In the mid to late 1970s, Cianci became a rising star in the national Republican Party. After being introduced by Bob Dole, Cianci made an address at the 1976 Republican convention. There was talk of him being the first Italian-American vice president. Cianci was also seriously considered for a federal Cabinet seat in the second Gerald Ford administration, had Ford been elected in 1976. After Ford's loss to Jimmy Carter, Cianci promoted himself as a candidate for one of Rhode Island's U.S. Senate seats, aiming to expand the Republican Party's ethnic votership. Cianci clashed behind the scenes with John Chafee over Rhode Island's Republican nomination for the Senate seat. Chafee was elected to the Senate in 1976 and Cianci was re-elected as Mayor of Providence as a Republican in 1978.