LAST WEEK'S negotiations between representatives of Ronald Reagan and former President Gerald R. Ford to create a so-called Republican dream ticket--with Walter Cronkite as unofficial mediator--have generated volumes of information on the minute-by-minute intricacies of the process. The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe all printed similar accounts of what happened, and The Chicago Sun-Times had a version all its own: "It's Reagan--and Ford," the front-page headline declared.

Midwestern aberrations aside, all those reports told us pretty much the same thing: Ford would have liked the number-two spot, but only if Reagan had promised to give the former chief executive everything except his first-born son (giving Ford his second son, would-be Nureyev Ron Jr., was always a part of the deal); when Reagan refused to sign over his soul, the dream faded.

But that is not the whole story, according to some highly placed sources who may or may not be reliable. It seems that Ford lost interest in being the Republicans' second banana (in title, anyway) after he received another offer--from President Carter.

Apparently Carter and wife Rosalynn were watching the Republican convention Wednesday night during all the hullabaloo about Ford. Shortly after CBS's Dan Rather announced knowingly that the deal had been struck, the notion of a different dream ticket entered Carter's mind. The president immediately picked up a phone and ordered the operator to get him Jerry Ford at the Detroit Plaza Hotel. "I'm going to get him first," Carter told his wife.

"Don't you think it might be embarrassing to have Ford as your vice president, Jimmy? I mean, he's clumsy, his wife Betsy used to drink alcohol and take mind-altering drugs, and his children are always getting themselves in a heap of trouble. Besides that, Jimmy, he's one of them."

"One of what?" Carter asked.

"A northerner."

As Rosalynn shuddered at the word, the phone rang. Carter picked it up and said, "Hello, Mr. Former President."

"Who's this?" mumbled Ford.

"This is Jimmy Carter. We met a few times back in 1976. I'm calling tonight to ask you to be my running mate, Mr. Former President."

Ford chuckled. "Well, you know, my wife Betty always tells me I should run, but I think it's kind of boring--swimming's for me. So I think you ought to get someone else. I hear that this George Bush runs a lot. Try him."

"Mr. Former President, let me try to make myself clearer. I think it's a shame for someone of your experience and expertise to sit around like some kind of elder statesman just acting wise, and so--"

Ford interrupted. "That's right. I've never been one to sit around. And I've certainly never been one to act wise."

Carter continued, "That's why I think it's time for you to return to public service as my vice presidential running mate, sir."

"Is this a crank call? Are you one of those Reagan people?" Ford bellowed. "Betty, someone else is asking me to be the vice president."