan vs. Dole fight, presumably.  This would be a really interesting election.
If Scoop Jackson were to be elected in 1980, it would not have turned out too well. He probably would have went to war with Iran over the hostage crisis, made the inflation problems worse due to his stimulus programs and might have even intervened in the Soviet-Afghan war. The Republicans might have been able to make strong gains in the 1982 midterms due to Jackson's policies. If he lived past 1983, he might have been defeated for re-election in 1984 by either Bob Dole, Howard Baker, Mark Hatfield or even Ronald Reagan, although Reagan would have been 73 and was beginning to show signs of Alzheimer's by 1984.

I agree that Lloyd Bentsen, Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Birch Bayh, Frank Church or even Jimmy Carter again would have been much better choices for the Democrats in 1980 if Ford was re-elected.
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MATTROSE94
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« Reply #14 on: January 17, 2013, 11:50:59 AM »

Keep in mind that Gerald Ford probably would not have picked Paul Volcker as Fed chairman, so the problems with inflation might have continued until the mid-1980s or so.

Ford also would likely have not picked William Miller either, Carter's first appointment as Fed chair, and such a disastrous one Carter had to name him as Treasury Secretary to get him out of the way so he could appoint someone else.  He had much better luck with Volcker, but not enough to win a second term.

Hopefully Ford would not reappoint Burns, as he was almost as bad as Miller.  Possibly he would have appointed Greenspan.
Would Greenspan have supported a tight monetary supply policy such as the one that Volker implement at the time, or would he have continued the policies of Arthur Burns?
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True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
Ernest
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« Reply #15 on: January 17, 2013, 02:39:20 PM »

Keep in mind that Gerald Ford probably would not have picked Paul Volcker as Fed chairman, so the problems with inflation might have continued until the mid-1980s or so.

Ford also would likely have not picked William Miller either, Carter's first appointment as Fed chair, and such a disastrous one Carter had to name him as Treasury Secretary to get him out of the way so he could appoint someone else.  He had much better luck with Volcker, but not enough to win a second term.

Hopefully Ford would not reappoint Burns, as he was almost as bad as Miller.  Possibly he would have appointed Greenspan.
Would Greenspan have supported a tight monetary supply policy such as the one that Volker implement at the time, or would he have continued the policies of Arthur Burns?

Probably not as tight as Volcker but certainly not as loose as Burns.  But then Volcker appointed as chair in 1978 might not have been as tight as Volcker was in 1979 since he wouldn't have had to clean up after Miller.
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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #16 on: January 24, 2013, 09:30:59 AM »

The GOP might be in a lot better shape today.
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Peter the Lefty
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« Reply #17 on: January 28, 2013, 08:17:39 AM »

1980
Birch Bayh/Lloyd Bentsen (D) vs. Ronald Reagan/Bob Dole (R)
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MATTROSE94
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« Reply #18 on: January 28, 2013, 08:11:14 PM »

The GOP might be in a lot better shape today.
You're probably right, as the Christian Right might not have gained control of the Republican Party if Ford won in '76.
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