A little but not that much. If Charles Evans Hughes had won the very close election in 1916 the Democrats would far be favoured to win in 1920 and if FDR had been elected Vice President in 1920 he wouldn't have gotten polio in the summer of 1921 and probably would've lived longer. FDR also wanted to form a National Union ticket and Liberal Party with Wendell Willkie in 1944 IOTL and wanted to be Secretary-General of the UN after its founding and his resignation after the end of WWII.
Name: Thomas Francis Eagleton
Date of Birth: September 4, 1929
Date of Death: December 15, 1973 (age 44)
Political Party: Democratic
List of Offices Held:
Attorney General of Missouri (January 9, 1961 - January 11, 1965)
Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (January 11, 1965 - December 27, 1968)
Senator from Missouri (December 28, 1968 - December 18, 1972)
Vice President of the United States (January 20, 1973 - October 5, 1973)
President of the United States (October 5, 1973 - December 15, 1973)
I got inspired by both Joseph Kennedy Jr. and Robert LaFollette Jr's presidencies in For All Time and the entire second act of 1973: A Very Bad Year for this idea. So basically, George McGovern somehow ends up beating Nixon in the '72 election, and ITTL, Eagletons's struggles with depression don't come out publicly during the election, so he stays as McGovern's running mate during the election and ends up being elected Vice President.
In October 1973, President McGovern is abruptly assassinated by Samuel Byck, who drives a school-bus full of old tires and ANFO into McGovern's podium while he's delivering a speech in Baltimore, Maryland, and Eagleton unexpectedly finds himself as the 39th president of the United States. At this point, the Vietnam War has become somewhat messed up due to President McGovern undoing all of Nixon's efforts to pull US troops out of Vietnam upon entering office, and President Eagleton's prior bouts of depression, combined with the stress of his newfound, unexpected presidency, end up influencing his decisions and cause him to unintentionally mess up even more by making the wrong choices, causing the U.S. to get into even hotter water with Vietnam, as well as the Middle East, since the Yom Kippur War is going on at this time as well. Because of this, the Vietnam War and Yom Kippur War go even worse and messier than in OTL, causing the U.S. to begin slipping into chaos as many of their civilians are killed overseas and an economic crisis occurs, causing even more civilian upsets and sparking massive hate for President Eagleton from the public.
Finally, on December 15th, 1973, President Eagleton, his depression and stress from the presidency having overwhelmed him completely, decides he has done enough damage to the country, and makes a televised report to the entire country that night, apologizing for all of the damages that he has caused to the country, and promises that nobody will have to worry about him making any mistakes anymore. Roughly 200 million Americans then watch nationwide as he pulls out a pistol and shoots himself in the head on live TV, before it abruptly cuts to color bars.
What happens next over the next few weeks is basically a shot-to-shot remake of 1973: AVBY - Carl Albert drinks himself to death within a week due to the stress of his newfound presidency, and President James Eastland's actions in both Vietnam and the Yom Kippur War, which are already far worse than OTL due to Eagleton's misled actions, wind up causing a worldwide nuclear fallout by New Years Eve.
List of Offices:
(1920-1922): Massachusetts Representative
(1923-1928): Massachusetts Senator
(1928-1963): Representative from Massachusetts
(1947-1949, 1953-1955): House Minority Whip
(1940-1947, 1949-1953, 1955-1962): House Majority Leader
(1962-1963): House Democratic Caucus Leader
(1962-1963): House Speaker
(1963-1965): United States President
A little but not that much. If Charles Evans Hughes had won the very close election in 1916 the Democrats would far be favoured to win in 1920 and if FDR had been elected Vice President in 1920 he wouldn't have gotten polio in the summer of 1921 and probably would've lived longer. FDR also wanted to form a National Union ticket and Liberal Party with Wendell Willkie in 1944 IOTL and wanted to be Secretary-General of the UN after its founding and his resignation after the end of WWII.
List of Offices:
(1920-1922): Massachusetts Representative
(1923-1928): Massachusetts Senator
(1928-1963): Representative from Massachusetts
(1947-1949, 1953-1955): House Minority Whip
(1940-1947, 1949-1953, 1955-1962): House Majority Leader
(1962-1963): House Democratic Caucus Leader
(1962-1963): House Speaker
(1963-1965): United States President
So I guess both JFK and LBJ died in 1963 in this world. What happened to them? Was JFK killed by Richard Pavlick before entering office and LBJ took his role, only to get assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald years later? Or was JFK assassinated by Oswald like normal, and LBJ was killed by Gerald Blaine by accident? Or were they both assassinated by Oswald?
So I guess both JFK and LBJ died in 1963 in this world. What happened to them? Was JFK killed by Richard Pavlick before entering office and LBJ took his role, only to get assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald years later? Or was JFK assassinated by Oswald like normal, and LBJ was killed by Gerald Blaine by accident? Or were they both assassinated by Oswald?
Both assassinated by Oswald. I'm unsure whether Gerald Blaine's account of nearly killing LBJ actually happened - the encounter may have been dramatised for the sake of the book.
Well FDR avoiding getting polio would sure change his personality quite alot (one implausible bit would be Eleanor agreeing to stay married to him since he was quite the lady's man but he was President so I'm sure they probably worked something out). ITTL he might not have much reservations from seeking more than two terms. With Hughes as President from 1917 to 1921 ruining the GOP's reputation in the post/inter-war period the Democrats would dominate the 1920s. Winning a third term in 1928 wouldn't be too difficult for FDR with the Great Depression set for September '29 and FDR having technically not served the full two terms (think of Roosevelt considering running for a third term in 1908). With FDR as President instead of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover there's a possibility that the Great Depression may not be as worse as IOTL, especially with Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon not being in office. With FDR at the helm he may be able to use his leftist progressive New Deal economic policies from OTL and hopefully lessen the full-scale effects of the Great Depression on the United States, enough so that he managed to win a narrow re-election to a fourth term in 1932. Then FDR promises to serve until the Great Depression has been fully dealt with and in the past, that is until WWII breaks out in 1939 and later Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in 1941. FDR makes the difficult decision to run for a fifth term in 1936 when it seems that his economic policies are quite successful and wins and even bigger electoral and popular vote majority than IOTL against an unpopular conservative Republican nominee (think Lester J. Dickinson). In 1940 FDR runs again due to the war, this time for a sixth term, and wins in another landslide. In 1944 he forms the National Union ticket with Willkie and then the Liberal Party in December '44 after the election. The ticket cruises to a landslide victory. Originally FDR promised to resign after the end of WWII, the formation of the UN, and the creation of the US Liberal Party but then Operation Unthinkable goes into action. The war goes on for much longer as the Allies turn their eyes on Russia. Eventually the war ends in the Allies' favour around 1947-1948. And FDR runs for his allegedly final, and eighth, term. True enough FDR decides to step down in 1953 and goes on to become the 2nd UN Secretary-General. He serves in that post until the summer of '68 when a month after the presumptive Democratic nominee, Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of the incumbent President JFK, was assassinated a draft movement successfully drafts popular former President FDR to run for a ninth term. Roosevelt accepts due to the chaos of the late '60s (MLK assassination, Civil Rights movement, race riots in the South, segregation, etc). Of course in 1972 FDR doesn't see his job as done yet and he runs for his tenth and final term as President. After he leaves office in 1977 to Ronald Reagan FDR retires to his home in Hyde Park, New York until his death in May 1979. Practically every major world leader attended his state funeral and is universally beloved and recognized as the greatest US President, perhaps even politician internationally, in history.
View attachment 764902
Name: Thomas Francis Eagleton
Date of Birth: September 4, 1929
Date of Death: December 15, 1973 (age 44)
Political Party: Democratic
List of Offices Held:
Attorney General of Missouri (January 9, 1961 - January 11, 1965)
Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (January 11, 1965 - December 27, 1968)
Senator from Missouri (December 28, 1968 - December 18, 1972)
Vice President of the United States (January 20, 1973 - October 5, 1973)
President of the United States (October 5, 1973 - December 15, 1973)
I got inspired by both Joseph Kennedy Jr. and Robert LaFollette Jr's presidencies in For All Time and the entire second act of 1973: A Very Bad Year for this idea. So basically, George McGovern somehow ends up beating Nixon in the '72 election, and ITTL, Eagletons's struggles with depression don't come out publicly during the election, so he stays as McGovern's running mate during the election and ends up being elected Vice President.
In October 1973, President McGovern is abruptly assassinated by Samuel Byck, who drives a school-bus full of old tires and ANFO into McGovern's podium while he's delivering a speech in Baltimore, Maryland, and Eagleton unexpectedly finds himself as the 39th president of the United States. At this point, the Vietnam War has become somewhat messed up due to President McGovern undoing all of Nixon's efforts to pull US troops out of Vietnam upon entering office, and President Eagleton's prior bouts of depression, combined with the stress of his newfound, unexpected presidency, end up influencing his decisions and cause him to unintentionally mess up even more by making the wrong choices, causing the U.S. to get into even hotter water with Vietnam, as well as the Middle East, since the Yom Kippur War is going on at this time as well. Because of this, the Vietnam War and Yom Kippur War go even worse and messier than in OTL, causing the U.S. to begin slipping into chaos as many of their civilians are killed overseas and an economic crisis occurs, causing even more civilian upsets and sparking massive hate for President Eagleton from the public.
Finally, on December 15th, 1973, President Eagleton, his depression and stress from the presidency having overwhelmed him completely, decides he has done enough damage to the country, and makes a televised report to the entire country that night, apologizing for all of the damages that he has caused to the country, and promises that nobody will have to worry about him making any mistakes anymore. Roughly 200 million Americans then watch nationwide as he pulls out a pistol and shoots himself in the head on live TV, before it abruptly cuts to color bars.
What happens next over the next few weeks is basically a shot-to-shot remake of 1973: AVBY - Carl Albert drinks himself to death within a week due to the stress of his newfound presidency, and President James Eastland's actions in both Vietnam and the Yom Kippur War, which are already far worse than OTL due to Eagleton's misled actions, wind up causing a worldwide nuclear fallout by New Years Eve.
Name: George Stanley McGovern
Date of Birth: July 19, 1922
Date of Death: October 5, 1973 (age 51)
Political Party: Democratic
Cause of Death:
Assassinated by Samuel Byck
List of Offices Held:
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Dakota's 1st District (January 3, 1957 - January 3, 1961)
Director of Food for Peace (January 21, 1961 - July 18, 1962)
Senator from South Dakota (January 3, 1963 - December 16, 1972)
Chair of the United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs (July 1968 - January 1973)
President of the United States (January 20, 1973 - October 5, 1973)
Preceded by: Richard Nixon (1969-1973)
Succeeded by: Thomas Eagleton (1973-1973)
List of Offices:
(1947-1952): Screen Actors Guild President
(1953-1959): Representative from California
(1959-1967): Senator from California
(1967-1969): Governor of California
(1969-1977): United States President
1966 California Gubernatorial Election: Ronald W. Reagan 57.5% Richard M. Nixon 42.3%
1968 US Presidential Election: Ronald W. Reagan | Robert F. Kennedy | 305 EV Richard M. Nixon | Spiro T. Agnew | 187 EV George C. Wallace | Curtis E. LeMay | 46 EV
1972 US Presidential Election: Ronald W. Reagan | Robert F. Kennedy | 306 EV John M. Ashbrook | Paul N. McCloskey | 231 EV
Name: Samantha Smith
Date of Birth: June 29, 1972
Political Party: Democratic
List of Offices Held:
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 2nd district (January 3, 1997 - January 3, 2009)
Senator from Maine (January 3, 2009 - January 15, 2021)
Vice President of the United States (January 20, 2021 - Present)
List of Offices:
(1947-1952): Screen Actors Guild President
(1953-1959): Representative from California
(1959-1967): Senator from California
(1967-1969): Governor of California
(1969-1977): United States President
1966 California Gubernatorial Election: Ronald W. Reagan 57.5% Richard M. Nixon 42.3%
1968 US Presidential Election: Ronald W. Reagan | Robert F. Kennedy | 305 EV Richard M. Nixon | Spiro T. Agnew | 187 EV George C. Wallace | Curtis E. LeMay | 46 EV
1972 US Presidential Election: Ronald W. Reagan | Robert F. Kennedy | 306 EV John M. Ashbrook | Paul N. McCloskey | 231 EV
I just realized this Reagan is a Democrat. Hmm, I was just about to post the exact same thing. Reagan is recruited by the California Dems to run for California's new 22nd congressional district in 1952 and manages to squeak out a win despite the race being strongly Republican IOTL. Then he runs for Senate in 1958 during the "Big Switch" and then runs for Governor in '66 before running for President in 1968 and serving for two terms. WOW! Great minds surely do think alike.🤔 But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if you happened to have hacked my phone to look in my notes lol (sarcasm).
Name: Richard Milhous "Dick/Tricky Dick" Nixon Born: January 9, 1913 Died: April 22, 1994 (aged 81) Political Party:
Republican
Spouse: Pat Ryan (m. 1940; died 1993) Children: Tricia (b. 1946), Julia (b. 1948)
List of Offices: Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 12th district (January 3, 1947 - November 30, 1950)
United States Senator from California, Class 3 (December 1, 1950 - January 1, 1953; January 3, 1981 - March 30, 1981)
36th Vice President of the United States (January 20, 1953 - January 20, 1961)
37th and 41st President of the United States (January 20, 1969 - August 9, 1974; March 30, 1981 - January 20, 1985)
Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee (February 3, 1981 - March 30, 1981)
President pro tempore of the United States Senate (March 19, 1981 - March 30, 1981)
16th Chief Justice of the United States (September 26, 1986 - April 22, 1994)
Name: Ronald Wilson "Dutch/Ron" Reagan Born: February 6, 1911 Died: June 9, 2021 (aged 110) Political Party:
Democratic (until 1937)
Republican (1937-2021)
List of Offices: Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 14th district (January 3, 1939 - January 3, 1943)
United States Senator from Illinois (January 3, 1945 - January 3, 1949)
35th Vice President of the United States (January 20, 1949 - November 1, 1950)
35th, 37th, and 41st President of the United States (November 1, 1950 - January 20, 1961; January 20, 1969 - January 20, 1997; January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021)
33rd Governor of California (January 7, 1963 - January 20, 1969)
Well FDR avoiding getting polio would sure change his personality quite alot (one implausible bit would be Eleanor agreeing to stay married to him since he was quite the lady's man but he was President so I'm sure they probably worked something out). ITTL he might not have much reservations from seeking more than two terms. With Hughes as President from 1917 to 1921 ruining the GOP's reputation in the post/inter-war period the Democrats would dominate the 1920s. Winning a third term in 1928 wouldn't be too difficult for FDR with the Great Depression set for September '29 and FDR having technically not served the full two terms (think of Roosevelt considering running for a third term in 1908). With FDR as President instead of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover there's a possibility that the Great Depression may not be as worse as IOTL, especially with Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon not being in office. With FDR at the helm he may be able to use his leftist progressive New Deal economic policies from OTL and hopefully lessen the full-scale effects of the Great Depression on the United States, enough so that he managed to win a narrow re-election to a fourth term in 1932. Then FDR promises to serve until the Great Depression has been fully dealt with and in the past, that is until WWII breaks out in 1939 and later Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in 1941. FDR makes the difficult decision to run for a fifth term in 1936 when it seems that his economic policies are quite successful and wins and even bigger electoral and popular vote majority than IOTL against an unpopular conservative Republican nominee (think Lester J. Dickinson). In 1940 FDR runs again due to the war, this time for a sixth term, and wins in another landslide. In 1944 he forms the National Union ticket with Willkie and then the Liberal Party in December '44 after the election. The ticket cruises to a landslide victory. Originally FDR promised to resign after the end of WWII, the formation of the UN, and the creation of the US Liberal Party but then Operation Unthinkable goes into action. The war goes on for much longer as the Allies turn their eyes on Russia. Eventually the war ends in the Allies' favour around 1947-1948. And FDR runs for his allegedly final, and eighth, term. True enough FDR decides to step down in 1953 and goes on to become the 2nd UN Secretary-General. He serves in that post until the summer of '68 when a month after the presumptive Democratic nominee, Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of the incumbent President JFK, was assassinated a draft movement successfully drafts popular former President FDR to run for a ninth term. Roosevelt accepts due to the chaos of the late '60s (MLK assassination, Civil Rights movement, race riots in the South, segregation, etc). Of course in 1972 FDR doesn't see his job as done yet and he runs for his tenth and final term as President. After he leaves office in 1977 to Ronald Reagan FDR retires to his home in Hyde Park, New York until his death in May 1979. Practically every major world leader attended his state funeral and is universally beloved and recognized as the greatest US President, perhaps even politician internationally, in history.
Name: Shirley Temple Black Born: April 23, 1928 Died: February 10, 2014 (aged 85) Political Party:
Republican
Spouses: John Agar (m. 1945; div. 1950); Charles Alden Black (m. 1950; died 2005) Children: Susan (b. 1948), Charles Jr. (b. 1952), Lori (b. 1954)
List of Offices: Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California (December 12, 1967 - January 3, 1975)
United States Senator from California (January 3, 1975 - October 2, 1981)
43rd Vice President of the United States (October 2, 1981 - January 20, 1989)
41st President of the United States (January 20, 1989 - January 20, 1997)
Name: Richard Milhous "Dick/Tricky Dick" Nixon Born: January 9, 1913 Died: April 22, 1994 (aged 81) Political Party:
Republican
Spouse: Pat Ryan (m. 1940; died 1993) Children: Tricia (b. 1946), Julia (b. 1948)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 12th district (January 3, 1947 - November 30, 1950)
United States Senator from California, Class 3 (December 1, 1950 - January 1, 1953; January 3, 1981 - March 30, 1981)
36th Vice President of the United States (January 20, 1953 - January 20, 1961)
37th & 41st President of the United States (January 20, 1969 - August 9, 1974; March 30, 1981 - January 20, 1985)
Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee (February 3, 1981 - March 30, 1981)
President pro tempore of the United States Senate (March 19, 1981 - March 30, 1981)
16th Chief Justice of the United States (September 26, 1986 - April 22, 1994)
As you can see he did not take office on Inauguration Day, instead on March 30, 1981. This is based off of a timeline I read called The Third Coming of Nixon in which Nixon rises from the political ashes of his career to run for his old Senate seat in 1980. I took that idea and ran for the hills with it. Nixon manages to squeak his way into the Chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee a month into his Senate term and in late-March forces Thurmond to resign from his position as President pro tempore and endorse him as his replacement (since the Deputy President pro tempore position was abolished in December 1980 by the lame-duck Senate as a slight to the disgraced former President). Then on March 30, 1981 Reagan is assassinated by John Hinckley Jr. and Vice President Bush's plane crashes en-route back to DC from Texas. Then Speaker O'Neill's car sped out of control on an icy road, crashing into the Potomac River. By the end of the day Senator Richard Nixon takes the oath of office once again as the 41st President of the United States. Now some may say he is actually ineligible for the office of President (and Acting President, until the recovery of Bush's aircraft) due to the 22nd Amendment prohibiting Presidents from serving as President or acting as President for more than two terms, but in fact the 22nd Amendment has a loophole where it only mentions that a President may not be elected to more than two terms and since Nixon had returned to the presidency through Constitutional succession, not via-election then he is deemed eligible (BTW I don't think a case would make it to the Supreme Court so everyone would just be forced to go along with it, at least for Continuity Of Government purposes).
As you can see he did not take office on Inauguration Day, instead on March 30, 1981. This is based off of a timeline I read called The Third Coming of Nixon in which Nixon rises from the political ashes of his career to run for his old Senate seat in 1980. I took that idea and ran for the hills with it. Nixon manages to squeak his way into the Chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee a month into his Senate term and in late-March forces Thurmond to resign from his position as President pro tempore and endorse him as his replacement (since the Deputy President pro tempore position was abolished in December 1980 by the lame-duck Senate as a slight to the disgraced former President). Then on March 30, 1981 Reagan is assassinated by John Hinckley Jr. and Vice President Bush's plane crashes en-route back to DC from Texas. Then Speaker O'Neill's car sped out of control on an icy road, crashing into the Potomac River. By the end of the day Senator Richard Nixon takes the oath of office once again as the 41st President of the United States. Now some may say he is actually ineligible for the office of President (and Acting President, until the recovery of Bush's aircraft) due to the 22nd Amendment prohibiting Presidents from serving as President or acting as President for more than two terms, but in fact the 22nd Amendment has a loophole where it only mentions that a President may not be elected to more than two terms and since Nixon had returned to the presidency through Constitutional succession, not via-election then he is deemed eligible (BTW I don't think a case would make it to the Supreme Court so everyone would just be forced to go along with it, at least for Continuity Of Government purposes).
Name: Shirley Anita Chisholm
Date of Birth: November 30, 1924
Date of Death: May 29, 1980 (age 55)
Assassinated by Joseph Paul Franklin in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Political Party: Democratic
List of Offices Held:
Member of the New York State Assembly (January 1, 1965 - December 31, 1968)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 12th district (January 3, 1969 - December 24, 1972)
President of the United States (January 20, 1973 - May 29, 1980)
