When Clarke Reed died on Dec. 8 at age 96, the Mississippian was recalled by friends as an early force in the Republican conquest of the South as well as a successful entrepreneur and lover of history and conservative philosophy.
But what his fellow Republican activists in the Magnolia State — not to mention national political reporters who covered him — recalled most about Reed was a far more controversial topic — how he played a pivotal role in delivering the Republican nomination for President to then-President Gerald Ford over insurgent Ronald Reagan at the 1976 convention.
Arriving at the convention in Kansas City, Missouri, delegates favoring Ford and Reagan were split just about evenly. Ford had a slight advantage but neither contender had wrapped up the nomination.
There was considerable attention on the Mississippi delegation, where delegates were officially neutral and would support a candidate on the outcome of its unit-rule policy — that is, the presidential candidate who had the most support among its delegates would get all of the state's delegates.
Reed, who had just stepped down as state party chair after ten years, began to speak so negatively of Reagan's chances that, according to Reagan's state campaign chairman Billy Mounger, "He helped the Ford team unravel many well-intentioned people around the country."
Realizing they were down, Reagan's team made an early announcement that Pennsylvania's moderate Sen. Richard Schweiker would be the Californian's running mate. Reed denounced the move and came out publicly for Ford on the grounds that he had betrayed conservatives.
While others on the right were disappointed with the Schweiker maneuver, Mounger and most Reagan supporters felt their candidate needed to throw a "Hail Mary Pass" at this late time to overcome Ford and thus accepted Schweiker.
The Reagan campaign then unveiled Rule 16-C, a rules change that would require any presidential candidate to name his running mate before the nomination for president. Ford supporters derided the late-breaking 16-C as akin to "giving a losing football team a fifth quarter" in which to win and opposed it.
"Realistically, the idea of 16-C stinks and was a rotten issue," Mounger later wrote, agreeing it was a move of desperation and "had no idealistic content." But in knowing it was Reagan's last chance, he supported it.
With Reed on the other side, the vote in Mississippi was 31 against 16-C and 28 for. But there was some suspense before the vote, when a CBS reporter told Mounger "Clarke Reed has just shifted from Ford back to Reagan!"
Reed had seen an article saying Ford had written off the South and that, if it was true, he was switching to Reagan. But when the vote came, he did not. Mississippi's unit rule vote meant the entire delegation went against 16-C and it was beaten on the full convention floor 1180 to 1069. The following night, Ford won the nomination over Reagan by an 1187 to 1070.
Because of Reed's multiple changes on the nomination that was key to Ford overcoming Reagan, Mounger wrote, "I coined the adjective 'quadriplicitous' to describe Reed."
At a gathering for delegates in which Reagan made his memorable "shining city on a hill" speech, Reed began to explain his actions to the beaten candidate who simply said: "That's all right, Clarke."
Columnist William F. Buckley Jr. later wrote that if Reagan had been less of a gentleman, "he would have punched Reed in the mouth."
Reed was an early backer of Reagan in 1980 and any differences he had with his supporters were patched up. His maneuvering in 1976 notwithstanding, Thomas Clarke Reed had a long history with conservatism and the building of the Republican South.
Born in Ohio, he grew up in Caruthersville, Missouri and went on to graduate from the University of Missouri. He settled in Greenville, Mississippi, and with a friend from boarding school, launched an agriculture business known as Reed-Joseph that used technology to scare birds from airports and farms.
Beginning with Barry Goldwater's presidential race in 1964, Reed was an active Republican. He was state GOP chair from 1966-76 and, as an early supporter of Richard Nixon, he had access to high places.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., recalled how Reed put him on the Republican Platform Committee in 1972 at the age of 21.
In his later years, Reed was Mississippi's Republican National Committeeman and took a leadership role on most conservative causes within the RNC. He fought in the Rules Committee in 2000 to permit a candidate to be placed in nomination for president with a majority of delegates from one state instead of a majority from five states required since the 1972 convention. This would have revived the concept of the "favorite son" from states and enhanced the power of the individual states at national conventions.
Reed entertained conservative icons such as William Buckley at his home and was a regular fixture at the annual Pumpkin Papers dinner in Washington that celebrated Whittaker Chambers' testimony against Communist spy Alger Hiss.
The controversy of the 1976 convention would inevitably be recalled in any interview with Reed. But those who knew him also recalled an activist, a builder, and a true Southern gentleman.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.