Kentucky Fried Politics: A Colonel Sanders Timeline

Chapter 23: July 1965 – December 1965
Chapter 23: July 1965 – December 1965

“An eagle cannot fly with two right wings.”

– Henry Howell (OTL)



“The war, and make no mistake that this is a war whether we’ve declared it so or not, will lead to the ruination of American morality right on the World Stage if we do not end the conflict. It is, and for some time has been, obvious that the most important issue facing our nation is to get out of the war in Southeast Asia. All our other issues and problems are slighted, impaired, and unresolved until we halt the fighting, stop the…continuing drain of blood and treasure, and turn to the long-neglected and pressing needs at home.” [1]

– U.S. Senator Ernest Gruening (D-AK)’s open letter to the U.S. President, 7/14/1965




Hoover relished in his ability to “convince” (i.e., threaten to response to a dismissal with reprisals, and during an election year, no less [2]) Lyndon Johnson to exempt him from the retire-at-70 rule in January 1964 (publicly arguing the shoutnik movement was “a threat to the nation’s internal well-being” in February of that year). President Sanders, being 5 years older than Hoover, seemed to have no qualms with Hoover staying on at the start of his administration. In July 1965, Hoover told then-Head of the Inspection Division Mark Felt that he was “going to keep eyes on everything for as long as I can.” There is ambiguity over the extent of which President Sanders knew of Hoover’s actions, as phone and paper records (and lack thereof) all point to the notion of Hoover running the bureau with even more autonomy from and much less communication with the White House than under LBJ. …This largely explains future events…

– Ronald Kessler’s Clyde Tolson and the Cult of J. Edgar Hoover, Resistance E-Publishing, 2016



“What the hellfire is this horse-crap?”

“Sir?”

“I just got this file sent to me, possibly by accident since my name’s not on it, and I’m mortified! Here.”

“Mm-hmm (pause) Oh, uh, sir this is the proposed Phoenix Program, just a simple neutralization endeavor. I was going to discuss this with you next – ”

“‘Neutralization’? Boy, that there paper calls for is systematic murder!”

“It’s a way of ending the conflict overseas by taking out the VC leaders – gather intel, destroy their leadership infrastructure – it may well defeat them without putting our boys at risk.”

“That sounds good, but I actually read the file – you wouldn’t just be targeting the leaders, would ya? That file recommended going after village leaders, too – small groups that can turn to backing our side when the tide turns in our favor.”

“Well leadership voids don’t stay voids, a village leader can easily climb the ladder, or pass information along to the leaders. So some would need to be taken cared of to – ”

“This would be a glorified death squad of goons torturing and terrifying the people we’re trying to win over. Khanh made himself clear that we can’t win the war if we don’t win the trust of the Vietnam people. Having our men stalking the jungles at night sniperin’ and kidnappin’ won’t help.”

“Mr. President, they’re doing worse than this to our boys over there!”

“Exactly my point – we have to be better than the enemy to maintain the moral high ground and be on the right side of history here. Allen, I want to get ’em pinkos out of those jungles, too, but this is…well this is just plain evil and underhanded.”

“Nobody ever said war wasn’t evil – um, Mr. President.”

“Allen, listen good. There will be no glorified torture gangs on our side of this here war. We are going to win, and we are not going to get down in gutter with the V.C. folk and be as evil as them to do so. I’m pulling the plug on this possible program. Understand?!”

“Um (sigh) Yes, Mr. President.”

– Transcript of discussion between President Sanders and CIA Director Dulles, nature of recording device classified until 2029; declassified and released to public in 2000; 7/15/1965



In the Summer of 1965, A. Philip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy, Bayard Rustin, and several prominent economists, labor allies and civil rights activists made several visits to the Oval Office to sit down with the President and discuss what Randolph called “A Freedom Budget for All Americans,” a proposed federal program meant to eliminate poverty and guarantee “full employment for all ready and willing to work, fair prices for farmers and fair wages that will better cover the needs of working families [3]. King called it the centerpiece of a new, post-Civil Rights Act social movement he was in the process of forming – the Poor People’s Campaign. King told his friend and ally Colonel Sanders “The goal of racial justice is tied to economic justice.” For his part, The Colonel remembered his early years of job hopping and knew that while there were poor Caucasian-Americans, there “seems to be even more Black men and women” in poverty, The Colonel observed.

The collective effort was not well organized, with Bayard Rustin opposing continual civil disobedience in light of what he considered to be the “surprisingly successful” Bryant/Patterson campaign hinting at a dormant undercurrent of hatred “edging closer to maintain political currents”. The Freedom Budget itself was opposed by some Civil Rights leaders such as the Evers brothers, with Charles instead calling for a national “workfare” program. Charles Evers coined neither the term nor the concept, pulling both from the legislative efforts of former City Manager of Newburgh, NY Joseph Mitchell. HEW Secretary Rockefeller was on the fence, believing the idea came “from a good place,” but that the nation was “not yet ready” for such a “radical social experiment on a scale greater than Prohibition, as this would change the dynamics in every household, dry and wet.”

Nevertheless, The Colonel took kindly to the idea of a “monetary safety net” that “streamlined” the welfare process due to what he saw as “the federal government…becoming too big for its britches.” Sanders reportedly wanted to dismantle much of Johnson’s Great Society and its accompanying federal bureaucracy without removing assistance programs “for those people who really need them,” and in doing so would devolve power to state and local political entities.

WZztyw3.png

[pic: imgur.com/WZztyw3.png ]
Above: King and the Chicken King converse in the White House, c. July 1965

– John A. Nichols’s article “The Federal Freedom Fund: A Brief History,” The Nation, 2019 issue



…Welcome back. In Savannah, Georgia, a local school club resisting the enforcement of racial integration was the site of a violent confrontation that ended in five people in the local hospital. …School boards in Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi are taking integration to court, and we will have to wait and see how the judicial system addresses their claims of “First Amendment Infringement”...In other news, the White House today announced that President Sanders’ official visit to Birmingham, Alabama has been postponed indefinitely. They have not announced an official reason…

– NBC News broadcast, 7/16/1965



HOST: Well first I’d like to thank you for being on the show, but before we begin, for our listeners who don’t know, could you quickly explain why you joined the Navy?

SCRANTON: Well, uh, on July 20, 1965, I turned 18, and, um, I had already gotten into Yale, so I planned to be there come September. But that summer, The Colonel Administration had this big plan forming for how to get rid of the Communists in Vietnam, and so they needed to boost the administration’s approval ratings, especially after this on guy, Green-something, a Senator from Alaska, I believe, went on TV and ranted about how people should never send other people’s kids to a war zone if they aren’t willing to send their own. So the idea of sending me or one of the Colonel’s older grandkids to the war started to pick up speed. They were originally going to send Harland Sanders the Third, but uh, his wife had a, uh, a difficult pregnancy or something like that, and by the end of the summer, I agreed to serve one tour of duty in Vietnam. A short term, no more than a year, preferably just a few months, and then I’d come right back to attend Yale.

HOST: And The Colonel was okay with all this.

SCRANTON: No, he had his reservations, but because I agreed to it, I wasn’t coerced into it, he kind of went along. If anything, he was more worried about my well-being than my dad, who was really, eh, really anxious about the idea. So yeah, I enlisted in the Navy and found myself on a battleship by the end of the year. To be honest, I thought it was going to be easy. It wasn’t.

– William Scranton III and host, WYBC (1340 AM) college radio station for Yale University, 2/12/1996 broadcast



…We have breaking news for you… just moments ago, George Lincoln Rockwell, the leader of the American Nazi Party, was arrested at his home in Virginia… the openly racist author is a suspect in what we now know was the discovery of a bomb found last week on President Sanders’ planned motorcade route through Birmingham, Alabama... Rockwell, whom was mounting a bid for Governor of Virginia as an independent, has previously called Sanders, quote, “a Traitor to the South” and a surfeit of slurs since last summer… This is a developing story. We will keep you updated as more of the fact come to light...

– Walter Cronkite, CBS News broadcast, 7/22/1965



Bzw3Tr4.png

[pic: imgur.com/Bzw3Tr4.png ]
– Lester Maddox protesting outside the White House to little fanfare, 8/2/1965



DOW JUMPS 150 POINTS AFTER STRONG JOB REPORTS

The Wall Street Journal, 8/3/1965



REPORT: ECONOMY RETURNS TO PRE-SALAD OIL CONDITIONS: New Phenomenon “Stagflation” Already Over?

The Financial Times, 8/5/1965



COLONEL PROPOSES NEW “F.A.D.” TO HELP WORKERS, FAMILIES

– A The Chicago Tribune, 8/7/1965



“Folks, I have always believed that by workin’ hard, you can make it to wherever you want to go. I prefer work to welfare; always have, always win. But sometimes hard work just isn’t enough, especially when you are in an unfair position like being born in poverty. I was a grade school dropout, when I was just starting seventh grade, but the more I’ve looked things over with my education advisors, the more I know that now I wouldn’t advise anybody to drop out that young today because times changed. Even if you work hard you can’t always make it the way I did with no education at all. [4] Figures from the 1960 census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Commerce Department, and the Federal Reserve all estimate that anywhere from 40 to 60 million Americans – or 22 to 33 percent of this great nation’s population – live below the poverty line. That is not acceptable. And so after talks with my dozens and dozens of experts, I’ve decided something must be done do promote economic justice that still promotes hard work above laziness. And the answer is not in social programs. Them programs have been growing out of control for years now. They are promoting dependency instead of dignity, and their rising costs may bring financial ruin. The lack of diversity of the programs has led to income inequality across the states, the cities and the countrysides of America. I propose replacing all of it with a new system, streamlined and simple. I’m calling it the Federal Aid Dividend. A Thank-You from Uncle Sam. Under the Federal Aid Dividend Act, every family with children would receive $125 every month [5]. Now this wouldn’t be a handout; it’d be your tax dollars coming back to you. And you can’t get this unconditionally. If you’re a family with children and you want this here dividend, you must work, be training for work, or prove you cannot work. This would not be a guaranteed income because that would discourage work, but it is instead a safety net and would give folks an incentive to find good work for themselves, would discourage those who can work but don’t want to from being lazy fed-leeches, and I even think it could create workplace equality, too.” [6]

– President Colonel Sanders in a special address to the nation, 8/7/1965




The Poor People’s Campaign conflicted with The Colonel’s long-held pro-business beliefs. Early into his first year in office, he backed a significant individual tax cut proposal with the belief that cutting tax rates would stimulate investment and spending, with overall beneficial effects including replenishment some lost tax revenues from the 1963-1964 period. The spurring of economic growth would increase tax revenue to cover government spending, with Sanders insisting on “never putting the fed in the red.”

…Within the White House, two pools of thought floated about that summer: “people should have what they need to survive” versus “people should earn what they need to survive.” The Colonel sought out a compromise: people should have what they need to survive when they try and fail to earn it. “No race – Asian, white, African, Hispanic, or Native American – exempts anyone from the possibility of poverty, nor should it,” advisor Whitney young explained in a 1999 interview. In August, the Colonel began to prioritize helping the lowest rungs of society, the foundation of the nation… Soon after announcing the F.A.D. bill, the President called for the implementation of an “economic bill of rights” of sorts in the form of a $11 billion anti-poverty package from congress to cover employment programs until the Colonel’s FAD could replace them, along with programs for improving low-income housing until the FAD “makes people invest in fixing up their own neighborhoods on their own” as the Colonel explained. One program introduced by Democrats with the Colonel’s support would fund local education classes that would teach low-income citizens how to maintain homes and neighborhoods and, in some place, how to avoid the “white flight” experienced in some places after the Xenia Riots of 1963. The Colonel's FAD also failed to take inflation into account, how often the amount would be changed to adjust for inflation, and how to prevent now-deregulated businesses from raising prices and lowering salaries in reaction to the dividend...

…“MLK is seeking to unite the poor, more specifically, to broaden his supporters beyond just Black people. Classic labor move. You develop a base, then you reach out to those around that base, and then those around them. Like an infection or something,” FBI Director Hoover wrote in his private journal in 1965 (and discovered years after his death due to a filing error).

– Rick Perlstein’s Colonel’s Country: The Trials and Crises of the Chicken King Presidency, Simon & Schuster, 2014



…It is disheartening and disconcerting to hear the President espouse such rhetoric that edges on the verge of betraying his conservative roots and the conservative voice in his party and the nation, both of which sent him to the White House… While I will still support the Sanders White House, I urge all conservatives to write to the President and tell him what they think of this ridiculous proposal…

– William F. Buckley Jr., National Review opinion article, 8/10/1965



It was becoming increasingly obvious that the “US military presence” was in reality an unofficial war against two communist groups in Southeast Asia. Starting in April, the Colonel moved to suppress the Pathet Lao in order to minimize American casualties and stabilize the Laotian government. …Before a proposed invasion of North Vietnam could proceed, a major development unfolded on the southern end of the Laos-Vietnam Border. The Battle at Chu Pong Massif of August 1965 was fought around the base of a mountain of complex terrain near the border of Laos, South Vietnam, and Cambodia, in an effort to create a physical barrier between the VNPA and the South Vietnamese. Khanh called for a massive frontal assault on a collection of enemy forces routing supplies through the region, first sending in snipers on the 13th before sending in SV and American ground troops…

– Ellen Joy Hammer’s Indochina and The Wrath of Khanh, E. P. Dutton, 1969



According to a 1975 report, the US Army considered using Agent Orange on areas held tightly by the Pathet Lao during the Battle at Chu Pong Massif, only for Sanders to oppose the use of such a destructive element so close to American troops and allied Laotians. Instead, Napalm B was deployed. After three days and two nights of firepower, the mountain was declared secured on August 16, but at the cost of a combined total of 52 American troops out of 700 American and Laotian soldiers. While a fairly low casualty count, the Colonel reported was “wracked with guilt,” and “couldn’t sleep for days” according to First Lady Claudia in 1977: “The men were volunteers, they knew the risks, but Harland felt it could have been avoided and took all the blame for it. He would walk around the upstairs hallways, wondering aloud how other Presidents dealt with such things. …Harland sough to personally attend the funerals of each and every one of the brave fallen American heroes.” The President’s mood only improved as the situation in Laos did. …Another vital element in the securing of the mountain and further locations as the months progressed was The Green Berets winning over ethnic minorities persecuted in North Vietnam, who helped them infiltrate “The Trail,” a.k.a. the passages running along eastern Laos into North and South Vietnam. The Green Berets became unsung heroes of the war by developing these connections with these informative locals…

– Rick Perlstein’s Colonel’s Country: The Trials and Crises of the Chicken King Presidency, Simon & Schuster, 2014



MITTERAND’S MOMENT: Is Liberalism On The Rise In Europe?

– The New Yorker, 8/19/1965



eIDayN5.png

[pic: imgur.com/eIDayN5.png ]
– A butler reminds President Sanders of the etiquette levels expected when visiting Buckingham Palace during a Presidential visit to London, UK, 8/22/1965



Needing a distraction from the blood of foreign policy and the tediousness of diplomacy, The Colonel turned to his next legislative idea. “I understand the difference between a malicious no-gooder and a man who made a mistake. I went to jail once. When I was a lawyer in Arkansas, I got into a fistfight with my own client right in front of the judge; I was arrested, spent the night in jail, got charged with battery, and was barred from further practicin’. So I know what it’s like to let your weaknesses get the better of you. That’s why we need to change the way we treat certain prisoners in this country,” the Colonel told Senator Morton in a letter dated August 20, 1965.

– Paul Ozersky’s Colonel Sanders and the American Dream, University of Texas Press, 2012



…On Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans are teaming up to voice opposition to President Sanders’ recent wave of legislative proposals. His latest, an “ex-con workers bill,” would, quote, “take away jobs from decent, clean-record Americans,” according to Congressman J. B. Utt of California. …The Colonel’s most ambitious proposal, to give every family with children $123 a month in lieu of several social program, is being challenged by D.C. lawmakers on both the left and the right sides of the aisle…

– Walter Cronkite, CBS News, 8/29/1965 broadcast



It was Labor Day [September 2, 1965]. The staff had the day off, and it was quiet in the big ol’ house. I couldn’t sleep, though, I was restless. I can’t tossing and turning and rolling about like a sailor without any sea legs. Finally I got up and headed down to the kitchen. I decided to make some light bread. Lots of people have never heard of light bread. Homemade light bread is kind of hard to explain. First of all, it’s kneaded bread. You start with yeast. Then you make that yeast into a sponge of very thin dough. You work that dough into your flour. Then you proof it and you punch it down once and let it come back up again. On the second come back you make it into a loaf and let it rise in the pan. After that you bake it. The length of time it takes that uncooked loaf to rise depends on the temperature of your room. In winter, we would put it behind the kitchen stove. Even with the aid of that warmth it might take half a day to rise. Usually we started the dough first thing in the morning. We were ready to bake it by nightfall. I’ve sat up many a night until 11 or 11:30 so I could get the heel of loaf for my share. To me, that was my favorite part of the loaf. I’ve smelled a lot of fancy smells since, many a memorable aroma, but the smell of homemade light bread while it’s being baked is still tops in my memory. Mama would cut the heel off the loaf and butter it. When I had nice buttered hot bread – well, that was living. [7] It was certainly better than seeing the faces of the men lost taking a mountain half-way around the world every time I tried to sleep. It was harder, but simpler. Tougher, but easier.

After putting the bread in the oven, I decided I was hungry and wanted I midnight snack. So I started making my chicken. I got a bird from the freezer, thawed it out, got the breading, the spices, and I got to work. Then Claudia came downstairs too.

“I thought I heard your kind of commotion down here.”

“Couldn’t sleep, honey,” I told her. “I keep thinking about those men we lost.”

Claudia came over to comfort me with the line, “You did what you had to. And every mother and wife you spoke to told you that.”

“But I still can’t shake the guilt, Claudia. I feel like a murder of sorts.”

“Harland, you listen to me,” she turned to look at me right in the eye. “You told that if they hadn’t taken that mountain, South Vietnam would have stayed vulnerable to attack, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then with their defense of democracy with their lives, they may well have saved the lives of countless more that would have been killed by them V.C.s. You are not a killer, Harland Sanders. You’re a saver. Remember that.”

“Heh. The way you liven me up. It’s just another reason why I love ya!”

“I know. So, since we’re having chicken right before the rooster crows, where’s the coffee?” Claudia asked.

“Oh, I have to make it.”

“Nah, I’ll get it.”

“Make some farm coffee,” I asked her. She did; she went and crushed an egg, shell and all, right into the grounds and poured a cup of cold water into the brewed coffee to settle the grounds at the bottom before serving. That was how we had it on the farm. [8]. Then, after putting on an apron and getting out a second bird but just before I finally got to taking the first chicken apart, my wife went and got her new fancy camera and took a picture:

6GMrqHm.png

[pic: imgur.com/6GMrqHm.png ]
It’s a real good picture of me, that’s what I think.

After that we just talked, about nothing and everything, if you get what I mean. We talked until the cook came in, and practically chased us out of the kitchen. That room was his territory, not ours.

…I knew that with this office I could do great things so long as I got down pat the how of it all. But I just never did get the hang of justifying deaths. That’s why I know that, no matter how much good I continue to do, the souls lost under my Presidency will haunt me for the rest of my days, and maybe for even longer after that.

– Colonel Sanders’ Life As I Have Known It Has Been Finger-Lickin’ Good, Creation House publishing, 1974



CONSERVATISM HAS A VOICE IN “FIRING LINE”

New York City, NY – William F. Buckley’s new talk show program, “Firing Line,” premiered on Tuesday, September 6, with Reverend Billy Graham as his first guest…

– The National Review, early September 1965 issue



…While Billy Graham did not approve of the Colonel’s swearing, their mutual friend, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., reportedly did not seem to mind… Concerns of Democratic Party influence over the Colonel’s moral decisions were muted when Graham, whom had been a close advisor the Lyndon Johnson, explained in a September 1965 interview, “Jesus didn’t have a political party, and nor do I.” If Graham advocated anything political at the start of the Colonel Presidency, it was for humanitarian, bipartisan endeavors such as the creation of a US Senate Subcommittee on Nutritional Necessities, which ultimately worked to improve US health standards in the long run. Graham and Sanders shared an understanding of the importance of maintaining a healthy diet…

– Mark Pendergrast’s “For God, Country, and Kentucky Fried Chicken,” Perfect Formula Publishing, 2000



TONIGHT’S PRIMARIES: PERICONI, O’DWYER, EDISON PREP FOR 3-MAN RACE

By Arthur Mulligan – One of the biggest upsets in the city appeared in the making on the basis of early returns last night as O’Dwyer, Democrat, takes an early lead in his party’s primary. The Democratic party’s primary pitted Controller Abe Beame, City Council President Paul R. Screvane, US Representative William F. Ryan, US Representative Mario Biaggi, and City Councilman Paul O’Dwyer against each other. O’Dwyer came from polling in fourth place two weeks ago to achieving a plurality victory with roughly 35% of the primary vote in a major upset. Incumbent Robert F. Wagner Jr., whom has declined to run for a fourth term, chose to endorse O’Dwyer, the brother of a former mayor, which contributed to O’Dwyer receive the support of wealthy donors and likely helped him secure the win. Congressman Biaggi, whom ran to the right of all the other Democratic candidates, has claimed “I was jilted by the party establishment, but you know what? I’m going to take what I learned worked and didn’t in this election and applied those lessons to my next ‘public job application’.”

Meanwhile, the GOP primary saw Borough President Joey Periconi, US Representative John V. Lindsay and State Senator Elmer Odgen Bush run against each other. Periconi seems to have won over Lindsay by a 5% margin. As the tally of yesterday’s election moved late into its final stages, Periconi came surging from behind around midnight to overtake a lead built up by Lindsay. Periconi had won the endorsement of Governor Wilson, leading to further endorsements from Senators Keating and Javits. Puerto-Rican Herman Badillo, who is running to succeed retiring Burough President, endorsed Periconi as well. Periconi, 55, was state senator from 1953 to 1954 and again from 1957 to 1960, a member of the Board of the New York City Transit Authority from 1960 to 1962, and Borough President of the Bronx since 1962. A moderate-liberal, his most notable action has been seeking to preserve landmark buildings such as Bronx Borough Hall.

The Conservative Party of New York, meanwhile, opted to not hold a primary and instead nominate a candidate. Tonight, they chose former Democrat New Jersey Governor and party co-founder Charles Edison, the son of lightbulb inventor Thomas Alva Edison. In his acceptance speech, the 75-year-old Edison claimed to be most experienced candidate in the election. Edison, whom reportedly became inspired to seek the party nomination after seeing the political success of fellow septuagenarian Colonel Sanders, will likely pull more votes from Periconi than from O’Dwyer.

– The New York Daily News, 9/14/1965



…[In September], after months of R&D and Millie and Harley’s approval, we added a new breakfast item to menus at select KFC locations – “The Colonel’s Kentucky-Fried Chicken and Waffles,” our take on meal popular in northern and more urban communities ever since its introduction in Harlem in ’38…

– Margaret Sanders’ The Colonel’s Secret: Eleven Herbs and a Spicy Daughter, StarGroup International, 1997



After much deliberation, the Colonel decided to replace 50% of American troops in Indochina with advisors meant to build up South Vietnam forces. He explained, “I can’t support the idea of putting any more American lives at risk than absolutely necessary.” While some in his inner circle saw this as an unnecessary about-face, Secretary Bonesteel, to the surprise of some, supported the Colonel on the matter. “Give a man a gun and some bullets and he might defend himself; give a man a gun, some bullets, and shooting lessons, and he will defend himself,” Bonesteel argued. “Tools alone are not enough; understanding how to wield the tools is also needed.” The Joints Chiefs ultimately convinced the Colonel to replace only 25% of American troops in Indochina in order to keep the region stable and prevent Russia and China from interpreting the movement as a withdrawal from the region. The war hawks of the administration believed they had “the situation” with the President’s increasingly dovish tendencies “under control,” according to Franke.

Just a week later, though the Colonel formed a special Senate Subcommittee to determine whether or not the military could maintain its then-current strength through an all-volunteer army, a concept endorsed by Secretary Friedman. In 1967, the subcommittee’s finding were handed in…

– Rick Perlstein’s Colonel’s Country: The Trials and Crises of the Chicken King Presidency, Simon & Schuster, 2014



BROWN BESTS DOUGLAS-HOME IN LARGE SWING; Labour to Return to Power for 1st Time Since 1951

London – Just six months after a resounding re-election, Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home lost tonight’s general election, bested by the young and energetic George Brown of Belper, whom led his Labour party to victory tonight. Labour acquired 339 seats, whereas Douglas-Home’s Conservative party strength was diminished to 277 seats. Jo Grimond increased the Liberal party’s number of seats to a total of 14. At age 50, Brown is set to become the youngest Prime Minister in decades. Fittingly, Brown was carried to victory by a surge in youth activism… …Due to his obtainment of a 12-seat majority in the last election, Douglas-Home had difficulty sustaining a full Parliament, leading to him calling for another election in May. …Brown had served as deputy party leader from 1960 until January of this year, when he successfully challenged party leader Harold Wilson for the Labour’s top spot in June in a vote of no confidence. Wilson’s loss of party leadership was largely due to his failure to defeat Douglas-Home in two consecutive elections. In said June vote, Brown ran to the left of Wilson, who is considered to be on the party’s centre-left. …Renewed fear of a nationalization of the country’s banks “to stop unfair banking practices,” according to Labour, has shaken the nation’s stock market…

The Guardian, 27/8/1965



On September 29, Tim [Leary] invited down to his place for a “major announcement.” …he kept the pad, the center of his campaign launch, simple and informal, the antithesis of the pachyderms and jackasses roaming about the California landscape. He just sat there on the floor Indian-style and rang a little gong until the room was quiet enough for him to finally say, “My friends, it’s high time – that we advance the shoutnik movement further into the political specter. With your love and support, I am announcing my bid for Governor of the Golden State.” He unveiled the new political party: “Natural Mind.” Its slogan: “Power to the People, a Happier Society, a Better World.” A bit wordy, so I told him to change it, and soon he got out some paint and a wooden board and made the slogan “Let’s Be Good To Each Other.” It was vague, but better than the first one. I was just happy to see at least somebody in this community finally grow the cojones to make such a commitment…

– Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear, Loathing, and Mary Jane on the Campaign Trail ’66, Tumbleweed Books, 1967



In December 1960, the Labor department issued on its own a set of mandatory safety and health standards under the Walsh-Healey Act. The department had previously issued most of these standards in a "Green Book" of informal guidelines to aid Federal and State inspectors. States had been encouraged to inspect Federal contractors and enforce their own rules. Now they were barred from applying their standards and had to enforce the Federal rules instead. For the first time, the Federal occupational safety and health requirements were applied to the whole range of industry. The new rules were not popular. Because there had been no hearings or prior announcement, labor and industry were caught by surprise and miffed that they had not been consulted. Business protested strongly to the Labor Department against making the rules mandatory. The powerful wave of criticism reached its peak in 1963 congressional hearings that prodded the Department of Labor with a serious examination of all its safety programs… A study by an outside consultant found in the department a fragmented collection of safety programs and laws. It recommended consolidation of all these safety programs under a single agency. [9]

Outside of D.C. bureaucracy, among the shoutnik generation, a movement to protect the natural environment from the ravages of mankind and technology began growing while the Labor Department was seeking to improve and expand its protection of workers' safety and health. Large-scale Federal air and water pollution control programs were developed, helping to increase awareness and concern about the occupational environment. [9]

Spurred by this movement, in 1965 the Public Health Service produced a report, "Protecting the Health of Eighty Million Americans," which outlined some of the recently found technological dangers. It noted that a new chemical entered the workplace every 20 minutes, that evidence now showed a strong link between cancer and the workplace, and that old problems were far from being eliminated. The report called for a major national occupational health effort centered in the Public Health Service. [9]

In September 1965, a federal government report begun under the Johnson administration revealed that almost a hundred uranium miners, an abnormally high number, had died of lung cancer since the 1940's. Up to a thousand more such deaths were expected. In 1947, when large-scale uranium mining was getting underway, the Atomic Energy Commission discovered that radiation levels in these mines were dangerously high. The Commission, in cooperation with the Public Health Service, began a long-term health study of the miners. A number of Federal agencies had limited jurisdiction over uranium mines, but none had clear responsibility for them, and there was very little enforcement. [9]

The lack of action took on tragic overtones with the revelations…and public attention focused on the Federal Radiation Council. Created in 1959 to advise the President on protective measures to take against all types of radiation hazards, the council was composed of representatives from concerned agencies. The nation’s unions, realizing a healthy environment was connected to healthy workplaces and healthy workers, urged President Sanders to support the report's recommendations and call for federal oversight.

…These events had a decisive impact on the shaping of a national job safety and health program… [9]

By the end of 1965, the Democrats were indebted to the labor vote, but since they had been upsetting the unions via failed labor reform for 20 years, and in light of an interior belief that the drop in labor voters in 1964 contributed to Johnson’s election loss that year, the party decided to spend 1965 pushing for a federal agency to enforce workplace safety laws. The new proposal to cover work safety, the Laborer Occupational Safety and Health Act, or LOSHA, gathered enough momentum in the House to proceed to the Senate and ultimately land on the President’s desk. Despite Sanders maintaining pro-management rhetoric and suggesting business-run oversight, he ultimately yielded to popular demand and made the bill an act on September 30. Many Congressional Republicans had ended up supporting the law because they also wanted to win over labor votes. “The millionaire and the homeless man have equal power in the voting booth, and there’s more poor people than rich people,” HEW Secretary Rockefeller famously opined in an October 1965 WSJ article.

The fight for all this, however, was overshadowed by the support of labor being rattled after a noted member of that community was revealed to be a less-than-perfect public figure…

– losha.gov.usa/general/aboutlosha/history



HOUSE REPUBLICANS REJECTS $11 BILLION ANTI-POVERTY PACKAGE, KILL VOTE

The Federal Assistance Dividend proposal has been rejected on bipartisan lines…

The Washington Post, 10/1/1965



“Slip-ups are just opportunities to improve,” Claudia told the press [10]. …The Colonel was a quick learner, figuring out that in order to have laws passed and immediately implemented, promising political support to other people’s ideas was “the cleanest way to go about it”…

– Ted White’s The Making of the President: 1968, Atheneum Publishers, 1969



The South China Reports were codenamed “Project White Bird,” with Joint Chiefs Chairman Franke overseeing the report on the conditions of southern China in relation to North Vietnam (“The Blue Bird Report”) and General Mark Clark, as Chief of the Army, overseeing the report on the specifics – timetables, manpower, resources, enemy reply – of what an invasion of North Vietnam would require (“The Red Bird Report”).

[snip]

In October, Franke finally revealed his department’s finished report, while Clark’s team continued the work on theirs.

Sanders was ebullient when Blue Bird’s conclusion matched his hunch – the region was indeed lacking in infrastructure and communication links to Beijing. Sanders soon called to the Oval Office Senators Richard Nixon, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and Barry Goldwater, head of the committee’s subcommittee on Asian Affairs, for a meeting on the next steps to be taken. While Goldwater and military leaders urged for a quick and decisive invasion to be executed “within the year,” Nixon was more hesitant. “Cool your jets, Barry” he said, “If we go in there guns a-blazing and we end up with egg on our face – no offense, Colonel – we’ll never live it down, politically, diplomatically, or militarily. I think we should wait until we know what Clark’s team finds out. An invasion like this… Colonel, you only get one shot at this. So you’ve got to make it count for something.”

– Rick Perlstein’s Colonel’s Country: The Trials and Crises of the Chicken King Presidency, Simon & Schuster, 2014



TEAMSTERS UNION JIMMY HOFFA ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED SECURITIES FRAUD

…Hoffa has been accused of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to capitalize from the financial fallout of the Salad Oil Recession. The scheme allegedly “began in 1963 and may or may not have had something to do with union pensions, too,” according to an anonymous member of the Detroit police force…

The Washington Post, 10/2/1965



…A simple car ride ended in tragedy just an hour ago, when a car driven by famous Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor drove off a road and into a forested area close to her California home. Ms. Taylor was found dead at the scene. Police are not disclosing further details at this time. Ms. Taylor, who was the star of several MGM films such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Cleopatra, was 33, and she leaves behind a husband and six children. We’ll bring you more information on this tragic event as it develops…

– Walter Cronkite, CBS News, 10/4/1965 broadcast



REPORT: Expansion of Infrastructure Projects Chipping Away At Unemployment Rate

The Washington Post, side article, 10/4/1965



FANS WORLDWIDE PAY THEIR RESPECTS AS LIZ TAYLOR BURIED TODAY: Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, Other Starlets Share Their Thoughts

Variety, 10/9/1965



KENNEDY: “I do not believe in Sanders’ claim that American troops in Laos will leave ‘soon.’ For oven ten year now, I have been very wary of the belief that Indochina can be permanently kept Communist-free. In 1954, I penned an open letter to President Eisenhower entitled ‘The Truth About Indochina’ in which I wrote, eh… (clears throat) ‘to pour money, material, and men into the jungles of Indochina without at least a remote prospect of victory would be dangerously futile and self-destructive’ [11] . I have not changed my mind on this. In fact, the experience I gained at the State Department has many me even more certain that keeping our troops over there will be detrimental in a multitude of ways.”

INTERVIEWER: “Did you make these opinions known to President Johnson?”

KENNEDY: “Well yes, but I could not change his own opinions on the subject. He was determined to protect democratic interests overseas no matter the costly difficulty.”

– Former Secretary of State Jack Kennedy and interviewer, NBC Interview, 10/10/1965



BLACKOUT LEAVES MILLIONS WITHOUT POWER IN PA, NJ, NYC, SURROUNDING AREAS

Last night at 11:13 PM EST, electrical power grids went dark across six northeastern states… The power failure trapped thousands in NYC subways and dead traffic lights caused several minor car accidents, according to the New York City Police Department. …Thankfully, a bright full moon in the night’s sky [12] served as a light source for those in the dark until morning…

The Florida Times-Union, 10/11/1965



CgR3bKF.png

[pic: imgur.com/CgR3bKF.png ]
– Collage concerning the Great Blackout of 1965



“Only one person died in the Great Blackout of 1965 – our dad. He was at the foot of our basement when the lights went out – he fell and broke his neck. We were going to move to California when I was four, but the War in Cuba lead to our dad getting a better job offer here in Sayreville at the last minute. He was 41. We don’t really remember him – I was only six, my older brother and my sister don’t really remember him either – but our mother always said that, though she does miss him, he was a dark and violent man that we wouldn’t have looked up to. For Christs’ sake, Ma swears he was a member of the American Nazi Party! And because there’s no reason to not believe her, we fully do, yeah. But we still wonder, you know, how things would have worked out if we had grown up with our actual Dad around instead of our stepdad...”

– Electrician Kevin S. Fowler of Sayreville, NJ; part of an American Broadcasting Network (ABN) video marking the 50th anniversary of the Great Power Outage of 1965, 10/10/2015 [13]



GOV. HUGHES IN HOTTER AND HOTTER WATER FOR SLOW RESPONSE TO BLACKOUT

Trenton, NJ – While power was restored within hours in most counties in Pennsylvania, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, millions were without electricity – “the bloodline that makes modern civilization possible,” one Republican assemblyman noted – for days on end. Even now, some communities in the Pine Barrens are trying to make do without modern amenities such as refrigeration and light bulbs… Yesterday, President Sanders ordered an FBI investigation into the cause of the blackout, which state governments are working with to learn how to prevent a repeat of such an event. Hughes, who has repeatedly stated that New Jersey was the worst state hit, says emergency services “are working as fast as possible” to remedy lingering situations and assist the FBI in their investigation… Hughes’ challenger in next week’s gubernatorial election, Republican nominee Wayne Dumont, has been calling Hughes’ response to the blackout “a clear sign of his poor leadership skills”…

The Star-Ledger, 10/26/2015



John Emerson Moss, a 50-year-old Utah-born WWII-veteran lawyer and Democratic Congressman from California since 1953 and the head of House Subcommittees concerning Government Information and Consumer Protection (Chairman of the Government Information Subcommittee), sat down with the Colonel to discuss the Freedom of Information Act, a work Moss had pushed for ever since his first term. His open admonishing on the federal government’s alleged abuse of federal power was unpopular on the hill, and Moss even butted heads with fellow Democrats over passage of the FOIA.

“The misuse of the nation’s government’s document classification and confidentiality policy system needs to be reformed. The government’s keeping too many secrets, Mr. President.” He said.

Colonel Sanders replied, “I’m sure the government has its reasons.”

“Sir, you’re the head of the government. You really should know said reasons.”

“Oh what am I saying? You’re right! I really should have this checked out.”

“No need, sir,” moss assured the Colonel, pulling out a thick stack of papers from his briefcase, “here’s copies of our research, concluding the excessive use of the phrase ‘classified’ over the past three Presidencies.”

“Whoo-wee, that’s a lot of tree flakes! Are you sure these all don’t need to be classified, because if I was a Soviet spy, this is exactly the kind of thing I’d try to do.”

“Sir, I assure you that by changing the way we treat this sort of information, you can clear away even more unnecessary government bureaucracy.”

“Well, I do like runnin’ a clean and mess-less ship.”

– C.J. Ciaramella, One-Man Crusade: John Moss And The Freedom of Information Act, Pacific Standard Magazine, 7/13/2016



The United States Information Agency was a federal agency founded in 1953 and devoted to “public diplomacy” concerning foreign viewers of American radio programs, motion pictures and literature. The idea behind it was to promote dialogue between American and other cultures. At its height, the USIA was the biggest PR organization in the world, with over $2 billion spent each year to promote American views and oppose Soviet views in over 100 nations worldwide. …The USIA’s foreign press centers in several major US cities aimed to “assist resident and visiting foreign journalists”… …The USIA was accused of being propagandistic in nature, presenting a false image of what life was like in America. It was then ironic, given political allegiances, that decades later, anti-immigration activists would point the finger at the USIA for “planting into the minds of immigrants the image of the US as the best place to live in for anyone not born and raised there,” according to American political strategist Jet Wilders (who was, in another strike of irony, was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to the US as a young adult). The USIA’s use of alleged “updated yellow journalism” during the Cuban War contradicted the negative portrayal of America that was sometimes depicted in some Hollywood motion pictures during that time. The USIA even resorted to making their own pro-America documentaries when Hollywood became too much against them in 1964, at the height of the anti-war movement. …The USIA kept the President and its relative government collaborators up-to-date on foreign views with public opinion polls. Through these polls, President Sanders kept his pulse on America’s approval among the people of South Vietnam and Laos during the Indochina Wars…

– Nancy Snow’s Propaganda, Inc: Selling America’s Culture to the World, ISBN 1-888363-74-6



Colonel Sanders was a man of contradictions. He celebrated mainstream media, which in turn celebrated him, but discouraged other venues of expression for our First Amendment rights. In October 1965, Sanders met with Congressman Moss to discuss freedom of speech. Just later that same month, the Colonel increased funding or the USIA and permitted further efforts by the FBI to censor America – to crack down on pornography, obscenity, and other venues of what he saw intolerable demonstrations of human indecency... The Colonel’s aversion to such temptations of the flesh stemming from his strict conservative Advent Christian upbringing is no excuse for his actions… The Colonel quickly became an enemy of underground comic creators, adult cartoonists, and art house filmmakers nationwide. For much of the Sanders administration, Andy Warhol was frequently followed and at times even directly confronted by government agents, according to Paul America’s 2006 autobiography. Things came to a head in November 1965 when Yoko Ono arrested for indecent exposure during a reprise of her famous performance art work “Cut Piece.” In the work, Ono sits still and invites audience members to cut off pieces of the suit she’s wearing while she sits in silence. Critics saw it as an interactive look at social relationships, and the relationship between artist and art object. But news of one lewd audience member cutting away the front of her suit to expose a nipple led to police interrupting the exhibit run. Underground artists blamed the unfair arrest on Mayor Wagner, President Sanders, and Director Hoover… The incident culminated in a NY state court ruling in 1966 on the distinction between public art and indecent exposure, which ruled Ono could not be held responsible for unintentional obscenity, which was met with controversy even among alleged progressive and forward-thinking politicians of the time…

– Socialist Workers Party radical activist Stephanie Coontz’s A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s, New York: Basic Books, 2011



Respecting his predecessor’s passion for space exploration, Colonel Sanders maintained our [NASA’s] budget. …Meanwhile, partially influenced by Tereshkova’s 1963 accomplishments and a January 1965 court case that declared that refusing to enroll women into the astronaut program (despite studies showing that they were better suited for space travel) was unconstitutional, a special subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics was established in early 1965. After meeting with a multitude of NASA officials throughout the year, they released their reports on the manner on November 1. Two weeks later, NASA announced that they would begin vetting women candidates, with Webb declaring “with the next five years, an American woman will travel in space.”

– NASA scientist Farouk El-Baz’s Up and Away: How The Cold War Competition Pushed Us Into The Stars, MacFarland & Company, 1994



HUGHES BY A HAIR AND HOLTON BY A HEAP

Trenton, NJ – Tonight, two states held elections for governor – New Jersey and Virginia, both of which felt much GOP strength in their respective elections in the wake of national and state-based developments. …In the Garden State, incumbent Governor Hughes bested Wayne Dumont Jr. by only 1%... most pundits believe the last month’s historic blackout to be behind the election’s narrowness, as Hughes leadership during the emergency was scrutinized – thousands of New Jersey residents went days without power (or even weeks in some of the more remote parts of the state)… In Virginia, Linwood Holton became the state’s first Republican Governor since 1869… His defeat of Lieutenant Governor Mills Godwin demonstrates the influence of President Sanders, as the Colonel gave Holton a rousing endorsement on October 27…

The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/2/1965



PERICONI ELECTED MAYOR

…After last month’s the power outage, Periconi was hailed for his response as Bronx Borough President to minimize the effects, maintain order, and restore power to his borough …Periconi was also likely helped by Governor Wilson, a fellow Republican who has also been praised for his response to last month’s power grid failure…

The New York Daily News, 11/8/1965



IEZSje0.png

[ imgur.com/IEZSje0.png ]
– clickopedia.co.usa



New York City Mayoral General Election Results, 11/2/1965:
Joey Periconi (Republican-Liberal alliance) – 1,146,215 (44.84%)
Paul O’Dwyer (Democratic-Civil Service alliance) – 978,271 (38.27%)
Charles Edison (Conservative) – 388,902 (15.21%)
Clifton DeBerry (Socialist Workers) – 29,298 (1.15%)
Vito P. Battista (United Taxpayers) – 11,247 (0.44%)
Eric Hass (Socialist Labor) – 2,301 (0.09%)
John E. Smith (Heritage and Independence) – 217 (0.00%)
Total votes cast: 2,556,451
Turnout: 32.89% Total Population

– ourcampaigns.co.usa



HELLYER BEATS DIEF IN TONIGHT’S GENERAL ELECTION

…In tonight’s election, Ontario’s Paul Hellyer (Liberal), age 42, defeated incumbent John Diefenbaker (Conservative) as well as Tommy Douglas (New Democracy), Réal Caouette (Ralliement créditiste), and Robert N. Thompson (Social Credit)… The Conservatives lost all of their seats from Quebec, most likely due to Diefenbaker’s unpopular crackdowns on separatists in the province that began three summer ago, in 1963. Another factor was criticism of Diefenbaker’s “slow” response to last month’s power outage that left most of the population of Ontario in the dark for hours…

– The Kimberley Daily Bulletin, Canadian newspaper, 11/8/1965



…The MLB soon became deadlocked over who should succeed the retiring Ford Frick, with the pro-business/outsider faction’s strength remaining equal to the pro-internal-promotion faction. On the 14th, former U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay recommended 4-Star U.S. Air Force General William Eckert be given the job. However, due to a poor phone line connection and a clerical error, the military man instead contacted was former U.S. Air Force Secretary Eugene M. Zuckert. By the time club owners had learned of the error, Eckert had already replied back accepting the offer. After some hesitance, the club owners reviewed Zuckert’s term as Secretary, were impressed by his citations for “outstanding management performance” under President Johnson, and agreed to the selection, making it official with unanimous – all 20 major club owners voted Zuckert. The former Secretary quickly signed a six-year contract and with earnest began his time as the 4th Commissioner of Baseball on November 17.

– John Helyar’s Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball, Ballantine Books, 1994



HELLYER PREMIERSHIP BEGINS TODAY: Governor-General Swears In Politically Diverse Cabinet

– The Nanaimo Daily News, Canadian newspaper, 11/18/1965



ARIZONA REPUBLICANS MAKE KFC THE OFFICIAL FOOD OF STATE PARTY

– The Sacramento Bee, 11/20/1965



Father never kept recordings of things – much of what he wrote in his 1974 autobiography was compiled from memory! He was always too busy to record things, or even set up a taping system like the kind Johnson had installed for his time in office, though he did keep some notes that he saved and stored away here and there, and marginally strewn together with the recollections of those around him as well to make the book more complete.

[snip]

…It’s funny how things look big when you’re small – by which I mean to say that sometimes spending time away from something will lead to you looking at it differently... By November, my father was overextending himself again, trying to micromanage every part of the executive branch. After ten months in the Oval Office, my father was starting to seem a bit overwhelmed. On the 21st of November, he invited me to the White House for “an official discussion.” …I always have and always will be impressed by the work that does into the Presidential property, and the exertion Claudia put into it was no exception. She redesigned the interior to make the upstairs quarters more cozy and informal, while the rooms downstairs were more modern to better separate the “work areas” from the “home areas.” …Father sat down with me in the Lincoln Room. “Son,” he began Looked concerned. “I have a problem. Bryce Harlow has resigned. He’s been my, eh, ‘Counselor to the President’ guy, this position Nixon convinced me to make up so I could have more people to work with. Well, Bryce just went up and quit on me yesterday because he thinks I’m ‘too soft and too willing to cave to leftists.’ His words, not mine.”

“Father, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking of who would be the best person to fill the spot. Someone I trust, and have worked with before in politics.” He finally got to the question: “Son, will you do your old man a real big favor and join the White House staff?”

He looked like he was truly starting to feel the weight of the Presidency on him, that the complications of politics were trying him as he sought to maintain his ideals. In my opinion, innocence and intelligence cannot coexist in D.C. any more than foxes and rabbits can coexist in the wild. Father refused to believe in such a philosophy – he believed that good men always win in the end. So in that moment, I figured, if someone is to prop Father up when reality is throwing him curveballs, it might as well be me.

…With Millie agreeing to replace me as Co-CEO with Dave Thomas, Father announce my appointment on the 23rd.

– Harland David “Harley” Sanders Jr.’s In the Thick of It: The Story of The Colonel and His Son, Sunrise Publishing, 1991



HOST: “Now this is just a blatant act of nepotism.”

CO-HOST: “I agree, and it makes sense why the Colonel would do this – he’s worked with his son for years and likely trusts his opinion. And in Harley Sanders’s defense, it’s not like he’s unqualified. He’s college-educated, a leader in his own right, helped with his father’s 1955 and 1964 campaigns, and even served as, let me check my notes here, ‘Assistant to the Governor’ from ’57 to ’59, which basically is the state-level version of the job he’s applying for now. With that on his resume, I think he’ll get security clearance and all that jazz.”

HOST: “If he does, it’ll be a slippery slope. Has any other president been so open with something like this?”

CO-HOST: “Well, actually, there is precedence for this sort of thing.”

HOST: “How?”

CO-HOST: “Two recent examples: FDR got his son to officially serve as ‘Secretary to the President’ for over a year, and Jack Kennedy – um, LBJ’s Secretary of State – got his brother to serve as Undersecretary of State.”

HOST: “Oh. Well…even still, the idea is unethical!”

–Transcript of exchange between the Host and Co-Host of WHCV-AM, news/talk radio, 11/24/1965 broadcast



EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY BILL PASSES HOUSE, WILL BE SIGNED INTO LAW “DAYS FROM NOW”

Washington, D.C. – With Congress preparing to adjourn for Winter Recess, President Sanders convinced a majority of members of the House to pass the Equal Employment Opportunity Bill. The bill, an “addition” to the 1962 Civil Rights Act, would, if passed, specify the definition of workplace discrimination and document discriminatory employment practices. US Labor Secretary Art Larson lauded its passage as “a promoter and protector of African-American and women workers”… …The Colonel’s second major policy change, a Prison Reform Bill, scheduled for a vote in January...

– The Washington Post, 12/1/1965



IRA BOMBING IN BELLANALECK KILLS PROTESTANT BARTENDER

Belfast, NORTHERN IRELAND – Members of the paramilitary group I.R.A. have turned to radical efforts to make their grievances known. …While these radical members of the Irish Republican Army had increased their violence over the British government’s involvement in the Cuba War, other members of the group, inspired by the recent political events in France, are seeking election to local positions to create change democratically… The two groups are seemingly increasing hostilities between themselves and their shared enemies…

– The Daily Mirror, UK newspaper, 12/2/1965



“The military needs to be properly built when combatting an enemy, but the issue is not the amount of the money it has but how its money is used. For example, uh, we have, um, a couple thousand or so of our men over in Laos and Southern Vietnam right now. But the Vietnamese should have to learn to fight for themselves so they can fight for themselves. …Instead of using our resources and funding to end American lives, we should be giving the Vietnamese financial support. Equipment and training. I do not believe we are training the South Vietnamese in anything at this point, and that is a, uh, big waste of time and materials there.”

– Former US Secretary of State Jack Kennedy on Meet the Press, 12/10/1965



QUEEN FREDERICA OF HANOVER, CONSORT OF THE HELLENES, DIES IN HELICOPTER CRASH!

The Edmonton Journal, Canadian newspaper, 12/11/1965



In December, I sat down with Audie Murphy in the Oval Office. I wanted his perspective on the situation in Southeast Asia.

Audie Leon Murphy is a very commendable young man. Like me, he grew up livin’ the country farm life and served in the military despite being too young to serve. But unlike me, he stayed in the armed forces for more than a few months, and went above and beyond the call of duty – enough to become the most decorated combat soldier in WWII.

At 40, he’d become a charismatic horse breeder and horse racer, and had also gotten himself into show business; he was planning on making a movie called “Trunk to Cairo” in Israel the next year [1966].

…After going over horses and movies, though, I finally I asked him “What’s your take on the fightin’ in Indochina?”

His reply was “We’re already fighting for freedom there, so let’s finish the job. I think you should find the best men you have. Find the next Pattons. Find the future generals. And avoid the mistakes made there in the past. Look at the French, Colonel – What caused the French to leave? They mistreated the locals and they underestimated them. When they were surrounded at Dien Bien Phu, they thought air supply would aid them. It didn’t. They were forced out because they abused the locals enough to turn their weapons on them. Never underestimate the will to kill, Colonel. Never.”

…Before leaving, Murphy talked to me greatly about improving rehabilitation programs for our soldiers. I took his words to heart and got right on it…

– Colonel Sanders’ Life As I Have Known It Has Been Finger-Lickin’ Good, Creation House publishing, 1974



NOTE(S)/SOUCRE(S)
[1] Italicized passage from Ernest Gruening in The Nation, 5/5/1969 issue, IOTL (source found on his wiki article)
[2] Reprisal idea stems from how Nixon feared reprisals IOTL: https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/05/us/tape-shows-nixon-feared-hoover.html
[3] From here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_People%27s_Campaign
[4] Page 15 of the Colonel’s OTL 1966 autobiography “The Original Celebrity Chef” (PDF of full text found on his wiki article! (Source #6))
[5] $125 in 1965 is the equivalent of $1,006.54 in 2019 according to this site: https://www.saving.org/inflation/inflation.php?amount=123&year=1965
[6] Rhetoric taken from Nixon’s own on it: youtube.com/watch?v=6vHYFzYvCak
[7] Extended Italicized Passage taken from the Introduction of the Colonel’s OTL 1966 autobiography “The Original Celebrity Chef”
[8] Ibid., Page 113
[9] Italicized quotes found here: https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/osha
[10] Actually, this is the motto of the great Ms. Lawrence of New Brunswick, NJ, a former teacher of mine.
[11] Full letter here: https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/united-states-senate-indochina-19540406
[12] According to the information found here: https://www.fullmoon.info/en/fullmoon-calendar/1965.html
[13] Butterflies lead to Spacey's father not relocating the family to California in 1963/1964. IOTL, Spacey was negatively shaped by years of sexual and physical abuse from his father (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-father-Nazi-child-rapist-brother-says.html); here, Spacey is too young to remember enough of it for it to mentally/emotionally scar him, allowing him (and his OTL victims) to live a relatively better life.
 
Last edited:
One happy thing with Audie Murphy - he lost a good chunk of the money he made in Hollywood when Castro nationalized everything in Cuba, as did other folks including Ernest Hemmingway. Perhaps they're both in better straights now.
 
Very full update lots of stuff going on in there indeed.

Seems like Prez Sanders is going to find another way in 'Nam - a full invasion of the North would certainly be it.

Does that FDBI crackdown on censorship see the Comics Code even more heavily enforced? That might kill the Superhero revival.

Brown as PM? I'll have to go and read up on him...
 
Timothy Leary's campaign slogan. "Tune in turn on turn out." Actually, I remember in college talking with a friend and consistently bungling that saying when we were talking about the sixties. Maybe I would actually say it right in this timeline.

In our timeline the blackout occurred in early November. Here, it is right around game 5 of the World Series. It would have been a day game so unaffected, but no National League or American League teams in the affected area or anywhere near the pennant in 1965 and that wouldn't have changed with the small changes until the late fifties.

Nice to see Marilyn Monroe lived - she is noted as one of the people at Elizabeth Taylor's funeral. Hopefully she got her life turned around, got off drugs, maybe did the Johnny Cash thing of developing a deep relationship with Jesus. Hard to say for sure, all that is known is that there will have to be another celebrity who is known for being married a lot of times.

Hey, why not Marilyn Monroe for that honor, come to think of it. She had a few as was.

President Kennedy had Addison's disease and most people think he'd have been crippled by the late sixties. So he probably won't run in 1968, I wonder what Robert Kennedy is doing. Of course, I like the idea in a universe where he can't get into politics of him becoming a judge and getting on the Supreme Court.
 
I am curious about Sanders in real life. I haven't read the whole story here, so forgive me if this has already been covered. I know Sanders is not remembered as a segregationist, unlike Lester Maddox. But what was the situation when he first had restaurants in the south? Was he able to have both races eat together, or did he have to go along with segregation, to stay in business?
 
Last edited:
I just caught this TL, and I found it amazing.

I've got to ask, what is the world opinion of Colonel Sanders ITTL? How do people around the world see this old Southern fried businessman?

Does Soviet propaganda involve blistering criticism of KFC? Do they characterize Sanders as a man who "exploited the proletariat in the corrupt pursuit of capitalist power" or something like that? Do they try and convince the world that he is some kind of Klansman?
 
To quote the show Breaking Bad, Colonel Sanders is not going to use half measures when it comes to the Vietnam War, IMO (the fact that he's taking advice from Audie Murphy, who I hope to see more of ITTL (1), among others, indicates this)...

(1) Largely because he's a badass IRL...
 
To quote the show Breaking Bad, Colonel Sanders is not going to use half measures when it comes to the Vietnam War, IMO (the fact that he's taking advice from Audie Murphy, who I hope to see more of ITTL (1), among others, indicates this)...

(1) Largely because he's a badass IRL...

The truth is I find Sanders optimism about America to be somewhat...problematic.

As frustrating as realpolitik can be, idealism can be just as bad. I feel that Sanders, because of his optimism about America being land of the free, he'll feel justified in doing ANYTHING for victory. This could end heavily damaging his candidacy.

While LBJ was acting a bit like a sore loser, I can imagine him pitying Sanders, for being somewhat naive.
 
Very full update lots of stuff going on in there indeed.

Seems like Prez Sanders is going to find another way in 'Nam - a full invasion of the North would certainly be it.

Does that FDBI crackdown on censorship see the Comics Code even more heavily enforced? That might kill the Superhero revival.

Brown as PM? I'll have to go and read up on him...

The Colonel fully supports the Comics Code, but artists can bypass it via underground comics.


Timothy Leary's campaign slogan. "Tune in turn on turn out." Actually, I remember in college talking with a friend and consistently bungling that saying when we were talking about the sixties. Maybe I would actually say it right in this timeline.

In our timeline the blackout occurred in early November. Here, it is right around game 5 of the World Series. It would have been a day game so unaffected, but no National League or American League teams in the affected area or anywhere near the pennant in 1965 and that wouldn't have changed with the small changes until the late fifties.

Nice to see Marilyn Monroe lived - she is noted as one of the people at Elizabeth Taylor's funeral. Hopefully she got her life turned around, got off drugs, maybe did the Johnny Cash thing of developing a deep relationship with Jesus. Hard to say for sure, all that is known is that there will have to be another celebrity who is known for being married a lot of times.

Hey, why not Marilyn Monroe for that honor, come to think of it. She had a few as was.

President Kennedy had Addison's disease and most people think he'd have been crippled by the late sixties. So he probably won't run in 1968, I wonder what Robert Kennedy is doing. Of course, I like the idea in a universe where he can't get into politics of him becoming a judge and getting on the Supreme Court.

Marilyn Monroe remarried DiMaggio in 1963 (I’ve got to remember to go back and add that to that chapter, maybe) and is going to have cameos in 1967 and 1969, and more after that. I’m not exactly sure what her filmography will look like, though…

From what I’ve read about his Addison’s ailment ( https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...live-if-he-survived-his-assassination.141508/ , http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g35.htm ), I’m actually of the opinion that without the stress of public office, Kennedy’s health would actually be improving during this period. Of course, which doctors he has ITTL plays a factor as well; since he didn't meet Dr. Feelgood until after winning the 1960 nomination IOTL, maybe his health is a bit better than it would be otherwise…

I am curious about Sanders in real life. I haven't read the whole story here, so forgive me if this has already been covered. I know Sanders is not remembered as a segregationist, unlike Lester Maddox. But what was the situation when he first had restaurants in the south? Was he able to have both races eat together, or did he have to go along with segregation, to stay in business?

Colonel Sanders would not franchise his chicken to just any place. According to the research I’ve already given links to, he didn’t care what color you were so long as you could do the job you were hired to do. Based on my research, Colonel would refuse to do business with places that were substandard/unsanitary “greasy spoons,” famously running away from one after spotting the condition of the kitchen through the window. As this article explains ( https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/07/17/colonel-sanders-family-defends-him/788795002/ ), along with the OTL testimonies of those whom worked for him, the Colonel was adamantly anti-racism, and his personality and OTL donations to charity suggest to me a man who would not compromise his beliefs for profit. It’s most likely that the Colonel would not franchise his chicken to segregated locations, both IOTL and ITTL.

I just caught this TL, and I found it amazing.

I've got to ask, what is the world opinion of Colonel Sanders ITTL? How do people around the world see this old Southern fried businessman?

Does Soviet propaganda involve blistering criticism of KFC? Do they characterize Sanders as a man who "exploited the proletariat in the corrupt pursuit of capitalist power" or something like that? Do they try and convince the world that he is some kind of Klansman?

Thanks, I’m glad you’re enjoying it!

I’ll cover what the UK and USSR think of him in the 4/25 Chapter/update!

The truth is I find Sanders optimism about America to be somewhat...problematic.

As frustrating as realpolitik can be, idealism can be just as bad. I feel that Sanders, because of his optimism about America being land of the free, he'll feel justified in doing ANYTHING for victory. This could end heavily damaging his candidacy.

While LBJ was acting a bit like a sore loser, I can imagine him pitying Sanders, for being somewhat naive.

Sander’s inexperience with the federal version of governing will lead to him butting heads with some, for sure. But the books and articles I’ve read on the guy all suggest the Colonel valued human life, so I don't think he would be willing to do ANYTHING for victory; I’ve already had him oppose the Phoenix Program, for instance!

Oh, and you’ll see what LBJ’s been up to since leaving office…

Just waiting for the next chapter; the 1960s looks...interesting ITTL...

I commend you for your patience!

But with a 12-page paper due this Wednesday, and two other assignments left for me to do, I’m pretty busy this week, so the E.T.A. for the next update is April 25; ’til then, have a finger-lickin’ good week!
 
I'll be intriguled to see the update when I get back from vacation. Interesting she marriages Joe KiMaggion again. There have been a number of athlete/model or whatever marriages in the last couple decades, but it's hard to imagine any duo topping that one.
 
Re: Kevin Spacey, If my memory serves me right, the allegations surrounding him were one of the key catalysts that started #MeToo. Assuming his becoming a normal, well-adjusted, non-predatory adult ITTL, you're effectively removing one of the key causes of the movement from ever coming into play.

Which basically means America is yet to have its "Rape is Bad" moment ITTL all because a Neo-Nazi fell down a flight of stairs one darker-than-usual night.

Butterflies are weird.

BTW, great timeline. Showed it to an asshat I know who works at KFC, and now I have one less Christmas card to buy this year.
 
Top