Better Dead Than Red:The Presidency of John Edgar Hoover.

Here the Soviets had complete Nuclear inferiority so Stalin will likely hold off.

Also showing that conventional force will be countered with the bomb kind of rules out a pre-emptive soviet invasion of Europe.

If that's the case what will the Soviet reaction to President Hoover's actions in Korea and China be? I assume the Russians will begin an arms buildup, but I'm not sure what else.

Oh, and how long should Hoover's war in China and in Korea last?
 
Stalin's best bet is to supply the Chinese with weaponry and volunteers, and wait until they wear out the Americans and deplete their nuke stockpile and economy.
Then...
 
I know elements like that of MacArthur's strategy seem fundamentally stupid. But then again I'm basing his strategy on a speech he gave. He claimed he had wanted to do what I described, to me the use of National Forces seems outright idiotic. So perhaps MacArthur would realize the inherent problems of the plan if time actually came to put that into practice. If it's out of charecter for the General to make such a horrible calculation, I'll change it.
 
J. Edgar Hoover has become our nation's 35th President...We might as well start dusting off those old interment camps now lol, absolutley digging this timeline GO keep it comming.
 
My only hope for the poor denizens of this timeline (you cruel, cruel man you :) ) is that the post-Hoover swing in the other direction is equally great.
 
My only hope for the poor denizens of this timeline (you cruel, cruel man you :) ) is that the post-Hoover swing in the other direction is equally great.

I'm actually wondering how long my Hoover era will actually last. While the 22 was passed before Hoover became President, it wasn't ratified until 1951. Which means The J. Edgar Hoover Presidency could last as long as 1972, and Hoover's policies could last as long as 1975. How's that for an American Nightmare? So the future of this timeline does greatly depend on whether or not Hoover suffers under term limits. As for swing in the opposite direction, do you mean in terms of civil liberties? I certainly hope so. But for right now I'm trying to work out a way this timeline doesn't end with everyone dying in the mid-fifties.
 
Looking back there are some things I would wish to change in the previous post. Since it is well past this site's editing deadline, I'm going to post my revised version of the previous events, and ask that people disregard the original version of the post. I hope this does not create too much confusion.

The rather brief Dewey Administration was in so many ways, a continuation of the Truman years. While Dewey was certainly no Democrat, his views had far more in common with the New Dealers than he did with Hooverite faction. And as such, throughout 1949 and 1950, there would be a great distance between President Dewey and Vice President Hoover. The pair hardly spoke, and never thought highly of each other. Nevertheless, the first year of Dewey’s Presidency involved some dynamic crises which grabbed the nations attention. China became a communist nation, and Russia revealed itself to be a nuclear power.

While Hoover and his followers mostly blamed these unfortunate events on policies of the Roosevelt and Truman years, they also attacked President Dewey, for refusing to follow their preferred “Roll-Back” doctrine revolving communism. The less hinged among the Hooverites simply wanted President Dewey to wage and all out war against communists, and place the nationalists in control of China proper by force. Of course, President Dewey refused to listen to such nonsense. 1949 would also see the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which would fulfill a crucial role in the coming years.

Under heavy handed pressure from Vice President Hoover, who was still in essential command of the FBI via Clyde Tolson, anticommunist investigations became much more pronounced and much more forceful. This did not please President Dewey in the slightest, while he had no love for communism, Thomas Dewey had spoken out against the outright banning of the Communist party during the early part of 1948, and now it seemed his own Vice President was attempting to accomplish that in all but name. But, rather than risk offending elements within his own administration, President Dewey remained silent. Thomas Dewey was in many ways a sad historical figure. As contentious as his term actually was, it can be seen as a kind of eye before the storm.

In June of 1950, North Korean invaded its southern neighbor, and President Dewey was quick to attempt some kind of intervention. Eventually, Dewey was able to procure UN involvement in an attempt to save South Korea from the North. In the first act of the war, UN troops were quiet effective. Under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, the armies managed to force a Northern Retreat in short order. Now, as America crept closer and closer to tragedy, the forces in Korea decided to change their overall goal. No longer was this to be any mere exercise in containment, the plan now called for the invasion of North Korea. This was rollback, there is nothing else it can be called. As the American Army came closer to the Yalu River, the Chinese became increasingly bellicose. The drums of the coming fires were coming closer and closer.

On November 1 1950, a double tragedy struck. President Dewey was slain by Puerto Rican Nationalist Assassins, and Chinese troops crossed the Yalu to engage American Armed Forces. It was a dark day. John Edgar Hoover was President. Almost as soon as Thomas Dewey had expired, President Hoover began implimenting his prefered policies. Blaming the President's deaths on "subversives" within the United States, Hoover's first official act as President, while the nation mourned the slain Dewey, was to order the arrest and internment of over 1,500 Americans Hoover believed to be subversive. These political prisoners were to be held in camps across the nation for the duration of the conflict. While the list mostly consisted of American leftists, in the aftermath of Dewey’s assassination, Puerto Rican groups were added to the list of cruelty. Indeed, within the first few days, communism, or even leftleaning beliefs had been effectively outlawed for the duration of the war. Hoover was no believer in liberty for those who disagreed with him.

His second act as President was equally ominous. President Hoover ordered General MacArthur to use “any means needed” to ebb the Chinese tide. This amounted to approval of the use of nuclear weapons against China, as well as support for a blockade of Mao's country.Hoover was wary of MacArthur's third proposal; to allow the Nationalist Forces to invade, because he was convinced by various advisors that such a move could backfire and produce a victory of sorts for the red chinese. Even so, MacArthur was not troubled, there was still time to change the new commader in chief's mind. Soon after President John Edgar Hoover was sworn in, the third atomic weapon ever used in the history of human warfare was deployed against China. It would not be the last such weapon used in the course of that conflict.

Meanwhile, a state of panic engulfed the Kremlin. Stalin came to believe the very life of his nation itself was once again at risk, as it had been during the war with Germany. Hoover was a madman, but the Soviet's lacked atomic weapons parity with the Americans, to invade Europe in reponse to what had occured in China, would simply invite disaster. As such, for now the Soviet's rearmed, denounced the American actions, and increased the flow of supplies and volunteers to the Chinese Red Army. By 1951, tensions were higher than they had ever been in the course of the Cold-War between Russia and the United States.
 
NEED UPDATE NOW MOMMY!!!!!
MUST SEE MAO DEAD!!!!

I'm actually kind of stuck here, I'm not sure how the war against North Korea/ China should go, since I don't want to have it go unrealistically easy for General MacArthur. Knowing as little as I do about military tactics, I'd prefer to have some advice on that front before I continued.
 
Well, the Chinese army in Korea was noted by many western commanders as a superb light infantry force, which means big trouble for any western armies in rough terrain. Conversely, the PLA (technically PVA, but we all know how volunteer they actually were...) had little more then what the Americans would consider company-level weapons in terms of heavy support.

ITTL, maybe the PLA gets more in terms of Soviet heavy equipment, and in particular the new AK-47 assault rifles? Remember, in Korea the average GI still had a M1 Garand, which gives PLA forces a massive edge in terms of man-for-man firepower.

Who wins is still up for debate, but the Korean peninsula won't have much left once the PLA and the US Army are done there. If the PLA pushes the US out of mainland Asia...the only way I see the US getting back there is with a nuclear-assisted landing that makes Operation Downfall look like a breeze.

EDIT: would Stalin have authorized the MiG-15s out past Mig Alley?
 
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