I remember that campaign well. I was a supporter of President Ford who sweated out the possibility of an incumbent president being rejected by his own party even though Ford was a decent president who stood a much better chance at defeating Jimmy Carter in the November elections.
Although Craig Shirley obviously was a Reagan admirer -- maybe even a Reagan worshiper -- he did an excellent job in keeping this story as fair and balanced as possible. President Ford, as the incumbent, certainly had many advantages as the establishment within the Republican Party rallied around him. Although he had not previously been nominated or elected to the presidency, he had governed as a Republican since succeeding President Nixon and his failure to claim the nomination would have been an embarrassment to the GOP. The party's infrastructure was dedicated to saving President Ford. But Shirly also points out that there were many problems facing the Ford campaign. Both campaigns had strengths and weaknesses and Shirley did an excellent job pointing them out. This book was not written to be a hatchet job on either the Republican Party that nominated Gerald Ford over Ronald Reagan or on President Ford himself. The book was more of a historical look at the epic campaign for the 1976 GOP nomination told by an unbiased Reagan supporter. This lack of bias is what makes this an excellent book.
I remembered well much of what Shirley described in the book. What struck me the most is the North Carolina primary. I remember that night listening on the radio and an announcement came over about an upset. Being a Ford supporter and one who despised Jimmy Carter at the time my first thought was that George Wallace's faltering campaign may have shown some life and sprung an upset that would derail Carter's campaign. After a commercial break, however, I heard the upset was not what I had hoped. That primary upset for Reagan maybe redirected US politics for the next few decades. Had President Ford won he probably could have cruised to the nomination and Reagan would have been forced out. With a unified party behind him, Ford may have won the election and Reagan would have been just a footnote in history.
I personally do not think for a moment that Ronald Reagan would have won the 1976 election had he won the nomination. The GOP would have been split in a manner comparable to what happened in 1964 even though Reagan was a much more persuasive and smoother campaigner than Barry Goldwater. Reagan would have ran better than Ford in some areas of the country but not as well as Ford in other areas of the country. Although Reagan was undoubtably a better communicator and campaigner than President Ford, his campaign organization was lacking and his message was seen as still too far to the right so as to scare off many potential voters. That was still an issue in 1980 but after four years of President Carter's ineptness and the country being slapped around in the international arena I think the American people were willing to roll the dice and take a chance with Ronald Reagan. Reagan's victory in 1980, in my opinion, was more of a rejection of Jimmy Carter than it was of acceptance of Ronald Reagan. However, the 1984 was definitely acceptance of Reagan.
Mr. Shirley is to be commended for this excellent account of the 1976 campaign for the GOP nomination. He set aside his self-admitted biases and gave the reader a book that was informative and enjoyable regardless of who one supported during the 1976 campaign.
As for the Republican Party, I am personally tired of candidates trying to be the next Ronald Reagan. I told co-workers last year that I did not want another Reagan. I want candidates to step up and be their own self. Reagan was true to himself -- although his governance was more moderate than his rhetoric -- and I wanted a candidate who would be true to themself. Instead of adopting a "What would Reagan do?" attitude towards today's issues the GOP need candidates who will think for themselves. What would Reagan do? Probably tell them to think for themselves.
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