Your challenge is to have a president from Washington State or Oregon by 2012 with a POD of anywhere from 1940 to 2012. How can this happen and what will happen afterwards?
AHC: President From Washington Or Oregon
- Thread starter Puget Sound
- Start date
We had a thread on this in soc.history.what-if years ago: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soc.history.what-if/3pqvBssuNV0
Delta Force
Banned
Mark Hatfield could be interesting, although it is hard to classify where he stood politically. Oregon politics is rather different from the rest of the country though, so it would be more difficult for someone to make the leap from state politics to national presidential politics.
Regarding modern politics, Oregon actually has some of the most liberal and the most conservative voters of any state, and while it has gained a reputation for being a solidly Democratic state, the Republicans tend to run closely. Oregon is not so much solidly Democratic as much as it is reliably Democratic, just how it historically was reliably Republican.
Regarding modern politics, Oregon actually has some of the most liberal and the most conservative voters of any state, and while it has gained a reputation for being a solidly Democratic state, the Republicans tend to run closely. Oregon is not so much solidly Democratic as much as it is reliably Democratic, just how it historically was reliably Republican.
Too bad that the POD has to be in 1940 or later, because I have written a lot about the 1860 election going into the House, which is unable to decide, which means that the vice-president chosen by the Senate acts as president. Which, given the composition of the Senate in 1860 means Breckinridge's running mate Joseph Lane of Oregon. (In fact, Republicans during the 1860 campaign emphasized this scenario, and made "Lincoln or Lane?" a slogan. See http://host.madison.com/news/opinio...cle_98e0b382-f0ec-11df-ac63-001cc4c002e0.html for example.)
Its a case of the liberal Portland and Eugene areas dominating the rest of Oregon which is conservative politically.
Another interesting name for a president from Oregon would be Wayne Morse. He was a real character!
thaddeus
Donor
he was on the list to be Nixon VP, so if chosen he becomes President in 1974 if everything else stays per OTL.
Technically, this is pre-1900, but here's something that I found that has presidents from all fifty states:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=8905974&postcount=3907
And here, with maps: https://www.alternatehistory.com/di...p?p=9342348&highlight=Fifty+nifty#post9342348
It would just take until next year to hit 50 presidents from 50 states. My only complaint is that the states are somewhat different in this TL, but the authors used the 50 original states when making the list.
Hmm, good question. Some options, by state:
Washington
Scoop Jackson has been mentioned. If the burglars aren't arrested at the Watergate the night of June 17, 1972 and Nixon serves out his term, then Scoop becomes a strong contender for the 1976 Democratic nomination. (Carter wouldn't be so appealing if there's no Watergate scandal.)
There's also the chance that Reagan beats Ford for the '76 nomination. If the GOP wins in 1976 and Scoop wasn't the D nominee, he'd be a strong candidate in 1980, especially if Dem voters decide Jerry Brown is too far out there.
Dan Evans would also be another possibility, this time on the GOP side. Let's say Reagan is the '76 GOP nominee and loses. The GOP might be in the mood for someone more moderate, and thus Dan Evans could be a strong contender for the 1980 election, or even 1984 if Carter gets a 2nd term.
There was strong opposition within the Kennedy camp to picking LBJ as the VP nominee in 1960. JFK was also not enamored of other strong contenders, like Humphrey or Stevenson, and worried that Stuart Symington was too young. Albert Rosellini would be a dark horse choice, but would have kept many of JFK's allies happy. He would have made an interesting - and totally unprepared - president on November 22, 1963.
Getting a bit less plausible, let's say Jim McDermott wins the 1980 gubernatorial election over John Spellman. He could be a stronger contender than Dukakis for the 1988 Democratic nomination and pull off a surprise win, or he could be the liberal champion to take on a weakened incumbent President Bush in 1992 and get elected there.
For any other Washington Democrats, you need more than a few points of departure to get them close to the White House. And you need even more for Washington Republicans, since Dan Evans has really been their only star since 1940.
Oregon
Mark Hatfield is probably the best bet here. He becomes VP after Agnew resigns, and then becomes president upon Ford's resignation. Substitute his name for Dan Evans in the scenario above and there's a decent chance that he gets close to a GOP presidential nomination in 1980 or 1984. Beyond that point the GOP is too dominated by sunbelt conservatives for any moderate to have a chance.
I'd also propose John Kitzhaber. Like Howard Dean he had retired as governor in 2002, and so he had time to mount a 2004 presidential bid. Like Dean, he had a big accomplishment to his name - in this case, the Oregon Health Plan. The only POD is that he decides to do it, before Dean does, and Kitz gets the progressive momentum that would up going to Dean. If Kitz wins Iowa, the Democratic nomination is his, and a Westerner who campaigns in a belt buckle, jeans and boots, would give Dubya a run for his money - and Kerry almost beat him anyway. Another good POD would be that he never meets Cylvia Hayes, but that's another thread...
Washington
Scoop Jackson has been mentioned. If the burglars aren't arrested at the Watergate the night of June 17, 1972 and Nixon serves out his term, then Scoop becomes a strong contender for the 1976 Democratic nomination. (Carter wouldn't be so appealing if there's no Watergate scandal.)
There's also the chance that Reagan beats Ford for the '76 nomination. If the GOP wins in 1976 and Scoop wasn't the D nominee, he'd be a strong candidate in 1980, especially if Dem voters decide Jerry Brown is too far out there.
Dan Evans would also be another possibility, this time on the GOP side. Let's say Reagan is the '76 GOP nominee and loses. The GOP might be in the mood for someone more moderate, and thus Dan Evans could be a strong contender for the 1980 election, or even 1984 if Carter gets a 2nd term.
There was strong opposition within the Kennedy camp to picking LBJ as the VP nominee in 1960. JFK was also not enamored of other strong contenders, like Humphrey or Stevenson, and worried that Stuart Symington was too young. Albert Rosellini would be a dark horse choice, but would have kept many of JFK's allies happy. He would have made an interesting - and totally unprepared - president on November 22, 1963.
Getting a bit less plausible, let's say Jim McDermott wins the 1980 gubernatorial election over John Spellman. He could be a stronger contender than Dukakis for the 1988 Democratic nomination and pull off a surprise win, or he could be the liberal champion to take on a weakened incumbent President Bush in 1992 and get elected there.
For any other Washington Democrats, you need more than a few points of departure to get them close to the White House. And you need even more for Washington Republicans, since Dan Evans has really been their only star since 1940.
Oregon
Mark Hatfield is probably the best bet here. He becomes VP after Agnew resigns, and then becomes president upon Ford's resignation. Substitute his name for Dan Evans in the scenario above and there's a decent chance that he gets close to a GOP presidential nomination in 1980 or 1984. Beyond that point the GOP is too dominated by sunbelt conservatives for any moderate to have a chance.
I'd also propose John Kitzhaber. Like Howard Dean he had retired as governor in 2002, and so he had time to mount a 2004 presidential bid. Like Dean, he had a big accomplishment to his name - in this case, the Oregon Health Plan. The only POD is that he decides to do it, before Dean does, and Kitz gets the progressive momentum that would up going to Dean. If Kitz wins Iowa, the Democratic nomination is his, and a Westerner who campaigns in a belt buckle, jeans and boots, would give Dubya a run for his money - and Kerry almost beat him anyway. Another good POD would be that he never meets Cylvia Hayes, but that's another thread...
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
And if the country had continued to evolve in a liberal direction, maybe Bill Douglas from Washington?
Douglas could have had the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1948 if he wanted it. According to Tommy Corcoran, Douglas told Burton Wheeler that he did not want to be number two man to a number two man. https://books.google.com/books?id=DVVffTwVVy4C&pg=PA141 Douglas did not want to step down from the Court for someone who was likely to lose, anyway (or so it was thought). So he turned down the chance to be just one Puerto Rican nationalist's bullet away from the presidency...
Of course if Douglas had been nominated for vice-president in 1944, he would have become president. "Even Harry Hopkins, who was jealous of the Roosevelt-Douglas relationship, observed that Roosevelt 'would have preferred Bill Douglas, because he knew him better and he always liked Bill's toughness. But'--the consiglieri's kiss of death--'nobody really influential was pushing for Douglas." https://books.google.com/books?id=aVznzL5a9eAC&pg=PA56
GeographyDude
Gone Fishin'
I think it was in one of Douglas' memoirs where he talked about how he would sometimes have wide-ranging, free-wheeling conversations with Truman. And on at least one occasion, he offered to, if Pres. Truman appointed him Secretary of State, he would accept and would resign from the court.