A Born Winner

DSS





The year is 1960. America looks forward to a decade in which America and the world will prosper and progress. Many expect a utopian era of history to emerge by the end of the decade. Today, we look on the 1960s, and we realize it was a decade of turbulence, a decade of violence, and a decade of total social changes - a decade which changed humanity forever.

The 1960s were defined by three American Presidents who ultimately defined the course of events: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon. LBJ served as President for a majority of those years, and was the one who set the turbulence in motion. Johnson became President on November 22, 1963, when Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.

But what if LBJ was not the President of the United States on November 22, 1963? What if it was a man who had never lost an election; a man dedicated to liberalism; a man who despised the counterculture; a man who was a foreign policy hawk who supported the escalation of and victory in the Vietnam War, became President.

What if George A. Smathers was the 36th President of the United States of America?


Aero
and
President DudeAlmighty

Present to You...


A Born Winner





1960 Democratic National Convention
Los Angeles, California
July 11 - 15 1960


The 1960 Democratic National Convention Presidential Ballot

Sen. John F. Kennedy (MA) - 806
Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (TX) - 409
Sen. Stuart Symington (MO) - 86
Former Gov. Adlai Stevenson (IL) - 79.5
Gov. Robert B. Meyner (NJ) - 43
Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey (MN) - 41
Sen. George A. Smathers (FL) - 30
Gov. Ross Barnett (MS) - 23
Gov. Herschel Loveless (IA) - 2
Gov. Pat Brown (CA) - 1
Gov. Orval Faubus (AR) - 1
Gov. Albert Rosselini (WA) - 1


Party Chairman Henry M. Jackson: "With a majority of eight hundred and five delegates, I hereby declare Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy of Massachusetts to be our nominee for President of the United States in the year 1960."

The delegates erupted in cheers as, in a moment which would come to symbolize the spirit of John Kennedy's presidential campaign, Senator Kennedy broke party tradition by promptly walking upon the convention stage. He waved to the delegates - an assorted mix of men, career politicians and otherwise, who he had fought over for support throughout the past seven months - who had nominated him for President. He would not deliver his acceptance speech, not yet; however, he did deliver a prompt speech which kept the delegates excited.

Backstage, Robert F. Kennedy was not rejoicing. It was not that John Kennedy's brother campaign manager was unhappy over his brother's nomination; in fact, his brother was overjoyed. His duty as his brother's campaign manager kept him busy. He was off politicking, as he always was and always would be doing. He was finding his brother a running mate.

He approached the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas. Like Bobby, Johnson was, in the deepest and most stereotypical sense of the world, a politician. He had entered politics in 1948 when he won a contested senatorial primary over the Governor of Texas, Coke Stevenson. Senator Johnson had climbed the ladder though. The media had predicted Johnson would be a one-term Senator, that whoever was Governor of Texas in 1954 would do to Senator Johnson what Johnson had done to Coke Stevenson: Kill him politically and deny him the office he so desired.

The first-ever meeting between Robert Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson became the most infamous moment of the convention's history. Kennedy would offer Johnson the spot of running mate, and as soon as the two began to converse, it was mutually assumed by both that something was just wrong with the other. They quickly grew annoyed, and tensions escalated quickly.

The conversation ended with Bobby and Lyndon screaming their loudest, Bobby named a "sonuvabitch," and Lyndon a "prick."[1]

Bobby reported back to Johnson in a sour mood. "Jack," he told him, "That prick Lyndon Johnson can't be your running mate. If you want me on the team, you can't pick Lyndon." He told Jack the story of their confrontation.

The candidate was furious. "Dammit Bobby, I trusted you to get the most powerful man in the Senate on my side, the runner-up for the nomination, and you yelled at him and called him a prick. Can I even trust you to get my next choice, or do I need to do it myself?"

In his normal style, Bobby avoided an apology, and returned to politics as usual after Jack finished ranting. "There are two other Southerners who would be likely to join the ticket: Stu Symington and George Smathers."

"Yeah, I know about them," replied Jack. "Symington is good, but I would prefer Smathers, to be honest. Never lost an election in his life, and he can still deliver us the South. He's a born winner, George Smathers is."

"Want me to talk to him?"

"Sure Bobby."

- - -

Chairman Henry M. Jackson: "I proclaim that, by voice vote of the delegates of this convention, Senator George A. Smathers of Florida has been nominated for Vice President of the United States in the year 1960."



[1] The basic POD of this TL is that Bobby Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson have a much worse confrontation than they had IOTL. IOTL, Bobby and Lyndon did not get along terrifically well, of course, and Bobby discouraged Jack from selecting Johnson as his running mate. ITTL, Bobby and Lyndon get in such a big fight that JFK is convinced LBJ won't work as a running mate.




Below: George A. Smathers, John F. Kennedy's running mate in 1960
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Aero

The next update coming up will cover the 1960 campaign and results. Then the more interesting stuff will follow soon enough. ;)
 
Last edited:
RogueBeaver

RogueBeaver

Smathers is a lightweight, but also JFK's partner in skirt-chasing. Sold Nixon the house that would later be known as the Florida White House.
 

Aero

The 1960 presidential election campaign was one of the closest elections in U.S. history, as both the Kennedy and Nixon campaigns displayed energy and enthusiasm unmatched by previous years. The Cold War with the Soviet Union was a defining issue during the campaign, though domestic issues including civil rights for African Americans emerged as well. The Nixon camp essentially ran on continuing the “peace and prosperity” of the incumbent Eisenhower administration, considering he was the Vice President at the time. Contrast to the Kennedy camp, which displayed more hawkish views in regard to the Cold War while offering similar economic policies to the previous administration. In the end, the election would pit two very powerful entities for control of the highest office in the land, and for the future that the country would head toward.

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Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts was a northern Democrat who was viewed with suspicion by Southerners due to his opposing views on civil rights and segregation. So the consensus within the campaign was to pick a Southerner to balance the ticket and keep those states in line; Senator Lyndon Johnson of Texas was the ideal choice in the beginning, but a less-than-desirable outcome of the meeting between the Texan and campaign manager Robert Kennedy during the convention put the idea to rest. Instead, close friend and Senate colleague George Smathers of Florida was chosen, despite his pro-segregationist views that collided with Kennedy’s, to keep the South in the Democratic column. Nicknamed “Gorgeous George” for his good looks and womanizing appeal, Smathers was also highly popular within his home state and drummed up support for the Kennedy campaign in states that were previously against him, most notably Alabama and Mississippi. However, Smathers would also cause the ticket to lose appeal in some northern states such as Illinois and New Jersey, where segregation was not a popular policy among the populace.

In addition to the potential backlash in the North against the choice of Smathers, Kennedy would also face declining, yet still potent anti-Catholic hysteria that was rampant among some Protestant sects in the country. While the hysteria caused the previous Catholic presidential candidate Al Smith of New York to lose in a landslide to Herbert Hoover in 1928, Kennedy was determined not to let the issue define his candidacy. Kennedy’s response was summed up in one statement: “I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for President who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters – and the Church does not speak for me.” The Senator assured the American public that his religious beliefs would not intrude on his decision-making in the White House, and that he would respect the separation of church and state. In regard to Civil Rights, Senator Kennedy would take a neutral stance on the issue, avoiding angering his running mate and potentially alienating a crucial voting component of the Democratic strategy. This alienated northern blacks, who turned to Nixon and would potentially cost Kennedy the election if not for the South.

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Vice President Richard Nixon of California, who previously served as a Senator before being tapped as President Dwight Eisenhower’s running mate in 1952, ran a campaign that provided a powerful platform but ultimately was executed the wrong way. The incumbent Eisenhower administration was still fairly popular, and the country was in a period of relative peace and prosperity, so it seemed natural that Nixon would capitalize on the advantage of playing for the home team. The key to his campaign’s shortcomings lay in his “50 state strategy” that emerged from his convention promise to campaign in every state before the election concluded. Instead of focusing on key swing states such as Michigan and Ohio, the Vice President spread his campaign resources across the nation in an attempt to broaden his appeal to different sectors of the electorate. This strategy is best illustrated by the final weekend of the presidential campaign, when Nixon spent several days campaigning in the electorally-insignificant state of Alaska, while Kennedy wisely allocated time campaigning in swing states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Another shortcoming came in the form of a gaffe from President Eisenhower in August 1960, concerning the extent of Nixon’s role in decision-making in his administration. When asked by TIME reporter Charles Mohr to name one issue where Nixon had input, Eisenhower joked, “If you give me a week, I might think of one.” Unfortunately for the Nixon camp, the gaffe turned into a campaign ad by the Kennedy camp criticizing Nixon’s credibility to his claims of being a key advisor to the President during his tenure as Vice President.

1960 marked the first time presidential debates were ever aired live on television, which was a rapidly growing media outlet for Americans through the 1950s and 60s. Out of the four presidential debates planned and aired, the first debate was the most decisive. Due to injuring his knee at a campaign stop in North Carolina, subsequent hospital visit, and determination to campaign until a few hours before the debate started, Nixon looked like a train wreck. Since he didn’t fully recover from his hospital stay and refused makeup, Nixon looked pale, sickly, underweight, and tired. This was in contrast to Kennedy, who displayed youth, vigor, calm, and confidence, and prepared for the debate beforehand. Out of an estimated 70 million television viewers, a large majority believed that Kennedy won handily over Nixon, compared to the smaller amount listening to the radio that believed Nixon won handily. The aftermath of the debate showed a slight tilt toward a Kennedy win in the election, though vigorous campaign in the final weeks by President Eisenhower for Nixon once again leveled the playing field. The election outcome was a toss-up going into election day…

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United States presidential election, Nov. 8th
genusmap.php


John F. Kennedy / George A. Smathers (D) - 276 EV - 49.6% PV
Richard M. Nixon / Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (R) - 261 EV - 49.7% PV

Incumbent President: Dwight Eisenhower (R)
President-elect: John F. Kennedy (D)


original.jpg

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, President-elect of the United States
 

Gridley

Interesting. So JFK will still be shot, but we get a different POTUS from that event? I'll be following with interest.
 

DSS

Sorry it took so long for the update, folks!



1961: The New Energy of Freedom
​

"I, George Armistead Smathers, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."


"I, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, do solemnly swear to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God."


With those immortal words began the captivating administration of the 35th President of the United States of America, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and his overjoyed Southern Vice President, George Armistead Smathers.


President Kennedy's administration would be, to put it plainly, different. Americans were used to old gentlemen running the nation. Dwight Eisenhower, the now-former President of the United States who was retiring to his ranch in Kansas after eight years in public office and decades of service in the U.S. military, was 63 when he took office in 1953. Harry Truman was 60 when his predecessor, 63-year-old Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had died in office. Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower had done much good for their nation, no doubt; however, they were old men, and there was no hiding that. John Kennedy was 43, and his youthful energy had been proven during the 1960 campaign. Even Vice President Smathers was a "young-un" at the age of 47.


And to be sure, President Kennedy's energy showed in every executive decision he made.


Almost immediately, the Space Race began. Shortly after President Kennedy's inauguration, Soviet astronaut Yuri Gargarin became the first man launched into space on April 17th, 1961, aboard the Vostok spacecraft. Alan Shepard, a rising star of the NASA program, became the first American to be launched to space eighteen days later. (With JFK, the races were always close; 1960 had been close, and the Space Race was pretty close, too.)


President Kennedy made it very clear to his Cabinet: He wanted to go into space. It was the 1960s. The American people, as well as the people of the world, wanted to make unheard-of scientific advances. That meant getting a man to the moon by the end of the decade. Would it be difficult? Absolutely. Can it be done? Absolutely. Will we gain political points? Absolutely, reasoned the President of the United States.


No, said Vice President Smathers. We are in the middle of a recession. A space program costs billions of dollars, billions we can use to improve our economic situation. The people of the United States won't care if we have a man on the moon if they can't buy groceries and feed their family.


But the Space Race was important, and much of the rest of the Cabinet seemed supportive. So President Kennedy made the executive decision: The administration would be heavily involved in winning the Space Race. A deal with Speaker Rayburn (who died later in the year) and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, who were both supportive of the move, allocated further funds to NASA. The USA would win the Space Race, dammit.


But the contests between the United States and the Soviet Union didn't occur only in space. Back on earth, foreign policy was beginning to heat up. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been planning a foreign policy move against the Communist garrison on Cuba for quite some time, and a few months after President Kennedy entered office, the Bay of Pigs Operation was ready to begin.


No doubt the move would be executed, of course. The administration now had a clear chance to prove to the public that they wouldn't stand for hostile Communists setting up camp right next door to the United States. The question was: Should the Air Force be used?


Once again, President Kennedy and Vice President Smathers disagreed. Don't use the air force, said Kennedy; if we do, we could go to war with Russia.


But if we are defeated, reasoned the Vice President, that won't look good either. And not using the air force would be a concession of defeat. We cannot defeat Fidel Castro if the air force is not used.


That logic made more sense. And so, President Kennedy issued an executive order allowing for the United States Air Force to provide air support for the army of Cuban exiles organized by the CIA to land in the Bay of Pigs on April 17th, 1961.


Furthermore, Vice President Smathers suggested hiring better personnel. "None of these rookies should be leading the invasion. The vets should be running this."


And so it occurred. On April 17th, the exiles landed on the beaches of the Bay of Pigs about ten miles southeast of Havana. The air force saved the day: Although there may have been heavy casualties on the part of the Cuban exiles, the jet bombers of the U.S.A.F. beat down the Cuban military. With the air force and a bit of luck, the exiles moved their way northward. Even U.S. tank support arrived at the beaches the day after, and by that point, the Cubans were on the retreat.


On April 19th, the exiles entered Havana, a city which was now in ruins after the several bombing raids conducted by U.S. heavy bombers. Several key Cuban leaders were killed in the bombing, and several offices containing intelligence information were destroyed. On April 20th, among the rubble of one palace was the body of the dead Communist supreme leader Fidel Castro discovered.


President Kennedy ordered the military occupation of and martial law throughout the island of Cuba (privately, of course; the Soviets couldn't discover this). Although the work there wasn't yet done, the results were clear: Against many odds, Operation Zapata was a success. Castro was dead, the Communists were overthrown, and the Soviets weren't launching nukes at the United States (they had a sneaking suspicion the U.S. was involved in the exiles' invasion; however, they decided not to take action outside of openly criticizing the United States. No nukes were launched in the making of this history.)


Said President Kennedy at a press conference: "I would like to welcome Mr. Democracy back to the beautiful island of Cuba."


Overall, the year 1961 was very successful for President John F. Kennedy and Vice President George A. Smathers. 1962 was looking good as well. As for the American people? 79% of them approved of the President. Although Richard Milhous Nixon, the angry, grumbling, ousted Vice President, was not one of them; he was secretly planning to run for Governor of California next year, so as to become Leader of the Opposition. "I'm sure he wants to get my job in '64," said President Kennedy privately. "So bring him on."


However, there was a serious debate ongoing in the White House. And that debate was over civil rights. President Kennedy was a supporter; Vice President Smathers was not. And this became the issue Kennedy and Smathers most heatedly disagreed upon.


At one point, Kennedy threatened to go ahead with civil rights anyhow. "I don't care if it loses me the goddamn South," said the President to his Second-In-Command. "I'm not a goddamn Dixiecrat."


"What you will be," replied Vice President Smathers coldly, "Is a President without a Vice President, if you go ahead with this."


Losing his Vice President, especially this early in the game, was not an option. And so the President avoided taking any action on civil rights throughout the year. He was uncertain over how he would approach the issue in future years, such as 1962; however, for the time being, the President from Massachusetts was taking the moderate approach, and that approach was to do and say nothing at all.


Martin Luther King Jr. watched with suspicion as the Kennedy administration continued without a word on civil rights. And as every day went by, King became more and more worried. Asked by his friends if he had any confidence in President Kennedy's motives, he replied: "I have my doubts."


Would King ever find out if President Kennedy would take action by becoming the 20th Century's Abraham Lincoln and emancipating the blacks from racial discrimination? Tragically, no. King was attending the "Albany Movement" (a local organization dedicated to ending segregation) in Albany, Georgia, on the morning of November 16th, 1961. It was on that morning that King was going on a stroll in Atlanta when five gunshots and a racial slur rung throughout the air. Mr. King was killed instantly. The murderer was acquitted by the jury.
 

Cathcon1

What I want to see is the long-term affect that Smathers has on the two major parties, resulting in possibly much more moderate parties, or maybe even Democrats being more Conservative than Republicans. I can see Rockefeller '68 completing the transition to Conservative Democrats and Liberal Republicans.
 

DSS

kevvy2010 said:
How can anyone do a full military occupation, complete with martial law, "privately"? Somebody's gonna notice. :confused:
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, that wasn't the best wording.

What I meant is that the Americans committed the occupation in a way that the Soviets cant say the Americans INVADED Cuba. If that's how the Societs interpret the event, then WWIII would likely occur. This way, the Soviets cannot retaliate, at least not in a military fashion.
 

Catmo

Dude, you haven't got Kennedy pushing the voting rights act. Cool you've got a Southerner as veep, but was Smathers as strongly committed to civil rights as LBJ? Could Kennedy talk in his awful Boston accent to southern politicians and get them to back down the way that LBJ did? You've killed off MLK, a major moderating force. I think LBJ was an irreplacable figure in the civil rights era.

If this TL is meant to have a race war that tears the US apart, go for it. If you think it will be better than OTL you are sadly mistaken.
 

DSS

Catmo said:
Dude, you haven't got Kennedy pushing the voting rights act. Cool you've got a Southerner as veep, but was Smathers as strongly committed to civil rights as LBJ? Could Kennedy talk in his awful Boston accent to southern politicians and get them to back down the way that LBJ did? You've killed off MLK, a major moderating force. I think LBJ was an irreplacable figure in the civil rights era.

If this TL is meant to have a race war that tears the US apart, go for it. If you think it will be better than OTL you are sadly mistaken.
Click to expand...

Good GOD no. Seriously, this is dystopia. And when did I say that this was going to be better than OTL? I'm definitely not against civil rights, and I definitely don't wish for a race war. However, this TL is going for dystopia, because it is a deep subject to go into. Not because I want it to happen.

For the record, I'm not a hate-mongerer. I want peace in the world. I frankly find the idea that this sort of thing could have happened horrifying. It scares me to no end at times, to realize that the world has this much potential. But there is no way I want anything like this to ever happen in OTL, and I'm certainly glad it didn't in our history.

As for Smathers: He was against civil rights overall. Kennedy would have to make some concessions, and civil rights just happens to be that concession ITTL.
 

The Wookiee

Cuba's dramatically different, ditto civil rights; can't wait to see how Vietnam turns out! Bravo on a totally different 60's! Hope my parents still met at Tulane down in NOLA!!:D:D:D
 

Art

I Think We are DEAD! ! !

What the U. S. A. and the U. S. S. R./ Governments of Greater Russia and her Conquered Territories, Oblasts, and Testing/Dumping Grounds, need is to swich leaders. Let Technocratic Autocrats run a Republic, and so called Republicans and Democrats run the area Greater Russia. If Cuba falls, then the Florida Mafia will go back to Havana. I do not know. . . Is Health Care more important, or liberty(so-called)? I remember reading Fail-Safe in school, and The Manchurian Canidate was one of my favorite movies growing up. Along with Call It Courage. “When I give the poor bread, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor HAVE no bread, they call me a Communist.” A favorite book of mine, Code Name Copperhead, talks about the missiles the Russians sent to Cuba. You know about the warheads in Turkey, do you not? I do not know. I am too hopeful to put my trust in the revolution of a handful, unless I know the handful. I do not like Castro, but he was a product of his time. If Batista had been liquidated for his cruelty, we would never have had the Cuban Revolution. Every action has a equal and opposite reaction.
 
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