From Camelot to Chaos: The Kennedy Years
President John F. Kennedy
On Tuesday, November 3rd, 1964, the unthinkable happened. John Fitzgerald Kennedy of Massachusetts became the first Catholic President of the United States. He soundly defeated Democratic candidate Richard Branson everywhere outside of the South, Caribbean, and majority Black Arizona. He particularly won big in the Northeast and Philippines, where America's biggest politically enfranchised Catholic populations were. In the Caribbean, English language ballots had suppressed the Catholic vote very effectively, but La Raza openly celebrated Kennedy's win in the streets, prompting police pushback. In many churches and homes across the South, there was a great deal of anger and fear, particularly in Black churches. However, it would take time for it to boil over into something more than just resentment.
Kennedy was a breath of fresh air for an America catching its breath from the bombast of the Patton years. A young 47 years old, with three young children, a beautiful wife, war hero credentials, and liberal ideals he became a symbol for the country. Running on a platform of a more fiscally responsible and less powerful federal government, and a vision of a more multifaith and multicultural America, he captured the hearts and minds of non-Black minorities, liberals, and libertarians alike. His first term in office was defined by genuinely ground-breaking achievements, mandating that federal forms in Spanish-speaking territories be put in Spanish, reducing taxes and the deficit, as well as correcting legitimate government overreach. Kennedy's first term was a fairly stable period of peace, progress, and prosperity that would be dubbed "Camelot" by supporters. Even in the South where his approval rating remained underwater, public opinion softened considerably. With the 1968 moon landing in tow, Kennedy sailed to re-election, even gaining ground in the Upper South. However, his second term would quickly become sour.
The catastrophes of Kennedy's second term were somewhat beyond his control, but there were also unforced errors. Almost immediately after his win, there was a sea change in the culture. A budding youth counterculture of so-called Journeyers (who will get a chapter or even a series) emerged. Preaching a message of free love, hedonism, and anti-capitalism, with heavy influences both from American history and foreign traditions, the Journeyers initiated a culture war. Public opinion down South became vitriolic against the foreign inspired, pacifist, "sex-crazed," and non-Christian movement. Much of the country was ambivalent, and quite a few liberal circles were actually favorable towards the group. Kennedy tried to strike a balance between his private sympathies to parts (but not all) if the group's beliefs in a kinder and more tolerant society, and the need to not endanger his public approval. He wound up coming off as a private sympathizer, and when the movement experienced some radical violent splinters, the Democrats screamed murder.
Much worse for his reputation was an outburst of La Raza violence. The movement became disillusioned with Kennedy for not mandating bilingual ballots. Kennedy had abstained from such a measure because it was likely unconstitutional. After the 1970 midterms, news of the Democrats retaking the house was greeted with riots in Texas, Arizona, the new states of the Second Mexican Cession, Cuba, Carib, and Santo Domingo. Faced with riots, local and state governments responded with unflinching force. In Santo Domingo, the Governor deputized the entire male Exodite population, who beat rioters with baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire. Texas Rangers in El Paso fired tear gas at an already dispersing crowd before calvary charging them. In Zion, Arizona, a raucous La Raza protest on November 4th would soon be dubbed the Buffalo Soldiers Riot, as a large nearby convention of Buffalo Soldiers descendants grabbed whatever they could find and charged the crowd with the silent approval of police. However it was in the metropolis of Havana where the worst riots were. In what would soon be dubbed The Week of Hell, "Sun City" would be ripped apart by La Raza rioters who exploded at the feeling that, once again, their voices had been suppressed. The riots quickly took on the dimensions of a race war, with Blacks and Whites hunkering down together. The city's large Filipino quarter became a de facto no-go zone for both sides as Filipino veterans patrolled the streets. There was even a mutiny in the Cuban National Guard. In response, both Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, and Georgia sent a combined 25,000 National Guardsmen to Havana. President Kennedy offered federal help and was rebuffed by Cuban Governor Jonathan Pembroke, who blamed the President for accommodating La Raza. On November 11th, the nation watched in horror as the Cuban National Guard and their mainland brethren finally broke the rioters by opening fire on them repeatedly, even shooting into their backs. In a dark echo of the Patton years, 17,000 suspected rioters, some of whom were just random Mestizos, were hogtied and shoved into a de facto concentration camp just outside of Havana for 9 days. The city would remain under occupation until Valentine's Day. Across the South, conservatives vented their anger by storming grocery stores and destroying their inventories of tortillas. But most chillingly of all, in hidden corners of the South, the Caribbean, and Arizona, the ghosts of the Redeemers were returning. And this time, they would be White and Black alike.
If these were the only problems facing Kennedy in his second term, it would have been bad enough. However, with the revelation of Eurasia's genocidal campaigns against minorities revealed in a surprise defection by a Eurasian Army Colonel, Kennedy did the noble thing and forced most American firms to sever their relationships with the country. This had two unfortunate side effects. For one, there was the tense eight-day Manchurian Missile Crisis in September of 1968 which prompted Kennedy to move several warheads to Korea as a response. Across Korea, Japan, Eurasia, China, and America, store shelves emptied as the world seemed to be on the edge of nuclear war. The crisis was resolved with both powers removing their missiles, but the scare didn't help Kennedy's poll numbers. The severing of economic relations also had the unintended side effect of destabilizing an economy already headed towards a correction. This resulted in an unusually long and deep recession, the worst since the 30's. Finally, to top off this ice cream sundae of terrible events, the rise of a youth drug culture similar to OTL resulted in a massive increase in drug use and crime. By 1972, the American people had had enough of John F. Kennedy. He declined to run for a third term, and an unexpected Democratic candidate would take the White House by storm.
The 1964 RNC
The Burlington Concert for Fellow Journeyers (1969)
A National Guard tank in Havana, November 7th, 1970