DBWI: Kennedy & Bayh survive 1964 plane crash

glenn67

On June 19, 1964, Senators Edward Kennedy and Birch Bayh were passengers on an Aero Commander 680 jet which crash in Southampton, Massachusetts. Bayh was killed instantly. Kennedy lived for two more days before he succumbed to his injuries.

Both of these Senators were elected for the first time in 1962. Had they survived this tragic accident, would either of them have been Presidential material and would they have been able to have long careers as Senators? In Kennedy's case, Massachusetts was trending Democratic. Bayh defeated an incumbent Republican Senator in Indiana.
 

Apollo 20

Well, for one thing, no conspiracy theories -- fueled by RFK in his later years by a few oblique references in interviews -- that LBJ was somehow behind the crash (if not the JFK assassination too) in order to force RFK from politics, which is what happened as RFK dropped out of the 1964 NY Senate race, citing "overwhelming personal grief and family responsibilities". RFK never returned to politics, though he publicly flirted with a bid in 1976, deciding not to go through with it. As was learned later, the death threats from cranks (and the near-fatal shooting of President Nixon in San Francisco in 1975) were the primary reason.

I should note that there isn't a shred of evidence that LBJ had anything to do with that plane crash; pilot error, the official cause, seems to be what the facts indicate.
 
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Steve Brinson

Steve Brinson

Both Bayh and Kennedy were very promising young politicians - either one of them could have become President in the '70s or '80s. Tip O'Neill probably stays in the House - hard to see him getting all that far there. I don't see Roger Branigin getting as far as he did OTL either.
It's possible the 25th Amendment wouldn't be the same. It probably wouldn't have the provisions for the death of a Congressperson - those were introduced largely because of the deaths of Kennedy and Bayh.
Maybe Evan Bayh gets involved in politics.
Overall, it's possible the Democratic Party becomes even more socially liberal than OTL. There might be a worse States' Rights Schism with the larger liberal camp - though it's hard to see it getting much worse than it did, what with the House shenanigans in 1972.
 
Steve Brinson

Steve Brinson

Inherit The Wind said:
Oh wow, I didn't even know the coach of the Colts had a dad that was in politics.
Click to expand...
I know, right? Though it makes sense - he's apparently a fairly active DML supporter. He spoke at the convention in 2012, although given the utter fracas that happened there, you'd be forgiven for not remembering.
 

Accurateworldwar

Banned
Maybe butterflies would have kept the Dems from nominating that stupid businessman in 1992. Why would they nominate Steven Spielberg of all people as their nominee?!
 
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