My first vote was for Ford, too. Election Day was on my 18th birthday that year. I was soooooo sad Mr. Peanut won.
My first vote was for Carter. I was an eighteen year old Reagan supporter. I absolutely loathed Gerald Ford, who was a kinder gentler version of John McCain. Ford hated the conservative wing of the party. It was like having Boehner as president.
When Ford used his presidential clout to hold the nomination from Reagan, I jumped to Carter. Carter was loathsome, but he ran as the conservative in the race. That’s what a Rino Ford was. He even forgot Poland was communist during a presidential debate.
Four years later, we got the Gipper. If Ford had been re-elected, we’d have had Ted Kennedy in 1980.