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.

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