Challlenge: Curtis LeMay Coup

General LeMay was a crazy son of a gun, and a hardliner of extraordinary proportions. He was also the inspiration for the crazed general in Dr Strangelove.

My challenge is, and it may be a long shot, to have LeMay lead a military coup to take over the government. If anyone would do it, it'd probably be him.
 
Maybe the Cuban Missile crisis escalates into a full scale war and curtis seizes the opportunity.
 

maverick

Banned
General LeMay was a crazy son of a gun, and a hardliner of extraordinary proportions. He was also the inspiration for the crazed general in Dr Strangelove.

My challenge is, and it may be a long shot, to have LeMay lead a military coup to take over the government. If anyone would do it, it'd probably be him.

Don't be so sure.

There's also General Thomas S. Power, a man Curtis Lemay would call as "sadistic fascist", and the real inspiration for General Ripper in Doctor Strangelove.

Another interesting choice could be General Edwin Walker, even more focused on John Birch thinking, racism and anti-government fascist style politics.

That, and I've heard that most of the General Staff were General Lemays and thought that MAD was the way to go...not sure about how true is that though...
 
Thomas Power came up with my favourite Cold War quote

"Restraint? Why are you concerned about saving their lives? If at the end of the war there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win!"

The man probably scared the shit out of his own mother.
 

The Vulture

Banned
I can see Power making a strike without permission if he goes off the deep end, but a coup seems out of line even for him. It'd take extraordinary measures- perhaps if he thinks the current administration is cozying up to the Communists too much.
 
It might be cheating but you didn't specify what goverment. He could make a coup another country. He was in Europe post WWII so he could make something there, he could pull something in an alt Koerea or Japan, or get involved in early Vietnam. He could realize that Batista is unpopular and about to be overthrown and replace him with a strong strongman.
 

The Vulture

Banned
It might be cheating but you didn't specify what goverment. He could make a coup another country. He was in Europe post WWII so he could make something there, he could pull something in an alt Koerea or Japan, or get involved in early Vietnam. He could realize that Batista is unpopular and about to be overthrown and replace him with a strong strongman.

That's actually not a bad idea; sounds like something Edwin Walker might do in his free time after he retired. Perhaps a wealthy private anti-communist organization taps him to lead a "filibuster" army in another country to keep it from falling under communist control. Kinda Frederick Forsyth sounding, but plausible, I suppose.
 
I have always wondered what might have happened had the anti war movement broadly united around running a third party candidate for President.

In this scenario the candidates in 1968 would be Nixon, George Wallace, LBJ and either RFK, or McGovern or- for real fun, Dick Gregory

Now had such a ticket got 40% of the vote it would have elected a President and got quite a lot of Congress..

Was Le May (assuming he was not Wallace's VP candidate as in otl) involved as a senior military guy in 1968
 
Another interesting choice could be General Edwin Walker, even more focused on John Birch thinking, racism and anti-government fascist style politics.
Interesting is one way of describing General Walker's habits:
Walker, then 66, was arrested on June 23, 1976 for public lewdness in a restroom at a Dallas park and accused of fondling an undercover policeman.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Walker#cite_note-27 He was arrested again in Dallas for public lewdness on March 16, 1977.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Walker#cite_note-30 He pled no contest to one of the two misdemeanor charges, was given a suspended 30-day jail sentence, and fined $1,000.
Walker could have told the judge he wasn't trying to fondle the other gentlemen--No, he just wanted to pull a coup.
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
When did LeMay EVER display utter disregard for his oath and personal honor? For that matter, when did any other American General officer demonstrate that they were traitors?

We are talking treason here after all.
 
When did LeMay EVER display utter disregard for his oath and personal honor? For that matter, when did any other American General officer demonstrate that they were traitors?

We are talking treason here after all.

1860-1861 :p
 

burmafrd

Banned
I guess one should qualify that by saying outside of the Civil War. But saying that can anyone come up with another example?
 
Ironically, if LeMay led a coup in the 1960's, segregation might end a bit sooner. LeMay stated that desegregation worked for the USAF, so there was no reason why it would not work for the rest of the country. (Of course, this could led to a counter-coup/civil war led by pro-segregationist Edwin Walker...)
 
General LeMay was a crazy son of a gun, and a hardliner of extraordinary proportions. He was also the inspiration for the crazed general in Dr Strangelove.

My challenge is, and it may be a long shot, to have LeMay lead a military coup to take over the government. If anyone would do it, it'd probably be him.
Also, more transparently, the inspiration for "General Curtis" in Resurrection Day. To be fair, though, the scenario there was after the Cuban Missile War.
 
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