So here's the first (short) installment of my new TL, A Time for Peace.
Chapter 1
In 1968, Lyndon Baines Johnson was worried. Facing an unpopular war, and a primary challenge from Eugene McCarthy, he didn’t have much of a chance in the General Election against whoever the GOP nominated. And of course, he had to beat McCarthy first.
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The Vietnamese holiday of Tết offered a reprieve from the fighting, albeit a short one. Under a month later, on 19 February, President Johnson announced a halt to Operation Rolling Thunder. The North Vietnamese agreed to negotiate. On 23 March, an agreement was made for the de-escalation of the war in the South, and a complete bombing halt in the North. All troops would be out of Vietnam by a year from that date. POWs were freed.
On 12 March, McCarthy won an astonishing 15 delegates in the New Hampshire Primary, to Johnson’s 9. McCarthy came within 11 percentage points of the sitting President, an unprecedented feat. After the Primary, Senator George McGovern announced his candidacy. Johnson’s supporters breathed a collective sigh of relief. On 25 March, Johnson leapt in polling:
Johnson: 29%
McCarthy: 26%
McGovern: 14%
Smathers: 7%
Young: 6%
Other/Undecided: 18%
However, McCarthy won in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Johnson won in Indiana, Nebraska, Oregon, got Illinois. But McCarthy was able to beat him (just barely) in California, and took New Jersey. McGovern, Smathers, and Young, all got their home states.
Going into the convention, it was a deadlock. On the third ballot, McGovern gave his delegates to McCarthy, but was outdone by Smathers and Young endorsing the President. On ballot #22, Johnson was elected the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States.
Like I said, it's short, but I like it.