Straha said:
Patton does not die in 1945. Ike's heart gives out on him early. Is there any chance of Patton becoming president of the USA. I know Patton virtues did not extend to diplomacy or keeping his own council. Yet suppose the Republicans can get Patton the right handlers, and he mellows a little. What would happen if Patton became President insead of Eisenhower.
Far more hard line stance against Communism, with a possible war before Stalin can get his bomb in 1950. Tha leaves us with the nukes and Russia still recovering from scars left by the German invasion. You also have Eastern Europe still trying to get out from under their yoke, which places a burden a not too small military burden on them.
You have something greater than the size of the Korean War, but with less casualties with Patton at the helm. Basically, no Cold War. The Russians might to try and bring in Chinese cannon fodder to flood and overwhelm American. We drop a couple of demonstration nukes and that ends that alliance pretty quick.
I remember a story (don't know if it's ttue), but it was a meeting (I believe) of the Soviets and Chinese. A Chinese officer bragged that even if the five hundred million were killed, they could still keep going. A Soviet officer proceeded, with a diagram or map of some kind, to show him that a handful of nukes targeted on key population centers could wipe out the vast majority of their population. That Chinese officer went promptly to the bathroom and emptied his stomach of it's contents.
Patton was the consumate hard a** and would have been as hard on our scientists as anyone. He might make a move to purge both them and the various branches of our government of Communist sympathizers before commecning with a war. That places a distinct possiblity that Stalin might never complete his bomb, as it was done with stolen documents.
If nukes are used in this hypothetical war, then public opinion will almost certainly turn against them after all is said and done. Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be all too fresh in the public psyche. Then again, proponent of nukes will bring up their effectiveness in winning the war and in making Japan surrender. Ultimately you end up with a very small Strategic Air Command and a limited (few dozen) supply of warheads. Almost no possiblity of missiles being developed.