Ronald Reagan came close to calling it quits early in 1976. President Gerald Ford had beaten him in the first five primaries, including a runaway win in Reagan’s home state of Illinois. But when attention turned to the sixth primary, in North Carolina, Reagan was able to try his message on a new group of voters. He pulled off an upset, trumping Ford 52 percent to 46 percent, and gained enough momentum to campaign for weeks. He didn’t win the nomination, but he put up a good fight until the end—and positioned himself for victory in 1980.
“If next year’s primary schedule had been in effect back then,” says Tom Ellis, who spearheaded Reagan’s 1976 effort in North Carolina, “he would have been out right away. There wouldn’t have been a race.” In other words, we might not have heard from Reagan again.
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