Not in the past two decades or so. Bush certainly didn't give McCain anything, Bill didn't give any of his contenders anything, Bush Sr. gave Jack Kemp all of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. That takes us back to 1988. So for the past 20 years, other than Kerry-Edwards, there has been a single, extremely minor incidence of this occurring. Whatever happened before is more or less irrelevant given how the political landscape changes dramatically every generation or so, and I maintain that despite the Republicans' penchant for invoking Reagan, since they aren't the ones appointing foes now (yet). Bush-Reagan was 28 years ago--or, to put it another way, before everyone alive today under 28 was born. I would deem that to be fairly old history, frankly, as far as American politics goes.
In recent American politics, giving a defeated opponent a position in your Administration is virtually unheard of. Edwards' gamut is a direct result of John Kerry's decision--it was a bad precedent to (re)set, and it's part of why what's happening is happening.
It is depressing enough when I hear 70s rock bands who had hits when I was a kid being played on the oldies station.
Congress has seen no less than three major shifts in that time period, and an interval of almost three decades has passed since it occurred. There have been four Presidents serving seven terms since then, including Reagan himself. An entire new generation of voters has appeared. The structure of the parties and their agendas have been altered comparatively drastically, as have their tactics and strategies. There is even now debate among the talking heads as to whether the Republican Party of Reagan's time is dead and gone.
