With a POD no earlier than 1958, have General Bill Westmoreland be elected President by 1972. My own thought is that you could have Nixon beat JFK in 1960, and then things basically go as OTL but George Anderson doesn’t get forced out and gets promoted to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, so the early COIN effort goes better than OTL, and the Vietnam War never escalates. Nixon beats Humphrey in 64 due to success in Cuba and Vietnam+the strong economy, but then RFK/Symington beats Goldwater due to his radicalism and the economy dipping in 68 instead of 69. RFK is unable to get much of anything done and has a major foreign policy blunder in, let’s say, Cambodia, so Westmoreland runs in 72 to reunite the GOP and defeat RFK, and he succeeds. How would a theoretical Westmoreland presidency work? What policies would he pursue?
AHC/WI: President Westmoreland
- Thread starter KaiserWilhelm
- Start date
Plausible scenario (at least in terms of big ideas) but I would replace RFK with Ted Kennedy. Robert Kennedy in an alternate world would probably be less willing to be an elected politician so much as a managerial figure for the Kennedy dynasty. Although others may disagree, and perhaps fairly. OTL Robert Kennedy stepped into electoral politics to carry a mantle for a slain brother, and after serving in appointed office. I think carrying a mantle would be much different if it were just JFK losing. I think the next logical step is JFK winning 1968 (#nosuperaddisontrope) or Teddy running. Teddy was a natural politician, even in ways John Kennedy was not. Robert Kennedy had a hard time being a politician. I think it would be Ted Kennedy as run by Robert Kennedy, with RFK and JFK serving in support roles; JFK more openly, and RFK more as a shadow figure. That gets more complicated by JFK remaining in his Senate seat. Maybe Ted works his way to congressmen or governor or something. Or maybe he goes to another state, as RFK did.
Anyway, Westmoreland certainly thought he would be president. As did many people who knew him. The biggest problem with Westmoreland is his ego. He had a giant self confidence, and refused to accept blame. He was certain that what he wanted to work would work, and was working. And that is the big problem with his handling of the Vietnam War. If the data did not support his position and policies, the data was wrong, and it would need to be corrected to show just how much he was surely succeeding. And I expect nothing different in a presidency. He'd have a Reagan posturing and shaping of narrative and context, but without the Reagan charisma to sell it as far as he would need to.
Also, here's a presidential looking image.
Anyway, Westmoreland certainly thought he would be president. As did many people who knew him. The biggest problem with Westmoreland is his ego. He had a giant self confidence, and refused to accept blame. He was certain that what he wanted to work would work, and was working. And that is the big problem with his handling of the Vietnam War. If the data did not support his position and policies, the data was wrong, and it would need to be corrected to show just how much he was surely succeeding. And I expect nothing different in a presidency. He'd have a Reagan posturing and shaping of narrative and context, but without the Reagan charisma to sell it as far as he would need to.
Also, here's a presidential looking image.
Last edited:
You know what would be a neat ticket (in my opinion anyway)? William Westmoreland / John Connally. Althought butterflying away JFK, LBJ, etc means a drastically different Connally. Connally may not even become a Republican. There was a move towards the Republicans in Texas starting with Eisenhower, so perhaps we could still argue a shift. Especially if Nixon is an earlier and successful president. I think it would be a darkly wonderful combination of looking good on paper but the substence being much different. You can find my opinion on Connelly elsewhere, but it mostly boils down to seeing problems as a Republican but seeing solutions like a Democrat, and thus appealing to no one. He was Nixon's weird political fetish.
www.texasmonthly.com
The Truth About John Connally
There are two questions about John Connally: Is he good enough to be president? Is he too bad to be president?
www.texasmonthly.com
You know what would be a neat ticket (in my opinion anyway)? William Westmoreland / John Connally. Althought butterflying away JFK, LBJ, etc means a drastically different Connally. Connally may not even become a Republican. There was a move towards the Republicans in Texas starting with Eisenhower, so perhaps we could still argue a shift. Especially if Nixon is an earlier and successful president. I think it would be a darkly wonderful combination of looking good on paper but the substence being much different. You can find my opinion on Connelly elsewhere, but it mostly boils down to seeing problems as a Republican but seeing solutions like a Democrat, and thus appealing to no one. He was Nixon's weird political fetish.
The Truth About John Connally
There are two questions about John Connally: Is he good enough to be president? Is he too bad to be president?
I doubt it, tbh. If he gets in good with LBJ he may get in Congress and elected to the Senate to replace him in 66, but he won’t have the name recognition that he had IOTL. Also, I doubt that Connally would defect to the GOP without the left wing of the Democratic Party (exemplified by McGovern) taking over. Connally would probably remain a loyal Democrat at least until there’s a Republican President and LBJ dies, which could take til 75/76 without his time in the presidency. I don’t see a plausible path to the VP nomination here, even if Connally defects around 71 or so.
Plausible scenario (at least in terms of big ideas) but I would replace RFK with Ted Kennedy. Robert Kennedy in an alternate world would probably be less willing to be an elected politician so much as a managerial figure for the Kennedy dynasty. Although others may disagree, and perhaps fairly. OTL Robert Kennedy stepped into electoral politics to carry a mantle for a slain brother, and after serving in appointed office. I think carrying a mantle would be much different if it were just JFK losing. I think the next logical step is JFK winning 1968 (#nosuperaddisontrope) or Teddy running. Teddy was a natural politician, even in ways John Kennedy was not. Robert Kennedy had a hard time being a politician. I think it would be Ted Kennedy as run by Robert Kennedy, with RFK and JFK serving in support roles; JFK more openly, and RFK more as a shadow figure. That gets more complicated by JFK remaining in his Senate seat. Maybe Ted works his way to congressmen or governor or something. Or maybe he goes to another state, as RFK did.
Anyway, Westmoreland certainly thought he would be president. As did many people who knew him. The biggest problem with Westmoreland is his ego. He had a giant self confidence, and refused to accept blame. He was certain that what he wanted to work would work, and was working. And that is the big problem with his handling of the Vietnam War. If the data did not support his position and policies, the data was wrong, and it would need to be corrected to show just how much he was surely succeeding. And I expect nothing different in a presidency. He'd have a Reagan posturing and shaping of narrative and context, but without the Reagan charisma to sell it as far as he would need to.
Also, here's a presidential looking image.
Who do you think could be Westmoreland’s VP here? Someone like Percy or Romney to reinforce moderate credentials and provide regional balance?
Also, do we know his thoughts on issues such as civil rights and the War on Poverty? I expect his views were more liberal than the average white person from South Carolina, but I don’t have any source for anything specific.