The Reagan-Ford Vice-Presidential Dance | The Reagan Era

Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia

Slate Podcasts

Politics, History, News, Government

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2016

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of Slate's podcast about campaign history, John Dickerson explains how Ronald Reagan almost became Gerald Ford’s vice president and vice-versa.

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And by CNN’s riveting six-part documentary Race for the White House, an original mini-series that digs deep to reveal the most controversial tactics and game changing strategies used throughout presidential elections in American history. Race for the White House premieres Sunday, March 6 at 10 p.m. ET, only on CNN.

Email: whistlestop@slate.com

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Whistle Stop, a podcast of campaign curiosities. I'm John Dickerson and Face the Nation.
0:18.2	Ronald Reagan was almost Gerald Ford's vice president, and Gerald Ford was almost Ronald Reagan's vice president.
0:23.8	And that's a funny thing, because neither man liked the other very much.
0:27.4	We'll have that story in just a moment. But first, a word from our sponsor.
0:31.4	Squarespace takes the worry and sadness out of website production. Sites look professionally designed, regardless of skill level.
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0:59.1	Our whistle stop today is the afternoon of Saturday, March 15th, 1980.
1:02.2	It's a sunny day in Rancho Mirage, California,
1:07.1	former president Gerald Ford, wearing a gray suit, a blue button-down shirt,
1:10.7	walks out to meet a handful of reporters near the grapefruit tree in the front yard of his
1:11.7	office complex. In what he'd later called the toughest decision of his life, Ford took himself
1:16.5	out of the presidential race. America needs a new president, he said. His wife Betty was at his side.
1:23.7	I have determined that I can best help that cause by not being a candidate for president, which might further divide my party.
1:30.4	I'm not a candidate. I will not become a candidate. I will support the nominee of my party with all the energy I have.
1:38.4	Ford was deciding not to be divisive in a fight against Ronald Reagan, who was among the Republicans running that year.
1:46.5	Of course, as you remember, Reagan had made quite a different decision.
1:50.7	In 1976, he divided his party, and Ford blamed Reagan for costing him the presidency against Jimmy Carter,
1:58.4	by tearing him down in a long and protracted primary fight
2:02.9	that went all the way to the convention and then barely campaigning for Ford once he was
2:09.3	the nominee in the 1976 general election. Ford walked into his office that day and with a
2:15.7	raucous laugh said if I were a drinking man I'd have
2:19.1	myself a drink. This is the story of the Republican Party before its conservative revolution.
	...

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