Oh, come on: you’re not blaming Ford in ‘76 on a divisive primary? There was was a divisive primary because Ford was the most hated man in the world.
He pardoned Nixon, that’s why, but if Reagan had gotten the GOP nomination instead, there would have been no Jimmy Carter.
1996 - yes, we united behind Bob Dole, who even picked Jack Kemp as VP for unity’s sake, but then we made the mistake the Democrat Party is about to by nominating somebody with sky-high negatives -”unelectability”.
And hers are 10+ higher than his ever were.
Jerry Ford lost because he was as liberal as the man who replaced him. The Conservatives saw that and stayed home. A wiser man four years later understood what conservatives wanted and built his campaign on that foundation. He did it with the help of an unseen before strong Conservative Grass Roots organization that won him two party backing. That was what made Reagan a successful legacy. But even after loosing Ford still would not listen and gave Bush some advice that nearly cost him the 2000 election in dealing with Conservatives that being "where else can they go" Bush found out they can stay home or vote third party instead. Ford was by no means a bright president.