Would Gerald Ford have been a successful President if elected in 1976?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

While there are two obvious areas Ford would almost certainly have handled better than Carter, picking a Federal Reserve Chairman and the situation in Iran, its hard to say what flubs Ford would have made that Carter would likely have not made because we have no way to know what mistakes he would have made.

What we can reasonably infer is the following:

Militarily we would not have been as prepared at the end of Ford's presidency as at the end of Carter's.  Even if Reagan wins in 1980, his military buildup would necessarily have to start slower because he wouldn't have been building on Carter's legacy here.

The Religious Right would not have gravitated as much to the GOP and with the disappointment of a Carter defeat (after all, he was the religious candidate in 1976) the Religious Right might not have even arisen or more likely would not have become as strong.  Indeed, depending on what happens during Ford's term, it's entirely possible that political religion would not have shift so far to the right and thus might well have remained part of the Democratic coalition, at least for a while.

Economically we certainly would have been better off during those four years.  It must have been difficult to imagine that there could have been a worse Federal Reserve Chairman than Burns, but Carter managed to find one in Miller and had to promote him to Secretary of the Treasury to get him out and put in Volcker.  If Carter had simply nominated Volcker for the Federal Reserve Chair in the first place and made no other other major changes in policy, I am certain he would have been reelected in 1980.  On the other hand, while the economy would not have gotten as bad as it did, the seeds of future growth that Carter planted and that Reagan got the political benefit from would not have been sown. The much needed deregulation of considerable parts of our economy would have had to wait another president had Ford been reelected.

Iran.Even if the Revolution would have happened, the outcome would have been different. Operation Eagle Claw which failed so disastrously would never have been attempted.  We wouldn't have had the capability to attempt so audacious a plan in the first place were it not for the military reforms Carter had begun, so even if Ford would have considered such an option, it wasn't an option for him to consider.

As for the courts, Carter never had a chance to make an appointment to the Supreme Court, so it would have likely remained unchanged during Ford's full term, altho maybe Stewart would retired in '79 had there been a Republican in the White House instead of waiting for Reagan to take office and retire in '81.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If things were as bad for Ford in 1980 as they were for Carter, Reagan would've won the GOP primary and been seen as different enough from Ford that he'd win the presidency as well.

Reagan might well have won the nomination in 1980, but he would have probably lost the race to a Democrat such as Glenn, Askew, Jackson, or Hollings.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If things were as bad for Ford in 1980 as they were for Carter, Reagan would've won the GOP primary and been seen as different enough from Ford that he'd win the presidency as well.

Reagan might well have won the nomination in 1980, but he would have probably lost the race to a Democrat such as Glenn, Askew, Jackson, or Hollings.

Maybe and maybe not. It depends on just how bad things would have been. We're talking about a double if at this point though. It would've been very interesting to see a second term for Ford.

Single if as already been pointed out.  Ford could not have run for reelection in 1980 under any circumstances.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Even if Democrats lost 1976, a two-term Democratic President elected in 1980 would've led to a radically different country (for the better, in my view). I do wonder what Democrat that would have been. I wonder if it could've been Ted Kennedy.

Conceivably Kennedy could have won the nomination in 1980, but I think in a general election his chances of winning would have been as sunk as his car was in 1969.