Vice-President Reagan 1968

[Corbell Mark IV]

he was already bugging people in 1969, broke into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist office in summer 1971, also in summer 1971 they had people stalk Ted Kennedy, forged fake cables to link JFK to the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, in May 1972 Nixon personally blessed sending E. Howard Hunt to Milwaukee to plant McGovern and other left wing materials in the apartment of the shooter of George Wallace.

And yet he didn't get caught until years later.

And if he gets past his LAST campaign, the odds of getting caught go way down.

And that changes everything.

Reagan, a great campaigner, as VP for a hugely popular President, a likely winner in 76.


I'll have to look at the events of that time to see what the differences would be.


One thing, is that without Watergate, it seems likely that a hugely popular Nixon would have been able to support South Vietnam when they are invaded.

The mostly conventional invasion, with tanks and trucks would have been the best target for the Air Force of the whole war. South Vietnam does not fall, at least not on OTL schedule.

 

[black angel]

And yet he didn't get caught until years later.

And if he gets past his LAST campaign, the odds of getting caught go way down.

no he got caught in June 1972, it just took awhile to get fully out, he was using very unprofessional and stupid gits to do his dirty work, they were going to get caught sooner or latter.

 

[Whanztastic]

The Reagan myth strikes again - Spiro Agnew, after he was chosen as VP, was extremely popular with the 'silent majority'. Picking Reagan over Agnew doesn't give him any real electoral boost, it would be a political move to neutralize a competitor.

 

[jpj1421]

The Reagan myth strikes again - Spiro Agnew, after he was chosen as VP, was extremely popular with the 'silent majority'. Picking Reagan over Agnew doesn't give him any real electoral boost, it would be a political move to neutralize a competitor.

So, you're thinking it might actually make a slightly tighter election? Maybe a little better in the South and West Coast and a little worse elsewhere?

Nixon/Reagan - 285
Humphrey/Muskie - 214
Wallace/LeMay - 39

 

[black angel]

interesting question, in OTL in 1970 Reagan, despite being a millionaire, payed nothing, 0 dollars and zero cents in California state taxes, it went away, but in a time line could something like this coming out at the same time as Nixon's Presidency was coming apart could it sink Reagan too?

 

[Whanztastic]

So, you're thinking it might actually make a slightly tighter election? Maybe a little better in the South and West Coast and a little worse elsewhere?


Nixon/Reagan - 285
Humphrey/Muskie - 214
Wallace/LeMay - 39

Possible - my assumption was no boost, but worse off is an option.

interesting question, in OTL in 1970 Reagan, despite being a millionaire, payed nothing, 0 dollars and zero cents in California state taxes, it went away, but in a time line could something like this coming out at the same time as Nixon's Presidency was coming apart could it sink Reagan too?

Interesting...

 

[Corbell Mark IV]

no he got caught in June 1972, it just took awhile to get fully out, he was using very unprofessional and stupid gits to do his dirty work, they were going to get caught sooner or latter.

A 1968 POD. Lots could happen. THere could be a close call, and they shut down the dirty tricks down. THey could be more careful. ECT.


REally, a President being forced to resign. How likely is that?

 

[V-J]

REally, a President being forced to resign. How likely is that?

Pretty high really if the president in question was always going to be Richard Nixon.

 

[black angel]

A 1968 POD. Lots could happen. THere could be a close call, and they shut down the dirty tricks down. THey could be more careful. ECT.


REally, a President being forced to resign. How likely is that?

did I mention that Nixon defrauded the IRS? in March 1970 be "donated" his Vice-Presidencial papers to the National Archives, then faked the date of the donation to make it look like he did it in 1969, before a tax credit expired, he got a $450,000 tax break, in 2014 dollars thats $2,763,209

Nixon isn't going to shut down the dirty tricks, its who he is, more careful, maybe but I see no reason to think VP Reagan would change the men around Nixon, Nixon put together his team before picking a VP in OTL, and they were not professional criminals, though they read too much James Bond

 

[Van555]

Possible - my assumption was no boost, but worse off is an option.



Interesting...

Very Interesting!

 

[Emperor Julian]

Of course, all of this talk of whether or not Reagan butterflies Watergate can easily be reversed, and what if Reagan butterflies cause one of Nixon's scandals to get unveiled earlier? Such as in the middle of his first term, in time for the election.

 

[black angel]

Of course, all of this talk of whether or not Reagan butterflies Watergate can easily be reversed, and what if Reagan butterflies cause one of Nixon's scandals to get unveiled earlier? Such as in the middle of his first term, in time for the election.

Hail President McGovern, though Nixon, to use his own words "rat fucked" every other Democrat in the 72 primaries to line up a Nixon-McGovern match up, so maybe Muskie or Jackson? or even HHH or….. Wallace not that McGovern wasn't a strong runner himself even with out Nixon's backstage tricks in the campaign

 

[wilji1090]

Just curious, wouldn't Reagan's own stances on things like the Civil Rights Act neutralize any efforts from George Wallace? If I recall Reagan may not have been segregationist per se, but I do remember he believed businesses should reserve the right to not serve people of color if they so chose.

 

[Redhand]

you've been duped, Reagan was one of the most supportive of Nixon, even supportive of the Watergate burglars themselves saying they were good men, not criminals at heart and that it was normal campaign hijinks gone a bit too far, Reagan stayed in total support of Nixon till two days before Nixon resigned, and was one of the few who totally supported Ford's Pardon

http://www.thewire.com/politics/2013/08/ronald-reagan-richard-nixon-watergate-too-shall-pass/68590/

I recently read "Will" by G. Gordon Liddy, his autobiography. I would definitely recommend it as it really gives a different take on Watergate, primarily in its planning and execution, but less obviously, on Hoover's FBI in the 50s and 60s and even on the desegregation of the military after Truman's declaration.

As far as Reagan goes, he probably would pardon Nixon as would most Democrats. Destroying public respect for the executive branch utterly through a messy trial is the kind of thing that could've lost the Cold War.

 

[Emperor Julian]

As far as Reagan goes, he probably would pardon Nixon as would most Democrats. Destroying public respect for the executive branch utterly through a messy trial is the kind of thing that could've lost the Cold War.

Can the US lose the Cold War? The Soviet Union by the mid 1970s was already on its path to doom, and it would take more than a trial of Nixon to cause the US to collapse.

Now, maybe if those rumors are true, and Nixon got Hoover's file of blackmail....



(but that wouldn't even be enough to topple the US like the USSR)