Barry Goldwater crusaded against the Rockefeller Republicans , beating Rockefeller narrowly in the California primary of 1964 . That set the stage for a conservative resurgence , based in the South and West in opposition to the Northeast Rockefeller wing . However , the moderate contingent recaptured control of the party and nominated Richard Nixon in 1968 . Easily reelected in 1972 , after his resignation Nixon was replaced as President by the moderately conservative Republican Gerald Ford . After Vice President Rockefeller left the national stage in 1976 , this faction of the party was more often called " moderate Republicans " or Nixonians in contrast to the conservatives who rallied to Ronald Reagan . Four years after nearly toppling the incumbent Ford in the 1976 presidential primaries , conservative Ronald Reagan won the party 's presidential nomination at the 1980 Republican National Convention and served two terms in the White House
1980 Republican National Convention
1980 Republican National Convention
Rockefeller Republican