Make Gerald Ford, in the opinion of at least a majority of Americans, our greatest president. Now, Ford is widely regarded as an average to above average president. You can make him win in '96, but that may come with the maladies of Carter's presidency. Good luck!
AHC: Gerald Ford, our greatest president
- Thread starter ZachMettenbergerFan
- Start date
So you just need Ford to win the Cold War. How about Brezhnev dies a few years early in around 77, theres a poor succession which leads to a civil war/coup and the Iron Curtain begins to crumble, rather optimistic. And he can say to the American People 'There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be again under a Ford administration'
RamscoopRaider
Donor
Have some butterflies in China early 60's that lead to them having a stronger nuclear program, making the USSR nervous, and the Sino-Soviet split worse and earlier. When Ford becomes POTUS the split is bad enough that Soviet Proxy North Vietnam is more worried about the PRC invading than uniting with the South. Sometime in early '76 the split goes out of control, border clashes escalate, and escalate, ending in nuclear fire. Ford is able to keep the US out, by pointing out that while the Chinese can hurt the USSR bad, the US will destroy them if it comes to that. Still, with the USSR weakened, the Warsaw pact throws off Soviet yoke, and by offering Grain shipments to replace grain lost in the war and prevent famine, Ford gets Soviets not to do anything rash. He is easily reelected. sometime in the late 70's Cuba, in a crisis without sugar daddy Moscow, sees Castro overthrown and replaced with a US acceptable government. Ford is also in this term able to get a hard agreement from North Vietnam not to move South ever, in exchange for loans to rebuild what the Chinese broke in their deathspasm, effectively winning the Vietnam War. Absent Soviet support for the Arabs, Ford also gets an Arab-Israeli peace agreement late in his term. Extra Keynsian spending to keep the world running speeds the recovery from the Nixon shock, and the economy is perceived by the man on the street to have recovered by the end of 1980's, and prevents the early 80's recession
he takes office after Jan 20 75 following Nixon's removal from office after conviction in Senate trial
More to the point, it's not remotely good enough. I really do think that in order to be considered among the greatest, he'd need to face down a momentous crisis like Lincoln and FDR did.
True.
Looks like I misread the OP as trying to make him average to above-average POTUS.
Another route, I think, to fulfil is by making him seen like Reagan IOTL - beloved by moderates like how Reagan is beloved by conservatives. Some will see him as being the greatest POTUS in such circumstances.
Well, this looks like a fantastic idea for a TL. Good to see at least one of these AHCs resulted in a great idea.
I can easily put him in the "Great" category. But greatest is close to impossible since that would entail displacing Lincoln and Washington in the public imagination.
Even Reagan worshipers don't usually claim he was a better President than Lincoln.
If you want Ford to have a much better historical reputation-have him pull off a Cleaveland in 1980.
Say Reagan has an accident of some sort that takes him out of the running-facing weak competition Ford easily wins renomination and defeats Carter in a rematch of 1976.
Consequently, when the economy recovers in 1983 Ford receives the credit-meaning his reputation will be much stronger. This is especially true when you consider that he'll naturally be compared to Carter.
But that still will not put him in better than Lincoln territory in the public imagination.
The most you could get is some people arguing Ford was the best President of the twentieth century.
Even Reagan worshipers don't usually claim he was a better President than Lincoln.
If you want Ford to have a much better historical reputation-have him pull off a Cleaveland in 1980.
Say Reagan has an accident of some sort that takes him out of the running-facing weak competition Ford easily wins renomination and defeats Carter in a rematch of 1976.
Consequently, when the economy recovers in 1983 Ford receives the credit-meaning his reputation will be much stronger. This is especially true when you consider that he'll naturally be compared to Carter.
But that still will not put him in better than Lincoln territory in the public imagination.
The most you could get is some people arguing Ford was the best President of the twentieth century.
http://geraldrfordfoundation.org/ce...-ussr-with-secretary-general-leonid-brezhnev/
(this jpg works great on a desktop, but not on a phone. Any suggestions or workarounds would be appreciated)
In Nov. '74, in Vladivostok, USSR, President Ford did meet with Comrade Secretary General Brezhnev.
In an ATL, maybe Ford better sells SALT II to conservative Democrats such as Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson. And I don't mean in superficial salesman fashion in which you solicit their "advice" ahead of time and then completely ignore it. I mean, Ford listens to Henry Jackson the best he can, even argues with him, and then takes some of his ideas toward even a better agreement with the Soviets.
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"Greatest" is reserved for Presidents who arguably saved the country from national disaster which usually means war. That is why only Washington, Lincoln, and FDR are contenders for greatest President. Washington did not lead the nation in war as President, but his Revolutionary War service plus his role as very first President establishing many precedents keep him there.
So for Ford to be a contender among them, absolute near-disaster needs to happen yet Ford saves the country. In a nuclear weapons era, this is hard to see.
If Ford won election in his own right in 1976 (easily done in he doesn't misspeak about Poland in the debates), he would certainly have opportunity to achieve more success, but in a very fraught four year period. It is hard to see how anything that happened during this time would qualify him as greatest. Since Ford is ineligible for running for another term afterwards, this is his only chance.
I think the only chance Ford could qualify would come from a second POD (outside his own election in '76) OUTSIDE his control that lead to a gigantic foreign policy crisis that Ford could solve. For example, if the People's Republic of China collapsed under the Cultural Revolution and Ford managed a brilliant foreign policy victory which saw the Communists lose power, China stay united and become friends with the US, and avoid a nuclear crisis or subsequent invasion by the Soviet Union then such a huge change in Cold War geopolitics could greatly alleviate Ford's reputation. (It would also likely require that second POD to happen before Ford's own election to give butterflies the opportunity to create such turmoil).
So for Ford to be a contender among them, absolute near-disaster needs to happen yet Ford saves the country. In a nuclear weapons era, this is hard to see.
If Ford won election in his own right in 1976 (easily done in he doesn't misspeak about Poland in the debates), he would certainly have opportunity to achieve more success, but in a very fraught four year period. It is hard to see how anything that happened during this time would qualify him as greatest. Since Ford is ineligible for running for another term afterwards, this is his only chance.
I think the only chance Ford could qualify would come from a second POD (outside his own election in '76) OUTSIDE his control that lead to a gigantic foreign policy crisis that Ford could solve. For example, if the People's Republic of China collapsed under the Cultural Revolution and Ford managed a brilliant foreign policy victory which saw the Communists lose power, China stay united and become friends with the US, and avoid a nuclear crisis or subsequent invasion by the Soviet Union then such a huge change in Cold War geopolitics could greatly alleviate Ford's reputation. (It would also likely require that second POD to happen before Ford's own election to give butterflies the opportunity to create such turmoil).
ben0628
Banned
Would not consider Washington as one of the "greatest," although most people who don't know their history would probably consider him one of the top three. (Not implying you don't know your history).
The man's military skill was average at best. He lost a good portion of his battles (he fell for Howe's flanking maneuver twice) and many of his victories usually involved him having really good subordinates or French help. As president he didn't do much except not messing it up and putting down the Whiskey Rebellion.
As others have said you could probably put Ford in the top ten but top three are reserved for the president's who got us through a crisis or were just really, really good at their job (my top 3 are Lincoln (one), FDR (two), and Eisenhower (three).
Since someone mentioned him as VP in '68, any chance of him in '60? Say Lodge gets hit by a car and injured, and Nixon wants to go with a Congressman to seem closer to the people, and Michigan is an important state.
So, Nixon is assassinated in '63 by someone, doens't have to be Oswald. Nixon was a supporter of Civil Rights and Ford gets that done, but he opposes the Gulf of Tonkin and all that stuff, pulling US advisors out of Vietnam becasue he's concerned about the budget needing balanced. In a forced compromise with the Democrats, whose Lyndon Johnson loses election to him but is very powerful in a *very* heavily Democratic Congress, Ford grudgingly works together some sort of program to help the poor, though perhaps not as big as Medicare. He and LBJ share the glory for this, and it's more Johnson's doing, but Johnson is seen as really vaina nd sort of power hungry by some, so Ford winds up getting credit for the good things about welfare but Johnson gets the blame for the bad parts. (Hey, it's hard to get him into the top 5 but this *is* a good way for the average citizen to do so.
he leaves office in 1968 knowing that the GOP is a lock to lose big after 16 years, just like in 1912, but in 1970 he returns to Congress a la John Quincy Adams. His continued work in Congress reminds people of the good days of his administration; and when the first moon launch happens, he's right there promoting the fact that much of the space program's growth happened during his years in office, much to the annoyance of Johnson, who pushed the ideas but used up so much political capital he got squeezed out for the Democratic nomination in '68 by the eventual winner.
So, Ford remains in Congress through the 1970s, and as a former President in the public eye, and also the GOP's leading statesman, whenever thigns go badly for Democrats in the 12 years they hold office, Ford is there to champion the GOp cause and therefore make people think of how great his Presidency was.
In fact, he only served 5.5 years, so there are some calls for him to pull a Cleveland and be nominated in 1980. With the economy in a normal downward cycle, he reluctantly agrees, as there really isn't a leader (Reagan never enters the discussion) and he is asked by younger leaders to run, and he does, choosing as his running mate a young moderate named Howard Baker who then wins 2 terms in 1984 and 1988.
So, here it's not as much about what he does - though he does preside over Civil Rights, desgregation, and a bunch of other nice thigns, including a nice, robust economy - as the public perception. he's the "nice guy among the politicians," the one everyone has fond memories of who might never have risen to prominence without Nixon's death but who became a real man of the people. (In fact, 1980 wouldn't *have* to be included, but it helps.)
Maybe not top 3, and you might have people who have trouble figuring out why he's more than just above average to near-great, but, boy, he seemed so nice, and this is really just about perception and comparison, anyway.
So, Nixon is assassinated in '63 by someone, doens't have to be Oswald. Nixon was a supporter of Civil Rights and Ford gets that done, but he opposes the Gulf of Tonkin and all that stuff, pulling US advisors out of Vietnam becasue he's concerned about the budget needing balanced. In a forced compromise with the Democrats, whose Lyndon Johnson loses election to him but is very powerful in a *very* heavily Democratic Congress, Ford grudgingly works together some sort of program to help the poor, though perhaps not as big as Medicare. He and LBJ share the glory for this, and it's more Johnson's doing, but Johnson is seen as really vaina nd sort of power hungry by some, so Ford winds up getting credit for the good things about welfare but Johnson gets the blame for the bad parts. (Hey, it's hard to get him into the top 5 but this *is* a good way for the average citizen to do so.
he leaves office in 1968 knowing that the GOP is a lock to lose big after 16 years, just like in 1912, but in 1970 he returns to Congress a la John Quincy Adams. His continued work in Congress reminds people of the good days of his administration; and when the first moon launch happens, he's right there promoting the fact that much of the space program's growth happened during his years in office, much to the annoyance of Johnson, who pushed the ideas but used up so much political capital he got squeezed out for the Democratic nomination in '68 by the eventual winner.
So, Ford remains in Congress through the 1970s, and as a former President in the public eye, and also the GOP's leading statesman, whenever thigns go badly for Democrats in the 12 years they hold office, Ford is there to champion the GOp cause and therefore make people think of how great his Presidency was.
In fact, he only served 5.5 years, so there are some calls for him to pull a Cleveland and be nominated in 1980. With the economy in a normal downward cycle, he reluctantly agrees, as there really isn't a leader (Reagan never enters the discussion) and he is asked by younger leaders to run, and he does, choosing as his running mate a young moderate named Howard Baker who then wins 2 terms in 1984 and 1988.
So, here it's not as much about what he does - though he does preside over Civil Rights, desgregation, and a bunch of other nice thigns, including a nice, robust economy - as the public perception. he's the "nice guy among the politicians," the one everyone has fond memories of who might never have risen to prominence without Nixon's death but who became a real man of the people. (In fact, 1980 wouldn't *have* to be included, but it helps.)
Maybe not top 3, and you might have people who have trouble figuring out why he's more than just above average to near-great, but, boy, he seemed so nice, and this is really just about perception and comparison, anyway.
I like this ATL, especially what I take as the more moderate, more successful, and longer-lasting war on poverty, especially if we add in some smart job creation to replace lost manufacturing jobs, an idea which I seem to curiously have a hard time selling (I mean, for God's sake, man!
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At the same time, I still like OTL with the second term added, which might get Ford into the Top 10.
Okay, he gets more conservative U.S. politicians on board, maybe even delays his meeting with Brezhnev, and SALT II is confirmed by the Senate with the required two-third voters. In addition, the Soviets and Eastern Europe agree to allow greater emigration, including the hot button subject of Jewish persons and Refuseniks, but at a pace which won't drain the professional classes. There's a lot of sticking points, but let's say most of them are worked out.
The cold war shifts mainly to competition over who can do a better job at genuine economic development in Third World countries.
That's the key linchpin. Now, late in life, Jerry Ford did say he was sorry about East Timor, but he also sort of threw Kissinger under the bus, saying Henry screwed up (below biography by Douglas Brinkley). But all the same, this may be enough to work with. Post-WWII, pretty much all presidents went along and engaged in some really sorry foreign policy. As things improve, maybe in '78, it comes to light just how bad a chapter it was for us to support Suharto in the 1965 coup in Indonesia, including turning over lists and helping the guy target communists and ethnic Chinese. Perhaps late in his presidency, in more peaceful times, Ford gives a matter-of-fact but heartfelt apology for this.
And he largely solves late '70s stagflation and there you have it!
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So yes, maybe enough to work with. Maybe Ford could have been the one to turn things around, given a little luck and more of a general climate of peace.
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Ah, our ol' buddy Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson of Washington state! Who might even get more than his fair share of airtime here at Alt History, even though he was chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Arms Control.
This in reference to SALT II.
Although saying the guy will attack it no matter what is probably not the way to play the poker hand.
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