How did Udall react to the martial law in Poland, if Jaruzelski used it as he did in our timeline?
America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond
- Thread starter CountDVB
- Start date
Not sure how well known that was given how i is the Warsaw Pact, but I figure that he’d condemn it.
Sergeant Foley
Banned
Big question is whether Udall visited the ROK in November 1983 like Reagan did?
I wonder if Udall invited Chun to the White House during the ROK President's long US tour in February 1981?
How are attempts at restoring relations between Beijing and Moscow going, about the same they were OTL?
Winter 1987- Oncoming Changes
As 1987 came about, it was growing increasingly clear that the rate of change was not going to slow down, but likely going to accelerate more over time. President Mo Udall has been relying more on Vice President Reubin Askew to help deliver on some final major legislation. Something that have both working on for the past little while and reflecting the need for political reform. One of which is the Fair District Representation Act, which in essence outlaws the practice of gerrymandering. It does so by creating a federal independent redistricting commission along with outlining the requirements needed for fair representation and other necessities. This was being done to ensure fair representation, especially with an upcoming census in a few years. Additionally, another act that was being finalized to be voted was the Fair House Representation Act. Designed to repeal and replace the Reapportionment Act of 1929, the Fair Reapportion Act increases the size of the United States House of Representatives so that the standard representative-to-population ratio would be that of the smallest state, informally known as the "Wynoming Rule" [1]. With both acts, the hope was in better Congressional representation along with the promotion of multiparty agreements and moving away from corruption. While not all the Democrats were excited on this, the overall feeling was general support and many of the Liberal Republicans were also on board as well. As such, it was predicted that the districts would be looking rpett different by the beginning of the next decade and various states would be taking these into consideration for decisions down the line, such as some looking to increase the number of potential voters.
However, while the Americans were going about with their upcoming changes in their political system, other nations were showing the same if in different means. Hu Yaobang, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, would be "forced" into retirement by some of the various hardliners in the Chinese Communist Party, wih his successor being Zhao Ziyang, who shares much of reformist ideology and like Yaobang, both men were given support by Deng Xiaoping. Zhao would be given quite a strong starting point as he and Deng Xiaoping would become the first Chinese paramount leaders to visit the United States as part of further normalizing relations between them. The process was unexpected slowed down due to numerous interruptions and delays, such as the US focusing on domestic policy and economy recovering in the early 1980s and the initial planned visit of Hu Yaobang being cancelled due to the events leading to his retirement. Despite these, it was still quite a good occasion for the men in discussion with President Udall and Vice President Askew, with the hopes of finally being to move forward without anymore trouble. [2] Another positive change would be within the Philippines. Febuary would see the new Constitution of the Philippines goes into effect after their revolution. Among other things, this new constitution adds Spanish and Arabic as optional languages of the Philippines. This shows further promise and hope with them, especially following up with the visit of new President of the Philippines, Maria Corazon Aquino, who was given a warm reception and honors by the Udall Administration during her first visit.
All the while, many more fascinating developments occurred in the beginning of the year. Aretha Franklin, another singer who would become associated wih third wave feminism, would become the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A close call regarding rails of Amtrak and Conrail over in Maryland would lead to some reforms over priority of rail usage and the need for greater communication, especially as the lines were continuing being electrified with the Americans' much grander rail network. [2] In more concerning news, the so-called Phosphorite War would begin over in the Estonian SSR, that being a political movement on being against the opening of large phosphorite mines in the Virumaa region. The campaign focused on two major issues. The large-scale environmental degradation that the new mines would cause was the most common subject in the public discussion, especially with the greater concerns of climate change brought out. The other, more covert issue was the fear that the new mines' need for a workforce would start a wave of migration, bringing tens of thousands of workers from other parts of the Soviet Union to Estonia.[3] And of course, there was the troubles as a result of the Afghan-Pakistani War. Both the US and USSR have been monitoring the situation very carefully. Initial plans for intervention ended up failing due to the stances of both sides and the only thing that kept further involvement was that India was adamant in not using their nuclear arsenal unless provoked first with it while Pakistan's nuclear weapon development was now further delayed and compromised by the war effort that would see the classic pinser trick.
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[1]- Information and phrasing coming from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming_Rule
[2]- Information and phrasing coming from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987
[3]- Information and phrasing coming from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorite_War
I guess it depends given the changes. USSR is having its more market socialism reforms while China is a bit more behind than OTL because of different political choices as we're seeing here will have rammifications. I think relations would be good, but I imagine there will still be a bit of distance.
Sergeant Foley
Banned
@CountDVB What about the Taiwan Relations Act? I don't want Udall to throw a staunch US ally under the bus the way Nixon, Ford & Carter did.
I should note Chiang Ching-kuo is Taiwan's President & not in good health.
PS: Praying the Republicans win back the White House in 1988 & gut all of Udall's policies because I'm confident a backlash is coming 😉
I should note Chiang Ching-kuo is Taiwan's President & not in good health.
PS: Praying the Republicans win back the White House in 1988 & gut all of Udall's policies because I'm confident a backlash is coming 😉
Something like the Taiwan Relations Act was probably done by Reagan ITTL in 1979.
i imagine even Reagan knew they couldn’t ignore PROC forever, but kicked it down the line. By now, they’re on talks, but nothing has been finalized yet regarding China and Taiwan, least with the US.
And can’t tell if you’re joking or being serious.
Did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau get re-elected in 1978 in this timeline or lose and make a comeback in 1980 as he did in our timeline? And did he decide to retire in 1984 and be replaced by John Turner?
He did lose and make a comeback. I thought I mentioned that in a prior post and that the Mulroney government had to deal with a minority government
No worries! I appreciate asking. It’s also why I try and be direct with my answers.
But yeah, interesting stuff planned for Canada too.
Hmmm... for the time being, yes. Reagan doubled down on Taiwan as being an ally so the 1979 thing regarding PROC hasn't happened and meaningful talks between the US and PROC have been sparse for the first half of the 1980s, primarily due to the need to address economic issues and other priorities for the US and later China's growing factionalism between reformers and hardliners.
By 1987 they've really begun talking, but things have become different since Gorbachev is in the picture and his actions are more toward market socialism based on NEP rather than what was done in OTL. That and Udall just being less hostile than Reagan would be. Additionally, Deng not only visits but also Zhao does as well, giving him more time in the spotlight.
As such, there is a bit of a limbo of what should be done here.
I wonder how this will affect the future of this timeline as both political parties in the United States make use of gerrymandering to increase their dominance in the House of Representatives to this day in our timeline