Chapter 41: March 1976 – December 1976
“Discipline is remembering what you want.”
– David Campbell
[pic:
imgur.com/pB5RNze ]
– Colonel Sanders personally attending the Grand (Re)Opening of the KFC-Beijing Restaurant, 3/3/1976
As most of the masses celebrated the end of the fighting, Deng Xiaoping and his newest allies, the military-minded Ye Jianying and the statesman Zhao Ziyang, worked to reign in the remaining rebels refusing to adjust to the new era, to a China open to the best ideas the world – including the West – had to offer. The needs of the victims of the 1975 Tangshen earthquake were among the first issues to be addressed, and Deng accepted any foreign aid they received, provided none of it was anti-communist in any way. The most serious concern, however, was accounting for all known nuclear materials. Less than 50 nuclear devices, mostly short-range, were constructed between the first testing of one in 1964 and the breakout of the war, and those numbers were likely that low due to Mao’s détente with the US. No side in the civil conflict wanted to inherit a radiation-filled landscape, but to be on the safe side, prior to his death, Zhou Enlai oversaw the lockdown of China’s sophisticated tunnel network between its land-based silos, and blackout (radio silence) of Ballistic missile submarine platforms. Nevertheless, once the dust settled, Deng and company discovered two missiles were unaccounted for.
On March 12, Deng found out what happened to them in the form of a nuclear scare, when remaining Biaoist extremists, led by General Li Zuopeng and Lieutenant General Liang Xingchu, occupied the capital of Inner Mongolia and threatened to detonate the weapons in Beijing. Under Liang’s orders, a nearby missile silo was seized in a demonstration of their seriousness. Their demands: the resignation of Deng and the reinstatement of the Cultural Revolution under a new anti-détente regime led by Li, among other things.
Deng chose to stall for time as Ye Jiangying organized a clandestine search for the two nuclear weapons, both of which were eventually discovered in the city’s northern district and disabled before they could detonate. Concurrently, Deng had the power to the missile silo be shut off, and the launch procedures disabled. Then came the counterassault that saw the deaths of dozens on both sides, including Liang and Li, plus 80% of both the “rebels” and “loyalists” inside the silo. The bloody details of the crisis’ conclusion was hidden from the media, and they not disclosed until 1999. Last year’s Hollywood film adaptation of the events does not do justice for the lives threatened and lost in the incident.
The Silo Incident solidified Deng’s position of power and helped quash additional hostile groups…
– Yu Changgen’s Zhou Enlai: A Political Life, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006
NEWLY RELEASED DOCUMENTS REVEAL TAIWAN ALMOST INVADED MAINLAND CHINA!
The Taiwan Times Reveals Truth Behind Taiwan’s Unsettling Silence During The 1975 P.R.C. Civil War
...the war plans are dated October 1975, and they detail how the Taiwanese government planned to capitalize on the chaos that was unfolding in the People’s Republic of China between warring factions of the country’s Communist party. The government believed the unrest was an opportunity to weaken the grip of communism on China overall, and at the start of the fighting greenlit the spreading of pro-Taiwan propaganda in the mainland nation’s southern provinces. By October, this seemed to be having little affect, soon leading to Taiwan’s leader at the time, Yen Chia-kan, approving a military operation that would have seen Taiwan soldiers invade the coastal cities of Quanzhou and Fuzhou in January 1976. The operation was rendered moot under the civil war officially coming to a close in December 1975. …the feasibility of the operation is questionable. Calling for an impressively large amount of troops, the plan would have only worked if the three warring factions on the mainland had stayed divided in the midst of such an invasion. As the Chinese people put aside their difference to combat the Japanese Empire during the 1930s and 1940s, history suggests that such an invasion would have likely failed. Regardless, the documents are a valuable look into the inner workings of the Taiwan government and military during that period of the Cold War…
– USA Today, 5/25/2015
…In the first primary of the year, Senator George Romney edged out a victory in New Hampshire. President Mondale won just over 85% of the vote in the Gravel state’s Democratic primary, with Governor Zumwalt coming in second with almost 10%. Roughly 5% going to Gravel, who is not a candidate for President, due to the work of a write-in campaign organized by local progressive political activists…
– CBS Evening News, 3/2/1976 broadcast
Rockefeller suffered from being out of office for four years, a lifetime in the world of politics; plus, he had not actually won or even run for a political office since his re-election to the Governor’s seat in 1962, 14 years prior. Additionally, the New Yorker was no longer in peak health… On March 9, the Rockefeller Republicans that had hoped to keep the party out of Conservative hands won the state of Vermont, but lost the more delegate-rich Massachusetts primary to the more moderate, center-of-the-aisle Senator George Romney of Michigan…
– Meg Jacobs’ Pressure at the Polls: The Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s, 2016 net-book edition
REAGAN WINS FLORIDA PRIMARY: Kroc In Close Second!
– The Houston Chronicle, 3/16/1976
Ray Kroc seemed poised to win the Illinois primary, which likely would have given his campaign significant momentum. But just days before the people of Illinois went to vote, both of Kroc’s ex-wives went to the news to share their experiences with Kroc’s “unrestrained” alcoholism and other “uncouth” character traits. Kroc claimed the charges were all lies, spun by bitter ex-spouses, but once the accusations hit the pavement, but did nothing but hurt the Kroc campaign…
– Meg Jacobs’ Pressure at the Polls: The Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s, 2016 net-book edition
…The big news of tonight: the Democratic and Republic Presidential Primaries held in Illinois, um, President Mondale has won over challenger Zumwalt, 79%-to-20%. On the Republican side, businessman Ray Kroc lost his birth state to Senator Romney. Despite leading in the state’s polling a month ago, Kroc likely lost due to him splitting the Conservative vote between himself and Governor Reagan, uh, along with colorful accusations that have recently been made against Kroc…
– NBC News, 3/23/1976 broadcast
REAGAN WINS NORTH CAROLINA G.O.P. PRIMARY
Mondale Also Wins Democratic Primary in N.C.; Zumwalt Gets Only 12%
– The Chicago Tribune, 3/30/1976
…Reagan found himself managing to win donors over from former ally Barry Goldwater, who, during a stump speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, dubbed himself “Reagan
light.” Goldwater’s cold relationship with the “religious right” led by evangelists Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell, plus the Senator’s shift to more libertarian-leaning stances in recent years, and Reagan’s successful selling of the image of Goldwater being “used goods” for his previous two primary campaigns all worked against Goldwater. …The ages of the top four candidates led to the Chicago Tribune dubbing the primaries to be “the battle of the geezers.” Nevertheless, with Goldwater running at age 67, Rockefeller at almost 68, and Romney at almost 69, the 65-year-old Reagan was the youngest of the so-called geezers. ...Mayor Charles Evers of Mississippi largely ran to voice political issues he felt weren’t being discussed; perennial candidate Harold Stassen ran as well, but apart from a surprise favorite son victory in Minnesota was effectively a non-issue in the primaries...
– Ted White’s The Making of the President: 1976, Atheneum Publishers, 1977
…We founded the Apple Computer Company In, uh, April 1976, a year after Paul Allen and I co-founded Microsoft. The economy high the country was riding on at the time really helped out the company in those fragile years, um, those first few years…
– Bill Gates, KNN interview, 1995
Vote For
Elmo
Zumwalt: The Choice Is
E-
Z!
– Zumwalt’76 slogan, first used c. early April 1976
ZUMWALT DEMANDS BETTER ASBESTOS STANDARDS IN D.C. TESTIMONY
…Having served in the US Navy for 35 years, decorated war hero Elmo Zumwalt had much to say… The Presidential candidate testified before the Senate Committee on the use of asbestos in Navy vessels and public housing. Zumwalt told the committee “As Governor, I was exposed to the consequences of inferior interior home products. Consumption of asbestos in the US reached over 800,000 tons three years ago, but what too few of us realize is how unhealthy this material can be. I’ve been to the hospitals, and I’ve seen the navy veterans, and the home owners, and there’s a clear correlation between exposure to asbestos and developing lung conditions, and even cancer.” Zumwalt’s claims are backed by several public health organizations and reports, and Zumwalt is eager for Congress to act. “I banned the stuff in my state,” the retired Admiral stated, “now it’s up to the feds to address this.”
– The Washington Post, 4/5/1976
“CAN I GET SOME RAGE WITH THAT?”: The Collapse of the Ray Kroc Campaign?
…Despite winning his first primary contest last night – Kroc achieved a plurality of 38% in Wisconsin – the businessman is “outraged” at “grossly underperforming,” according to a source close to the campaign whom also told us that Kroc is “heavily considering” firing his campaign coordinator… Zumwalt, meanwhile, achieved 15% of the vote against President Mondale…
– The New York Post, 4/7/1976
ETHIOPIA’S DERG REGIME RETREATS FROM KEY STRONGHOLD
[pic:
imgur.com/SEhZIkZ ]
Above: A Derg Army convoy, destroyed in Tigray province, northern Ethiopia
The communist Derg forces in control of Addis Ababa lost important strongholds in the nation’s northern provinces….
– The New York Times, 4/9/1976
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE HASTIE HOSPITALIZED, RECOVERING “NICELY” FROM HEART ATTACK
– The Washington Post, 4/14/1976
REPORT: US MILITARY AIDING ANTI-COMMUNIST FORCES IN WAR-TORN ANGOLA!
– The New York Times exposé, 4/15/1976
GOVERNOR REAGAN CALLS US “STRATEGY” IN ANGOLA “RECKLESS”
– The Los Angeles Times, 4/16/1976
(Cold Open on office of the New York Governor. Belushi is sitting behind a desk)
JANE CURTIN (as AIDE): “Mr. Biaggi?”
JOHN BELUSHI (as MARIO BIAGGI): “Yes, what is it?”
CURTIN: “Your appointments for today, sir. With New York Presidential primary just days away, a lot of conservative candidates from across the aisle value you and your open willingness to endorse one of them over Mondale.”
DAN AYKROYD (as RONALD REAGAN): “That’s right, buddy.”
BELUSHI: “Ronnie, so nice to see you.”
AYKROYD: “So nice to see an endorsement from you.”
BELUSHI: “Ooh, I don’t know, Gipper. How do I know you’re what’s best for America?”
AYKROYD: “Because I say so. And besides, you help me become President, Californians will no longer have to deal with me being their Governor!”
BELUSHI: “That sounds like a…hostage situation!”
CURTIN: “Oh no, you’ve said the trigger word.”
BELUSHI: “Hey! That’s their word, we have no right to use it!”
CURTIN: “I said ‘trigger,’ sir. ‘Trigger.’”
BELUSHI: “Trigger? You mean there’s a gun pointed at me? Where is he?!”
(jumps onto desk, draws handgun from holster)” “I’m not scared of no punk!”
AYKROYD: “Uh, I think I’ll come back later, so…”
(darts out the room)
CURTIN: “Just as well, there is another conservative Republican wanting to ask your endorsement.”
(Garrett Morris (as Charles Evers) enters office)
BELUSHI: “Ah! A burglar!”
(fires gun, only for it to click) “Empty? Bah!”
(jumps off of desk and rolls behind couch, resurfaces with musket in hand)
CURTIN
(standing between Belushi and Morris): “No, no, no, no! Sir, this is Charles Evers, he’s the Mayor of Fayette, Mississippi, who agrees with your fiscal policies!”
MORRIS: “Yeah, the only thing I’m stealing from you is some of your talking points.”
BELUSHI:
(stands up, walks around to stand between Morris and couch) (calmly) “Oh, well in that case…”
(re-aims gun), “give me back my talking points and nobody gets hurt!”
CURTIN: “Sir!”
BELUSHI: “Don’t you worry none, I’m an ex-cop, so I know what I’m doing.”
(steps backward, trips over couch. Guns fires, debris falls on Belushi)
CURTIN: “Mr. Governor! Are you alright?”
BELUSHI:
(stands up) “Oh please, I’ve battled robbers, murderers, journalists, shoutniks and many angry police horses. It’ll take much more than a hole in the ceiling to take me down!”
(whistling suddenly heard off-screen)
MORRIS: “What’s that?”
CURTIS: “Oh, I forgot! The President is still waiting upstairs to talk to you, sir!”
CHEVY CHASE (as WALTER MONDALE): “Oh, is this the way down?”
(Chase drops from top of set, seemingly through “hole” in “ceiling,” making a humorous pratfall onto the couch, knocking Belushi to the ground. Both Chase and Belushi land on the floor in a comical fashion)
CHASE:
(sits up, faces camera) “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
– Saturday Night Live, comedy sketch, Saturday 4/17/1976
MONDALE, ROMNEY WINS RESPECTIVE PARTY PRIMARIES IN NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT
– The Washington Post, 4/20/1976
PENNSYLVANIA’S PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES: ROMNEY & MONDALE PREVAIL
– The Star Tribune, 4/27/1976
EVERS FOR PRESIDENT?
…Despite his miniscule gains in the primaries so far, Mayor Evers continues on, spreading his messages of equality and fairness… One positive aspect of his campaign is his high preference polling in Washington, D.C.; if they are any indication, Evers is poised to win the district’s caucus, which would make Evers the first African-American ever to win a primary contest of either major party…
– The Chicago Defender, 4/30/1976
TONIGHT’S G.O.P. PRIMARIES: GOLDWATER GETS HOME STATE, REAGAN NABS TEXAS
– The Arizona Republic, 5/1/1976
ROMNEY WINS INDIANA, REAGAN GETS GEORGIA, EVERS TAKES D.C. IN G.O.P. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
– The South Bend Tribune, 5/4/1976
Ray [Kroc] finally gave up and dropped out after losing the Indiana primary because he had become just too frustrated with the whole system. Okay, I had, too, but, you know, plus, the donors were looking away from him and toward Reagan, and funding was drying up. And Ray wasn’t going to pour all of our wealth down into a money pit. I wouldn’t let him. We weren’t going to get the nomination, and so that was that.
– Joan Kroc, KNN Interview, 1983
THE PERSISTANT: Why Are These Men Still Running?
…Representative John Bertrand Conlin of Arizona is not polling above 1%, and he received only 3% in his home state’s primary on May 1. However, Conlin defends his remaining in the race with the statement “anything could happen between now and November.” Most pundits believe he may be sticking around on the off-chance that the RNC becomes brokered, meaning no clear frontrunner for the nomination can be obtaining via the primaries. …Representative Phil Crane of Illinois hoped to be the leading voice of conservatism in the party of Lincoln, only to be overshadowed by Governor Reagan. Crane received only 4% of the vote in his home state’s primary held in March. Perhaps Crane is mimicking Conlin’s campaign, or maybe even vying for a position in a Republican administration come 1977, if the GOP wins in November, that is. …Nobody in the party seems to like former Governor Mike Stepovich. Apart from his home state of Alaska, where his favorite son campaign is actually outpolling Goldwater and Romney, but not Reagan, Stepovich is consistently ranked the most unfavorable of the candidates in poll after poll. Many Republicans blame him for the party losing the 1972 Presidential election, claiming he was an unenthusiastic running mate who was not a benefit to the national ticket. Nevertheless, Stepovich believes that his brand of “frontier politickin’” will appeal to former diehard Colonel Sanders supporters, and rake in enough libertarians and moderates to find a path forward to the nomination. …All these politicians have little chance of even having an impact on the races planned for the upcoming weeks. On the other hand, in the words of the Colonel himself just two days ago, “I’d rather see ten men shouting over each other than see some of those men shoutin’ and the rest of the men with their mouths gagged shut. You want to run, you have every right to. Go make your voice and ideas heard, and let the people decide if they like the cut of your jib.”
– The Lincoln Journal Star, 5/9/1976
…in tonight’s Republican Presidential contests, California Governor Ronald Reagan won the state of Nebraska, while former Governor and former US Health Education and Welfare Secretary Nelson Rockefeller won the state of West Virginia. On the Democratic side of the aisle, President Mondale won both contests by wide margins against his challenger, Governor Zumwalt, who has not won any primaries so far…
– CBS Evening News, 5/11/1976 broadcast
…Reagan failed to win either Republican Presidential primary held tonight. Instead, Nelson Rockefeller carried Maryland, while Senator Romeny easily carried his home state of Michigan…
– ABC News, 5/18/1976 broadcast
STANFIELD WINS NEW TERM AS P.C.S GAIN 10 SEATS IN TONIGHT’S FEDERAL ELECTION
…Stanfield’s party a clear majority of seats over Paul Martin Sr. (Liberal), Ed Broadbent (Progressive Tomorrow), and Réal Caouette (Ralliement Créditiste)…
– Le Journal de Montréal (translated), 5/19/1976
BUS CRASH KILLS 33 IN YUBA CITY
[1]
– Los Angeles Times, 5/21/1976
SECRETARY NADER DEMANDS PROBE OF MANUFACTURER OF CRASHED YUBA CITY BUS
– The Washington Post, 5/23/1976
HYPOTHETICAL MATCHUP:
MONDALE: 45%
REAGAN: 49%
OTHER: 1%
UNDECIDED: 5%
– Gallup Poll, 5/25/1976
On May 25, the news was quick to cover Reagan “sweeping” another cluster of state primaries and caucuses. Arkansas, Nevada, Tennessee, and Louisiana all went to the Gipper as the opposition remained fractured – Idaho went to Romney; Kentucky went to the Bluegrass State’s favorite son candidate, popular former Governor John Robsion Jr.; in his last victory before giving up the ghost and dropping out on May 30, Rockefeller edged out Romney in Oregon…
– Ted White’s The Making of the President: 1976, Atheneum Publishers, 1977
…it seems Reagan’s momentum is continuing on from last week’s primaries, as the California Governors has just been declared the winner of the Montana and North Dakota primaries, both by wide margins, while Senator Romney narrowly won tonight’s Rhode Island primary…
– The Overmyer Network, 6/1/1976 news broadcast
The idea of building Teton Dam in eastern Idaho originated from good intentions. The region had suffered droughts in the past, and damming the Teton River theoretically would both create a local reservoir and generate hydroelectric power. On the other hand, construction would disturb the local trout population and interrupt a section of land known for its pristine and unspoiled beauty.
After California’s Van Norman Dam system captured the nation’s attention when in partially collapsed in February 1971, environmental activists were quick to oppose the construction on Teton River, especially after Idaho’s Governor since January 1975, the Republican Jay S. Amyx, came out as a strong supporter of the dam. The first related controversy of his administration was the required environmental impact statement released one month into office, as the anti-dam crowd found it too vague and substandard. Construction continued on despite additional concerns being raised over the feasibility of damning that area due to minor earthquakes having occurred in the region over the years. Nevertheless, Amyx “could not deny providing water and electricity” to the people in the area, as he would later state. He also would not cancel a $39milion dollar contract. Additionally, injunctions and appeals tried and failed to impede construction criticized for being inadequate, and lawsuits made against the state government were dismissed.
The dam was completed in November 1975, and began being filled immediately. On June 3, just as the filling phase was nearing completion, a leak formed, which grew into a muddy stream before expanding into a powerful fall as the Teton Dam collapsed.
The failure of the dam was blamed on permeable soil and records of some seismic activity in the area being overlooked by the project’s geologists. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed, but the disaster was not the worst one to hit the northwestern United States; amazingly, due to local awareness of the controversial dam, upon reports of the leak appearing, downstream residents were quick to voluntarily evacuate. Only four people – a fisher who drowned when the overflowing Teton River enveloped the boat he was on, two elderly women, and an environmental activist – were killed by the breach. Governor Amyx subsequently tried to boast that the incident had less casualties than the 1971 Van Norman Dam breach. This backfired severely for the governor, as it made him come off as insensitive. It also returned public attention to Reagan’s leadership during the 1971 breach, which likely benefited Reagan’s Presidential campaign in the GOP primaries held just days after the 1975 breach.
The Teton Dam collapse had far reaching consequences [snip]. Additionally, the collapse had an impact on the career of Linda Moulton Howe. Born in Boise, Idaho, in 1942, Howe was a beauty pageant contestant and winner of the 1963 Miss Idaho crown, who became involved in environmentalism in the early 1970s. The disaster’s closeness to home led to her returning to Idaho…
– Michael Stewart Foley’s Front Porch Politics: American Activism in the 1970s and 1980s, 2013 net-book edition
ODIN LANGDEN, GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA, DIES AT 63
– The Chicago Tribune, 7/6/1976
On June 8, the final “Super-packed Tuesday” of the Republican primaries inflated Reagan’s delegate count. Reagan picked up South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, and his home state of California, while Reagan barely achieved victory in New Jersey. The biggest win of the night, however, was the Buckeye State choosing to vote for a favorite son of sorts, as Congressman John Ashbrook of Ohio achieved a plurality in his home state, giving the regional conservative his sole primary victory in 1976. …The rise of Reagan seemed to clearly demonstrate a call for a more conservative kind of Republicanism, a rejection of the moderate approach to national politics that was understandable after the defeat of Vice President Scranton four years earlier.…
– Ted White’s The Making of the President: 1976, Atheneum Publishers, 1977
[pic:
imgur.com/VPLqn2H ]
Total Number of Delegates: 2259
Delegates Needed to Win: 1130
– clickopedia.co.usa
CALLING FOR PARTY UNITY OVER POSSIBLY BROKERED CONVENTION, COLONEL SANDERS ENDORSES REAGAN
– The Washington Post, 6/17/1976
I remember this one time, I want to say, like, maybe, June ’76, when the Colonel created this minor incident when he smacked a cigar right out of a politician’s hand. It was during this anti-smoking inside public areas crusade era going on with a lot of fast-food joints, and Congressman Ashbrook pulled out a pack while campaigning inside a KFC in, I think, Cleveland. The Colonel was scheduled for a photo-op with him, but when he tried to light up right after, the Colonel kind of overreacted. Some called him a control freak. Maybe he was just really, really passionate, though, you know?
– Elvis Ray Price, Colonel Sanders’ stepson, in a rare interview, 1994
On 16 June 1976, students from secondary schools across Soweto marched through the township toward the Orlando Stadium. They planned a peaceful procession and gathering to demonstrate their opposition to the government’s plan to change the medium of instruction in their schools from English to Afrikaans. Many of the students believed that this would be a carnivalesque [sic]
occasion, filled with laughter… This was not to be. In the early hours of the morning, the South African Police began to gather at street corners scattered along the students’ route and
began to challenge isolated groups of students. These early incidents gave rise to rumours of police violence, which ran through Soweto, and then erupted into fact… outside the Orlando West High School.
Here, a group of between thirty and fifty policemen confronted a large crowd of students. …a White policeman hurled what seemed to be a teargas shell – which released a cloud of smoke and gas – into the ground… a White policeman pulled[ed]
out his revolver… and fir[ed]
it. As soon as the shot was fired other policemen also began firing. Soon, three children were dead, and in a matter of just a few hours, violence had
spread across Soweto. AS the police attempted to restrict the students’ movements, and suppress their protest, large numbers of the youth began to resist… they picked up stones and threw them at the police, they used sticks to resist assaults, they set fire to a post office and the local administration office and, as the day progressed, they made makeshift Molotov cocktails from petrol, glass and rags. They ran from the police, taking advantage of their knowledge of backyards and alleyways; they evaded arrest, and turned the streets of Soweto into a battlefield.
…The violence spread, rapidly, to other sites and other townships across South Africa… In Soweto itself, students and their supporters set up an alternate structure of local governance, working in the gaps left by the withdrawal of the state’s bureaucracy from the township. These efforts provided the foundations for the development of an organized opposition within South Africa, which would link up with the exiled liberation movements and begin to organize a concerted challenge to apartheid rule.
The explosion of protest in Soweto thus reshaped South Africa’s politics and began the process that led to the end of the apartheid order and the creation of the new post-apartheid state. [2]
– Julian Brown’s The Road to Soweto: Resistance & Revolution in Post-Soweto South Africa, Jacana Publishers, 2016
Biko’s movement gained popularity after the Soweto Uprising began, though white South Africans continued to support Nelson Mandela’s message favoring a “peaceful transition.” On this, Biko commented “he’s behaving because is already in jail. He has nothing left. We still have our live; we still have the ability to fight back!”
– clickopedia.co.usa/Steve_Biko
The Senator was impressed by how, even with the newspapers celebrating his accolades, citations and trophies strewn across the wall, the main offices maintained a sense humbleness. “He hasn’t even begun work on a Presidential Library, has he?” The Senator wonders.
Upon asking for a chance to meet with Father, he was informed “The Colonel just stepped out” of KFC headquarters in Florence [Kentucky], and the Senator was told he could be found inspecting one of our newest KFC outlets.
The Senator soon found himself following Father around the kitchen of a KFC located in Gillette, Wyoming. Following my giving of an update on Ollie’s Trolleys – Ol’ J.Y.B. Jr. was still not giving up the ghost, still thinking that an artisanal burger joint could bury the Wendyburger – the Senator finally got to Father’s ear.
“Colonel, I really think we could use your chicken dinner summit as a springboard for international achievements,” he explained his reason for being there while squeezing past the fryers. “I have a lot of connections due to my presence on the foreign affairs committee.”
“I have connections, too, though.”
Ducking to avoid a collision between himself and a worker carrying a tray of not-yet-fried pieces, the Senator continued “I can help you reach out to Israeli ministers Moshe Dayan and Ezer Weizman if you want.”
“Fine, sure. Whatever’ll help prevent the crazies from killin’ innocents over there,” Father approved of the proposed assistance.
“Now it won’t be an official D.C. thing, not emoluments or conflict of interests or anything like that, right?” I asked as a janitor wheeled by a cart for a last-minute clean-up in the back.
“No, no, just an unofficial helping out of a fellow American humanitarian.”
“Alright,” Father readied himself for the ribbon-cutting. As he approached the ceremony location, he added, “say, I don’t think I caught your name.”
“James, Mister President, James Carter, but most folk call me Jimmy.”
“Hold this for me, would you, Jimmy?” Father handed the Senator the case for the giant scissors, so Father could get to officially opening the restaurant.
– Harland David “Harley” Sanders Jr., In the Thick of It: The Story of The Colonel and His Son, Sunrise Publishing, 1991
REECE LEADS LABOR TO VICTORY; SET TO BECOME P.M. No. 19
Canberra – MP Eric Reece, the former Premier of Tasmania, has led his party to obtaining a clear majority in tonight’s federal election. Incumbent Prime Minister Sir John McEwen of the Country party has led Australia since his 1972 victory over incumbent Harold Holt, overseeing a Liberal coalition. McEwen, age 76, suffered in the weeks leading up to the election from health issues, along with continued criticisms of his leadership from inside the coalition. Voters had this to compare to the more energetic Reece – despite turning 67 yesterday – and unified campaign. …With this election, it seems that the “inevitable collapse” of the Liberal coalition leadership Reece once predicted may in fact come to pass…
– The Australian, daily newspaper, 7/7/1976
Murphy managed to kick his gambling addiction thanks to veteran rehabilitation and addiction-combating programs set up during the third term of California Governor Pat Brown, followed by Governor Ronald Reagan’s April 1971 outlawing of all slot machines in California (a favor to the Religious Right that elected him to office), which bothered Murphy, as he disliked having to travel out of state to gamble. These factors helped Murphy to instead focus on getting out of debt, staring by appearing in numerous TV shows and, to a lesser extent, films, which also increased his fame. In 1976, he appeared in a critically-acclaimed, Emmy-award-winning episode of M.A.S.H. in which he plays a 50-year-old smuggler visiting the hospital who is soon revealed to be a Spanish Civil War veteran still suffering from “shell shock.”…
[3]
– clickopedia.co.usa/Audie_Murphy
…Tonight, in the third and second-to-last night of the Democratic National Convention here in New York City, the allotment of presidential delegates was finalized. President won re-nomination with 95.3% of the total delegate count, with Governor Elmo Zumwalt of Virginia winning 3.9%, largely from protest delegates from Virginia, and from protest delegates from several other southern states. The remaining 0.8% of the delegates were scattered. …The allotment of Vice-Presidential delegates was a much smaller landslide in favor of Vice President Gravel. Gravel won the nomination over several more conservative undeclared candidates such as Senators Jimmy Carter and Scoop Jackson, and Governor Mario Biaggi. Nevertheless, Gravel won re-nomination with 78.8% of the total delegate count…
– CBS Evening News, 7/14/1976 broadcast
[pic:
imgur.com/gs4FMEV ]
– President Mondale and First Lady Joan at the 1976 DNC, 7/15/1976
CO-HOST: …This morning’s top news story surrounds the result of a referendum held in New Jersey. By a narrow margin, New Jersey voters have rejected a referendum that would legalize gambling in the Garden State’s shore towns of Cape May, Atlantic City, and Toms River.
[FOOTAGE PLAYS]
VOICE-OVER: The results come two years after a 1974 referendum asking the same question saw voted down by a wider margin. The Garden state’s coastal cities, once a favorite spot for R&B nightclubs, had been experiencing economic decline for years, with the post-Salad Oil Recession years of 1964 and 1965 being their worst. However, upon the implementation of New Jersey Governor McDermott’s campaign promise of an “Income Supplementation Dividend,” or “Negative Income Rebate,” the state has seen a drop in poverty rates. The economic situation may have also been aided by the state financing personal financing classes in public schools since 1972. There were other factors in state voters rejecting the legalizing of gambling, though – conservatives campaigning against “moral decay,” many pointing to former President Sanders for being, to paraphrase their own message, a man who became a success and never gambled. Furthermore, with the economy still going strong, the state ISD is allowing for more people to have expendable income, which is increasing the quality of life in New Jersey, especially for the people living in and around the cities of Cape May, Atlantic City, and Toms River…
– ABC’s Good Morning America, 7/19/1976 broadcast
…We have an update of the Yuba City Bus Disaster that shocked us all a couple of months ago: the bus’s manufacturer is fighting production criticisms by officially blaming the deaths on the bus driver…
– The Overmyer Network, 7/20/1976
MONDALE SIGNS ANTITRUST IMPROVEMENTS ACT INTO LAW
– Associated Press, 7/27/1976
[pic:
imgur.com/f7bFXne ]
“Dammit, where the hell’s that waiter of ours?”
“Ronald, you do realize that if we’d gone to a McDonald’s like I had suggested, we’d be done eating by now, right?”
“Ah, shut up, Donny.”
– A(nother) (in)famous moment of Reagan showing his surly side, this time being caught on a “hot mic” during lunch with Senator Howard Baker (R-TN) and Congressman Donald Rumsfeld (R-IL), 8/1/1976
The hosting of the XXI Summer Olympics in Los Angeles had political ramifications, too. The American winners of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze made the people of California and the nation proud of themselves. California’s Governor, then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, milked the good feelings of accomplishment and American greatness for all they were worth on his 1976 campaign for the White House...
– Sports Illustrated, 2008 e-issue
U.S. JOINS U.K.-LED COALITION OF U.N. TROOPS IN UGANDA SEEKING TO OUST DICTATOR AMIN
– The Washington Post, 8/12/1976
“I don’t think we have any business over there, upheaving far-away places without any understanding of how to settle things once the job is done. I said as much in the cabinet meetings, but my voice was in the minority even more so than usual.”
– Vice President Gravel, 8/14/1976
“The Vice President is racist for not wanting to save Black people from a butchering despot.”
– Malcolm X in radio interview, 8/15/1976
…Ronald Reagan held only a delegate plurality at the start of this convention. However, as the Reagan supporters cheering behind me indicate, the conservative Governor has since won over enough delegates from the suspended Ashbrook, Ray Kroc and even, to a lesser extent, Goldwater campaigns, in order to reach the number of delegates required to prevent the convention from going to a second ballot.”
– CBS Evening News, 8/17/1976
…Reagan considered William Scranton’s selection of Mike Stepovich to be “shortsighted,” “reactionary,” and “just plain dumb,” believing that Stepovich lacked the name recognition or voting record that would satisfy conservatives and win over independents; the Scranton/Stepovich also did not present itself as a regionally or ideological balanced ticket, either. On the other hand, Democrats had gone for a unity ticket just four years prior, and if reports were true, Mondale and Gravel were more often at odds and at each other’s throats than not. “I need a running mate I can run with and Vice President I can work with,” Reagan told the leaders of his vetting team.
Due these circumstances and parameter, the vetting process for prospective running mates was more extensive that it had been for Republicans in 1972, and 1964 and 1960 as well, for that matter. Reports indicated that candidates as ideological diverse as Paul Fannin, George Romney, and Ed Brooke were vetting. However, after lengthy background checks, weeks of internal poll testing, and several one-on-one interviews between the candidates and the nominee-in-waiting, Reagan’s once-large selection of options was reduced to just one name, a candidate that balanced out Reagan’s lack of military experience and bolstered his appeal in the majority-Democratic southern states. With Reagan believing that securing the south was key to winning the election, he finalized his decision…
– Ted White’s The Making of the President: 1976, Atheneum Publishers, 1977
“The need to defend our freedom-loving allies oversees requires a lucid and experienced team at the helm of the great guiding ship of liberty that is the Presidency of the greatest nation on Earth. With the nations of Angola, Ethiopia, and Uganda on the brink of falling to communist forces, we need a lucid and experienced team in the White House right now. That is why I have chosen the great Army General, the former Ambassador to Laos and the current Governor of South Carolina, William Westmoreland, to be my running mate.”
– Ronald Reagan, on the third night of the 1976 Republican National Convention (8/16-19/1976), 8/18/1976
GENERAL ELECTION MATCHUP:
MONDALE: 34%
REAGAN: 56%
OTHER: 1%
UNDECIDED: 9%
– Gallup Poll, 8/22/1976
The Naval deployment of fighter jets to the war-torn areas during the Ethiopia Intervention of 1975 was overseen by Colonel Frank Powell Sanders (1919-1997), who served as the U.S. Undersecretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 before becoming the U.S. Secretary of the Navy in 1974. His involvement led to a minor misunderstanding early on in the war effort when military officials referred to him as “Colonel Sanders,” causing reporters to falsely report that the former President was working for the military. The matter was quickly cleared up, but not before Colonel Harland Sanders heard of it; the former President laughed off the incident, and later met with the other Colonel Sanders in Washington, D.C. in August 1976.
– Josh Ozersky’s Colonel Sanders and the American Dream, University of Texas Press, 2012
SENATE PASSES NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT ACT
– The Washington Post, 8/26/1976
I was sent to Angola when I was 22. I ended up in Lobito, a wet, windy and muddy hub on the coastline, several clicks south of the capital of Luanda. Me and the rest of the Sea Bees there spent most of our time building up the ports and the airfields, paving the way for our men in uniform to come in a teach the locals how to shoot a frickin’ gun the right way.
– Harley Brown, 2014 interview
CBS’s M.A.S.H.: What To Expect For The Next Season
…According to a source close to the actor, Jamie Farr’s Maxwell Q. Klinger character may not appear as often as he has in prior seasons, as Farr preps for another role on ABC…
– People Magazine, late August issue
“If you are elected President, how would you address homelessness in poverty-stricken parts of the country?”
“Well, in an economy as strong as ours, and in a country where anyone can pick themselves up by their own bootstraps and make something out of themselves,
only those who want to be homeless are living on the streets.”
[4]
– Exchange between a reporter and Ronald Reagan (a.k.a., the “Bootstraps Gaffe”), 9/1/1976
MARS MISSION A SUCCESS!: Unmanned Spacecraft “Aries 1” Lands On Martian Surface
[5]
– The Houston Chronicle, 9/3/1976
TIMETABLE AND TOPICS FINALIZED AHEAD OF NEXT WEEK’S MONDALE-REAGAN DEBATE
– The Baltimore Sun, 9/5/1976
Welcome Back, Kotter was an American sitcom developed by former U.S. Department of Defense intern and future US Senator Gabe Kaplan. The series starred Kaplan as a sardonic wise-cracking high school teacher named Gabe Kotter who is put in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial class called “the Sweathogs” (played by John Travolta, Ron Palillo, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Bobby Hegyes and others) at the fictional James Buchanan High School in New York City. Contrasting Kotter’s flamboyant and positive Socratic teaching style is the more conservative and reserved fellow teacher Eugene Curtis (played by Jamie Farr of “M.A.S.H.” fame) of Midwestern origin, who does his best to maintain a by-the-book standard of teaching amid the antics of the Sweathogs and Curtis’ own peculiar habits. Both teachers try to reach their students through different means as a way of the series to explore how teachers can impact their students. In later seasons, the episodes additionally focused on the personal lives of the students, and how their relationships and socio-economic conditions affect their academic standing as well. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the series originally aired on ABC, and ran from September 7 1976 to [snip] and helped launch the careers of Kaplan, Travolta and Hilton-Jacobs….
– clickopedia.co.usa/Welcome_Back,_Kotter/episodes
MONDALE: “Reagan would have us revert to the ways of the Turn of the Century, when the national economy depended on the whims of J. P. Morgan and the Rockefellers.”
[snip]
REAGAN: “I would return America to the front of the pack, because right now America is lagging behind the Soviets on the world stage. The Soviets are moving faster than us. They are winning the Cold War every time we let down our vigilance. We must not become complacent and reliant on others. We must stand strong on the world stage.”
[snip]
MONDALE: “I find it amazing that Governor Reagan thinks that social programs are bad for us at a time of unprecedented economic growth. Oil prices have stabilized since the oil shock of 1973, and social security is stronger than ever.”
[snip]
REAGAN: “Under a Reagan administration, not only will unions be left alone, but so will your paychecks. A vote for Reagan is a vote for lower taxes, a balanced budget, and a stronger American military.”
MODERATOR: “President Mondale, your reply?”
MONDALE: “Ladies and Gentlemen, my opponent promises to somehow increase military spending without raising taxes or cutting federal services, which is impossible. And we know it is impossible because we have seen how Reagan has governed California these last five or so years, where Reagan not only hollowed out statewide services, but he also gave tax cuts to the wealthy instead of to the lower and middle classes. He claimed that would lead to the wealthy helping the lower classes. The wealthy have not done so. But do you know who
could help the lower classes in California?
You could, Ronnie, so why aren’t you?”
REAGAN: “There goes another Democrat, pointing his finger at the closest Republican he can find.”
– Transcript of the First Mondale-Reagan Presidential debate, Wednesday, 9/15/1976
[pic:
imgur.com/dpqwbfQ ]
– US Senator Richard Nixon watching the second 1976 Presidential election debate, 9/15/1976
GENERAL ELECTION MATCHUP:
MONDALE: 44%
REAGAN: 46%
OTHER: 1%
UNDECIDED: 9%
– Gallup Poll, 9/19/1976
Reagan fumbled in failed attacks to paint Mondale as weak on foreign affairs due to the US’s recent victories in Ethiopia, and in the US joining the UK government in its own intervention in Africa, attempting to oust Amin from Uganda. …On September 20, less than a week after the debate, Reagan mocked Mondale for opposing tobacco companies at a public function in Texas. The Mondale campaign took the opportunity to criticize Reagan, calling him “out of touch” with the anti-smoking movement of the past few years. On September 30, the Mondale campaign first aired the “Too Young To Die Like This” campaign ad depicting a young boy lying in a hospital dead and a nearby doctor describing the symptoms of lung cancer, followed by audio of Reagan’s pro-smoking comment “what’s wrong with a puff here and there?”
The ad, while having an impact on the election, also contributed to more Americans opposing smoking, especially smoking around children; to mothers prepping to vote, smoking was now a major issues, creating a “morality versus businesses” debate in congressional districts over the extent of public health laws…
– Gary C. Jacobson’s The Power and the Politics of Congressional Elections, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015
September 21, 1976: on this day in history, “Second City Television” (also called “SCTV,” for short) premiers on Global Television Network, a Canadian network of channels that, ironic given its title, was at the time a small regional network in Southern Ontario. However, the eventual success of SCTV helped the GTN to expand to all Canadian provinces by 1979. In the 1980s, SCTV’s expansion into American television led to it being dubbed “Canada’s Saturday Night,” referring to the rival sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live” (also called “SNL,” for short).
– onthisdayinhistory.co.uk
[pic:
imgur.com/kCg4dvB.png ]
– Colonel Sanders inspecting a KFC kitchen, c. September 1976
THE “ME” DECADE AND THE THIRD GREAT AWAKENING
…Meanwhile, both fat cat parties on the Hill are torn over these two pools of thought, of communitarianism and individualism. The Fritz preaches communities and collaborative harmony among individual diverse groups – well, except for management – while the shrinking southern half of his party bats their eyes at the Gipper, praising the idea of a rugged frontier life, independent of government handouts, that paradoxically sees those same frontiersmen hold hands and helping each other out on their own while the upper classes go undisturbed by the needs of this mythical modern-day frontier…
– Tom Wolfe's famous "Me" Decade essay, published in New York magazine, 9/25/1976
Lieutenant Colonel Bo Gritz was not as courageous as he would have you believe. He was more focused on promoting a baseless image of himself than actually leading his men in the Special Forces. For example, in September ’76, when preparing in Gondar for one operation to take out Tafari Benti, one of the main leaders of the Derg, Gritz insisted we use helicopters to enter the area despite the fact that we knew from Indochina, and he should have known this, too, that choppers are too loud for stealth ops. Pretty obvious, actually. But he was adamant, so the higher-ups reassigned him to a royalist city in Oromia, in eastern Ethiopia, the more arid, drier section of the country, and we got the job done without him. Ironically, Gritz actually survived plenty of action over there, too, when the local Somalian population finally, eh, really started taking advantage of the civil war mostly tearing up the western and northern, uh, the wetter half of the country, later that year…
– Eric L. Haney, army counterterrorist specialist and Ethiopian Campaign veteran, 2005 interview
COPYRIGHT REFORM ACT SIGNED INTO LAW
– The Washington Post, 9/30/1976
…Then there was this other soldier, John Hinckley Jr, who, having spent a lot of time practicing shooting with family-owned guns, signed up for the US military upon hearing great things about warfare from some army recruits. He was almost kicked out of boot camp for insubordination four times but ultimately made the cut, only to be one of the first American soldiers killed in the ousting of Amin. I was his CO, and I remember how Hinckley had this mad look in his eyes so much of the time. He loved the bloodshed and hated almost everything else about serving in the military. He was trigger-happy. He was killed when he chased an injured Amin loyalist around a corner, right into a trap, and he was gunned down.
– retired Gen. Max Cleland, describing an example of a “bad” soldier, KNN interview 2016
AMIN CAPTURED ALIVE!
After several stunning events, the Ugandan dictator has been overthrown and captured alive. The story so far: after UN-peacekeeping forces closed in on the despot’s location near the city of Gulu, Amin’s getaway plane took off, only for it to be hit and damaged by anti-aircraft weaponry as it passed over the Sudanese city of Juba, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Sudan. Currently, it is unclear if UK and Ugandan forces had permission to enter Sudanese territory, but local authorities were compliant as Sudan was part of the UK-lead anti-Amin Operation Drywater. Amin was shot and wounded attempting to flee from the wreckage, which killed both pilots. Amin, a heavyset former boxer, was sedated via a dart from a tranquilizer dart gun used by a Sudanese official. At the current time, it is mostly likely that Amin is to be returned to Uganda, where he will stand trial for the atrocities committed under his 5-years-long regime...
– The Guardian, UK newspaper, 10/10/1976
…The Second Annual Chicken Dinner Summit received more attention than the first, and had a more impressive guest list. …One major speaker was Musa al-Sadr, a Lebanese-Iranian philosopher and Shia Muslim religious leader from a long line of distinguished clerics. Born and educated in Iran and belonging to Sadr family in Lebanon, his family claimed they could trace their ancestral roots all way back to prophet Muhammed. A towering figure in both Syria and Lebanon, his presence made observers wonder if his presence would convince said nations to develop more peaceful relations with Israel
[6]. …In his own speech of the evening, the Colonel reflected on his ability to sell his chicken to people by “offer[ing] something they’d be interested in having.” As such, the Colonel suggested cooling tensions with Middle Eastern countries via trade deals, arguing “no matter how small, that connection can bring people together.” The Colonel also discussed the possibility of scientific advancements being worked on to benefit both countries – solar power, desert terraformation, and other forms of technology that could make people “come together through common ground.” The speaker after him, incumbent US Ambassador to Lebanon and peace activist Landrum Bolling of Indiana, praised the Colonel and called for the people of Israel, Palestine and Egypt to “raises their voices” in order to make their leaders aware of their wants, needs and concerns…
– Josh Ozersky’s Colonel Sanders and the American Dream, University of Texas Press, 2012
MODERATOR: “…Why did it take so long for America to intervene in Ethiopia?”
MONDALE: “Because all leadership choices require an understanding of the situation before the right decision can be made. The region, the people, and the ways of the region and its people, those are all vital aspects. We did not immediately enter Ethiopia because strong leadership requires knowledge, learning about the situation first, because pragmatism does not mean ‘invade first, find a way out later.’ More so, we must aim for peace, not conquest, when warfare becomes a necessary evil. As such, I have to point out that Reagan has no plans for how to combat communist aggression other than to send in our men to kill or be killed, and on an actual battlefield such thinking is morally questionable and unquestionably irresponsible.”
[snip]
REAGAN: Well, one aspect of the Presidency that I think has been long-ignored in this election cycle for far too long is domestic policy, and of Mondale’s pushing and backing of irresponsible domestic policies. …We need to rethink our approach to immigration, as too many immigrants are a drain on the average American working man, worsening employment opportunities, raising the national debt, and raising crime rates… [snip]”
MONDALE: “
I’ve heard the national debt be blamed for a lot of things, but not for illegal immigration before!”
[7]
[snip]
MONDALE: “This election will determine whether or not Americans want a continuation of the policies of the last four years, policies like the protection of women’s rights, civil rights, and worker rights, which my opinion is not so enthusiastic for.”
REAGAN: “Now just a moment – ”
MODERATOR: “Mr. Governor, the President still has 50 seconds.”
REAGAN: “No, wait a minute, as Governor I – .”
MODERATOR: “Governor, you’ll have your turn to – .”
REAGAN: “No, I’m going to finish my thought now before the President continues telling lies! Do not interrupt me!”
[snip]
REAGAN “Um, with my closing remarks, I’d like to thank everyone for putting this debate event together, and to apologize for my talking out of turn before.”
– Transcript of the Second Mondale-Reagan Presidential debate, Wednesday, 10/20/1976
Once again, America is left without a debate between the running mates despite its potential to be a passionate shouting match the press and the public would enjoy. But at least yesterday’s mudslinging competition had an entertainment quality of its own, one akin to the Ancient Roman throwing of prisoners into lion dens, as Mighty Mondale tore Ron the Con a new one.
– Hunter S. Thompson, Tumbleweed Magazine article, 10/21/1976
“Mentally, I think Reagan may be very intelligent, but emotionally, he is clearly too unstable to be put in charge of America’s military and nuclear arsenal.”
– Former Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME), 10/22/1976
[pic:
imgur.com/QEmyrzJ ]
Above: Reagan, losing his temper, starts shouting at the moderators during the second Mondale-Reagan debate.
Mondale experienced a significant surge in the polls come October, as the support of anti-communist forces in Angola, and the more direct efforts in Uganda and Ethiopia began to finally bear fruit, and the President exceeded expectations in his second and final debate with Ronald Reagan. Additionally, Reagan failed to properly respond to post-debate claims that he and his conservative proposals – tax cuts for the upper classes and being more assertive in regards to the US’s interactions with the USSR – were “incredibly dangerous,” as the Vice President called them.
– Meg Jacobs’ Pressure at the Polls: The Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s, 2016 net-book edition
KAREN BLACK (as ANN WRABEL): “…and now, let us welcome to the stage the Presidential candidates, President Mondale and Governor Reagan.”
(cut to candidates at the podiums; Chase/Mondale is dressed like Dracula, while Aykroyd/Reagan pecks nervously at an arm bandage)
CHEVY CHASE (as WALTER MONDALE): “Good evening, I bid you all welcome. I must apologize for this getup, I mislabeled my calendar and thought today was Halloween.”
DAN AYKROYD (as RONALD REAGAN): “Ain’t a bloodsucker a bit on the nose there, Fritz? (pause) I must apologize for my own appearance, though – some fuzzy maniac, most likely a shoutnik, jumped out of the bushes and bit me the other day.”
CHEVY CHASE (as WALTER MONDALE): “Strange, a handsome man jumped out of the bushes and bit me the other day. I’ve had trouble with all the White House mirrors ever since.”
BLACK: “Well let’s get right to it, shall we? Mr. President, pundits have complained that while your policies are sound, your performance in the debates was unenthusiastic and lackluster, making your supporters fear you are not inspiring enough to win over undecided voters. Do you agree?”
CHASE: (monotone) “No, I do not disagree. I am a very interesting person, just ask the people I pay to tell say so. Sure, I may not engage in interesting activities like sunbathing and Italian food, but I am relatable. Like everyone else, I like music, dancing, and slaughtering farm animals for their sustenance. That last activity benefits farmers, by the way – I recently passed a farming insurance law that covers ‘acts of the undead’.”
JOHN BELUSHI (as SECOND MODERATOR): “Okay, next topic. Um, Governor Reagan, your demeanor in the last debate was also controversial, as it has bolstered claims that you are attempting to hide an aggressive personally. Care to explain yourself?”
AYKROYD: “Heh, heh, well, I’m an actor; that makes it okay for me to get so dramatic!” (
begins scratching back of ear with foot (via fake foot prop held by opposite hand) “Anybody else really got a hankerin’ for raw meat?”
GARRETT MORRIS (as THIRD MODERATOR): “Back to President Mondale. Fritz, I’ll be blunt – why did you not intervene in Ethiopia until almost a year after the fighting began?”
CHASE: “Because it wasn’t politically beneficial, bwah, hah, hah – ah, no, I mean, because it wasn’t a major issue for me to capitalize on, ha ha – no, no, just the major issue part. ...my, what a lovely neck you have, sir.”
(cut to Morris, with a concerned look on his face, wrapping thick scarf around neck while holding up a cross with other hand)
AYKROYD: “Now, see, this is what the President does – he’s always complimenting people, only to suck the life out of your paychecks with taxes for things people don’t need like paved roads, public schools, hospitals…and dogcatchers,”
(scratching arm) “and wolf hunters and…”
(rubbing neck, fur now being visible around bandaged arm) “it is hot in here?”
CHASE: “Bwah, ha ha. Ah,”
(seriously) “Don’t mess with me, Ronnie, or did you forget which one of us is friends with the unions?”
AYKROYD: “You don’t scare me. I ate garlic right before I came.”
CHASE:
(hisses, vampirishly) “How about Hoffa, Reuther, Chávez, and Zombie Samuel Gompers. Do they scare you?”
(cut to Aykroyd, now disheveled and with fur ticking out from sleeves and shirt’s neck hole)
AYKROYD:
(growls, werewolfishly)
BLACK: “Excuse me, gentlemen, but could we please stay on topic?”
AYKROYD: (shouts, angrily) “You lookin’ for a fight, sister?”
BLACK: “Let’s just skip to the closing statements. Mister President, you didn’t bark at me, so you first.”
CHASE:
(slowly, flatly, and in monotone) “My fellow Americans, I will be blunt – I may be a creature of the night – by which I mean to say that D.C. politicians often pull all-nighters – and I might be a gloomy, wooden person… but at least I’m not that”
(points to Reagan, now shirtless and snarling while foaming at the mouth)
BLACK: “As Governor Reagan, your closing statement?”
AYKROYD:
(howls, leaps off stage and runs off screen)
BLACK: “That’ll do, I suppose. Well, that concludes tonight’s program and we apologize for this Presidential debate.”
– Saturday Night Live, comedy sketch, Saturday, 10/23/1976 [8]
“October was not at all a good month for the Gipper. The debates and the gaffes had cast him as an outdated, out-of-touch, mean grouch of a person, trying to pretend to be a friendly guy. Reports showed he was failing to win over independents while Mondale appealed to some on both sides of the aisle. A minor incident, I remember, occurred in Missouri, after the debate. Reagan was fiddling with his hearing aid when it fell out onto the stage he was on. He bent down to pick it up, lost his balance, and fell off the stage. He was alright, but the fumble certainly didn’t help us out in the polls, that’s for sure.”
– John Patrick Sears, political strategist for the Reagan’76 campaign, 2004 interview
POLL: MONDALE INCREASING LEAD OVER REAGAN
…Not only has Reagan’s conservative policies and anti-union actions taken while Governor come under scrutiny as of late, but with the economy healthy, Reagan’s temper being questioned, and the US military being viewed as increasingly successful abroad, voters are becoming more confident in the current administration’s abilities and attracted to the idea of a Ronald Reagan White House…
– The Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/27/1976
As anti-Apartheid organizers took to the streets and expanded their underground network from Cape Town to Pretoria, the Bantustan (or region set aside for black South Africans) of Transkei declared independence, forming the Republic of Transkei. The Republic was a turning point in the anti-Apartheid movement despite this “free Black state,” as Time Magazine called it, had no international recognition, at least not at first…
– Julian Brown’s The Road to Soweto: Resistance & Revolution in Post-Soweto South Africa, Jacana Publishers, 2016
GENERAL ELECTION MATCHUP:
MONDALE: 51%
REAGAN: 44%
OTHER: 1%
UNDECIDED: 4%
– Gallup Poll, 11/1/1976
ANNOUNCER: “
ABC New presents: ‘Political Spirit of ’76.’ This is the final chapter of this bicentennial election year. Tonight from ABC news election center in New York, “the results: election night.”
REISNER:
“Good evening. I’m Harry Reisner at ABC election headquarters. With me are Barbara Walters and Howard K. Smith, and we’ll be here for as long as it takes to determine exactly what happened tonight. At the moment, in this first election of our third century, about two percent of the nation’s precincts have reported. In the popular vote, with about a million or a little bit more than a million votes counted, Walter Mondale is leading Ronald Reagan, 52% to 48%...”
– ABC Evening News, 11/2-3/1976 broadcast [11]
ANNOUNCER: "This is a CBS News special report – Campaign ’76! Election Night from CBS news election headquarters in New York. This portion is sponsored by the people of Ford Motor Company, on behalf of Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealers. Ford wants to be the car company that’s right for you. And now, here is Walter Cronkite."
Walter CRONKITE: "Good evening from our CBS News election headquarters. At the current time, it is uncertain if this is going to be a long night or a short night for those waiting for the final election results to be declared. While polling suggests a clear win for Mondale will be tonight’s end-results, supporters of the Reagan campaign believe that their candidate will edge past the post before the night is over. The story that it is a very comfortable race for the incumbent President may be reflected in tonight’s turnout, as it appears that turn out tonight was higher than expected in some areas and lower than expected in other areas.
And for those of you who do you know, the Presidential race is coinciding with the races for 33 US Senate seats, all seats in the US House, and several gubernatorial seats. We will keep you informed tonight as to their developments as well.
In the Presidential election, however, eight states have already closed their polling place, and on the basis of our sample precincts in two of those states we can estimate who won them. In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, CBS News estimates that Ronald Reagan will win in that state, defeating incumbent President Walter Mondale for Kentucky’s nine electoral votes. Looking at the final percentage estimates, we believe the results in Kentucky will be 53% for Reagan and 46% for Mondale. These results are not too surprising given that the Commonwealth has voted Republican in every Presidential election since 1956. Also, in the state of Indiana, our CBS News estimate is that Mondale will win there over Reagan by a margin of roughly 2%, a very narrow margin for a state that was favored Republican candidates in recent years...
– CBS News Election Night ’76 coverage, 11/2-3/1976 broadcast
SMITH: “…ABC can now confirm its projection from earlier, Kentucky and its nine electoral votes will go to Ronald Reagan. Winning the state by a margin 51% to 48%, the result is most likely due to the hard work done there by its Governor and two Senators, all of which are Republican.
Uh, Barbara has a more significant result.”
WALTERS: “
Well, I have the results from Indiana. ABC can now confirm that
Indiana has gone to President Mondale. Reagan was initially leading in polls in the state, but it appears that African-Americans in Indiana have voted over 80% for Mondale, almost a record-breaking number, and one that was big enough to upset the expected result there. and deny Governor Reagan that state and its 13 electoral votes...”
[snip]
REISNER: “The Reagan campaign is not performing well in the western states, where several states that were called for, uh, for Scranton four years ago are now still too close to call… It seems the lower turnout is not benefitting the Regan campaign as the Governor’s campaign team had suggested to would, uh, earlir in the night.”
[snip]
SMITH: “…It seems Mondale won over Black voters, urban voters, and a majority of white voters, and it seems, even rural voters, too, in this race, and Reagan was outperformed in the South, but underperformed elsewhere…”
– ABC Evening News, 11/2-3/1976 broadcast [11]
[pic:
imgur.com/WzntEvl ]
Mondale/Gravel (D): 48,364,617 (58.1%)
Reagan/Westmoreland (R): 33,047,768 (39.7%)
All others: 1,831,362 (2.2%)
Total Votes Cast: 83,243,747
[9]
…Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho, Indiana, and Florida were among the closest states…Rejecting the GOP “double-conservative” Reagan/Westmoreland ticket, several moderate Republican electors sought to vote instead for a nonexistent Mathias ticket. Only one faithless elector actually managed to do so, voting for a Mathias/Aliberti ticket (making Representative Joan Aliberti the first Republican woman to win an electoral vote), and this did not alter the results of the election in the Electoral College…
– clickipedia.usa.org
…Reagan turned on the charm in the wake of accusations of hiding a brutish demeanor, and in an election with more dire issues, this would not have been such a major concern for voters at all. Had the Governor’s earlier criticisms of Mondale’s handling of foreign policy remained the primary issue, Reagan would be the President-Elect right now. Instead, Reagan’s campaign was falsely viewed as lacking substance, failed to woo in independents with his loyal convictions to conservative principles, and was erroneously seen being an unnecessary change of pace for a certain number of certain voters who are blissfully unaware of the dangers of Mondale’s liberalism. Reagan lost, but for the right reasons…
– The National Review, 11/3/1976 special edition
United States Senate election results, 1976
Date: November 2, 1976
Seats: 35 of 100
Seats needed for majority: 51
Senate majority leader: Mike Mansfield (D-MT) (retiring)
Senate minority leader: Howard Baker (R-TN)
Seats before election: 52 (D), 47 (R), 1 (I)
Seats after election: 55 (D), 44 (R), 1 (I)
Seat change: D ^ 3, R v 3, 0 - I
Full List:
Alabama (special): incumbent appointee John J. Sparkman (D) over Jerome B. Couch (Prohibition)
Arizona: incumbent Barry Goldwater (R) over Dennis DeConcini (D) and Sam Grossman (Independent Democrat)
California: incumbent Richard Nixon (R) over George E. Brown (D) and David Wald (NM)
Connecticut: incumbent Antonina P. Uccello (R) over Gloria Schaffer (D)
Delaware: incumbent William Victor Roth Jr. (R) over Thomas C. Maloney (D)
Florida: incumbent Lawton Chiles (D) over Jack Eckerd (R) and John Grady (HIP)
Hawaii: Patsy Mink (D) over William F. Quinn (R); incumbent Hiram L. Fong (R) retired
Indiana: incumbent Vance Hartke (D) over Earl F. Landgrebe (R)
Maine: incumbent Edmund S. Muskie (D) over Robert A. G. Monks (R)
Maryland: John Sarbanes (D) over incumbent Rogers Clark Ballard Morton (R)
Massachusetts: incumbent Eunice Kennedy Shriver (D) over Michael S. Robertson (R)
Michigan: incumbent George W. Romney (R) over Donald Riegle (D)
Minnesota: incumbent Hubert Humphrey (D) over Gerald W. Brekke (R) and Paul Helm (I)
Mississippi: incumbent John C. Stennis (D) unopposed
Missouri: Jerry Litton (D) over John Danforth (R); incumbent Leonor Sullivan (D) retired
Montana: John Melcher (D) over Stanley C. Burger (R); incumbent Mike Mansfield (D) retired
Nebraska: incumbent Ted Sorensen (D) over John Y. McCollister (R)
Nevada: incumbent Paul Laxalt (R) over James David Santini (D)
New Jersey: incumbent Harrison A. Williams Jr. (D) over David A. Norcross (R)
New Mexico: incumbent Joseph Montoya (D) over Harrison Schmitt (R)
New York: incumbent Paul O’Dwyer (D) over James L. Buckley (Conservative) and William E. Miller (R)
North Dakota: incumbent Arthur Albert Link (D) over Robert Stroup (R)
Ohio: incumbent John Glenn (D) over Richard B. Kay (R)
Pennsylvania: Bill Green (D) over Elmer Greinert “Bud” Shuster (R); incumbent Hugh Scott (R) retired
Rhode Island: Robert Owens Tiernan (D) over Donald P. Ryan (R); incumbent John O. Pastore (D) retired
Tennessee: incumbent Albert Gore Sr. (D) over Bill Brock (R)
Texas (special): incumbent appointee J. J. Pickle (D) over George H. W. Bush (R) and Frank Tejeda (La Raza Unida)
Texas: incumbent Lloyd Bentsen (D) over Alan Steelman (R) and Pedro Vasquez (Socialist Workers/La Raza Unida)
Utah: incumbent Frank E. Moss (D) over Sherman P. Lloyd (R)
Vermont: incumbent Robert Theodore Stafford (R) over Scott Skinner (D) and Nancy Kaufman (Liberty Union)
Virginia: incumbent Harry F. Byrd (I) over Martin H. Perper (D)
Washington: incumbent Henry M. Jackson (D) over George M. Brown (R)
West Virginia: incumbent Robert C. Byrd (D) unopposed
Wisconsin: incumbent William Proxmire (D) over Stanley York (R)
Wyoming: incumbent John S. Wold (R) over Peter M. Jorgensen (D)
– knowledgepolitics.co.usa
...Tonight’s contest for control of the Senate featured a lopsided playing field on which Democrats needed to defend 24 seats while Republicans only had to defend ten seats. Thankfully for the Democrats, the rising popularity of their President carried on down-ballot enough for them to actually gain three more seats... The race for the Wyoming Senate seat, one of the narrowest of the night, has just been called for the incumbent Senator Wold…
– The Overmyer Network, Election Night broadcast special, 11/2-3/1976
United States House of Representatives results, 1976
Date: November 2, 1976
Seats: All 437
Seats needed for majority: 218
New House majority leader: Morris K. Udall (D-AZ)
New House minority leader: Robert H. Michel (R-IL)
Last election: 212 (D), 225 (R)
Seats won: 233 (D), 204 (R)
Seat change: D ^ 21, R v 21
– knowledgepolitics.co.usa
…In the congressional races, it is now official, Democrats have taken back the House, likely due to the improving economy and the rise on approval of President Mondale’s foreign policy record… …In Mississippi, Victoria Gray Adams, the Black female Democratic grassroots organizer, who famously quipped, quote, “vote, vote, vote your way out of poverty,” unquote, has narrowly won a congressional seat…
– CBS Evening News, 11/2/1976
United States Governor election results, 1976
Date: November 2, 1976
State governorship elections held: 14
Seats before: 32 (D), 18 (R)
Seats after: 33 (D), 17 (R)
Seat change: D ^ 1, R v 1
Full List:
Arkansas: incumbent David Pryor (D) over Leon Griffith (R)
Delaware: Joseph Biden (D) over Pete du Pont (R); incumbent Russell Peterson (R) was term-limited
Illinois: incumbent Paul Simon (D) over J. R. Thompson (R)
Indiana: Danny Lee Burton (R) over incumbent Robert L. Rock (D)
Missouri: Bill Bradley (D) over Harvey F. Euge (R) and Helen Savio (Independent); incumbent James W. Symington (D) lost re-nomination
Montana: incumbent Thomas Lee Judge (D) over Stanley G. Stephens (R)
New Hampshire: incumbent Malcolm McLane (D) over Walter R. Peterson Jr. (R)
North Carolina: Jim Hunt (D) over David Flaherty (R) and Herbert F. “Chub” Seawell Jr. (Country); incumbent Walter B. Jones Sr. (D) was term-limited
North Dakota: incumbent Aloha Pearl Taylor Brown Eagles (R) over Sophus Vernon Trom (D)
Rhode Island: incumbent J. Joseph Garrahy (D) over James Taft (R)
Utah: Vernon Bradford Romney (R) over incumbent K. Gunn McKay (D)
Vermont: Stella Hackel (D) over William G. Craig (R); incumbent Harry H. Cooley (D) retired
Washington: Julia Butler Hansen (D) over incumbent Arthur Fletcher (R)
West Virginia: Jay Rockefeller (D) over Cecil H. Underwood (R); incumbent Arch A. Moore Jr. (R) was term-limited
– knowledgepolitics.co.usa
NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT ACT GOES INTO AFFECT TODAY
– The Seattle Times, 11/15/1976
MONDALE SIGNS ANTITRUST IMPROVEMENTS BILL INTO LAW
– The Washington Post, 11/20/1976
HAILE SELASSIE I FLOWN TO LONDON, ENTERS HOSPITAL “IN CRITICAL CONDITION”
– The Guardian, 12/1/1976
The years of overwork, presiding over the shifting economic conditions while combating politburo members opposed to his more liberal policies, combined with the geopolitical game of détente with the US and keeping the Warsaw Pact in check, had taken its toll on the Premier. At the age of 72, Kosygin had gone from being an energetic vessel of change and development with a vibrant personality to being tired, run down, and agitated by the quiet criticisms of Andropov and company. On 7 December 1976, Kosygin was reviewing documents in his inner office with his secretary when he suddenly grabbed his chest and slumped over in his seat. The secretary called for assistance, but the heart had already proven itself to be of the fatal variety.
[10]
The International reaction was more positive than it had been for Kosygin’s two predecessors, with heads of state in both NATO and the Warsaw Pact commending his reformist policies.
– Alexander Korzhakov’s autobiography From Dawn to Dusk: A Cutthroat Career, St. Petersburg Press, 1997
Kosygin’s preferred successor was Nikolai Tikhonov, the balding 71-year-old former metallurgist-turned-Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. Tikhonov was one of the few moderates in the upper echelons of the politburo to maintain a convivial relationship with both Kosygin and the much more conservative Leonid Brezhnev. Upon Kosygin’s death, Brezhnev sought to become his successor, wanted to reverse Kosygin’s economic policies in addition to renewing focus on limiting cultural freedom, especially in the central Asian republics. Similarly, the 62-year-old Yuri Andropov, having been passed over for the top spot three times already and believing he was entitled to the job, also called for a turn to a more conservative premiership, and even suspected that the 1975 Chinese Civil War would inspire ethnic unrest among the USSR’s ethnic populations within its Turkestan republics.
The power void was filled within days, though, as Tikhonov swiftly moved to win over the conservative wing of the party, which was divided between Andropov and Brezhnev (the later of whom failed to effectively campaign for the job promotion due to his declining health). Upon securing his succession, Tikhonov made the more liberal-leaning Nikolai Podgorny his second-in-command; to placate the conservative party wing, Tikhonov kept Brezhnev and Andropov in their respective high-ranking positions (if out of his inner circle for most of his premiership), and promoted several other conservatives such as Vladimir Pavlovich Orlov and Mikhail Suslov.
– Victor Cherkashin’s Adamant: The Rulers of the USSR and the KGB, Basic Books, 2005
SECRETARY OF STATE PHILLEO NASH ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
– The Washington Post, 12/7/1976
NASH OUT, CARTER IN AT STATE
…Incumbent US Secretary of State Philleo Nash, age 65, is retiring from politics overall, after 33 years of public service. …President Mondale today formally nominate Senator James “Jimmy” Carter of Georgia to succeed Nash. Given the fact that Democrats maintain majority control of the Senate, that chamber is expected to confirmed Carter's nomination. ...Carter’s work on the US Senate’s committees concerning foreign policy are considered to be “impressive” and “prove he is equipped for the job,” according to US Senator J. W. Davis (D-GA), supporting diplomatic intervention ahead of military intervention…
– Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin newspaper, 12/19/1976
RICHARD J. DALEY DEAD AT 74: Influential Mayor Led Chicago For 21 Years
– The Boston Globe, 12/20/1976
[pic:
imgur.com/bIbpWpr ]
– President Mondale and First Lady Joan stand in front of the White House Christmas Tree with Senator James Carter and his wife Rosalynn, 12/22/1976; Carter was rumored to be a leading candidate for Secretary of State at the time
NOTE(S)/SOURCE(S)
[1] Because the Colonel’s road repair programs caused the Prestonburg Bus Disaster of 1958 to not happen (it was mentioned in that year’s chapter), there was no real movement to improve the safety features and designs of public buses afterwards like there was IOTL. As a result, this OTL accident is even
more disastrous!
[2] Edited segment is pulled from here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=u3xFDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=soweto+uprising&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijmqnGr7blAhVqmuAKHbCCCEIQ6AEwAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
[3] While M.A.S.H. was still created in 1972 in OTL, the occasional script criticizing warfare conflicts with the studio’s attitude who want a more positive depiction of warfare, as the anti-war shock from Vietnam hasn’t really happened, though current engagements in Africa are controversial, but not as greatly as the Cuba War was ITTL.
[4] Apparently, Reagan really did say something like this, according to the 3:22 mark of this video (of Robin Williams speaking to congress in 1990):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOgbS9sedcc
[5] Essentially, this TL’s “Viking 2” mission
[6] According to this source:
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israels-relationship-with-shia-muslims/ , when Israel was first formed in 1948, “Shia Iran became the second Muslim country to befriend them under the Pahlvai dynasty; Along with Turkey and Albania, Israel made 3 solid non-Arab Muslim friends in its fledgling stages of independence… Shia Muslims are 20% of the global Muslim population,” and, most importantly for the context of this passage, “The Shias did not have such widespread an anti-Israel stance until the 1979 Islamic revolution [of OTL, although] Israel’s first hostility with a Shia leader was with the Alawite dominated government of Hafez Assad in 1973” but I don’t think such hostility would strongly impact this Summit even if it still happened ITTL.
[7] OTL quote Reagan said in the 10/21/1984 Reagan-Mondale presidential debate (found on YouTube video of said debate); here, Mondale says it (I would have had Mondale make the “young and in-experience” quip, but, eh, it’s been done many times before, so I went with something more original…).
[8]
Happy Halloween, everyone!
[9] 2.1% more than OTL’s 81,531,584 total votes cast.
[10] According to Wikipedia, Kosygin survived a heart attack in December 1976, but here’s he has a higher position of power and overextends himself in that capacity enough for it to kill him ITTL.
[11] Italicized parts are from ABC's OTL broadcast of Election Night 1976, found on YouTube.
Good update; what was the response to the Tangshan earthquake ITTL?
Mentioned at the beginning of this chapter
Thanks,
@gap80 !
If there are any inconsistencies from what I've posted, point them out and I'll clear them up.
If the NBA-ABA merger still happens after the '75-'76 season, then I propose the following:
1) The Colonels win the ABA title in '75, since we're in 1975 at this point in the timeline. The Warriors win the NBA title.
2) St. Louis is now in the ABA at this point. Their owners got millions of free money because they asked for a share of the TV revenues as compensation for not going into the NBA. Somebody thinks ahead and says 'no, we'll let you join and you'll share in any TV revenues just like everybody else'. So six teams (I'm including the Pacers) go in the NBA for '76-'77. New ownership takes over the Colonels, as John Y. Brown is allowed to buy the Buffalo Braves and do whatever he wants there. St. Louis sticks around for a while, and maybe they're the team that eventually moves to Salt Lake City.
3) If the Jazz stay in New Orleans, you have to find a way to make it viable. There were reasons the team up and moved north IOTL.
4) A question: DO the White Sox move to Milwaukee -- and does Bud Selig buy them? If Selig's not around as an owner, ever, you've just handwaved his (potential ITTL) future tenure as commissioner.
1) Good idea
2) J Y Brown can make that move in 1976, right? Because ITTL at the moment, he's still working on Ollie's Trolleys, but based on what I've read about him, it's in this nature to cut his loses and ditch failing ideas, so, we'll see how that goes...
3) I'll look into it.
4) A possible answer: to keep things simple/simpler, let's keep that the same as OTL
This is certainly the most interesting President Mondale scenario I've seen.
Thanks for the compliment!
Didn't see this posted but it seems appropriate...
*surprised gasp* The Colonel would
never support fascism! ...but I agree with the video's statement that this mod is "weird;" but it is an entertaining ASB-filled concept, I'll give it that...
Also:
Whoa, y'all were busy while I was away from my computer. Alrightythen...
1) My first thoughts on that Lincoln-Johnsoncoincidence thing - you madeit just as crazy as OTL's, since Lincoln was born in 1809.
But, that's what makes it good, that it's just like the silly stuff from OTL.
2) Yes, Belushi would probably be very good as Biaggi.
3) Things around the time of Mao's death could have gone a number of ways, you provided a very credible alternative to OTl. I was a bit worried about who had the nukes, but it didn't get too far out of handto where anyone wouyld consider using them. They weren't insane.
4) The baseball stuff is great except you called Roberto Clemente Rosa.
Given his age (He's be 41 by the time of the Series) my guess is he'd be just about at retirement age; perhaps he is one of several really good players on those Pirates and he wins the award as a lifetime achievement thing.
5) You say the Colonelsbeat the REd Sox and Athletics - I will give you that for this reason. There was only one playoff series before the World Series in these days, no wild card. However, the Colonels would be in the A.L.East. So them beating the REd Sox means in the divisional race.
6) The 1975 REdswere one of the best teams ever but if they make a bad trae or two the Bucs might have a few of their players - they were shopping Tony Perez for a third baseman in return.
7) Okay, let me explin what I mean about Farr. Farr was from Toledo and always wanted to make references to Tony Packo's, a great restaurnt there, whenever he could. He couldn't do that with his charactger being from Broklyn if he is the star as the teacher.
8) However, his character, Mr. Kotter (for sake of illustration) could have gone out to Toledo as a student teacher and met his wife there before ultimately moving bck to Brooklyn. So, and this is where my brain's processing gets weird, I don't know if you understood I meant that his character's wife could be said to be from Toledo.
9) However, if it's Farr isntead of Kaplan as the teacher, I think instead of the stories, he might do a variety of types of jokes int he opening - it wouldn't be quite the same. I think of him almost like a ropcomic in some ways with how he dressed up on M*A*S*H.
10) I might have seen The Snow Queen, it's hard to say. Being five at the time, the clincher might have been if there were dogs in it.
11) So, one of the peole who tried to assassinate Ford OTL makes an appearance, did I miss the other? For all I know, givent he time lapse, she might have been involved with the raziness in Brazil with either Manson or JOnes.
1) Shoot, I'll change that to "both men had birth years with the numbers, 0, 1, 8 and 9 in them."
2) Great; I'll work on a short sketch for the next chapter with him as Biaggi, then. I'll admit that comedy is not my strong suit, but I want to make y'all chuckle, or, at the very least, smirk, so I'll put effort into it.
3) Good point; I'm looking up where and how they were stored and how they were transported and I'll cover that aspect in the next chapter.
4) Whoops, sorry, will fix. Also, I was thinking of him retiring at age 45 or so; given does that seem sound?
5) Cool, thanks
6) Should I mention Tony Pérez?
7) Oh, I get it - thank you for the clarification!
8) No, I misunderstood. So you're saying Farr could also be on Mr. Kotter if Kaplan's role is smaller.
9) I think Kaplan would be the main teacher, and Farr could be a second teacher/recurring character, a member of the staff since in the show we only really get to see the sweatshops with Kotter and no other teacher. Maybe Farr plays a more trying-to-be-serious teacher to contrast Kotter's teach-through-humor philosophy. That could work...
10) There were reindeer, crows, maybe some wolves, perhaps a dog at the beginning before the main character begins her quest. Hm...
11) In both OTL, and ATL Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme met Manson in 1967, at the start of him developing his "family." Here, she was among those killed in Brazil (huh. Guess I should have mentioned here at some point during those chapters. Whoops.)
1) Good update;
2) BTW, wonder how the Chinese Civil War affects the response to the Tangshan earthquake...
3) Nice to see that the Colonel is still trying to make a difference...
1) Thanks!
2) I'll cover it in the next chapter!
3) Indeed!
1) Yes, Tony Perez traded to the American League might work well since they have the designated hitter rule. He could play first, he just couldn't play 3rd anymore after an arm injury.
2) Please give the Reds of this era at least one World Series though.
but, losing in 1975 does make a lot of sense.
3) Ask for Jamie Farr, yes if Gabe Kaplan is still the star Jamie Farr could be another teacher. I think he would want to be in a comedic role but what might work well is if he yes from Ohio and wanted to teach in the Inner City but just doesn't get these kids the way Kotter does because Kotter is from Brooklyn. So while Kotter is clearly the leader in his Civics and history classes, Farr could teach some other subject and the kids take advantage of him.
Another alternative is for him to be teacher 4 some of the kids who aren't in the remedial program.
Either way, yes, he could have a recurring role.
1) Alrightythen!
2) We'll see how they do in '76, maybe...?
3) That dynamic could work!
1) One other thought on the Reds. Sparky Anderson was on the hot seat given the amount of Talent on that team and the fact they had never won a World Series. Note that in our timeline he was fired after two second-place finishes after having won two straight series. I can see him taking the blame for the Reds loss even though the Tony Perez trade would be the reason, just like people have said that he was the key to the locker room and when he was traded after 1976 that's why they didn't do as well. Which is why I mentioned Perez to begin with.
A new manager might lead them to a World Series victory in 1976 and maybe use the bullpen last and starting pitchers more. Perhaps Tom Seaver goes as a free agent to the Reds because the Mets aren't wanting to spend as much on him before the 76 season.
Sparky can still be a Hall of Fame manager, he just follows the path of Tony LaRussa, who started with the White Sox and one one division but was then let go with his team near last place in 1986 before winding up with the Athletics and then the Cardinals.
2) I forgot to answer about Clemente. He could play till he was 45 as a part-time player, at least for the last couple of years, and a pinch hitter. That gives him 6 more seasons, till 1979.
Well he was too old and injured a bit too much to get to 4000 hits, he probably hangs on long enough to set the National League record for hits although Pete Rose would soon break it anyway.
1) Interesting detail
2) Cool; thanks!
In 1975, the Colonels would have to beat both the Red Sox AND the Yankees, both of whom were among the elite teams in baseball IRL during this time period.
I would have them beating the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS. With Finley owning the Colonels, it's very likely TTL's Oakland A's have a very different history under different ownership.
I am curious as to what the MLB alignment is as of TTL's 1975, and I'm going to give my two cents based on what I've seen here.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East Division
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Louisville Colonels -- one of the two AL expansion teams in 1969. Owned by Charlie Finley, managed this season by Bill Virdon, the Colonels became the fastest expansion team to win a league pennant (seven seasons, one less than the 1969 New York Mets). The team had a potent offensive lineup led by RF Reggie Jackson (.260 batting average, 36 home runs, 109 runs batted in) and a solid lineup featuring C Gene Tenace (27 HR, 114 walks), LF Claudell Washington (.306 batting average), CF Bill North (.382 on-base percentage), 3B Sal Bando, designated hitter Hank Aaron (41 years old, playing in his final World Series in the twilight of his career) and a future Hall of Famer in 19-year-old shortstop Robin Yount. The Colonels also boasted a stellar pitching staff led by ace Vida Blue (21-11 record, 3.02 earned run average, 189 strikeouts in 276 1/3 innings pitched) and closer Rollie Fingers (2.89 ERA, 25 saves, 126 strikeouts in 118 innings pitched). The Colonels drew an average of 27,000 fans to 35,000-seat Fairgrounds Stadium, where the team would stay until moving to a downtown park in the 1990s.
The World Series berth energized the Colonels' fan base and made people see Louisville as a sports town that would support something besides basketball and a certain horse race on the first Saturday of each May. The festive atmosphere around town, however, took a downturn after The Courier-Journal reported that Finley was unwilling to pay Reggie Jackson's requested higher salary and would let the popular All-Star right fielder leave as a free agent after 1976. Jackson was on the trading block, and there was interest around baseball, especially in Baltimore, Los Angeles (from the Dodgers) and New York...both the Mets and the Yankees.
New York Yankees -- new owner George Steinbrenner, unhappy with a fourth-place finish, fired manager Dick Howser (the third manager of the season after Bill Virdon and Billy Martin), then brought back Martin as field manager and informed general manager Gabe Paul he was to get Reggie Jackson by any means necessary.
West Division
California Angels
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City Royals -- the Royals -- the other AL expansion team from 1969 -- won their second AL West title in three seasons and, as in 1973 (losing to Baltimore), they were denied a pennant.
Minnesota Twins
Oakland Athletics
Texas Rangers
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East Division
Chicago Cubs
Montreal Expos -- pure luck put Major League Baseball into Canada for the first time in history in 1969, just as it did ITTL.
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates -- the Pirates win yet another pennant and World Series, and Roberto Clemente adds to the lore of his Hall of Fame career.
St. Louis Cardinals
West Division
Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds -- the Big Red Machine is denied a pennant yet again, but will 1976 be their year?
Houston Astros
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres -- beat out Seattle for the second NL 1969 expansion team.
San Francisco Giants
Yeah, this all sounds right. Great attention to detail!
No, the merger still occurs when it did IOTL (close, but just not enough butterflies to really change the date, methinks)
Future baseball relocation/expansion candidates:
Buffalo -- interested in expansion
Denver -- interested in an AL (or NL) expansion team, or in relocation
Milwaukee -- trying to get the White Sox to move up north (not the North Side of Chicago, though)
Seattle -- actively pursuing an AL expansion team at this time
Tampa-St. Petersburg -- threw its hat in the expansion ring, despite not having a ballpark
Toronto -- rumored to be seeking the San Francisco Giants and an AL expansion team
Washington -- was in the running for an AL expansion team
Interesting ideas; I'll keep them in mind!
I really been enjoying this TL since I'm a Kentuckian.
Thank you; I'm really glad you are enjoying it!
Please let there NOT be a relocation of the Jazz to Utah. I don't mind the Mormon state having a pro-basketball team, but Jazz?
What's wrong with Jazz?
But does that
really sound any worse than "Indiana Nuggets"?
Both names are unique and memorable!
Ah well, to each their own, I suppose.
The Athletics were apparently taken from Findlay in 1967 or 68 when he sold them and bought the Colonels. So they do not have a very different history, and have most of the same players in 1971-4.
Now, I can't see where come 1975, you could have Charlie Finley do what Bill Veeck did in our timeline in 77 and get free agents like Reggie Jackson to go to Louisville for 1 season because he can't afford any more.
But, the Royals will definitely be challenging them and the White Sox may already be in Milwaukee, who knows.
Also, the Yankees finished second in 1974 in our timeline but had a very down year in 1975 despite getting Catfish Hunter. They then won three straight pennants in 1976 through 1978. So you were right, this was just a very bad year for them.
Well free agents are a bigger thing here because that court case from the late 1960s or early 1970s went differently due to the LBJ/Colonel-appointed judges (I'll check which chapter it was), so yeah, just may happen!
Then I'll rewrite the piece. There remains the need to come up with a lineup and pitching staff that could beat out three dominant teams (REd Sox, Orioles, Yankees) for a division title and another potential dynasty (Royals) for a pennant. Reggie Jackson's free agency year was '76, and I doubt he'd turn down New York. So Oakland would need to trade him in order for him to play anywhere else in '75.
Maybe I should go back and look at the drafts for '69-'74, take the best of the Brewers players (remember, no Seattle Pilots in '69, and no team to move to Milwaukee in '70) and have the team go on one heckuva lucky streak in the draft for five or six years.
Do what you want, dude!
So Indianapolis is kinda getting screwed in terms of all the sports teams and growth going to Louisville instead ITTL by the look of things.
Every state has their ups and downs, maybe things will turn around for them later on...
Wow, that's a lot of sports data!
I have learnt a lot
My thoughts exactly!
I like it. Remember it's 1975, you wrote 74, but it looks good. However there is one person you forgot.
With the up and coming third baseman in Buddy Bell, the Colonels may very well trade on money because a certain team in desperate need of a third baseman may very well be willing to take money for Bullpen pitcher who can't quite get it together for them but will in another year or so.
I mean the New York Mets traded for Jim fregosi, who was a shortstop who they tried to make a third baseman, in our timeline. So you could easily have the Colonels get Nolan Ryan.
Dwight Evans had an incredible arm. I think he would be in right field and florist in left, although maybe North and Center because he was really fast.
You are such an informative baseball fan; I take my hat off to you, good sir!
You're right...'75.
1974 Amateur Draft
1 Rick Sutcliffe, P
5 Steve Henderson, SS-3B
12 Jim Gantner, SS
22 Paul Molitor, SS
1975
2, Lee Smith, RP
5, Lou Whitaker, 2B
COLONELS POSTSEASON ROSTER, 1975
MANAGER: Al Dark
PITCHERS
STARTERS
Bert Blyleven
Jim Slaton
Dennis Lamp
Mike Flanagan
Nolan Ryan
RELIEVERS
Doc Medich
Ed Sprague
Randy Jones
Tom Murphy
Mike Marshall (set-up)
Goose Gossage (closer)
CATCHERS
Bob Boone
Mike Hargrove
INFIELDERS
Bill Madlock, 1B
Phil Garner, 2B
Johnnie LeMaster, SS
Buddy Bell, 3B
Don Money
John Vukovich
Mike Hegan
OUTFIELDERS
Dwight Evans, LF
Gorman Thomas, RF
Billy North, CF
Sixto Lezcano
DESIGNATED HITTER
Dave Kingman
This and the other list are so detailed, I'm considering them canon!
You guys are so impressively invested in sorting out the detailed ramifications of this TL's effects on baseball. I'm blushing at the commitment, and I sincerely applaud y'all for it! Huzzah!
