After securing the Republican nomination in 1980 , Ronald Reagan considered his former rival Ford as a potential vice-presidential running mate , but negotiations between the Reagan and Ford camps at the Republican National Convention were unsuccessful . Ford conditioned his acceptance on Reagan 's agreement to an unprecedented " co-presidency " , giving Ford the power to control key executive branch appointments ( such as Kissinger as Secretary of State and Alan Greenspan as Treasury Secretary ) . After rejecting these terms , Reagan offered the vice-presidential nomination instead to George H. W. Bush . Ford did appear in a campaign commercial for the Reagan-Bush ticket , in which he declared that the country would be " better served by a Reagan presidency rather than a continuation of the weak and politically expedient policies of Jimmy Carter " . On October 8 , 1980 , Ford said former President Nixon 's involvement in the general election potentially could negatively impact the Reagan campaign : " I think it would have been much more helpful if Mr. Nixon had stayed in the background during this campaign . It would have been much more beneficial to Ronald Reagan . " On October 3 , 1980 , Ford cast blame on Carter for the latter 's charges of ineffectiveness on the part of the Federal Reserve Board due to his appointing of most of its members : " President Carter , when the going gets tough , will do anything to save his own political skin . This latest action by the president is cowardly . " Following the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan , Ford told reporters while appearing at a fundraiser for Thomas Kean that criminals who use firearms should get the death penalty in the event someone is injured with the weapon
Republican National Convention
1980 Republican National Convention
Gerald Ford