I heard that the deal was that Reagan had to accept Bush as his running mate or the CFR would not back his candidacy. Implicit in this deal was the idea that the CFR was powerful enough to make or break Reagan. I’m not so sure. Do all the rich people keep their checkbooks shut just because the CFR tells them to?
I think Reagan could have won as big as he did without Poppy. Was he pressured to make Poppy his VP? It's pretty obvious as they were political opposites and the Bush's don't like Reagan policy.
A Conservative grassroots movement born in the late 1970's that actually crossed party lines got Reagan in office twice. That carried far more clout at that point in time than the CFR. Odd isn't it though? One of the founders of that movement is considered a whackjob by many Republicans calling themselves Conservative. I'm talking about Howard Phillips. Without Phillips, Paul Weyrich, Falwell {a Dem at the time} Ed McTeer, and many others they got involved in it, the beginning of the Conservative Revolution which got Reagan in office and later paved the way for GOP house and senate majority may have never happened.