Jimmy Two: America in Carter's Second Term
- Thread starter Vidal
- Start date
And we had that WI thread on what might have happened if Carter had NOT "saved' the Shuttle with the special budget allowance because he heard the Soviets were 'scared' of the Shuttle
(Nobody expected Cater/Mondale to lift a finger to help the Shuttle ) Randy
Will Nixon be making an appearance in this TL? I would be interested in seeing what he thinks of Reagan’s failure, the struggle for the GOP, as well as Carter’s foreign policy.
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Vidal
Donor
I don't really have plans for him during Jimmeh's second term, but it's possible that I could work him into the sequel
Vidal
Donor
Potentially. I have a vision for it, but I am not sure if I'll actually get in the chair and write it. I can't imagine doing it right after J2 concludes. In my estimation, this project won't be done until November of 2024.
ILPD45
Kicked
I don't want to get too far ahead of myself here, but I wonder: with Carter reelected, are the nuclear war movies of 1983 (think The Day After, WarGames, Testament, and Special Bulletin) still made? My guess is maybe not - after all, my understanding is that those movies were made amid the all-pervasive atmosphere of heightened tension between the US and the Soviet Union, to which OTL President Reagan's bellicose rhetoric (along with the Russians' paranoid reaction to it) was a major contributing factor. With Reagan butterflied away, perhaps things are less tense and those movies aren't made - but then again, maybe some of them still are.
Also, on a related note, does the "Petrov incident" of September 26, 1983 still happen? My guess is that it still does, given the fact that it was caused by the natural phenomenon of sunlight reflected off clouds being mistakenly recognized as a missile launch by the computer software in the bunker. I suppose the main difference would be that, amid a less tense relationship (if that is indeed true), the Russians would be more willing to admit that the system made a mistake, and thus the incident might well be known to the wider world right away, or at least within a month or two (in real life, it was unknown in the West until the late 90's, after the Soviet Union fell). At least, I think that would be true if the Korean airliner weren't shot down a few weeks prior (and such an event seems less likely if the Russians aren't as paranoid as they were in real life, which again was largely a reaction on their part to Reagan).
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter - I'd like to see what you think!
Also, on a related note, does the "Petrov incident" of September 26, 1983 still happen? My guess is that it still does, given the fact that it was caused by the natural phenomenon of sunlight reflected off clouds being mistakenly recognized as a missile launch by the computer software in the bunker. I suppose the main difference would be that, amid a less tense relationship (if that is indeed true), the Russians would be more willing to admit that the system made a mistake, and thus the incident might well be known to the wider world right away, or at least within a month or two (in real life, it was unknown in the West until the late 90's, after the Soviet Union fell). At least, I think that would be true if the Korean airliner weren't shot down a few weeks prior (and such an event seems less likely if the Russians aren't as paranoid as they were in real life, which again was largely a reaction on their part to Reagan).
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter - I'd like to see what you think!
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I think détente was already fraying before Carter left office, so a deterioration in the 80's is probably inevitable. That said, without Reagan it may very well not go quite into the depths of OTL.
True, up until he saw the Day after he seems to have thought a nuke war could actually be won. Carter doesn't and won't push the military build up to the frankly insane level of OTL. Instead it would be like the late 60's, "We really don't like you," but played out through proxies and diplomatic sniping instead of prepping WW3.
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if there are any good TLs on that site that are not available here?
The Azure Main sequel for one (although @iainbhx has admitted writers block recently)
Deleted member 145219
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.” ~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 12th 1945.
FDR never got to speak those words, as he passed on while in Warm Springs Georgia, the home state of the main protagonist of Jimmy Two, a man whom will not be with us for much longer. Looking forward to seeing how President Carter will be able to articulate a post New Deal era consensus in the Democratic party and the nation at large. I hope President Carter and the Democratic Congress succeed on passing CarterCare, even though it will likely reduce, if not cost them their Congressional majorities.
FDR never got to speak those words, as he passed on while in Warm Springs Georgia, the home state of the main protagonist of Jimmy Two, a man whom will not be with us for much longer. Looking forward to seeing how President Carter will be able to articulate a post New Deal era consensus in the Democratic party and the nation at large. I hope President Carter and the Democratic Congress succeed on passing CarterCare, even though it will likely reduce, if not cost them their Congressional majorities.