AHC: JFK 'Harold Holted' instead of assassinated.

[Curiousone]

What if JFK had disappeared in a manner similar to that of Harold Holt -
a friendly head of government that went swimming at the beach & was lost in the surf - instead of & at about the same time as the Assassination OTL?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holt#Disappearance

Given JFK's back problems, for more plausibility let it be a Yachting accident.

Something like - returning after a day out drinking on the water with personal companions (the officer with the nuclear codes and bodyguard/s are just below deck so Pres & Wife can have some privacy) & with a storm rolling in, Kennedy falls overboard & isn't noticed for a few minutes.

Assume sanity prevails, the U.S doesn't proceed to launch WW3 within 12hrs as per reputed plan with a missing president (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...n-President-went-missing-killed-Cold-War.html).

 

[Corjomc]

KENNEDY WAS PUSHED!

 

[JVM]

The "lone swimmer" theory is a load of bull. There was a SECOND SWIMMER on the beach that day!

 

[Delta Force]

Nuclear war would be less likely than with an assassination, but it would probably lead to more conspiracy theories. No one would have actually seen President Kennedy die (or even fall off the boat), and without a body no one would be able to prove it was an accident or assassination, or even that he had died.

 

[Pseudo]

Did anyone else read that former CIA officer's book that claimed the KGB had infiltrated dolphins trained as assassins in to the area?

 

[JVM]

Did anyone else read that former CIA officer's book that claimed the KGB had infiltrated dolphins trained as assassins in to the area?

I genuinely can't tell if you're talking about a real book or just adding into the conspiracy theory fun.

 

[Cook]

Something like - returning after a day out drinking on the water with personal companions...

Making it more analogous of Harold Holt's disappearance: Jackie remained at their house in the compound at Hyannisport while Kennedy and friends went out sailing.

One of Jack's mistresses had been smuggled aboard the yacht and that his friends, and the secret service agent, had proceeded to get drunk below decks while Jack and his woman had enjoyed themselves above deck. The secret service agent was only alerted to something being amiss by the mistress who has been sunbathing and fallen asleep, awoke to find that Jack was no longer steering the yacht, went below to find him and discovered that he is no longer on board ship.

The search for the president is delayed and hampered by the efforts of his friends and the secret service agent to initially search for him themselves, and then discretely smuggle the mistress away and remove all evidence of her presence and their own drinking before raising the alarm. The search for the president doesn't start until several hours after he has disappeared and is initially conducted in the wrong area, caused by the others saying he'd fallen overboard several hours after he actually had.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

It would call into serious question the competence of the Secret Service. I'd expect a very serious investigation into and review of the Service.

The cultural psychology also wouldn't be the same. There is a romance, macabre as it may be, in the way Kennedy died. It's very stark and direct, and can be mythologized, and basically you can write a song about it. It wouldn't have the same effect if Kennedy accidentally drowned. I'm not even sure what the feeling would be, nor the long term cultural-psychological implications and impacts.

KENNEDY WAS PUSHED!

The "lone swimmer" theory is a load of bull. There was a SECOND SWIMMER on the beach that day!

"Back and to the left...and back and to the right, and back and to the left, and back and to the right"

(Swimming joke)

 

[Riain]

Everyone knows that Holty was taken by a Chinese submarine, I think the USN is a bit too powerful for JFK to do the Holt.

 

[zert]

Given that Kennedy disappears and no body is discovered, you might see claims that Johnson is only allowed to be acting President in the beginning. LOTS of conspiracies will be created over this situation. Some might even think the Soviets kidnapped him and he is left in a Gulag to this day.

 

[Curiousone]

...and then discretely smuggle the mistress away and remove all evidence of her presence and their own drinking before raising the alarm. ...

...LOTS of conspiracies will be created over this situation. ...

'and who was the mystery woman photographed climbing the grassy knoll behind the pier when they docked that never showed up in the interview list?'

 

[MDE]

Given that Kennedy disappears and no body is discovered, you might see claims that Johnson is only allowed to be acting President in the beginning. LOTS of conspiracies will be created over this situation. Some might even think the Soviets kidnapped him and he is left in a Gulag to this day.

Given this, you might see a slightly different 25th Amendment eventually pass.

 

[zert]

Given this, you might see a slightly different 25th Amendment eventually pass.

That a a HUGE revamping of the Secret Service and lots of heads will roll. Might even get a carry over to other government agencies for their behaviors and dealings.

 

[HARRY]

Here is proof Kennedy secretly snuck off the yacht on to a nuclear sub commanded by James Carter to be taken to live on a remote South Sea Island with Marilyn Monroe.

 

[Hollis Hurlbut]

JFK's disappearance leads to a lot of new rules restricting the movements and privacy of the president. Beginning with LBJ, presidents are kept under close surveillance by an independent agency. In addition to having bodyguards, the president also has "minders", who are adversarial and suspicious by their nature. The president knows that he is always being watched by a third party. This radically changes the way presidents operate.

 

[Cook]

Continuing the analogy with Holt, it is later determined that the drugs the president was taking for his back could have seriously impaired his judgement, making him over-confident and unable to asses a risk. People speculate that he could have just chosen to 'take a quick dip to freshen up' and not realised that the yacht was still moving faster than he could swim back to it. (Which of course was the case concerning the drugs both men were taking.)

A decade after his death, people develop the fantastic theory that he'd been suicidal about getting America into Vietnam and had committed suicide. Others say the Secret Service agent was actually a member of the C.I.A. and had pushed Kennedy overboard because he was about to pull Americans out of Vietnam.

 

[Landshark]

What if JFK had disappeared in a manner similar to that of Harold Holt -
a friendly head of state that went swimming at the beach & was lost in the surf - instead of & at about the same time as the Assassination OTL?

Harold Holt was not Australia's head of state, he was it's head of government.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

Here is proof Kennedy secretly snuck off the yacht on to a nuclear sub commanded by James Carter to be taken to live on a remote South Sea Island with Marilyn Monroe.

"Just sit right back
And you'll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from Hyannis Port,
Aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty Texican,
The Skipper brave and sure,
Five service men set sail that day,
For a three hour tour,
A three hour tour,

"The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew,
Honey Fitz would be lost.
Honey Fitz would be lost.

"The ship set ground on the shore
Of this uncharted desert isle
With Lyndon,
The President too.
McNamar-a
And his wife,
Peter Lawford,
Bobby and Marilyn,
Here on Kennedy's Isle."

 

[Curiousone]

Harold Holt was not Australia's head of state, he was it's head of government.

Touche.

Filler Filler.