1968:Nixon assassinated,RFK get the Democratic Nomination

the Apple Man

I've had an idea recently, and i thought i'd share it with you guys.

What if, instead of RFK being assassinated in 1968, Richard Nixon was, before he could get the Republican Nomination. Then later, RFK recieves the Democratic Nomination.

What would be the outcome of this?
Who would get the Republican Nomination?
And who would end up President?
Vice-President?
 

redsoxrule124245

Bobby had a few things going for him that would have greatly helped him in the general election.
1. He's a Kennedy people were still getting over the assassination of JFK and the name was at the time synonymous with being a good leader.
2. Bobby would have set up a grass roots campaign very similar to that of what Obama ran in the 08 election. Bobby was very good at running campaigns and very good at getting people unlikely to vote to actually vote. Best example is JFK's first campaign for his house seat Bobby got a bunch of people from a protestant district of boston (which was very anti catholic) to vote for JFK.
3. Bobby's was very concerned with the conditions of poor people and black people. He was someone who transcended race and class. They would've turned out in droves to vote for him.
4. Debating. Bobby was an amazing talker and debater. He would've run circles around his opponents.
5. Bobby along with McCarthy were very anti war and proposed to immediately withdraw from Vietnam. That would have gotten him a good amount of votes in states that McCarthy ran very weak in.
6. Bobby's way of speaking was very similar to Obama's now. People just believed what he said and wanted to help make what he said would happen a reality. I mean just look at the speech he gave the night Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. The crowd that had gathered to hear him campaign was predominately black and had no clue of the assassination. RFK's staff begged him to cancel the event for fear of a riot. Instead Bobby told the crowd what had happened and simply begged them to not overreact. Indianapolis was the only major city to not experience a riot that night.
I can honestly see Bobby winning similar states to JFK. Though Bobby can't win the south. I think it would be a little harder for him to win but then again Bobby's campaign command abilities along with his ability to just make people believe in him and what he's saying, i think he pulls it out.
Also if Bobby Survives it's likely that he picks either Symington or Scoop Jackson. I think Symington though would be both a help and a Hinder, because it would allow him to get those that see Bobby as too much of a pacifist, but he would lose those that see him as the guy to get them out of Vietnam. So likely he picks Scoop Jackson which helps Bobby on the West coast, which is needed considering the deep south is pretty much unwinnable for Bobby.

Also the likely Republican nominee is either Reagan or Rockefeller as they received the second most votes at the convention. I could see a compromise possibly with both of them on the ticket but it's unlikely.
 

Maria Bonaparte

I could see a far more inspiring history with President RFK. I'm not naive enough to think of him as some messiah-like figure who loved minorities and the poor and would end all war or something, but he was an inspiring man with strong beliefs.
I wonder how he would've handled the Vietnam War though, there were certain realities there and problems, and it's not like one can blame Richard Nixon for them. Maybe he would've made an earlier gradual withdrawal and not attacked Cambodia? I don't know.
I mean, it's not like he tried to object when JFK began entangling the country deeper into Vietnam. But I guess by then he would've realized it was a quagmire.
 
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