Will Kürlich Kerl
Banned
Challenge: Have Hiram Fong become president of the United States, as a Republican.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Fong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Fong
AHC: President Hiram Fong
- Thread starter Will Kürlich Kerl
- Start date
DTanza
Banned
JFK isn't shot, LBJ's corruption scandals come to light and he's forced to replace him. JFK's personal life and "indiscretions" become public and Nelson Rockefeller manages to snag the Republican nomination.
Rockefeller picks Fong as his running mate in an attempt to excite voters. Rockefeller either narrowly wins or narrowly loses and Fong snags the Republican nomination in either four or eight years time and wins.
Rockefeller picks Fong as his running mate in an attempt to excite voters. Rockefeller either narrowly wins or narrowly loses and Fong snags the Republican nomination in either four or eight years time and wins.
Nixon wins in 1960 and Lodge either dies or decides to leave the ticket in 64. RN needs amother moderate wing Republican for a running mate and sees a political advantage in naming a minority VP and one not from the 'Eastern Establishment' Northeast. Nixon-Fong wins the 1964 election and then Nixon (dies, choose your poision) and we have President Fong. That is the only viable route since he did not have the gravitas or influence to win a nomination and (if I recall correctly) out of office by the late 60's or early 70's as the Inyoue/Burns machine took over Hawaii.
The simplest way is for Nixon to appoint Fong to replace Agnew, and then resign as in OTL. The 25th Amendment would have permitted that, and the House and Senate would not have rebelled against the choice.
The POD is a train of thought that creeps into Nixon's head and lays paranoid eggs. He is already considering the possibility that he will be impeached, and he fears that Ford is too much of a goo-goo to issue a pardon, and might screw old Nixon in order to win himself a second full term. Conversely, a man like Fong would be a perfect caretaker president. In the first place, he's been a solid ally on Vietnam and Watergate. And since he would have an [expletive deleted]'s chance of being elected president in his own right, he would be free to make unpopular decisions while president. As a bonus, Nixon would enhance his legacy by appointing a Chinese-American to the vice presidency.
The POD is a train of thought that creeps into Nixon's head and lays paranoid eggs. He is already considering the possibility that he will be impeached, and he fears that Ford is too much of a goo-goo to issue a pardon, and might screw old Nixon in order to win himself a second full term. Conversely, a man like Fong would be a perfect caretaker president. In the first place, he's been a solid ally on Vietnam and Watergate. And since he would have an [expletive deleted]'s chance of being elected president in his own right, he would be free to make unpopular decisions while president. As a bonus, Nixon would enhance his legacy by appointing a Chinese-American to the vice presidency.
katchen
Banned
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This could have happened...VERY EASILY. JFK's Methamphetamine habit came close a number of times to crashing and burning his Administration beyond the ability of his aides and Secret Service to cover up. According to Richard Lertzman (Dr. Feelgood), Max Jacobson was detained while en route to the Vienna Summit with Kruschev and almost exposed. That was one point where he could have been. Another point, according to Lertzman was, reputedly when Kennedy had a psychotic break from one of Jacobson's meth injections and went raving down one of the corridors of the Carlyle Hotel in New York. Had he made it into an area like the lobby where there were people around such as the hotel lobby, it would have been impossible to keep the story of Kennedy's addiction and physical infirmities quiet. Kennedy would have had to resign in 1962, leading to the scenarios that have been mentioned. There are truly many occasions when the Kennedy Administration hung by a thread due to Kennedy's physical ailments, intractable pain and drug addiction.
