Trump's Move To The Left Ensures A Primary Opponent

Ronald Reagan wasn't Ronald Reagan before Ronald Reagan was Ronald Reagan.

In other words, while he is now revered as the "first among equals" Republican president, even more than Abraham Lincoln, it wasn't always so. From the time he burst onto the political scene in 1964 up until his passing, Reagan was often derided by the political establishment — and no more so than in 1976, when he audaciously took on Gerald Ford for the 1976 GOP nomination.

It was a bold move to go head-to-head against an incumbent president in his own party's primaries. Not since 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt challenged William Howard Taft had it been attempted. But it nearly worked. By August 19, 1976, the last day of the convention, Ronald Reagan lost the primary to Ford by a mere 117 delegates, of over 2,000 votes cast. It was the narrowest of margins, though some thought Ford's win was tainted.

Reagan may have lost the nomination, but he certainly did not lose the hearts of Americans. While Ford went on to lose against Jimmy Carter, Reagan wasted no time in engineering his next run for president, mere weeks after the 1976 election, eventually winning by landslides twice in 1980 and 1984. Unlike other primary losers, Reagan was not forgotten after 1976. Quite the contrary.

Read the rest of this IBD op-ed HERE.

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